August 8th Post

OK, I am going to attempt to pull the posts from Facebook so I can have a pretty good journal for our family to have in the future. It will be a lot, but for those who haven't been following facebook, this will help catch you up.
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Saturday, August 8, 2009

Hey Everyone! We made it to Ethiopia on Thursday! Wow! What a different world! We have much to share about our trip already, but can't post on our blog from here as of yet! If we had internet capability like this in the states, we are so spoiled, I doubt anyone would use it. Am so glad to get some connection. Facebook seems to be our only outlet. We can't even send emails. I will try to post a little here!

We have seen some of the most beautiful sights and some of the saddest sights since being here. It will take me a while to process it all! The people, in spite of their circumstances are warm and friendly and seem to all be willing to work very hard to glean the little bit of a living that they can. The exhaust fumes were a big part of today for us and every day for most of the 6 million people in Addis Abbaba.


Addis is the city we have come to to pick up our new son Teshale. Our travel guide and driver know him and have share some about him with us. The travel guide is his English teacher and bible teacher. He says that because Teshale has had to learn Amharic (the native language) of the country, he hasn't learned a lot of english yet, but he is willing!

Yesterday (Friday), I was in a fog all day long, but we went to see some sites. We went to the Rock Hewn Church which was the location that 5 replicas of the Arc of the Covenant were kept. We also went to a local Museum, to a Lion Zoo and a nice restaurant. So far so good on the digestion, but it is early yet! Smile! We just keep pouring down the JP+ and probiotics in hopes that we will be able to bypass that!

Today I woke up feeling much better and more coherent. Our driver and travel guide went all out for us today since we said that we would like to get out of the city to see the country. It took almost 2 hours to get out of the city. We all fared pretty well for the trip out. We had food on our stomachs and some motion sickness meds in us. It was beautiful once we got out of the city. We saw many colored birds and sites too many to elaborate on right now, but the guides were dedicated. You should have seen the mud holes they went through to get us to the tops of these mountains. We were not in a 4 wheel drive vehicle either. We were in a minivan! (Smile...)

With only a few scratches to the van, we made it and it was worth it. The drive back was green of a different kind. It made me so appreciative of the fresh air that I often take for granted in America. The poverty here is beyond belief and the people live right in the exhaust and mud. I have much more to pray about after the past few days! Anyway, we survived the trip back and are looking forward to tomorrow. We will be going to a local church that has services in English. It is the one Teshale has been attending, but unfortunately, he will not be there tomorrow.