On the Ground In Ethiopia!

(It's Shannon--Reed e-mailed me and asked me to post the following):

US time: 12:30 pm Sunday
Ethiopia time: 9:30 pm Sunday

We made it!

No one wants to be on a plane for 14 straight hours, but if necessity strikes you, fly Emirates Airlines. It was an incredible experience. From hundreds of movies on the plane to an included hotel and meal vouchers for an overnight stay in Dubai, it was very plush. On Sunday morning, as we waited for the plane, we had the pleasant surprise of eating at Cosi – one of our favorite restaurants in Philadelphia.

We got to Addis Ababa around lunchtime on Sunday. We are staying at a guesthouse that will be a wonderful haven for the week. We have a living room, bedroom, kitchenette, and a bathroom. We hired a taxi driver to take us around for the rest of the afternoon and it was incredible to see this exotic place. We went to two museums this afternoon – one of which included the famous Lucy remains, which was discovered in Ethiopia.

Our driver (Sahlu) shared more than his time with us, he told us a lot about what it was like to grow up and work in Addis. We knew the people would be welcoming, but nothing could prepare us for how nice Ethiopians truly are. First of all, if we drove as lawlessly in the States, people would constantly be shooting each other on the roads.

We spent much of the taxi time only inches from other cars and there was absolutely no regard for lanes, intersections, or anything else, but not once did I see an angry look or hear a horn honk in a sinister way. By the end of the day our driver had invited us to a traditional dance festival and called me his brother and Lee Ann his sister. He also took us to a market where some of his friends have a stand and we could trust their prices – we got some wonderful souvenirs.

Of course the poverty was striking. We saw children with deformities out roaming the streets. We saw shantytowns that words simply can’t describe. We certainly hurt for people we didn’t know and could not help. But we love this place. We love the people. We love how different it is from our normal life. We love how beautiful it is – wonderful mountains surround the city. We are so happy that this place will forever be a part of our life.

Tomorrow (Monday) is the big day. We meet our Compassion child in the morning and then it is off to the orphanage to pick up Tarik. With all the fun we had this afternoon it is amazing to think that tomorrow is really it, the culmination of a year of work, hope and prayer. But it is; and we will tell you all about it.