Whirlwind
First of all I would like to thank M, L, & J – there is no way we could be here if I hadn’t had your help.
Where to start… when we passed court we got a tentative travel date of August 12. It was the perfect date for our family; the kids would miss some of the camp activities for school and the first three days of school, it was before harvest for Paul and well, I didn’t have anything to do. We found out there could be a problem with the date about three weeks ago. We were missing one document and the kids had to have clear TB tests. Up until Monday those things weren’t in. We got a call on Monday saying that we needed to cancel our flight and our new travel date would be September 10th. It seemed as though God was closing the door on our perfect date in spite of the many prayers lifted up on our behalf. M and I planned on being out of the house doing a little therapeutic shopping on Tuesday. That morning we got a call asking if we could travel tomorrow (Wednesday Aug 12th). My response was “are you serious?” So, I jumped on the phone and called Elsa at Addistravel – she (by a miracle) got us tickets. Our family and friends were busy scurrying around getting us ready to go and by 10 pm the vehicle was all packed and we were pretty much ready to go.
We got to the airport for our 3 o’clock flight at noon, checked in and grabbed some lunch. Sometime between noon and 1:45 our flight was cancelled. We were at the ticket counter for the next four hours waiting for something to be worked out. The ticket agent rebooked our tickets several times (note to you – if this ever happens to you ask to speak to a supervisor) through many different connections; Amsterdam, London, Paris, Nairobi just to name a few. Finally at seven Wednesday night we got on a plane and left for DC. We arrived at Reagan airport and took a shuttle to Dulles where we checked for our bags. The luggage agent said that they should be coming or that there were there, so we waited for two hours. The next agent that came in for her shift took one look at the computer and said they had been sent on. We got our hotel voucher and meal voucher (that didn’t cover the full cost) and headed off to the hotel. We flopped into bed and Rochelle says to me “Mom, there are ants all over the night stand”. I looked and sure enough there were little creatures crawling all over, I called Paul and yep, theirs too. We agreed that at that point we were too tired to care and rolled over and went to sleep. We got up and got to Dulles at 7 for our 10 o’clock flight. Good thing we didn’t take the advice of the luggage agent and arrive 45 minutes prior. It took the staff two and a half hours to correct our tickets. Finally we are off. The only person to get airsick – me, otherwise our flight was flawless. We arrived in Addis Ababa at 10 on Friday morning and the altitude hit us like a ton of bricks. We hopped in the CHS bus and we were off. We were not prepared for the realities of poverty. A boy came up to the bus and wanted to sell us Kleenex, I gave him a burr and the bus took off and we left him behind. He came to the other side of the bus and Paul thought he was handing him the Kleenex, so he took it. The boy wanted more money the boy hopped in the back of a pickup and chased down the bus and pulled us over – Paul handed him back the Kleenex and another burr and the boy had some very interesting American words to say to us. There were many other sights and sounds that shook us during our drive. We went straight to the care center to meet the kids, and at this point I don’t have words for how wonderful it was. They are beautiful, sweet, loving children and we are so blessed. The guest house is wonderful and we are traveling with some amazing families. This is the trip so far… an amazing journey. (p.s. M- you will want to bring some Vicks until your nose gets adjusted, I am so glad I did)
Day 2
We went to the Care Center and brought balloons and toys and a purse full of necklaces and a soccer ball. All the kids loved the balloons and had fun hitting them around and blowing them up and making noises. Tesfanesh loved her necklaces and put all of them on, but of course shared them with the rest of us. Temesgen loved his soccer ball and played almost the whole time with it, using it as a volleyball also. It was so much fun to play with all of the kids there, and we had a blast! We got so many hugs and kisses, not just from our kids, but from others at the care center as well.
We went shopping in the afternoon, and there were so many people! There were begging children and adults, asking us for money or for just food. There were people selling things on the streets, such as maps, belts, and gum. We were able to barter there and in the shops as well. The shops had wooden carvings of animals and traditional clothing and jewelry and instruments. We noticed that all the people are outside during the day, not many inside. There are little shops on every street, mostly made out of metal. Clothing shops and beauty salons and all other kinds were lined up next to each other most of them were spaces of 8×8. We also noticed that most of the scaffolding for building buildings are just large sticks.. They would have these 5 story buildings with stick scaffolding. It didn’t look very supportive, but it must’ve been since it was used everywhere and you could see people just perched on it. After the market where we could barter, we went to a nicer shop that sold silver and traditional Ethiopian figurines and clothing. We got traditional outfits for our kids there. While we were there, some other Americans came to check it out. When we were almost done and most of us were on the bus, there was this angry man who had just bought some silver, yelling and making a scene about how it wasn’t real. He said he’d bought silver all over the world and it doesn’t tarnish and that just did. He came out to our bus and yelled, “The silver they’re selling isn’t real! It’s not real!” I felt so sorry for those women in the shop that had to deal with them, and he was making a very bad impression on other Americans.
The night is full of noises and new smells – I am very thankful for Vics otherwise I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Day 3
We got up with the sunrise this morning in order to leave for Hosanna by 6. This is the most amazing trip – really too much for words! If I would have stayed much longer I would have stayed forever! I am amazed at the children for the city – we had to walk about ¼ of a mile to use the bathroom. We got all kinds of giggles and hugs and stares from the many children. Rochelle gave her scarf to one of the girls and she just beamed. Most of this story I will just treasure in my heart for the rest of my life – there just isn’t words!
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