My apologies for never updating that our dossier DID, in fact, arrive at AAI in Washington State two days after I sent it! I spoke briefly with Janelle at AAI last week and she said that they were still waiting on the documents from the State Department and Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC to be returned to them, at which time our dossier will be assembled and sent off to Ethiopia!! They might receive the docs back from DC as soon as this week, but the AAI office is now closed until January 2, so we won't hear any word until then at the earliest. They will contact us when that happens and I will, naturally, post here! Once it gets to Ethiopia, it will be translated and logged into the government. That will take about a month. Then, we begin our wait to be matched with a child (called a "referral"). That could take a month. It could take six months. It could actually take longer than that, but it's likely that it won't because we are requesting an older boy. People who request infant girls wait the longest for a referral.
Beginning in January, we will see our doctors for the first set of travel immunizations. It's not going to be quite as bad and I originally thought it might be. We will receive Hepatitis A vaccines and I need a booster on my Tetanus. We will discuss the Typhoid shot with our doctor, but really, if you STRICTLY drink only bottled water when you are there (I mean ... even brushing your TEETH with bottled water), then there isn't a risk of exposure. We will not be in a Yellow Fever zone, so there will be no need for that. Hep A is really the only risk because it is highly contagious, so our whole family will be vaccinated. I think our kids have all already had round one and are almost ready for round two (it is a two-part shot series). Also in January, we will go ahead and apply for our passports so we will have those in hand and ready to go.
The fact that all of this document preparation has gone on during the month of December -- Advent (which means "to prepare") -- has not escaped me and I am going to post my thoughts on that in a separate post.
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My husband says do yourself a favor and just get the typhoid shot. Chances are good that a lovely local may wish to bless you with a food gift ... and you really don't want to have to pass up the opportunity to experience their love. Anyhow, that's what my globe-trotting man recommends. Granted, he's eaten some things that make me squeamish just thinking about them ... :-)
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