ET - Day 2 - The Great Adventure

(Saturday - August 21)

Since we were a 1 trip family, S and I decided to go to ET a few days early to get in some sightseeing before we picked up our little man.  We knew once we got him, all of our attention would be on him.

We had previously arranged to meet up with a friend's brother-in-law, Beninim, in Ethiopia.  We had met a wonderful Ethiopian couple, and his family still lives in Addis.  Of course, we didn't know anything about Beninim, except that he was a "nice guy".

We got off to a rocky start.  He was suppose to pick us up at the hotel at 8 am, but we didn't end up leaving till almost 11 am.  He had loaned his car to a buddy, and the buddy hadn't brought back his car.  We were just going to call it off, but he said that he would try to rent a car.  Well, he did.  And, 2 hours later, he was at our hotel with a beat-up barely running car.  It was not at all what I expected. 

We say our hellos, pay for the rental, and then the owner gets in the backseat with me.  Kinda weird, but we go with it.  After about 10 minutes of being on the road, the car runs out of gas.  S, our new friend Beninim and the owner get out of the car and push it to the side of the road.  The owner then grabs a gas can from the trunk and takes off on foot.  This would prove to be preview to our day.

While we wait, we find out a little bit more about Beninim.  He is 22 years old, is studying accounting and lives at home with his mom and dad.  He is very gracious and doesn't seem the least bit unsettled by us running out of gas.  After about 10 minutes, the owner returns with some gas, and we are off once again.  Our goal is to get out of the city and head south to the country.  G is from the country, and it's important for us to see at least a piece of it.

Before we can head out of the city, Beninim needs to change clothes, so we head to his house.  Of course, we have to go by way of his University.  I get a sense that it is kinda cool for him to be with some Americans just like it is cool for us to be with him.

The traffic is just crazy, little shops and people are everywhere, the owner is still in the backseat with me, he doesn't speak any English, there are no street signs, no street lights, the exhaust is overwhelming, 3 of the 4 windows won't roll down, livestock is in the road, and the roads are half-paved with the other half being rocks and mud.  It was quite commical.  Typically, I'm not a go with the flow kinda girl, but I had told myself that I was just going to soak it all in on this trip. I have always wanted to go to Africa, and now I was there.

We are in a constant state of stop and go when the owner of the car just gets out and waves good-bye.  Again, Beninim is not unsettled by this at all.  I'm still just going with the flow in the backseat :)

We finally make it to Beninim's house.  YEAH!  I wish I had taken pictures, so I could remember it.  We did get to meet his dad and his servant.  His dad was very gracious and asked us to stay awhile, but we needed to leave in order to make it to the country.  Before we left, he did show us his kitchen which was outside in an alley.  It looked like what I had seen in pictures including a place for the coffee ceremony.

As we head out of the city, we have to go through all of the traffic and congestion that we just went through.  From the backseat, I can tell we are on empty.  Gulp!  It's not like there's a gas station on every corner.  S must have been thinking the same thing, because he lets Beninim know that we are on E and need to stop at the next one.  We make it to the gas station.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  I'm feeling comfortable enough to get out and snap a few pictures.  Here we are just pass where all of the traffic was.  (OilLibya must have owned almost all of the gas stations we saw.  And, all of the gas was leaded.)

 

These blue taxi vans are EVERYWHERE and they are PACKED with people.  They are the main mode of transportation as most folks cannot afford a car.  The taxes on a car are 200% of it's cost.  ($10,000 car really costs $30,000)  That seems just horrible; but once you are there, you can't imagine the chaos and exhaust if more people drove cars.

 

 

 

We are finally heading to the country.

As we make our way out of the city, there is a check point to get in and out. However, it doesn't seem to be in operation today.  We see more women making their way into the city carrying huge bundles of firewood on their back.  Most are from the country and have walked hours to sell their wood in the city.  (We only saw women doing this, and Beninim confirmed that this was a woman's job.) 

We are on the main highway headed south, and you share the road with livestock.  This is the equivalent of our I-40 or I-65.

(Note: Most of these pictures are taken behind a dirty window glass.  Remember the windows didn't roll down.)

 

The herders use these long stick/whip things to make the animals move for the cars.

 

 

We pass several small little cities where there would be a grouping of houses and shops.

 

This was at a bus stop.  You would see shoe shiners everywhere.  Since it is the raining season, there is mud everywhere, and this is how people get their shoes clean.  I assume during the other seasons, the folks are cleaning the dust off their shoes.

The country is vastly different from the city.  It is flat and lush with mountains all around it.  Houses dot the landscape, and it is beautiful.  It's a place where you would imagine a high-end resort community.  But, then you snap back to reality, and you are in Ethiopia.  Those houses do not have running water.  A few might have electricity.  They farm the land by hand and with oxen.  Life is hard for these folks.  If something goes wrong with a crop, they don't eat.

 

 

A small boy beside the road all by himself.

This is a traditional house.

Beninim and me

This is luxury transportation for the folks out in the country.

We're driving down the road, and there in front of us are 3 herds of about 30+ steer each.  And, we were starting to have problems with our car.  If we idled, it quit; and we're about 1 1/2 hours out of town.

Each herd had 1 or 2 boys keeping the herd together.  They were walking them ALL the way to Addis to sell.  We also saw herds of goats.  The boys herding the goats seem to be younger than the steer herders.  But, all of them looked pretty young.

This was a stretch of road LINED with trucks storing gasoline.  They sit abadoned along this road until they are needed to replinish the gas pumps in the city - maybe there were around 50.

After about 1 1/2 hours out of the city, it was time to head back.  We didn't want to be out in the country at night, especially with our car.  Our adventure and my constant prayer were just about to start.

As you can imagine, there is constant stop and go.  Even on the highway, you have more stop and go than you would think due to the livestock and people.  And, everytime we would stop, our car would quit.  In the beginning, Beninim could just start it back up with the key.  But, you could tell with each key turn that the battery was getting weaker and weaker.  We finally hit a stretch of road where it was wide open giving the battery a chance to recharge some. 

Then.....

  

We hit the city and bumper to bumper traffic.

Now, it seems like all the cars are manual drive.  Ours was.  And, you need 3 feet to drive when your car can't idle.  You need a foot for the gas, one for the brake and one for the clutch.  Also, remember our gracious friend is studying accounting and knows nothing about cars.  (No knocks on accounting folks)  Luckily S knows something about cars/engines and puts my mind at ease a little.  He comes up with a system where he will be in charge of braking by way of the emergency brake.  That way Beninim can keep his foot on the gas.  The goal is to keep the RPMs up.  Unfortunately, it takes a while for Beninim to understand.  Instead of holding it at a constant high RPM, he keeps reving it up.  And of course, everytime it hits the low idle, it dies in bumper to bumper traffic.  At first, we can just turn the key.  But, the battery is quickly dying.  Since Addis is hilly, we start using that to our advantage.  We either roll forward or backward and pop the clutch to start the car. This whole time I am in the backseat just praying and coming up with how we are going to get back to the hotel. 

Then, we hit another round-about.  This one is completely FLAT, and the car dies.  We are in 2nd inner lane of the middle lanes of 4 lanes of traffic with cars all in front of us and all behind us.  Beninim had been so cool up until this point and never really complained.  Now, he was starting to get a little more upset wishing he had his car.  Amen to that!

Beninim gets out of the car and waves traffic around and opens up a spot for us to push backwards.  He and S push and get the car rolling backwards.  Now keep in mind, there are people everywhere, and we are the only white people we have seen all day.  So, I'm sure people were wondering what in the heck was going on and maybe chuckling to themselves about the crazy Americans.  Now, I'm still praying, and I have come up with my plan B.  I'm just going to rely on Jesus to get us back to the hotel.  67% of the people are Christians, and I am just going to keep saying Jesus' name until I find another brother or sister in Christ that speaks English that will help us get back to the hotel.  It's weird, but I'm really not that freaked out.

God is good, and the car starts.  Just ahead there is a main road where the traffic is actually moving.  It's the highway back to our hotel.  We can charge the battery and just keep the gas down.

We FINALLY make it to the hotel even with a wrong turn by our rattled friend.  (Luckily, S caught it.)  I felt like kissing the ground, but I'm trying to play it cool in front of our gracious host.  He still has to take the car back.  We offer to pay for a taxi for him, but he declines.  We had brought a sports T and cap for him. I am so glad that we did.  He truly was such a good sport to spend the day with us.

Within our 6 hour adventure, our car died about 100 times. 

 

Now that it is over, I can say...

This was a great adventure!

  

ET - Day 1 - Part 2

We left Hannah's Hope just full of excitement.  We got back to the hotel and had lunch with the LeFebers.  They are an awesome couple from Nebraska.  I am so grateful they were there.  They helped put us at ease.

After a delicious meal, we all headed in a taxi with Seesay.  Seesay was a math teacher, and he spoke very good English.  He started driving a taxi, because he could make more money and needed to support his family.  He has 3 children.

All of the cars are very similar to this. (80s Toyotas everywhere)  It was a cozy fit for the 5 of us, but it worked.  One of the funny things was that Seesay had us listening to country music.  I'm not sure if he liked or was doing it just for our benefit.

Entoto Mountain is considered scared, because King Menelik II built his palace there and several churches.  It overlooks Addis Ababa, and it's forest provide the city with the necessary firewood.

On the way up the mountain, you would see people just walking with their livestock.  Several times when children would see that there were white people in the car, they would race along the car shouting money, money, money. 

 

And, you would see women carrying Eucalyptus branches down on their backs - huge bundles.  I'm not sure how they would stand once they reached the bottom of the mountain.  They do this in order to buy "extras" for their family like a candle or salt.

The top of the mountain was beautiful even though it looked like it could pour any minute.

We were met at the top of the mountain by several kids.  I was struck by how young several of them were.  They were just there all by themselves running around.  At first I thought that they were the younger siblings of the older ones, but one of the boys said that they were just friends.

One of the older boys was very proud that he was able to go to school.  He was very articulate and spoke good English.  He told us all about the mountain.  When we got in the car to leave, they asked us for some money.  Seesay had told us earlier that it was against the law to give out money, and that you would have to go along way to pay the fines.  Nathan was in the passenger seat and decided to give them some.  When he pulled out his money, they instantly started grabbing.  After that, we decided that it wasn't a good idea to hand out money on the side of the road.  (Later, we were informed of several organizations that were making a difference, and that if we wanted to help to give to them.)

 Our next stop was the "Art Gallery".

Here you could buy some paintings (they were actually good), or for $1 you could see the other side of the city.  We spent the $1 each and walked over to the ledge to see the city.  There really wasn't too much to see, because the trees were blocking much of the view.  Then, we got a tour of the gardens, which was just some trees growing.  Here we all got the pleasure of African ants.  They bite :) 

Even though, the "tour" was a joke, it was fun to talk to our two teenage tour guides.  They were both in school and using their break (raining season) to make some money to pay for it.  The older one wants to be a tour guide and the younger one (pictured below) wants to be a doctor, so he can help his village.

As soon as we left, the sky openned up, and it poured.  We made it to the church just as they were letting out.  There were people everywhere and most of them were getting soaked and didn't mind.  That's just the way it is. 

 

This Ethiopian Orthox Christian church was built by King Menelik II in the 1800s.  It is still used today.  However, we didn't have a chance to go in.

Beside the church is King Menelik II's palace.  You have to walk through a few little buildings (I think people live there.) in order to get there.

 

The palace is made up mud, sticks and straw.  I can't believe it is still standing, and there didn't seem to be any leaks in the ceiling.  There were several small buildings that made up the palace.  There were what I would call the living quarters, guest house, dining/entertaining area and another building.

You can kinda see how thick the walls are.

Next, we headed to the other church.  Fortunately, we did get to go inside. 

 It was so awesome!  It was circular like the other one, and it had 3 circular rooms - each inside of the other.  The 3 rooms stood for Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  In the center of the 2nd room, there were murals all the way around and from top to bottom.  The murals depicted the New Testament.  I assume this was done, because few folks would have access to a Bible and would be able to read.

 

Jesus's miracles

 

Jesus cruxification

Jesus Ressurection

Judgement Day

Then........

Hell.  This was right below the Judgement Day mural.  It was covered up by a large picture of Jesus. (You can kinda see the top in the previous picture.)  After the priest showed us this picture, he covered it back up with the Jesus picture.  Jesus is the one who protects us from Hell and from being eternally separated from God. 

After we left this church, we went to a rock-hewn church over 700 years old.  Notice the cross on top.

 

It was made up of 3 circular rooms as well.  And, it is still used.  The priest said that over 100+ people will worship there.  It was small, so everyone has to be just wedged together.  The ceiling is black from the candle smoke.

 

There was another one right beside this one, but you had to walk down a flight of stairs, and it was already flooded.

Here are several houses right outside the church. 

After about 5ish hours of touring, we were all ready to go back to the hotel and get some dinner.  As we passed one of the churches going back down the mountain, I noticed that most of the water jugs I had seen earlier were gone.  The folks living on the mountain do not have running water.  They rely on water that is piped up from the city. I can only imagine what it looked like.

 At the beginning of the day, there were many yellow water jugs at the "water site".  People walk to it and pay for their water.  It's hard to imagine what that is like, especially with all the RAIN and the MUD.  It's hard to imagine that in a place where Jesus lives.  These folks believe in Jesus.  They are my brothers and sisters in Christ.

One of the Bible verses that I have always found hard to swallow is...

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.  Luke 12:48

 

ET - Day 1 - Part 1

 
(August 20)

S and I slept great, and we were up and ready to meet "G".  We weren't scheduled to pick him up until Sunday, but given all that we had been through, the director of Hannah's Hope said that we didn't have to wait any longer.  Love that woman!

We weren't sure if we would be able to bring him back with us or just visit with him.  It turned out perfectly that we just got to visit with him.  I think it put us all at ease where we could just enjoy the moment.  I can't imagine meeting him and leaving with him all within 2 hours.

Hannah's Hope driver, Wass, picked us and the LeFebers up at 10 am, and within about 10ish minutes, we passed the All God's Children International sign, and it started to feel very real.

It's hard to put into words the emotions you feel.  You are in Africa - picking up your son - he is 3 - he's had 3 years on this earth, and you don't know all the details - he doesn't speak English - you don't know him - you love him - you have NO idea how this meeting is going to turn out - will he like you - will you have a connection - will he shut down - will you know what to do with him.  All you know is that God is good, and that this is His plan.  It all boils down to trust.  And, it is all trust, because everything is an unknown.

As we enter in through the gates, I am trying to hold it together.  I don't want to be crying when we first meet him.  We are quickly told that he is expecting us, but he is eating a snack, so it will be a few more minutes.  He has been "waiting" for us and is "expecting" us - no pressure there :)

Within the compound there are 2 main houses.  One houses the babies, and one houses the older children.  We go with the LeFebers to find their little one.  He is 5 months old and just precious.  It is a nice distraction as they take us on a little tour of the babies house.  (This is their 2nd trip.)  There are 4 rooms upstairs where the babies sleep.  Downstairs there are several more rooms.  One is like a playroom for the babies.  Another one is the nurse's room.

 

As we are leaving the baby house and getting our shoes on, I see a glimpse of "G" from my side.  He is just waiting for us.  Of course, I have shoes that I have to tie, and it seems like it is taking forever.  I'm trying not to look until I can fully see him.  We hurriedly give our camera equipment to the LeFebers to start taking pictures. 

I was alittle anxious about meeting him in front of EVERYbody (staff).  But, in the moment, everyone just kinda fades away.  It was truly a divine moment, and I felt God's pressence.  I had prepared myself for the worst.  (part of the training)  But, it was so better than I ever imagined.  He was beautiful, and he "felt" like mine.  As I previously posted, he ran right up to me, jumped in my arms and said mama.  It was God's plan.  Simple - A child needed a mommy and a daddy, and we could be that mommy and daddy. 

We played with him for about 2 hours, and then it was time for his lunch.  We weren't able to eat lunch with him.  One of his little buddies had gotten upset and was missing his parents, so they asked us to wait outside the lunch room.  (His buddy will be coming home in less than 2 weeks and will live about 10 minutes from us.  God is in the details.)

We used this time to check out the older children's house.  As you can tell from the pictures, the staff keeps the house emmaculate, and they utilize all the space.

Community shoes - 1st come - 1st serve

 

This is "G" room.

This is his bed.

When a bed comes available, HH lets the government orphanage know, and they send a child.  HH never knows anything about the child - boy/girl, age, health status, etc.  So, things have to stay flexible.  A toddler may leave, but a baby may take his place - or vice versa.

The weather was awesome, and we were able to be on the balcony. 
It was wonderful just to stand there and soak it all in.

Addis Ababa is surrounded by mountains.  It is very beautiful.

It seems like everything is half-finished and idle.

As we were in "G" bedroom, we heard the children coming.  It was naptime and good-bye time.  I was wondering how it would all play out, but it went great.  He gave us hugs good-bye and let us kiss him.  We didn't leave sad but energized. 

 

On the wall of the staircase in the older child house

It was a perfect 1st meeting!

 

Arrival - ET

 
(August 19th)
 
Even though we had 24+ hours of travel time, we had a great time getting to Ethiopia.  We flew Ethiopian Airlines from DC to Addis Ababa, and it was the smoothest landing ever.  The flight attendants were friendly, and the food was good and plentiful.  We ended up doing business class due to flight schedules, but it was money well spent.  We both actually slept quite a bit on the plane.  "S" had convinced me that we needed an Ambien perscription, and I was so glad that he did.  It proved to be a "must-have" due to the 8 hour time change and nerves.

We arrived around 7:30 pm and quickly found our driver from the hotel. 
 

Getting to the hotel was an adventure.  I was all wide-eyed and trying to take it all in.  There are NO traffic lights, and people and livestock seemed to be everywhere.  At one point, I kept seeing folks walking carrying what seemed to be torches or candles, which was kinda freaky.  With the driver's limited English, he couldn't communicate what they were doing.  I later learned that it was the Orthodox Christians celebrating St. Mary.

We finally made it to our hotel, The Riviera.

 

(We got a kick from this in the lobby.)

We opted for a suite, and I am so glad that we did.  Now, the suites were several grades BELOW a regular room, and I would totally recommend a regular room UNLESS you are adopting an older child.  With "G", it was crucial that we be able to put him down at night, and then go in the other room.

 

The suites are not attached to the hotel.  You had to walk through a small parking lot, and then to a separate building.

This is pretty much the bedroom.  "G" had a roll-a-way bed, and we wedged it in between the wall and the bed.  It worked well.

Living area - view 1

Living area - view 2

 

If this appears small, then just imagine it smaller, and then you'd be about right.  Once we added "G" to the mix, the room got TIGHT.  It's hard to manage a very active 3 year old in 10' x 12' room for 5 days.

Once we got settled, we both took an Ambien and slept great!

I love finally being in Ethiopia!