Day 7
The beginning of the day was very slow. Tom arrived at the Tafo house for us at about 9am. We were all packed up and ready to move out of Tafo and into the city--Addis Ababa. Our shoe distributions are completed, and the remainder of our trip will be primarily spent in the government orphanages within the city.
We ended up waiting about 2 hours for a truck Tom had hired to move the bunkbeds out of the house. While we were waiting we got Tom to participate in some “buildering”. Those who rock climb will recognize buildering as bouldering on buildings. This is something that Nick and Brian enjoyed in the evenings. On this final day at the house in Tafo I finally tried some of the problems they made up. Sadly enough, I actually got a bit of a workout. Tom tried some too, and he did awesome! We really like Tom a lot. He is super calm, kind and down to earth.
We finally checked into our guest house in the city at about 1:30pm. The guesthouse is more spacious and cleaner than we were anticipating. There is a living room when you walk in with a sofa, love seat, 2 chairs and a table. There is also a bedroom, a bathroom and a small kitchen area. It seems pretty upscale for Ethiopia and is definitely geared toward tourists “foreinges”.
I opened the living room window to let in some fresh air, but smelled and saw the large group of sheep that live across the street. So much for fresh air. That’s one thing about the city here. Lots of exhaust and foul smells of trash. It is not uncommon to see men urinating on the side of the road. It’s interesting how on one side of the road there can be a beautiful new building, but then right next to it there might be a small “house” made with corrugated metal that is just large enough for one person to sleep in.
The Ethiopian people who work here were really friendly as usual and tried to carry all of our stuff up for us after welcoming us with a handshake, “selam” and bow. They made up a bed for brian and me next to the dining area. The bed looked wonderful with freshly washed blankets and pillows. For some reason it reminded me of when I used to spend the night at my grandma’s when I was a kid. We are on the second floor. The first floor consists of a restaurant and an outdoor patio. After eating a quick lunch in our room, Kelly and I went out to the patio to order macchiatos while we waited for Hailey and Yemamu to arrive.
After everyone had gathered together, we walked down the busy city road for about 15 or 20 minutes to pick up a taxi to take us to the first orphanage. As we walked down the street there was so much to take in…. the many beautiful people, some poor, some well dressed. There were many vendors selling things on the side of the road. There were many stores fronts with beautiful clothes to look at. It made me want to do some shopping before we leave here. (I didn't end up doing much shopping though. While there were some beautiful clothing for pretty cheap prices, I kind of felt guilty purchasing luxury items when little street kids were just trying to get by selling sticks of gum and packages of tissues.)
We hopped on a taxi (mini-bus) and Brian and I sat in the front seat with the driver. He spoke English and was excited to hear that we are living in “Colorado, Denver!” He has family there. I enjoyed the conversation and Ethiopian music he had playing and was laughing at his puffy Hannah Montana stickers that decorated his windshield. I would never want to drive in Ethiopia. There are no rules and no signs or street lights. It is insane.
We had to change taxis two more times before it was time to get off and walk some more to get to the first orphanage. The next posts will include our experience at the orphanages, but for now, here is some buildering excitement.
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