Shopping and Eating in Ethiopia

On Wednesday in Ethiopia we visited Hannah's Hope some more, went shopping, and went to eat dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant.

We loved spending time at Hannah's Hope. It is an amazing place, full of joy. We marveled at how happy the children are and rarely did we hear a baby cry...and there's a LOT of babies. Just a guess, I'd say there are about 30 babies and 20 toddler-preschool. We did not see alot of school age children, so we assumed they were at school.

It was fun to walk around the house and look at all the bedrooms painted with beautiful pictures and lined with cribs. We saw Eli's bed, one in a room of 6 beds. We let his special mother give him a bottle this day, and it was obvious she was very fond of him and he knew her well. She spoke no English but just grinned at us. We learned that he was bottle number 28.

I sat outside with the toddlers and preschoolers on a play mat during their play time. It was very impressive how they stayed put, they obviously know the routine. Those 15 kids caused less trouble than my oldest 2! Most of the toys were dirty and broken, but it didn't seem to matter. As we sat there, one of the special mothers was rubbing oil on each of their heads and it seemed to almost put them to sleep (not with Eli, he hates having his head messed with!). Two of the little girls wanted to sit on my lap, so I made room for both. One of them kept rubbing my hair and the other picked sequins off my shirt. I could have sat there all day looking into those beautiful brown eyes, and I will never forget those moments with little girls searching my face to see if I could be their mama.

We went with 3 other families to a shopping market to buy souvenirs. The shops were basically a tourist trap, but we got some mementos we'll always treasure. We only had an hour, but I was prepared with a list. We got Eli some things to give to him on special occasions, and we also got items for the kids and our home. Among our purchases were two bowls, picture frame, belt, 2 t-shirts for Eli later, basket, 2 drums, doll, banana leaf pictures, 3 bracelets and 1 necklace. The best things were traditional Ethiopian outfits for all three kids, which they will wear when Eli is dedicated at church. A worker at Hannah's Hope also fixed us up with coffee, music DVD's, and an Amharic Bible.

Eli and I sitting outside the hotel ready to go for dinner. He wore is ET shirt.

Wednesday night we went with three other families to eat at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. When we ate at an ET place in Indy, we did not like it, so we did not go real hungry this night. We were pleasantly surprised though. The food was very good. The meal started with hand washing (you eat with your hands). Then the waitress brought us lots of food. Everyone eats off the same big plate, and we were all happy with the meal. During the meal there was a band of 4 musicians, playing drums and flutes. Later a lady sang while 3 guy and 3 girl dancers performed. It was fun to watch, and a very different style of dancing. We thought for sure someone would through their back out. Eli slept through the first part of the night, and then he wasn't too fond of the music either, but we were glad we went. Many families did not come with us because they were sick. We still thank God that we were healthy the entire trip.



This night, our last in ET, was our best sleep yet!