not moving, and can have a bit of laid back, quality time.
This morning, Ebba was brilliant -slept thru the nite (poor Allison didn't,
worry wort Mom that she is!), fussed a teeny bit on waking, took her bottle
and was a happy, playful, chatty child before and after breakfast. She got
her hair redone (divided up into 7 or 8 teeny pigtails), shared Allison's
eggs, ate bits of All Bran bars, then finished the whole thing off with
liquidy oatmeal. We went for a walk up to the roof top patio, then wandered
up and down the second floor hall while we got ready to head out. We went
back to the baby house (why Allison, Ebba and I had to go is beyond me) for
Andrew and Christina to get their baby, and while there, Ebba was WHISKED
off without a by your leave by one of the nurses, to visit her friends.
Well, tho I wasn't present when Allison retreived her, I imagine it wasn't
pretty, and Ebba certainly has been a different baby since - back to the
quiet, shy, somewhat withdrawn child she was yesterday. Oh, well, I'm sure
it's very hard for the staff to see the babies go and they would want an
opportunity to see her once more, and this will likely be only a minor
setback, but still...
Have now participated in THREE coffee ceremonies, and I've just about had it
with the freshly roasted, thick black coffee they make and offer in tiny
espresso cups with sugar only (today there was popcorn instead of the
roasted barley and peanuts as an accompaniment). HOWEVER, with breakfast
this morning I had "coffee with milk" instead of the tea I'd had previously.
"Coffee with milk" is one small pot of the same thick, black coffee with
another pot of hot milk, so one can have a cafe au lait. And THIS was
delicious.
On the way back from the baby house, with babies Ebba and Yared firmly
ensconced on their mom's respective laps, we set off to find bananas,
applesauce and smallish bowls for Allison to mash fruit and mix cereal in
for Ebba, and to get a further different formula for Yared (his parents
having picked up 8 tins of the wrong kind yesterday). I can't even remember
the number of places we had to go to get the formula, and we never did find
the bowls. We stopped at 2 places to get fruit - the first (the place where
the formula was FINALLY located) we managed to get papayas and oranges, and
the second yielded battered looking small bananas. We gave up on the bowls
at that point. Amazing, really - 2 biggish (tho slightly scary looking)
papayas (which required a good scrubbing with antibacterial dish soap prior
to further handling - icky dirty sticky with strands of stuff stuck to
them), 1 kg of nice looking small oranges, and 1 kg of bananas (which are
not nearly as ripe as they look) cost a total of $25 Birr (about $2.50 USD),
way less than what I'd pay for them in GSO.
Have now seen cats and a pair of horses (being ridden in traffic, oh, and
one other pulling a cart, a day or two ago), in addition to the dogs,
donkeys, sheep, goats, cattle and lone chicken. I've decided the large
circling birds are some sort of raptor. Have also seen a brilliant blue
bird, and a bright green one as well. Apparently birding is a big draw here
in Ethiopia, with a number of birds not found anywhere else in the world.
Have now also seen traffic lights (one set of which we went merrily sailing
thru on a red, along with a stream of other cars), and two wheeled
contrivances (think tow trailers for hauling ATVs and things) laden with all
kinds of things, and pushed by hand (usually by several people). These, of
course, are on the roads, along with everything else.
Tentative plans for the upcoming days include a trip up some hill, to see
all of Addis laid before us (am dreading that a bit, as by the end of
today's drive, I was pretty keen on getting out of the car, and not getting
back into it any time soon), shopping for traditional clothing, jewelry and
Ethiopian coffee pots (Allison's list), an Ethiopian cultural evening (I
suspect tej will be available, described to me as a wine made from honey), a
possible trip to the orphanage that Ebba is from, and a visit to a church
this Sunday, which is having a special carol service. We also need to swing
by the airport at some point, as we have not got specific seats booked for
the flight home - the flights here were pretty cramped, and with a baby now,
we'd prefer a little extra room for the trip home. No rest for the weary
(tho I've slept very well so far, and don't feel jet lagged at all, tho
pretty much hungry and trembly every few hours).
Well, I suppose I should get off this lone machine (the only internet
connection in the hotel), and go see if Allison needs any help. Or see if
we can settle in for a nap....
Later.
A
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