Hanging around in Africa

Today was definitely an interesting day. First of all, last night with Mikias went much better than the first night. We’re a very efficient bottle-making machine now. If there was an Olymipic event that included mixing water and powder as quickly as possible after being awaken from a dead sleep I’m sure I’d be headed for a medal. It has been interesting trying to learn how to care for a baby while in a very foreign environment. Last night was good up until 4am. Mikias woke up and we gave him his bottle, but he refused to go back to sleep. He was in a very happy mood though, so we ended up just playing with him for a couple of hours instead of sleeping.

Alemu arranged a trip for us to a monastery that was about 2 hours (country roads) outside of Addis. He suggested that we not bring Mikias because we would be making several stops. So, Mikias had his first babysitters today (that didn’t take long). Gizesh and Hewot, the two women who work at the guesthouse watched him today. It was a little difficult leaving him, but we’re also in Ethiopia to gain knowledge of the culture and customs to share with him later. Seemed like the right thing to do. Of course having to explain Mikias’ care to these two women was interesting especially because of the language barrier and our lack of certainty.

We left at 8am and picked up two of Alemu’s nephews and one of his friends who came along with us. Once we drove out of Addis into the countryside we were just amazed. The landscape is beautiful and very mountainous. We stopped at a weekend market in a village along the way. This was a very cool, but intimidating experience. We obviously stuck out…if not for our “whiteness” then definitely for the “interested” crowd of people following us around. It was a bit nerve-wracking having people watch your every move. We walked around a bit and saw practically everything (donkeys, shoes, chickens, batteries, flour, nails, etc.) for sale. The market was somewhat of an organized chaos. After stepping around donkeys, over chickens and breaking away from the weird following, it was a relief to be back in the car.

From there we continued on to the monastery. It was located off the main road about 4 km on a dirt road which took us at least 15 minutes to travel. This again was a bit intimidating because we traveled through a very poor village filled with beggars and interested people waving and yelling at the car. Once we arrived, we spent some time viewing in and around the building including a 15 minute hike up a mountain to a cave. The elevation aided in making this a challenge.

On the 2 hour drive back to Addis, we stopped and had a late picnic style lunch. This essentially included us sitting in a manure-filled field alongside the road, swatting flies and choking down sandwiches. This was all witnessed by a few of our closest local friends (children) who surrounded the blanket to watch us eat. Alemu informed us that they most likely had never seen a white person. We have been carrying around little packages of candy wherever we go, so this was an example of where we gave them out. They were appreciative as noted by them chasing our car down the road as we left.

Once returning back to the guest house, we spent most of the time playing with and feeding Mikias. We’re hoping to get him to sleep a little longer tonight but who knows how that will turn out.