November 13th: Churchill Street and Yod Abysinnia

This morning we woke up not knowing where we would shower. We met a housekeeper on our way to the reception desk. She wanted to take us to a room on the 3rd floor when I asked her to please show us to a room on the 2nd floor. They always want to fill the 3rd floor as the rooms are much nicer, esp the bathrooms. She took us to a very small room with a pretty nasty shower. What the room lacked in style it made up for in a HUGE way with hot water! Yahooo!!! We both got to take a much needed hot shower! After showering we got ready for the day and went upstairs to back. We had arranged with some friends to move into their room when they left as it had a working shower. The front desk was confused, but after much discussion we did move into their room later that day. I was feeling much better and it was a beautiful day!

Finally we were also to go back to L to see our sweet son. The walks to and from L are always interesting. Watching the traffic, watching the animals in the traffic (it is not uncommon to see a herd of goats or a cow or two on the way to the butcher), watching the exhaust from the cars (major pollution), watch the people...there is so much to see, to hear, to smell. One day on a walk Brandon and I talked about the beautiful Ethiopian people. Truly, they have a much better ratio or beautiful to not as beautiful (outwardly, I know this sounds shallow, but is meant in a great way) than any other place I have been. Everyone is beautiful! For months I have stared in awe at Ethiopian people and now I am surrounded by them. Another thing about the walk that amazed me is how comfortable I was in Ethiopia. I am a tall pale woman married to and walking with a tall pale man. Yes, we did stick out. The strange thing was, it didn’t fill like we did. I never felt out of place, I never felt like I looked different. I can’t explain it well, but it was pretty amazing.

After the morning with M we had lunch across from L with another family. It was a very cool little place and each person ate for about 1USD. After lunch Dawit took us to Churchill street. Dawit is great, so great! Churchill street is a market like street filled with shops where you can buy Ethiopian things. Dawit took us to his friend’s shop first and we were able to get great deals with out having to haggle for better prices which is good since I stink at it. How do I know we got good prices? Well, after that store we went to others and we paid half or less than half of the “foreigner price” the others were asking. We spent a long time in the first store and bought so much stuff! It was exciting to open the bags that night and see everything spread across the bed. If you want us to get you something on the next trip let us know and be specific. After much shopping we wend back to L for a little while.

For dinner we walked to a special Ethiopian restaurant called Yod Abysinnia. It was a place with food and coffee, but also lots of cultural entertainment. We were blessed to go with the volunteer group from our agency. The biggest blessing was to go with an Ethiopian who spoke great English. She sat next to me and talked with the servers.. AND... I GOT TO EAT ETHIOPIAN FOOD!!!! I knew that teff is gluten free, but as teff prices have gone up places are starting to use some teff and some wheat in injera. This injera was pure teff and nothing else had gluten in it. Normally all of the “wats” have butter in them, but if you order a “fasting tray” they are dairy free. Nothing has sugar in it, so I was set! It was SO SO SO GOOD! I think I just glowed all through dinner. It had been heartbreaking to not be able to eat the food of my son’s country and I was so thankful to finally be eating it. What a special gift! The entertainment was awesome. We have some great photos and video. The dancers were SO talented! This was by far the nicest place we ate at and cost 12.00 a person which included the show and food!
That night Brandon didn’t feel well. It seemed like it was the dinner, but it was starting earlier and we know it was from the babies. He woke up twice in the night to throw-up and had a fever.