April 13, 2009 Today was Monday and another day is almost over in Ethiopia. Last night was not as quiet as the first night that we got here, or maybe we just weren't as tired, but our sleep was a little interrupted by barking dogs and crowing roosters at about 4 am. Whether it is the jet lag, or all of the excitement, I was not able to go back to sleep. The boys slept all through the night and woke up at 6:30. Any other morning, I would have been a little bummed, but since I had already been up for 2 1/2 hours it was not a big deal. We ate a breakfast with scrambled eggs and jalapeno peppers, which was very good (at least I thought so). They were a little spicy for Erin. Afterwards, I had to go to the US Embassy to make arrangements and make sure that everything is in order for the boys' visas, which we get together. Erin stayed home and played with the boys all morning. We awoke this morning to having no electricity. We have found out that Addis Ababa, the capital, and where we are staying is powered mostly by hydropower. During the dry months, the rivers go down a lot and produce less electricity. In order to provide, they turn off the electricity to certain parts of the city every day. The problem is that the people have no idea when their area may be affected. There is no schedule. It makes it very difficult for many businesses on these day, esp. if they have equipment or machinery that operates on electricity. The electricity came back on at 9 pm, so we got to enjoy our dinner by lantern tonight. For lunch we had another traditional meal which was injera and wat. Injera kind of like a large pancake. It looks a little like sponge and is made from a wheat. They make it in a large heated skillet outside. Wat is a sauce that can be made out of vegetables, ground meat, etc. We had 2 different kinds of wat, one that was so spicy, it even made the boys sweat a little. After lunch Baratkut had a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony for us. First she brought a pan of charcoal into the dining room. Then there is a small pan of washed coffee beans which she roasts over the coals. Next she used a traditional grinder, which is a metal container that holds the beans and a metal pole to grind them. After the water is heated over the coals, she puts the coffee powder into the coffee pot. This is a special ceremony that they perform while socializing with friends or family. After lunch we went shopping with another family adopting through Bethany and Milkyas (our Ethiopian adoption worker) as our guide, interpreter, and barterer. Because of how busy the market is and the chaos, Milkyas thought it was better that the children went back to the transition house for our trip. The boys were excited to show their friends and the workers at the orphanage some of their new toys, but at the same time they wanted to be assured that we were coming back. When we returned for them, they were so excited that they were literally squealing as they were running up to the van and were trying to jump in before we were even able to get out. It was such a good feeling to see that they want to be with us and be part of our family! The driving in Ethiopia is unlike anything either of us have experienced before. It is much worse even than China. The roads have yellow lines down the middle, but nobody pays any attention to them. They dart in and out of incoming traffic as well as the side of the road. It is pretty much a free for all. Throw in the fact that most of the traffic lights were not working today because of the electricity, and things were even a little more challenging. Additionally, there are thousands upon thousands of people on foot darting in and out of the vehicles. I have learned very quickly not to look out the front windshield. I found that when we play cars with the boys that they make "beep, beep" sounds instead of vroom and engine sounds. We definately know why. The people in Ethiopia are extremely friendly. Everybody that we have come into contact with has been very nice and polite (well, except for one of the Americans that I had to deal with at the embassy today). But as I said before, all of the Ethiopians have been very nice. Topigraphically, Addis is very hilly and there are mountains off in the distance. The temperatures have been very comfortable: the 60s during the night and the low 80s during the day. We had a brief layover in Khoutar, Sudan to refuel the plane on the way here and it was 107 degrees there, but that is much lower in altitude. Because Addis is farther up in altitude, it is spared some of the extreme African heat that we have all heard of. Today, even though it was about 82, many of the children in their school uniforms were wearing sweaters too. Well as I said earlier, my day started extremely early, and it is about 10 pm now. It is definately bed time, but tonight I use the foam earplugs. Good night from Africa. We are borrowing Nesibu's computer, so we are unable to post any pictures at this time. We will get them in here as soon as we can.     Traditional Coffee Ceremony     Live chickens being transported on van   Shopping     Shopping   Shopping   Ingera with different wat sauces     Traffic   Goat being transported on van             This page hosted by