Another Day in Ethiopia

Today was a really long and hard day for me (Kristine).  We started out in the morning to two museums.  When we first headed out in the van a young boy came to my window and told me he was hungry so as the driver started to go I handed him a bunch of candy canes that I was bringing to the orphanage.  We have been told that if you give to one that a mob will surround you and that you have to be careful.  As we continued on our way to the first museum, we were tied up in traffic and had many beggars approach our van.  The driver told me to close the window because he could see I was getting upset.  We have experienced the begging since we arrived but today it was really difficult for me emotionally.  It’s so hard to see the poor and suffering here when we have so much at home.  You so badly want to give but you don’t want to create a mob scene so I found myself just in tears for most of the ride.

 The first museum we visited was the University Museum; we had a wonderful tour guide and learned much about the rich Ethiopian culture.  We then moved onto the National Museum and learned  more Ethiopian history along with seeing fossils, some human, millions of years old.  I forget how young America is in comparison to other cultures.  The Ethiopians are very strong yet peaceful people and it shows throughout their history.

After lunch we went back to the orphanage.  Melat was ready to see us and immediately crawled into Greg’s lap and just stared at him, it was so cute.  I brought some small beach balls and blew a few up and handed them to the older children.   When I handed one to Melat she instantly started to kick it to me, she was amazing.  I think we have a natural born soccer player.  I then got out some coloring books and crayons.  The orphanage director told me that Melat had never held a crayon, but once we showed her how she became an artist coloring many pages.  When I pulled out the sticker and asked her where she wanted it she pointed on the page.  We were both amazed how quickly she was catching on to everything we showed her or asked her to do.  When our visit came to an end we all had a hard time.  She did not want me to hand her off and cried when we left.  I don’t think we will have many bonding issues.

Greg and I were able to rest a little before our guide took us out for an amazing authentic Ethiopian dinner and dance show.  We are now back in the room ready to go to bed so that we can go to court early tomorrow morning.  After we are finished with court we will be able to post photos of our sweet little girl so stay tuned.

We hope that grandma and grandpa made it safely to Grand Rapids.  Thanks for hanging out and taking care of our girls.  Ja and Anniearea we miss you both so very much and can’t wait to get home to tell you all about our trip.  Love you!!!

-- Kristine

(10:44pm Thur, 12/15 Etiopian time)