August 31 - Running Around

Sleeping Beauties

Today was another busy day. I was determined to get as much eating in as I could, since we are now on holiday. *smile* This morning, as soon as we had finished our breakfast we got our driver (LOVE that luxury!! The man walks with you, talks for you, bargains for you, carries your packages, does crazy things like run back to your car through the rain to get your video camera because you just NEED to video camera a scene for your memories!!) and headed out for some last minute shopping.

First stop: scarves for the girls. I love the headdresses the Africans wear and the girls traditional dresses have them, but I wanted some for when they are wearing regular clothes and such. I love to see the many, many ways the young girls and women will wear their headscarves!! Beautiful!! I am actually getting pretty good at putting on the scarves in different ways.

While I was getting the scarves, I ended up getting some more dresses for the girls. These all come with head scarves and are so pretty! We then headed to the coffee store. I intended to buy about 18 more bags of coffee – 6 to give away, and 12 for me. I know that will not be enough, but I want to start right. Perhaps we can get some shipped to us. This coffee will go very nicely with my new espresso/cappuccino maker that I am going to get! HA! Can’t spend time in Ethiopia drinking Murikato and other great drinks and not go and get the supplies to duplicate them!

Coffee Shop

Next stop – Silver stores. Our wonderful driver knew exactly where to take us to find silver. The second that we got out of the car it began to rain. Within minutes, it was pouring down raining and very cold! The ‘puddle’ on the side of the road became 10’ wide in no time!! It was unbelievable how quickly we could go from dry streets to almost under water in literally minutes. That sure shows what the rainy season is all about!

At the jewelry store, Ray and I settled on two little silver bracelets for the girls. We put their name on the top side and Adama, their birthplace, on the bottom. I will have this engraved in Amharic tomorrow and be back to pick it up in the morning. I might also buy myself some silver while I am there.

When we left the store we had a dilemma. We had to get across the street and the ‘gutter’ – the side of the street where cars park – was literally 8-10’ across of water!! Our driver picked up one of the girls and was going to pass her to Colt, but there was a fear of dropping her in the water. At one point a minivan pulled up into the river of water, and opened it’s doors. It was going to give us a ride thinking we were stranded!

I wanted to get a picture of this and my camera was dead because two children, who shall remain nameless, borrowed my camera to take a picture, which quickly became 14, and then my dying batteries were then totally dead. So I asked our kind driver if he could run back to the car and get my video camera. He handed off the little child he was carrying and took a flying leap through the air and landed on the far side of the river. He returned a few minutes later with the camera, but now the river was receding –that quickly!!!

But it was still not narrow enough to cross safely. Everyone else got across neatly, but I had to take a jump and that was not good enough. I ended up with my feet in the river and my stomach squirmed all the way back to the guest house, just thinking what was floating down the river of water from up town!! *grimace*

When I got back to the guesthouse I quickly washed my feet in the tub, along with my flip flops and then I rinsed both with Purell antibacterial. *grin* I was not taking chances! I should mention that anyone smart would have been wearing shoes, but my shoes went walking in Adama. I have no idea where they might be or who might have taken them, but they vanished, and so now I get to travel home in flip flops!!! I can only hope it is not too cold in Canada!

I will say that the next time I go to Ethiopia, it will be in about Feb/March, so that means I will not get wet, and I will be warm!!

After we left the hotel we kept our eyes peeled for some little boys to give Claire's toy cars to. When our driver was parked near the dress shop, and I had already done my buying, I had an opportunity. I saw this woman walk by with three little boys. I waited for someone to come back and sit with the girls and then I jumped out of the car and headed down the street towards the little family.

I stopped near the boys and held out the cars and said in an invited tone, "Makina?" (car?) You should have seen the jump of delight from these boys. "MAKINA!! MAKINA!!" And they put out their hands, barely containing their enthusiasm. Claire, trust me, your little cars certainly made these little boys' day!!

We had one more opportunity to give a car away. We were pulled up to a stoplight and a woman walked by with a little boy sleeping on her back. I handed her 10 birr and the little car. She smiled widely when she saw the car. As a mother I can only guess that somebody noticing *her* little boy out of all the children was a nice thing for her.

Lunch was next and we had a wonderful lunch – almost a dinner! The girls eat so much it blows me away. Seriously if we are talking cups of food, Briton and Cooper eat about 1 cup of spaghetti and meat sauce. The girls ate about 3-4 cups of that for lunch today!! That was about 3:00 pm. At 7:30 I was still stuff from my dinner. I asked the girls: Ra BESH? Are you hungry? And they both said, Yes.

We are taking them to see an adoption doctor in Vancouver once we are settled, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I am going to be asking about parasites. It is either parasites, or just plain years of hunger and making up for lost time!

The boys are enjoying the freedom of drinking pop, cause at home they don’t get it. It will be rather sad for them when these days come to an end. *grin*

After lunch, the driver dropped Ray and the girls, and Dane off at the guest house. I headed to an internet café with Colt and the driver. We ended up going to the Sheraton as that internet would be fast. That hotel is something! I would love to stay there sometime! Not that we could afford it. But it would be nice to have hot water when you need it, toilets that always flush, and toilet paper in the bathrooms! Every one I found in the Sheraton had paper. What a thrill. I have only found toilet paper in a handful of bathrooms so far!

The packing continued when I got back to our room. We are almost packed for home with the dresses, and coffee being the main thing. I bought a beautiful fine porcelain coffee set. The cups are about ¼ cup size. They are white with a trim of gold on the upper part of the cup, plus a section of Ethiopian art on each piece. I then bartered and got myself a coffee table and a stool to sit on.

I was ready for bed, as I am bushed from all this busyiness on this trip, but Ray really wanted to go out for dinner again. So we packed up the girls and the boys and walked down to the Ricos restaurant. The food is good enough – nice – there. Nothing special and if I chose again, I would go to Cloud 9 instead. We ate there a few times. The best.

When we were leaving the restaurant we did the typical thing – ask for our dinners to go as leftovers. The driver told the man what I had said: we buy 6 dinners, and we end up feeding 9 people altogether with our leftovers in the count. Well, the man who worked there was so pleased that he headed off to the kitchen and then came back with a handful of buns. It is nice when people get involved.

When we got home we packed the girls into bed and hit the sack ourselves. I am at the end of my energy and so the writing is coming early in the morning.

Tomorrow we leave. Packing to finish. Shopping to complete. Little gifts for street children to give out.