Still Friday ...

What a beautiful smile!

We found her tickle spot.

Playing soccer at the orphange.

Relaxing at the orphange.

Playing a singing & dancing game.

They all want their photo taken.

Abby, Kali, Rosa, Selam & Marta

This just couldn't wait until tomorrow. What a beautiful country! The first few days here, the poverty just presses in on you and can be so overwhelming, to the point of missing the beauty of the people and the land. This morning we visited a local coffee shop that had the most wonderful coffee and pastries. Rick tried the coffee ... big step for him! I finished his and mine. Then it was off to the first orphanage, the one that Kali was in. It was very small, in what would be a private home for someone if the orphanage was not in it. We interrupted school time when we arrived. The younger ones were learning their Amharic alphabet with one little boy pointing to the letters on a chart on the wall and the others repeating what he said. The older children were practicing writing in their notebooks in both Amharic and English and doing very well! The orphanage director showed us around the house, which was very small but surprisingly cool. We both assumed that the weather here would be pretty hot with it being so close to the equator. But it has been so pleasant, to the point of needing a sweater in the mornings and evenings. The houses are built with very thick walls so it keeps the interior very cool. We were a little worried that Kali might think we were taking her back there and leaving her. She was her stoic little self the whole time we were there, even when all of the other kids came up to her and gave her kisses on the cheek.

We then went to the next orphanage where most of the pics above were taken. These kids are adorable! They all want to have their pictures taken and then see them on the cameras. Oh what digital has done for the world. Ryan and Abby pointed out some of the kids who are coming to the Bright Futures camp this year and some who came last year. All of the kids are just so happy!! It is quite clear that they are loved and cared for very well. We then went inside to see the babies. Even though they were all in a room that was row after row of cribs, these babies are loved! They make good eye contact with you and smile so big. They are so beautiful! We went back outside and watched the kids play a game where they stand in a circle and sing a song. One child is in the middle skipping around the inside of the circle. Toward the end of the song, that child will stop, do a little dance where he or she wiggles the hips and each shoulder goes up and down alternately, then she places her hand over her eyes, turns around pointing. When the song stops, whoever she is pointing to is the next one in the circle. It was so much fun watching them. They smile and laugh and the little dance, it is too cute!!

After that, it was off to lunch. Just driving through the city is quite an experience. First of all, there are no rules to the driving. There are lines on the road, but they don't matter. Everyone drives where they want to on the road. There are pedestrians walking in the street and the cars come so close to them. I have seen only 2 traffic lights, but maybe red means go here?? We saw one stop sign that was completely ignored by Eyasu ... not even a rolling stop! Yet, despite all of this, we feel completely safe. We have not seen one car accident. Ryan said that in his time here, he's seen only one. Maybe our problem is that we have too many rules? For every car on the road (and there are many!!!) you will see 20 people walking. Even when we went to the foster home yesterday, which is further out of the city, there are lots of people walking along side and on the road. You see the boys herding their sheep (they look like goats to me, but Ryan corrected me) through the middle of the busy city, or the man with his team of mules carrying wood. At the coffee shop today, right outside was a man selling (I assume) chickens. They were still alive, but their feet were all bundled together so they couldn't move more than their heads. And the people ... you see men walking together all the time with their arms around each other's shoulders, or women walking holding hands. It doesn't mean anything other than friendship. It gives you such a warm feeling watching this and makes you wonder what happened to us in the good ol' US of A. How did we become so homophobic??

Today has been a really good day. It takes a few days being here before you can see past the poverty to the love and goodness of a country that holds its history with such pride. These are truly good people!!

And Kali finally came out of her shell!! After Rosa scooped her up for most of the morning (Rosa is a heart breaking story that I would love to share with all in hopes of finding her a good family, but I am not sure how much info I am at liberty to give) and took very good care of her, she began going to all the girls when they held out their arms to her. And then Rosa and Stephanie discovered the tickle spots at lunch!! What a moment!! Kali's smile just lights up her face and it was fantastic to finally see it! I felt like we've been in that Royal Caribbean commercial where the mother is trying to find the smile she knows exists on her daughter's face.

An interesting side note ... we came out of the foster home yesterday and Eyasu showed us the mirror from the drivers' side mirror. I mean he was holding the mirror itself. Ryan told us that it is quite common for someone to steal the mirror off of your car here and then sell it to some place for quick cash. There is only one place that buys these, so if you want your mirror back, you have to go there and buy it back for about 300 birr. What a racket! He told us a story of how one of their drivers came out from somewhere and noticed his missing. He drove straight to that place and saw the guy who took it walking up to the place! He stopped him and the guy just laughed, knowing that he'd been caught. He offered to sell it back to the driver for 100 birr. The driver offered him 30 birr to just put it back on the car for him, which was accepted!! 30 birr is around $3!

Tip of the day ... both the Sheraton and the Hilton have hair dryers mounted on the wall in the bathroom. One less thing that you can pack and more room for humanitarian aid!

And finally, a few things that Abby and Ryan miss from the states (don't forget that they are from Texas) ... salsa, taco seasoning, Krispy Kreme donuts, Dr. Pepper (that one may be too hard to get through security since it is a liquid after all ... unless you put 3 oz of it in a plastic bottle and then into a quart size zip lock baggie!)

Rest time now (Kali is taking her afternoon nap) and then on to another orphanage this afternoon.