Shopping

Day #3-

Justin and I feel a lot better today after having a good sleep last night.  Justin almost slept for 12 hours he was so tired.  Our alarm died in the middle of the night so it was good that our neighbor was awake or who knows what time we would have gotten up this morning.  We had a leisurely morning with eating breakfast and talking with other couples at our hotel.  A few new families came in last night so we got to see a few new faces.  Breakfast was great with freshly squeezed pineapple juice, scrambled eggs, and Ethiopian pancakes (the cook here makes Western style meals). 

We headed off for a morning of shopping.  We weren’t sure what to expect, but we were able to buy more than we expected.  The people who ran the stores were all extremely friendly and very happy to help you (I’m sure when they see white people, they see money), but Ethiopians in general are very relationally based people.   We bought clothes for all three of our kids so I’m already thinking Christmas card picture for 2011.  This was a far better experience than we had anticipated.  It is considered rude if you do NOT haggle, so we did, but very little.  With response to one of my offers, a shop owner said using motions “how can you expect me to run if I don’t have any shoes” meaning, I was way too low.  Shopping here is right next to a busy street and is just little areas sticking out near the walking area, only about the size of a closet that you can only fit 1-3 people in at a time.  As soon as you come in, you are greeted by a very friendly person who will help you buy anything and everything in the store.  As you walk from store to store, you are assault by beggars and street kids.  There were ladies there with sticks to help shoo them away.  It was fun to see the store owner use a 1970s calculator to sum up our stuff (which had no price tags on it as everything is negotiable) and see a four digit number and not freak out. 

After shopping we had lunch at a restaurant called Lucy (named after the oldest skeleton in the world of a prehistoric person who was found in Ethiopia).  The meal was delicious although I’m starting to think they make everything with jalapenos because my meal was a little bit spicy. 

Then we again spent the afternoon at the orphanage visiting with Crew.  He was a lot more content with us today and hardly cried at all.  I even was able to get him to smile and laugh a couple times.  We changed his clothes into an outfit we had bought him so it was fun to see a little more of his body today.  We also had the opportunity to visit the orphanage for older children (3 years old to 14 years old).  They had the kids line up and sing and dance for us.  They sang Hark the Harold Angel Sing, If your Happy & You Know It & some other songs.  It was so cute; we wished we could have videotaped it. 

Tonight went to a traditional Ethiopian dinner with dancing and singing entertainment.  We really enjoyed the dancing, singing, and the food.  The food was their Ethiopian bread and then you dip it in bean paste, vegetables, beef, and something they said was like peanuts (a paste as well).  I had Ethiopian food in Washington DC and this was much better.  The dancing and singing was like nothing you have ever seen before.  There were three women and three men dancers. The women moved their heads in a circle (which would cause us neck or back spasms or at least make us very dizzy) and the men moved their chest and shoulders in ways I cannot even describe.  It was amazing.

 Thanks for all your comments on our blog and prayers that are being said for us.  We really feel supported and loved here.  We do feel like we have seen God over here in the beauty of the land and the kindness of the people.  Thank you Lord for making us all different so we can show more aspects of You.    

Us at Lucy’s for lunch

Crew’s hand in Chris’ hand

Crew’s foot over Chris’ foot

View from the top of our hotel