Ethiopia Day 2 - First Meeting

The big day arrived: we got to go to the orphanage and meet A.  We left the guest house in the morning and were taken with our social worker to visit the orphanage.

We arrived at the orphanage and didn't see him initially.  The social worker went inside the building and brought him out to the courtyard.  Several of the younger children recognized us from the day before and had already come to us so we could pick them up.  We brought a kickball and a soccer ball with us and were able to spend some time kicking the soccer ball with A and another child.  The kids were apparently feeling competitive and started to play a one-on-one soccer game with each other.   A had to kick to the uphill goal, so he played with a bit of a disadvantage.  After each goal he scored he come to us and tell us his score and give us five.

We spent about an hour playing with A and the other kids in the courtyard, then all the kids were brought inside for snack time.  Snacks today consisted of  bananas, of which we were invited to partake.  The nannies then decided to put in a movie for the kids to watch, which allowed us to sit inside with the kids for some quiet time.  Amy sat next to A and I sat next to her.  The toddlers were pretty attention-seeking and wanted to sit in our laps and were very interested in my watch.  A nudged closer to Amy as the movie went on, but it was still a bit awkward and hard for her to know how much contact to make.

Abel returned just as the movie was ending and we had to say our good-byes (actually our ciao-ciao's), and return to Bethany to pick up Mitchell and Teresa and head to lunch before their court appointment.  The restaurant chosen for lunch (Lucy) had a good variety of international dishes.  After asking the waiter for a recommendation, Amy settled on a soup and I ordered a steak, which was quite good.  

Lunch at Lucy restaurant

Didn't know the FBI had a church in Ethiopia.  I think the CIA has a secret church somewhere.

Mitchell and Teresa were taken to their court appointment and we were taken to visit Mount Entoto, which is roughly 10,000 feet elevation.  Abel had our driver drop the three of us at an overlook where we took a few photos of the city.  We were then approached by a few locals.  The first offered a baggie with some type of leaves in it, which we think was oregano.  I told Abel that if someone approaches you in the U.S. with a baggie of leaves, it is not oregano. ;)  Amy then bought a traditional hat from another lady and Abel led us up the hill to look at a stand of eucalyptus trees.  We walked back down to the road to find that our van had disappeared.  

On Entoto, overlooking Addis Ababa

Amy, modeling a traditional Ethiopian hat

The hike up Entoto

Abel said the driver had probably driven to the top of the mountain and that we should walk up to find him.  I was quickly reminded of our time in Kenya when I would walk up the hill from the hospital to the apartment and find myself short of breath by the time I got there.  The air here was even thinner than the air at Kijabe and the hike turned out to be the most exercise I got the whole week.  At the top, Abel gave us a tour of a museum that contained a variety of historical Ethiopian artifacts.  We then walked a bit further and got to see one of the former emperor's palaces.  It was at the palace that Abel explained to me that it is the year 2005 in Ethiopia.  I decided that I would adopt the Ethiopian calendar, so I am now 7 years younger!  Not a bad deal at all.

Abel explaining the Ethiopian calendar to me

Just a cool cat at the palace

Sights on the way down the mountain

These ladies would carry these huge bundles down the mountain to sell.  Hard to see them struggling under the burden.

From there, we met up with Mitchell and Teresa after their court appointment and returned to the guest house, where we had a nice farewell dinner with Mitchell and Teresa (and Brandi and the kids) before they had to head to the airport to return home.  The three couples returned from their journey to the south and introductions were made.  We enjoyed spending the rest of the evening getting to know the other couples and then retired for the night, looking forward to the next day.