Day 3 & 4

Day 3 - Back to our trip... On the third and fourth day we decided we wanted to drive to the town (Sodo) where the orphanage is where our kids were at. We traveled 6 hours with two other couples (Jenny and Adam & Brad and his mom) and three men from Ethiopia. We had our driver, a guy from our agency and then a guy from the orphanage. Once you get out of the main city there is country side as far as the eye can see. There were wild baboons running along side the road. People walking in the streets with yellow jugs in hand. Walking for miles to go and get water. Other people walk for days to go to the market on Wed. and Sat to sell/trade what they harvest and farm. Donkeys are everywhere and used for so many things. The country is beautiful and so are the people. Every time we were in the car everyone would waive and come up to the car. Many begging for food or money. We would waive and they would waive and smile back with excitement. The families we traveled with were the best. I had the worst sinus head cold in the world. One of the girls is a nurse and had all kinds of drugs to try and help me.

     Once we got to Sodo we went and grabbed some lunch. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard. 6 white people trying to order American food. The waitress had a hard time understanding what we wanted. We ordered 3 fanta drinks, 2 beers and a water for the 6 of us. We got 3 fanta's and 3 beers. We ordered 1 spaghetti, 2 roasted chickens, and 3 beef meals. We got 1 spaghetti, 2 roasted chickens, and 2 beefs. She ended up bringing out the 3 beef once we asked for it. Butter for our rolls was impossible to get, believe me Adam asked everywhere we went. After we ate we went to see the orphanage. The orphanage has only been around for 6 mos. All of the kids were taking naps until we showed up. We took a tour. Adam played soccer with a few of the older kids. By older I mean 6 years and younger. We stayed there for a couple of hours. I ended up playing with 3 little boys in their room. I would say they were 3 or 4 years old. They would come to their door and peek out at me. I would chase them into their room and tickle each of them. They would hind in the corners of the room and under the bunk beds. It was a great time and a great workout. It was very much worth the drive down. After the orphanage we went back to the hotel. I wanted to take a nap since I was not feeling well. I slept for a few hours. Caleb and I passed on dinner. I took some night time meds and a sleeping pill and didn't wake up until the morning.

     Day 4 - Happy Thanksgiving. On our drive home it ended up taking 13 hours to get home. The taxi/van we were in had the hardest seats in the world. We ended up stopping at a lake, and a resort where we ate lunch. When we stopped for lunch it was outside. There were monkey's in the trees above out heads. They were calling out to each other the whole time we ate. One got pretty close to me because Caleb turned and tried to grab the camera but missed getting a picture of it before it was back in the tree. I am not gonna lie they kind of scared me. I kept joking that I was going to go eat in the van but deep down there was some honesty to that. We also stopped and watched a 50 year celebration in one of the towns. There were people out in a field doing traditional dances. We knew as soon as we got out of the car we would become the show but we wanted to watch the dancing. Let's just say the show was stopped because the whole crowd was watching us. Kids gathered around us and just smiled. Adam was told he had beautiful arms which made us all laugh and became a running joke. We got back in the car and kept driving. We came across wild camels next to the road. We also found greenhouses for miles. We were told they grow roses and export them to Europe. I never would have guessed.

    Once we made it back to Addis we were told the rest of the families who didn't travel were waiting for us to have a traditional Ethiopian dinner. The founder of our adoption agency had set up the dinner and was also waiting. After 13 hours of traveling it was hard going to dinner. They had traditional live music and dancers. The 6 of us sat around this TP/ dome looking thing. When they took the cover off there was a sponge like bread (injera) that covers the bottom. They bring out all different kinds of meats and a few vegetables and place them in the center. Everyone uses their hands to eat the meal. You break off a piece of the injera and then place it on top of the meat or veggie you want and pick it up and eat it. It seemed like most people in our group liked it and was willing to try it. I had one bite and my gag reflexes kicked in. Caleb tried everything that was offered. The very last thing that they brought out was the leg bone of a lamb with the tendons attached. Caleb even tried that and that is when his gag reflexes kicked in. Here is a pic of what it looks like. Yummy.