Still Waiting!

Ahhhhh! We are still waiting on paperwork. It is so frustrating at times...no, change that, it is always frustrating.

I am trying to look at this hold up as giving us more time to prepare for our adoption and our children's homecoming but it is difficult.

Prayers would be greatly appreciated. Blessings to you all!

Paperwork

That may seem like a never-ending theme here in our house and that is because, well...it is! Hopefully the last of it (for this portion) will go out by Friday. Big plans...I know and I am so good at following through on those big plans all the time.

I have been having trouble reaching a doctor who needs to write a letter for our file. It has been so frustrating and if I can't get a hold of him I am not sure what the next step is.

Prayers would be helpful!

Will the paperwork ever end?

It really is amazing how much paperwork is required to proceed with an international adoption (it might be the same for domestic adoptions... I don't know). It just makes you wonder, is part of the reason for all the questions we answer (many of which are the same questions answered multiple times on multiple forms to multiple recipients) designed to test our endurance? I wonder sometimes how many prospective adoptive parents (people who have oodles of love to share) just get lost in all the forms that must be filled out and never proceed to the end stage of the adoption process? How many more orphaned or abandoned children who desperately need homes would receive them if adoption were a little bit easier and a little less expensive?

I continue to pray that God would help guide us through the remainder of this process and pray that God place a loving parent in the life of every needy child. God's love, after all, is unlimited, boundless, unconditional, and free... would that we could shower that love of God everywhere it's needed.

Homestudy Interview Complete

Our homestudy interview and visit is complete...yay!

Now it is on to:

• the I-600A forms...check,
• passport application/renewal paperwork...check,
• second part of our CHSFS application...almost,

Two out of three isn't bad :)

New Sea in Ethiopia

Is a new sea forming in Ethiopia? Kind of...but it will take another million years or so for it to fully form.

"A Crack Opens in the Ethiopian Landscape, Preparing the Way for a New Sea"

From Discover

November 4th, 2009 11:07 AM

by Eliza Strickland

In 2005, the earth cracked open in Ethiopia. Two volcanic eruptions shook the desert, and a 35-mile-long rift opened in the land, measuring 20 feet wide in some places. Now a new study adds weight to the argument that the opening of this crack marks the first step in the formation of a new sea that may eventually separate East Africa from the rest of the continent. Says lead researcher Atalay Ayele: “The ocean’s formation is happening slowly, likely to take a few million years. It will stretch from the Afar depression (straddling Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti) down to Mozambique” [ABC News].

The study, to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, explains that the seismic movements observed in Ethiopia are very similar to the changes wrought by faults and fissures on the seafloor, where the processes that move tectonic plates usually begin.

Seismic data from 2005 shows that the rift opened in a matter of days. Dabbahu, a volcano at the northern end of the rift, erupted first, then magma pushed up through the middle of the rift area and began “unzipping” the rift in both directions, the researchers explained in a statement today. “We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this” [LiveScience], says study coauthor Cindy Ebinger.

The active volcanic region in Ethiopia’s Afar desert sits at the boundary of the African and Arabian tectonic plates, which have been gradually spreading apart for millions years; the new study shows that large-scale seismic events can speed up that process. The gradual separation has already formed the 186-mile Afar depression and the Red Sea. The thinking is that the Red Sea will eventually pour into the new sea in a million years or so [LiveScience].

Homestudy Interview

Our homestudy interview with LSS is scheduled for November 18, 2009!

Next up: Second part of our CHSFS paperwork.

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Doro Wat

Perhaps the best-known of all Ethiopian, or even African recipes, Doro Wat (Doro Watt, Doro Wot, Doro Wet, Doro We't, Dorowat) is a spicy chicken dish made with berberé and niter kibbeh (or nit'ir qibe, a spicy clarified butter). Berberé and niter kibbeh, basic ingredients in many Ethiopian recipes, are usually made in large quantities and kept on hand for some time. No doubt using berberé and niter kibbeh gives a special quality to Doro Wat. However, I am told that a very good result can be obtained by adding some easier to find ingredients from an American grocery store.

Our family loves this dish served over injera and yes, even the boys like it!

Ingredients:

1 lime, juiced (or lemon)

2 teaspoons salt

1 chicken (about 3 pounds), cleaned and cut into serving-size pieces, remove skin and score or pierce the meat with a knife to facilitate marinating, reserve wings, gizzard and neck for other use

2 (or more) red onions, finely chopped

4 tablespoons niter kebbeh or butter

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced

1 piece fresh ginger root, cleaned, scraped, and chopped (about a teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek, ground

1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground

1/2 teaspoon berberé or 1 to 2 tablespoons of a combination of cayenne pepper and paprika (if berberé and niter kebbeh are not used)

1 small tomato, chopped or a few tablespoons tomato paste or tomato sauce (optional)

1 cup dry red wine, chicken stock or water

hard-boiled eggs (1 per person), pierced with a toothpick or the tine of a long fork.

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the lime juice, half the salt, and chicken pieces. Let chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Cook the onions over medium heat for a few minutes in a dry (no oil) pot or dutch oven large enough to eventually hold all of the ingredients. Stir constantly to prevent them from browning or burning; remove the pot from the heat if necessary.

Add the niter kebbeh or butter to the onions, along with the garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cardamom, nutmeg, remaining salt, berberé (or cayenne pepper and paprika), and tomato. Stir and simmer for a few minutes until te onions are soft, tender, and translucent, but not browned.

Add the dry red wine, chicken stock or water. Bring the mixture to a low boil while stirring gently. Cook for a few minutes, then reduce heat.

Add the chicken pieces, making sure to cover them with the sauce. Cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes – or until the chicken is done – turning the chicken a few times.

After the chicken has been cooking for 20 minutes, gently add the hard-boiled eggs and ladle sauce over them.

Serve hot. The only traditional way to serve Doro Wat is with a spongy flat bread called injera, which can only be properly made with difficult-to-obtain teff flour. However the recipe found here can be made with whole wheat flour. While it's not the way Ethiopians would serve it, Doro Wat is very good with couscous, rice, or Middle-Eastern or Indian style flat bread.