Mark is now headed back to San Diego. He arrives tonight around 10:30. It was difficult for him to leave his little girl, but the trip was just awesome! He got to spend a lot of time with the baby, meet a lot of great people, do some sight-seeing and shopping, and he did NOT get sick, thankfully. He met with the Dr. at the Transition Home and that went well. We now know first hand that she is well taken care of and knowing that is priceless. He left with a whopping $2.00 in his pocket and was hoping to get some food on the plane until he got to a place that would take credit card.

Here's part of his e-mail...

It was a big day today. The morning was pretty uneventful, but shopping was hectic and we went to the orphanage and of course lunch. I spent every dime except 200 birr to use for tips. I thought I had just $20 left for the trip home, but I have another, which I might give to T. He's been awesome. The trip overall couldn't have been better I don't think. The afternoon at the home was busy and tough. As soon as I picked her up I started getting hay fever symptoms, which are suddenly coming on again as I think about it. They came again in the middle of the afternoon session and of course right at the end. One thing that helped was that I forgot to leave her rattle, so I had to run back in and drop it off with her, so I got to see her one last time. She had slept on me for about an hour just before it was close to time to leave and then she woke up hungry, so I got to do one last feeding and when she was finished it was pretty much
time to go.

I just love him for loving her so much already!