Ethiopia-First Trip Day 1 Out and About

We were able to sleep some that night and I woke up feeling a bit better. By the time T was done taking a shower there was no water left for me. Literally, there was no water coming out of the shower head. So, I went on with no shower for the third day in a row. As our new friends from Texas called it, I took a "Ho bath." I pretended to be slightly offended by this suggestion. I wasn't prepared for the weather to be so chilly so A loaned me his jacket since he and his wife, S, were prepared with sweatshirts also. We had a complementary breakfast in the guest house and we all chose the french toast. The Texans needed extra syrup and this became one of the many fun things we teased them about.

The Addis Guest House owner's son, Yonas was a delight and we enjoyed talking with him. He was so helpful and made our entire stay so much better. He suggested some places we do some shopping and sight seeing and arranged for a driver to be with us all day.

                                                                    

Our driver... Ah, Yosef, our taxi driver. At some point on our visit to ET I exclaimed about him, "If I wasn't married..." Really, Yosef was a charming guy who was a hard worker and loved to smile. He also acted as a guide for us. He took us to the church of Haile Selassie, an Orthodox Christian church in Addis.

 It was neat to hear the stories of their belief and observe the place where there former emperor Haile Selassie's remains were kept. Then we went to the National Museum where  Lucy, thought to be the oldest fossil human skeleton, is kept in archives.

When we left this museum we were approached by some kids wanting to sell us some gum. None of us knew what to do. Not only were each of us trying to sort out what we were told to do vs what the Holy Spirit was wanting us to do, we were trying to figure out as couples what we should be doing. Basically, God had made each of us couples different and it was hard to figure out if giving was the right thing or if we were to listen to the advice of those who have gone before us. So, we said no to the gum. Our driver, Yosef was just getting to know us and didn't offer any advice at first. Later he felt more comfortable and shared with us when we asked him. I'll get to that in a little bit.

We needed to pick up some more birr since we were getting ready to go shopping. Our driver suggested going to the Sheridan hotel. When I began looking into some places to stay for our trip I looked up the cost of the Sheridan. It was around $250 US to stay each night. Believe me, I was tempted, but we just couldn't afford to be this indulgent with all of our costs adding up over the last year. When we arrived at the Sheridan my stomach just turned. It was beautiful, exotic, and so clean. But, just outside of it's walls were some of the poorest in the world. What a contrast. I was silently thankful we didn't spend the money to stay here because I would have wrestled with the unfairness our whole stay.

S had suggested we go to Makush, an Ethiopian art gallery. We were right on board with this because we wanted something to display from B's birth country for above our piano. Each of us found some pieces of art made by Ethiopians. Yosef joined us for lunch at the Italian restaurant in the gallery. The server brought us some brushetta for an appetizer, but no one ordered it. I wasn't paying much attention and noticed that one of the brushetta pieces had been eaten, so I figured I would try one too. I popped it in my mouth, made a "Mmm" noise (you know this sound I make with good food if you know me very well) and then realized what I had just done. My eyes got really big and I just stared at S with the chewed brushetta in my mouth without swallowing it. T sat back down from looking at more art and I know I had this panicked look on my face. I calmly walked to the bathroom that was occupied, found the sink that wasn't, and spit out all the chewed up brushetta into the trash can hoping no one would walk in on me. I'm not sure exactly how many times I spit chewed brushetta out, but I was diligent to remove it all. Why? Our bodies are not accustomed to the contaminates on the raw fruits and veggies in ET and I just popped raw, but very yummy, chopped tomatoes in my mouth on the very first day! I'm thinking of my best friend from High School right now. Shari, can't you totally picture me doing this?!?!?

Our next stop was a little whole sale market. Most of the little shops were 3 foot by 3 foot with mud floors. We began shopping for our little ones. Each of our families wanted to bring items home for our little ones to open on their birthdays from their birth country. We were told by Yonas at the guest house that Yosef wouldn't haggle with the store owners for us, but we could ask Yosef if the deal they were offering was a good one. We were told to immediately offer half what was being given to us. T and I are able to conceit that we stink at haggling. A on the other hand has some experience with it in his job as a produce farmer and he was our designated haggler. We started doing it on our own, but after about 5 minutes Yosef was the one stepping up and haggling for us, having conversations in Amharic with the store owners, then telling us the final offer. It was great! We bought Baby B lots of little dresses, some jewelry, and found the boys a drum and horn to bring them. N got a little dress to wear to some Ethiopian cultural events too. Almost as soon as we started this shopping excursion a couple little boys honed in on S asking for money. Then, they started on me. It went something like this, "Ha-low (hello), mo-nee (money)?" We would say, "No" as sweetly as we could. Then they would say, "Just one." This went on forever! The next thing we know there are around 6-9 kids at any given time with an occasional elderly adult begging for money. It was so unnerving since we were still confused by the question; to give or not to give. Finally Yosef asked one of us for a 10 birr and called the kids to him. They were crowding him, anxious over the money. Two of them starting fighting, kicking and punching each other. It was all I could manage not to get in there and pull them apart. Yosef just laughed at them. In Amharic he told them he would give each of them some of the 10 birr, but they had to leave us alone. They agreed. Money was given. All was well... for another 5 minutes or so. The kids were back, this time asking S to buy them shoes. I'm not sure if they heard her tell me that one of them didn't have souls on their shoes and asked me if we could buy them some. She said no and then they started asking for food. So, S asked Yosef if we could buy them lunch and he agreed. We told the nearest restaurant owner that we wanted these kids to eat and we all pitched in to buy them a meal. The restaurant owner was happy to see the income and the kids were so fun to watch! They were giving each other cheers at the table and when it was done and we got in the car they crowded by saying, "Thank you!" and "Bye!" My thought was, "Can we do that the rest of the day?"

 Here is Yosef telling them he will give them some money if they will go away.

Some of the sweetest faces in Ethiopia- the kids. There is another table to the left full of kids too and an elderly blind man got to eat also. Incredible.

We wanted to finish our day with a traditional Ethiopian meal so Yosef suggested Yod Abyssinia. What a night! We ate enjera, lamb tibs, lentils, and some other things I either didn't know what they were or cannot write or pronounce them. Yosef ordered us a little kipto (raw meat), but none of us were that daring to try. However, I did find out yesterday that my husband did try it and said, "It was cooked a little." Well, he's not sick. Thank you God! Then the real fun started. We got to watch some awesome traditional dancing from all around Ethiopia and experience one of many coffee ceremonies.

 Fresh grass for the coffee ceremony.

 Don't I look pretty good for not having a shower in 3 days?

 Some of the best coffee I've ever had... not to mention popcorn and coffee are a great combo!

We are still trying to imitate some of these dances! S and I are practicing the tongue twirls for exclaiming excitement and we made our driver on our last day smile a couple of times with our performance. And then, I couldn't wait to return to our room at the guest house. I found that it is one of the nicer places to stay and by this point I knew I was likely going to come back with Baby B to this same guest house. I was so thankful for it and it's owners.

And this concludes our day of sight seeing Day 1 because that night there was no sleep to be had. At one point in the middle of the night T said, "I hate jet lag."