DEPARTED FROM
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ARRIVED IN
Denver, Colorado
YEAR
2006
AGE
6
NOW LIVES IN
Sammamish, Washington
I came to America because I was adopted. My parents died in 2004 and 2005 and…what was it…in 2006 I was adopted and I came to America.
When I first met my parents I was really happy and excited. I didn’t really know how to say anything to them, so I just hugged them at the orphanage.
My first day I was happy but also, like, scared because I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t have a way to communicate with anyone so I was just kind of like watching…and it was just hard, because I, like, I wanted to talk but I couldn’t because I didn’t know how to speak English.
When I first left Ethiopia and was coming to America it was my first time going on a plane so I was super scared…And then I had to go to the bathroom and I didn’t know how to work the bathroom so when I was in there, I didn’t- or I didn’t lock the door and…when I flushed the toilet it made a really scary sound and I thought I was gonna get…I thought that I was gonna get sucked in and it was scary. And I also couldn’t open the door so I was freaking out and was knocking- or- yeah banging on the door until someone came and let me out. And it was really scary and ever since then I’ve never liked airplane bathrooms and I try not to go to the bathroom on planes.
When our plane landed in Denver…it was like -9 degrees and that was the first time I had ever seen snow so that was really exciting but also weird because I didn’t know what it was. And when I first saw my family I was super happy and excited because I finally had a new family that…or a family that loved me.
