Thursday in Addis

9 pm or so.

A relatively quiet day, activity-wise: Ebba slept in (7:30 or so - yay!),
had her bottle, breakfast with us at about 8:30 (oatmeal, mashed banana),
then a bath in the kitchen sink (the tub has no plug!), and a walkabout/nap
in the baby carrier in the roof of the guest house - has a nice 360 view of
the city.

After lunch we went shopping and bought things to take home for famly &
friends. Ebba travelled well, tho missed her afternoon nap, and as a result
konked out a bit early tonight. Hope she doesn't wake at the crack of dawn.
Two poops today, for those that are counting (and remember the suspense of
waiting for Mei Le to poop when we first got her!).

Our fellow new parents, Andrew and Christina had a bit of a rough day, as C
seems to have come down with traveller's gut-rot, and finally went to the
medical clinic and now is armed with antibiotics, an anti-nausea drug,
rehydration salts, and crackers. They also had the doc listen to their
son's chest, as he has been pretty miserable with a head cold, and
thankfully his chest is clear, and he seems to be mending.

Ebba is BUSY!!! OMG. I may be too old for this child! She goes at 90 miles
an hour, and is into everything! And she doesn't take you at face value; if
I correct her for doing something inappropriate (grabbing the phone cord,
playing with the TV buttons, sticking her finger into something she
shouldn't, standing on a book), she looks at me, smiles, and procedes to DO
IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. Andrea finally looked up the Amharic word for NO,
which seems to have a better effect, but am struggling to walk the line btw
establishing trust and love, and setting limits. This will be fun!

OTOH, she does appear to be attaching well. She is comfortable being close
to me now, and seeks me out when she's walking about. When she sees me
strapping on the baby carrier, she walks up to me with her arms raised to
come up. (The Ergo carrier really is very good, I might add). We are
figuring each other out, and I am optimistic for a smooth (yet BUSY)
transition!

Random thoughts on Addis so far:

- The climate is fantastic: warm to hot during the day (24 or so) but dry,
with cool breezy nights. Couldn't be better.
- The traffic is wild - there must be some unspoken yet agreed-upon set of
rules, bec it works - yet to the untrained eye appears simply chaotic.
- The poverty is overwhelming and very obvious - people begging on the
streets wherever you go, incl women with babies in their arms. Today we
took frut to give out thru the van window, as they approach us at
stoplights. Walking the streets is hard, bec they follow you, and you can't
really give anything, or else you will be mobbed by everyone in sight.
- There is also vast wealth: amazing houses, expensive SUVs, etc. A real
city of contrasts.
- There is a lot of English on signs etc, and it seems pretty widely spoken,
to diff degrees.
- Animals everywhere there is grass, including graxzing outside the walls of
the Hilton, and on the medians of highways. The donkeys and sheep/goats
look surprisingly well. Have seen some street dogs and cats. They seem to
scavenge more or less successfully. Dogs also seem to be kept as pets and
guard animals; there are several in walled houses around our guest house -
and they bark at things in the night.
- There are many interesting birds, even in the trees around our GH. Large
black crow-like ones with white collars; yellowish ones with LONG beaks, and
some dark starling-like ones that flash irridescent turqouise when the fly.
- No bugs. Really. Andrea witnessed a med-sized cockroach in the van, and I
have seen one tiny gnat-like thing. But that's it. The GH has no screens,
and most houses are open.

Tomorrow we are being taken up a big hill overlooking the city so we can get
the big picture, then a bit more shopping. Sunday am we are going to a
special church carol service for Xmas (ETH Xmas is not until Jan 7 - this
one is for x-pats, I guess).