Court Trip - Post 8 - On The Streets

When we were finished eating lunch, we headed out again to do some more shopping. The driver took us to a row of shops near the post office. Traffic was a little worse (if that's possible). It was Monday. People were back to work and school was in session. Vans drove around loaded with sweet little children in their matching uniforms. Children walked down the streets in groups -- the lucky ones -- who got to attend school. We noticed that their "uniforms" seemed to be by age groups. The 7/8 year olds all wore a green sweater vest. The older kids all wore a red sweater, etc. They were all happy and skipping along. They knew they were blessed to be able to attend school. How I wish my children could see and understand how blessed they are!!

At one particularly horrendous intersection, with cars, vans, and trucks going in all different directions, I was in the back row of seats in the van and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the very top of someone's head, going out INTO the middle of traffic. My heart lurched and I exclaimed, "Is that a little kid?!" (because it was so low to the ground that I thought it had to be a TINY little kid!). Amanda looked out the side window, looked back with a devastated look on her face and replied, "No. It's a crippled man."

We looked out the side window and were shocked. Never have I seen anything like it in my life. Both of his legs were completely bent, like he was squatting as low as he could, but they bent in a strange way so that he was walking on the sides of his feet, with his hands behind him -- like a sort of twisted crab walk. He was weaving his way through the crowded, crazy streets. It was heart-breaking and amazing at the same time. How had he survived to this age in that condition? What caused his deformity? Was it something easily treatable or correctable if he only lived someplace where he had access to medical care? What strength of spirit drives someone in that condition, in that poverty, in that state of life to carry on, to go out and do whatever he can to survive?!

There was no shortage of things to marvel at on the streets in Addis.

We saw meat hanging in the open, dirty air.

There was, at times, amazing beauty -- trees covered with beautiful lavender blooms, exotic colorful blooms, smiles on faces that would light up a room. There was life! But, there was also death, decay, and destitution -- a dead dog just laying in the middle of the sidewalk decaying, people laying and living on the streets, deformed and crippled men and women laying on the street corners begging to survive. I saw a woman laying asleep on the street with her bare breast hanging out of her shirt, her nursing baby sitting next to her awake and alone.

Beautiful trees tucked amidst the shacks.

Gorgeous countryside

With children running out to chase the van and beg for food.

The people were always beautiful though! They had on rags, but they also had smiles on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Friends - men, women, boys, and young girls - were so loving to one another. Men embrace one another. They hold hands. Boys and teens walk with their arm slung around their pal next to them. I had read about it in my travel guide, but it was so heart-warming to see. A very conservative country - Ethiopia outlaws homosexuality. Men and women do not ever display romantic affection in public. But same gender affection is common. Friend to friend, brother to brother, sister to sister, they are close. They care for one another and love deeply. A true community.

Workineh and our driver

Men on the streets of Addis

I saw so many grown men, dressed in tattered clothes, stop to have their shoes shined by the adolescent boys trying to earn money for food or for their families. I kept thinking that surely they didn't really have the money to have their shoes shined, but I suspect that many of those men grew up doing the same for their families. They knew what those boys were facing and they wanted to help them.

While we shopped at the row of stores, my other saddest experience in country occurred. A young boy, probably 8 or 9 years old, approached me and said, "shoe shine, miss?" I said, "no thank you" and kept walking but he followed. "Please Miss. Please. Shoe shine?" I looked around and it was crowded. There was a man selling maps on the streets, another 2 selling jewelry, another selling watches and hats. I couldn't. If I did, they'd all come. I couldn't create another near incident! "No thank you, honey." He looked like he could cry. "please Miss," he begged, "the other kids, they get to go to school. I no go to school. I have to do this. Please. No business today." My insides were being shredded. I had to get away before I burst into tears. "I am so sorry, honey. No thank you." I started to duck into the nearest store before I lost it, but not before he lowered his head and said, "it's ok, Miss. God bless you." Ugh. There it was. The final blow. I felt sick. I tried to get myself together. I fought back the tears and tried to catch my breath as I thought about how my sweet Markos, IF he survived, might have been doing this same thing in a few years in order to survive. Thankfully, when I left the store, the crowd had dissipated a little but he was still there. I quickly handed him a pack of peanut butter crackers. His eyes lit up just a tiny bit and he said, "thank you, Miss! thank you!" Oh, how I wish there was more that I could have done for that sweet one!

Eric gave a Nutri-grain bar to a mother holding her infant daughter as she begged, "please sir, food for my baby." and we watched as she really did give the whole thing to her daughter. I wondered what or if she ate that day.

But again, once the word gets out that you have food, that you have money to spend, the beggars come from everywhere. Our driver had gone to round the remaining shoppers of our bunch up. When he was gone, the beggars surrounded the van. They begged. They pleaded. They put their hands in the windows, and after the windows were closed, they began to try to get them open. Quickly a man, dressed in all green, carrying a club came. He yelled at the children and the beggars. They scattered as he picked up a rock to throw at them. We don't know if he was a policeman or a security guard for the shops, but he stayed with us until our driver returned.

As we drove, we saw funny and marvelous things, too. All the men, especially, were amazed by the scaffolding that surrounded all the buildings under construction. It was bamboo poles tied together.





As I have said before, there seemed to be no rules of the road at all. We saw hilarious things tied to the tops of cars or piled into the back of trucks.

One of our favorite pictures of things piled onto the top of a vehicle.

We also saw trucks filled to overflow with giant burlap sacks of potatoes and men just standing on top of them. We only saw one car seat for children in one car. (it was probably some American visiting there!)

And, I was surprised to see VW Beetles everywhere. At first, I was cracking myself up by hitting Eric and exclaiming, "red one!", "blue one!", etc. (because our children insist on playing the 'punch buggy', 'slug bug', or whatever you call it, game ALL THE TIME, thereby driving us NUTS!). I didn't want him to miss them too much! ;-) But, after a while, there were so many that it just became annoying. I took a few pictures of some of them just so when I showed the kids the pictures, I could say "blue one!" and hit them as they looked at the pictures. :-) ha ha!


We also passed little shops all along the roads. And, we saw some open air type "markets" where people just spread their goods out on the side of the road on a blanket to sell them. We saw potatoes, tomatoes, tennis shoes, shirts, bags, just about everything you could imagine. But, I was glad that we didn't shop there. Seemed far too chaotic for me! Like our malls on Black Friday!



Ethiopia was definitely someplace where you saw everything. Shocking, devastating, beautiful, amazing, heart-breaking, heart-warming....in the same day, in a matter of minutes, sometimes in the same moment! It was exhausting, the most crazy emotional roller coaster you can imagine! But, I can't wait to go back. I wouldn't have traded that time for anything!

Court Trip - Post 7 - Kaldi's, Shopping, Leprosy and JOY?!

After we all said goodbye to our darling children, the emotionally-drained bunch of us piled into that van again and headed out to lunch. We went to a coffee house called Kaldi's. It was seriously the Ethiopian version of Starbucks -- except the coffees there cost about 50 cents! :-) We got burgers and fries. Not sure exactly what, but the burgers had some serious fillers in them. Something green. Maybe onions? But, they were good. And the fries were great! Still no Diet Coke for Eric or I, but I grew to like something called Mirinda. It was like Orange Fanta or Orange Crush.

It was a somewhat subdued lunch. I think we were all hitting a wall of exhaustion - emotional and physical - plus we had just said goodbye to our kids for some unknown period of time. Could be 6 weeks. Could be 12 weeks. We have no idea when we'll get to go back, but we're hoping no later than January (and still praying for a miracle December date).

Our driver returned a while later to take us shopping.



Our first stop was the Leprosy Hospital, work center, and gift shop. Oy! So much for hitting an emotional wall! The building was beautiful when we pulled up, but the second we stepped out of the van, the worst smell hit you. I heard later that the Leprosy Hospital is very close to Korah - the trash dump outside Addis where men, women, and children live - the outcasts of society. The Lepers. The sick. The disabled. (for those who are interested, there are groups like Project 61 and Ordinary Hero who are working in Korah)

This is the Birhan Taye Leprosy Disabled Persons Work Group and gift shop.

When we entered the work area, there was a man sitting outside (you might be able to see him if you zoom in on the above picture). He has 2 partial fingers remaining on each hand. He smiled at us, and laughed and talked to his friend by his side while he worked. He was making beautiful rugs to sell.

Inside the first room, there were 2 men using old-fashioned looms to weave beautiful fine linen. They had partial hands and partial feet as well. But, they worked non-stop and appeared to be very content. Further inside, there were four women. They talked amongst themselves while they worked spinning wool into thread.

One of the women captured my attention. She was very old. She sat, hunched in the corner. She had no fingers or thumbs left on either hand - just a small indentation where her thumbs used to begin. She used them to hold the thread while she worked, happily chatting with her friends. All of these men and women. Lepers. The outcasts of society. Missing fingers, hands, feet. But Working. Content. Smiling. They were a true picture of JOY. Not happiness based on circumstances. Joy from something outside of themselves. They weren't crying "oh, poor me". They defied their physical condition. They weren't claiming they couldn't work. They were happy to have work! They were beautiful. They were strong. They were smiling! We were in awe of them.

I wanted to take pictures because they were amazing, but I didn't want them to misunderstand why I wanted to photograph them, so I didn't. I did, however, find this slideshow online about the center, which contains pictures of many of the same people that we saw.

We went into the gift shop there and decided that we would buy as many of the things there that we wanted to buy while we were in Ethiopia as we could, in order to help to support this amazing program. We ended up buying four beautiful scarves, and a gorgeous tablecloth with 8 matching linen napkins. The scarves are for Daniel, Mackenzie, Eric and I. The tablecloth will be put away to save as a wedding gift for Markos and his future wife.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90:14-17

Court Trip - Post 6 - Hugs, Pictures, Lunch, and Goodbye

After court was over, our driver took us back to the guest house so we could all change clothes. Once we were all wearing something a little more comfortable, we again piled into the white van and drove to the care centers to say goodbye to our children. The driver dropped Eric and I off first at Care Center 3. He blew the horn and the gates were opened for us. We started to walk into the court yard area just as Markos was being brought out of the care center building into the same area. He ran to us and gave me a big hug. (ahhh, heaven!) Then, he leaned back to look me in the face and, with a big smile, said, "machina". (pronounced ma-key-na, Amharic for "car"). heehee. I told you he really loved that car! Not sure if he was happy to see us or just happy to get that car back again! But, either way, we didn't care!

The three of us went into the same big empty room that we were in the previous day. We played with the balls, car and punching balloons again. But, first, we sat down with Markos and showed him the family album we made him with pictures of us and the kids, our house, our yard, his bedroom, and other extended family members. I tried to get him to repeat names, but he would just smile and nod his head. I attempted to say, in Amharic, things like "Markos bedroom", "Markos brother", "Markos sister", "Markos family", "Markos America" to try to make sure that he understood that we were, in fact, returning for him to take him to America. Mr. Independent insisted on holding the book himself and flipping the pages himself. Ai yi yi. Flashbacks of Daniel at that age are running through my head...

When we finished looking through it (at record speed), he tucked it under his arm and attempted to play while holding onto it. Once he realized this would be too difficult, he went over and hid it under the shelf of the TV stand in the corner. He would play for a while, then go over, sit against the wall and pull it out, look at a few pages, tuck it safely away again and play some more.

Here is the only other picture I can show you from our time together on day 2:


You can't see his face, but trust me, he was laughing and smiling behind that punching balloon (or kicking balloon as the case may have been!)

We exchanged bracelets. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read it here. Then, a guy came in to install a new DVD player to the TV that was in the corner of the room. Markos was enthralled with watching the installation. People were in and out which was a little distracting. Then, nannies came in and pulled out large sheets of plastic and covered the floor. We weren't sure what they were doing, until they started setting up 2 long rows of plastic tables and plastic chairs.



It was LUNCHTIME and we were in the room in which the kids eat. Once they were finished setting up the tables and chairs, a nanny called Markos to come and wash his hands. We watched as all the kids lined up outside to wash their hands for lunch under a hose in the court yard. Markos was allowed to go first, so he quickly came running back in, ran to me, gave me a hug, and sat at the end of the row of chairs in front of me. Directly behind Markos was the cutest little girl, with the most darling little smile that you've ever seen. She ran straight to Eric and gave him a big hug and sat in the row of chairs directly in front of Eric. So sweet. One by one all the kids filed in and filled the chairs. I counted 39 kids. The nannies were playing Barney (in English) on the TV and the kids were thrilled.

We listened as one of the nannies gave the kids a lecture on not touching the new DVD player. I had to chuckle when she singled out a few kids (mostly boys) and tapped them on the head with a rolled up piece of paper in her hand and asked them if they understood. They all responded "ishi" (OK/yes). Markos was one of those singled out for the extra warning, of course! I was not surprised given his apparent love of all things electronic with buttons to push!

Once the lecture was over, the children all prayed together in Amharic. So, so sweet. Then, as they ended with a hearty "Amen!", the nannies began carrying in plates of injera covered with a pile of chopped up spinach-like stuff and a big pile of yellow lentil-like stuff. I was shocked at how much the children ate. They were each given a large, dinner-sized plate, completely covered with a piece of injera bigger than the plate, that was rolled up on the sides. As they finished the stuff on top, they were given more of the yellow stuff to eat with their remaining injera.

Markos ate like a champ. As he ate, he would occasionally turn to me, smile, & put his hand out for me to squeeze. Of course, poor Eric was having his heart broken next to me because that little girl kept doing the same to him throughout the meal. I think if he could have snagged her up and taken her with us, he might have!

Sadly, in the middle of their meal, our driver came and knocked and the window and told us we had to leave. Our goodbye wasn't what I would have wanted it to be. We pretty much were just able to kiss Markos' head and hug him while he ate. No big squeezer hugs or tears -- just a rushed goodbye. Maybe it was better that way.

Court Trip - Post 5 - God is Good, All the Time

We were all up, bright and early, ready for court. Thankfully, we woke up early because Eric had accidentally unplugged his phone and turned it off the night before in order to recharge our video-camera so we had no alarm! I woke up so early that I actually managed to get some hot water! YAHOO! This was going to be a great day!

Hot water is very hard to come by, apparently. The first morning, Eric and I both got freezing cold showers -- very, very, very quick showers! Makes my teeth chatter to think about how cold that first shower was! I tried to tell Eric to get up quickly so he could possibly have some hot water the second morning, but nooooooo....he had to sleep longer. Frigid shower for him!

We all dressed up, as we were instructed to do. We wore shoes that didn't make a lot of noise, (or, at least, we planned to tip-toe if we didn't.) :-) We enjoyed another nice breakfast at the guest house before the Holt driver arrived to pick us up. Surprisingly, he was on time. (We were warned ahead of time that Ethiopians aren't in a rush and this is a rarity!)

When we arrived at the court house, we sat in the van, waiting for the lawyer to arrive to walk in with us. While we waited, a few of our group ran across the street to buy a bottle of water. Eric asked one of them to buy him a Coke Light if they had it. They managed to find Coke, not Coke Light, but when they brought it, they reported, "I hope this is ok. They wanted to keep the bottle." Turns out this wouldn't be the first time this happened while we were there. Glass is worth more when it's recycled than plastic, so the shopkeepers insisted on keeping the bottles when you bought a soda. They would pour it into an empty water bottle and give it to you or if you were in a restaurant, just keep it when you were finished. (uh, yea, again, no wonder we got sick.) But, when you need some caffeine, you need some caffeine - especially when you don't drink coffee!

We were all very anxious and nervous about court. The Holt families were amongst the first to arrive. We filed into a waiting room surrounded by chairs and all sat on the side furthest from the door to the judge's chambers. The room quickly filled with more people than chairs.

While we waited, we saw a couple across the room. When a man approached and there were no chairs left, the husband said something to his wife (who was dressed very conservatively, with a scarf covering her face) and she quickly got off the chair and sat on the floor to give the chair to the man. Again, I thought, "hmmm. Now, there's something you don't see in America." (thank goodness!) ;-)

The first family was called. They were from another agency. In a matter of minutes, they exited the room and the next family (from the same agency) was called. As they passed, the entering family asked the exiting family, "well?", and the exiting lady replied, "I don't know what the outcome was" as she shrugged her shoulders and looked concerned. This kind of freaked me out a little, as I have heard from nearly all Holt families that have attended court that the judge has always ended the hearing with "he/she is yours". Was there some problem with this families case? Did they NOT pass for some reason? Was there a chance that we wouldn't pass? Was there a chance that we wouldn't hear today and would have to wait to find out? As I sat and contemplated such things, the second family was finished and happily exited the judge's chambers with big smiles on their faces. "We passed", they reported. They were the only two families from that agency, so the first family asked the attorney, "did we pass?". "She said that they are yours", he replied. "oh, I didn't hear her," the woman answered with relief.

In the meantime, the first Holt family was called. In what seemed like only seconds, Brian and Mariah returned to the waiting room with smiles on their faces. We all gathered around to ask our panicked questions -- "how was it?", "what did she ask?".... They reported that she only asked about 5 or 6 questions and that she really pretty much just wanted yes or no answers, that it wasn't bad at all, that the worst part of the whole thing was that you could barely hear her. At first, I thought Brian was kidding, but he assured me that he was serious and that whoever hears the best, better sit as close as they can to the judge. Eric and I agreed that he hears better than I do so he would sit closest (and just for the record, he might HEAR better than I do, but he definitely does not LISTEN better than I do) ;-)

One by one, each Holt family returned to the waiting room with smiles and relief on their faces. Finally, Eric and I were called. We were the last Holt family of the day to be called. We went in and Eric sat closest to the judge. Brian wasn't kidding! When we first went in, I know the judge said something. I could see her lips moving, but I seriously didn't hear a single peep. It was very fast and very painless -- just a few questions, all of which were on the list that the attorney had prepped us with. We gave our short answers and, after ensuring that we realized this was irrevocable and permanent, she stated, "Markos is yours."

We left the room and all the Holt families happily got up to leave. Brian informed us that he had timed us and we were only in the judge's chambers for 72 seconds. So strange for all those months and months of paper-chasing and waiting and more paper-chasing and more waiting to culminate in 72 seconds!

As we filed outside and piled back into the van, Mariah asked if anyone sang. She was hoping for some praise songs. No one was willing to belt out some tunes alone, but the driver turned on the CD player in the van. And, we heard,

"God is good all the time
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine
God is good all the time
Through the darkest night, His light will shine
God is good, God is good all the time..."

A perfect song. (and I'm not sure, but I think, possibly, the only song that the driver had on that CD in his van.)

But God IS good, all the time!

Court Trip - Post 4 - Meeting our Babes & Celebrating

After our sightseeing on Sunday morning, we returned to the guest house for some lunch - yummy little pizzas...lots of pizzas - and anxiously awaited the Holt driver picking us up for orientation and our first meeting with our children. He arrived around 2:15 or 2:30 and we all piled into the van. Our first stop was the Holt offices for orientation and a meeting with our attorney to prepare us for court.



We were introduced to some of the people at Holt Ethiopia (whose names I don't have handy & can't remember). We were given the do's and don'ts of meeting with our children. Do take all the pictures that you want of your own child. Do NOT take any photos of anyone else's children. (darn) We also sat through a short presentation by Holt's legal advisor. He gave us the run down of the do's and don'ts of court. He also gave us 2 pages of possible questions that we needed to be prepared to answer, and then 2 of the ladies from Holt went around and quizzed each family on the one page. (oh, the pressure!) ;-) Because it was a Sunday, and most of the staff were off work, we did not tour the Holt offices at this time. We got to get back into the vans and drive off to Care Center 2 -- the infant & younger children's care center next to the Union Hotel. When we were first told this is where we were going, I asked if they had brought Markos to CC2 for our meeting, or if they'd be taking us to CC3 -- the preschool care center. The lady from Holt informed me that I was mistaken and that Markos was at CC2. Eric and I were a little worried, because we knew that he had previously NOT been at CC2, so we thought he was moved again and the fewer transitions, the better for the kids.

Care Center 2, by the Union:


The inside of the gate at CC2:


The play area off the main lobby inside CC2:


The stairway inside CC2 where the nannies bring the kids down to meet their new families:


Upon arriving at CC2, the lady from Holt talked with the head nanny who was there at the time and discovered that we were correct and that Markos was not, in fact, at CC2. So, she called for a driver to take us to CC3. While we waited, we have the privilege of seeing all the other families unite with their kiddos for the first time. What a beautiful thing to witness! Only a few tears (from the children), many more tears from the parents! Of course, as we are not allowed to post pictures of our own kids, we also aren't allowed to post pictures of others kids, so no pictures to show you. Since Eric and I didn't have Markos yet, he was able to videotape the whole thing for the other families so that was nice. Such sweet, sweet unions.

Mariah & Brian were the only ones picking up an infant, but were still caught off-guard when the nannies just brought their little one down without any warning and he was wearing a purple sleeper.

Kendra & Dic united with their 2 year old little girl. Daddy's girl ran from the nanny and threw her arms around Dic who was trying to videotape while Kendra sat by and fought back the tears, patiently waiting for her turn to give her little girl a squeeze.

Stephanie & Mike were adopting 2 year old twin boys who had some super big smiles when they were handed some little wooden cars.

Amanda & Justin were also adopting siblings -- a 2 year old boy and a 3 year old girl -- who both ran from the nanny and threw their arms around them. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

Heather & Tyler were adopting a toddler aged boy. He was darling - just taking everything in - very relaxed and sweet.

And, Jolie was adopting a little girl. She was the serious, thinker of the kids. She wasn't upset and didn't seem scared, she was just serious. She sat and stared for some time, just checking Jolie out. Very funny to watch.

Then, they told Eric and I it was time to go meet Markos, so we headed off to CC3. I posted a few "teaser pics" and shared a little about our meeting here, but can't post anymore pics, unfortunately.

He was really adorable. A little shy when we first met up with him in the court yard area, but he warmed up quickly inside the room where we were playing. He loved the car we gave him and played with it almost the entire time (or at least, ran around with it in his hand while he played with the balls & balloons). He was allowed to choose a friend to come and join us, so the 4 of us played for a few hours. It was a lot of fun. He is extremely curious & independent. He is an awesome kicker. After watching some of our videos, my dad was joking that the Steelers could really use him. There is just so much to tell, that I don't know where to begin really.

He laughed and talked to his friend, but he didn't talk to us at all. He did seem to understand English a good bit, but we never heard him speak it. His friend, on the other hand, seemed to know a fair amount. In fact, his friend was so adorable and excited for Markos, that everytime someone would walk by the windows, he'd yell out, "Markos America!". When the nannies would walk by and would see us with him and knew that we were his family, they would poke their heads in and congratulate him, kiss him, and hug him. The love between the nannies and the kids was so very obvious and beautiful.

They brought Markos' favorite nanny in to talk to us and answer any questions that we had. We also met with the pediatrician for a short time. We discovered that Markos had pneumonia a few months ago, but he's finished the treatments now and is fully recovered. Aside from that, he is very healthy.

After a few short hours, the Holt lady peeked her head in and told us it was time to go. She took Markos outside and talked to him. She explained that we were his family and that we were going to take him to America, but that we couldn't take him yet, that we still had to do some paperwork and that we would come back to take him later. I hope he understood.

We returned to the guest house and all quickly freshened up (or spent some time crying tears of joy alone in our rooms...), and then we had the driver for the guest house take five of the couples who were there to dinner at an Ethiopian Restaurant to celebrate. We went to a place called Yad Abyssinian.

We laughed because we had to go through some security to get into the restaurant, having our purses checked, etc. This was funny because to get into Ethiopia through customs and such, we weren't asked a single question. Regardless, it was a lot of fun. We ordered the sampler platter (I forget what they called it), and of course, some of the guys just HAD to try the goat so we got some of it, too.

Stephanie & Mike having their hands washed before our meal.


Dinner is served:


And, here's the goat:


Justin, Amanda, Heather & Tyler:


Brian, Mariah, me & Eric:


We aren't really sure what that was that Eric ate (yep, don't know why Eric got sick...):


The entire time we ate, there were traditional Ethiopian singers and dancers on the stage in the middle of the restaurant. At one point, I recognized the music from a previous Holt families' videos and knew it was a dance where the dancers come out into the audience & pull audience members to come up on stage and dance with them. Of course, I was shrinking back in my seat (and thankful I was back in the back, near the corner!). Eric thought he'd be funny and he had his hand over Mariah's head, pointing for the dancer to pick her. Instead the dancer came and tried to get Brian to do some weird shoulder dancing thing. He tried, but it just made the dancer (and the rest of us) laugh. I have it on video, but will spare Brian the humiliation. (you can thank me later, Brian)



All in all, it was a wonderful, emotional, exhausting day. I don't think too many of us had a hard time falling asleep after we returned to the guest house and hopped online for a few minutes (when the computers would work). Tomorrow morning, COURT!

Court Trip - Post 3 - Coffee, Churches, and Overwhelming Need

Once we discovered that Holt would not be picking us up until 2:00 pm, we made arrangements with the guest house staff for them to take us to do some sightseeing. After we ate breakfast, we gathered in the lobby for an authentic coffee ceremony that the guest house had prepared for us. In Ethiopia, women prepare coffee for their husbands anywhere from 1 - 3 times a day. As part of a traditional coffee ceremony, they take green coffee beans and roast them over a small fire.

Once the beans are roasted, they walk around and allow people to smell the freshly roasted beans.


Then, they grind the beans and add them to a pot of heating water. When the coffee is finished, each person is served a small cup of coffee to enjoy together. We only had one cup; however, some traditions call for a total of 3 cups to be served.



After we finished the delightful coffee ceremony and played soccer with the neighborhood boys, we all loaded into the van and set out through the streets of Addis. We passed the runners who were all participating in "The Great Ethiopian Run" - the largest 10 K held in Africa.



As we drove to the top of Mt. Entoto, the side of every street was lined with beggars and people living on the streets, with adolescent boys working as shoe shines, and piles of trash.





There were animals walking along the roads and shanty-like "houses" on every spare piece of land.




We wound higher and higher up to the top of the mountain. Our van seemed to barely make it higher and higher up the steep, winding road, and yet there were people walking the steep incline carrying their yellow water bottles to get water for their families.

At the top, we visited a museum which contained Emperor Menilik and Empress Tutu's royal clothes, Bibles, drums, and other historical items from when the capital of Addis Ababa was first organized as a city.


We also saw the very first church that was built on the site by the Emperor, as well as the current St. Mary's Church.




We toured the Emperor's Palace from 1883. It was amazing given the time when it was built. My favorite part was the horns protruding from the walls of the dining room that were meant for hanging meat!

Eric and I at the overlook area on the grounds

I was smiling on the outside, but my heart was breaking on the inside. You see, after we toured the museum, Kendra and I were walking up the hill to the church and 3 little girls had approached us. They kept begging, "pen", "pen", "please, pen". We weren't sure if they were asking for a pen or if that was Amharic for something else.

Without thinking, I opened my purse and pulled out my pen. Their faces lit up. "Pen!" "Pen!" they cheered as their little hands darted out for the pen. I handed the first girl my pen and the other 2 kept begging, "pen", "pen". Kendra handed one of the other girls her pen, but we had no other pens. The third girl looked devastated. "Pen", "Pen", she begged.

"We don't have anymore", we apologized. Devastation on her face. "Can you share?", Kendra asked. Heartbreak.

I failed to notice the growing crowd behind the 3 girls as we watched her sad little face. In an effort to give her something, I pulled a pack of crackers from my purse. Her face lit up. Then the other two girls' hands darted out. "Hungry", "food", "hungry". I handed them each something, then noticed hands shooting in from everywhere. Children, women with tiny babies, elderly women. "Food", "hungry", "food", "please", they all begged. I handed out the granola bars and crackers that I had as fast as I could, but I ran out long before the outstretched hands were gone. Our driver saw the commotion and came to our rescue.

But, as the crowd dispersed, I saw a little girl, about 7 or 8 years old. She was standing back from the crowd. She had her little brother on her back. He looked to be about 2 or 3 years old. Her eyes were sad and pleading. She was dirty and alone with her brother. Her little hand was held tentatively out a little at her side. "Please, food", she mouthed. Fighting the tears, I mouthed, "I'm so sorry. I don't have any more." "Please, food", she begged. "I can't," I said, "I'm so sorry." She followed us for a while. She hung back a few feet behind us, but when our eyes would meet, she would plead as she moved her hand out a little and mouthed, "please, food".

I walked up the hill with the others, and as I attempted to zip my purse back up, I noticed 2 nutri-grain bars in the bottom of my purse. It took every bit of strength that I had not to go back and give them to the little girl, but I couldn't. I had already disregarded the warning about giving out food or money to beggars in public, thereby causing a near riot. I felt guilty for involving our driver and didn't want to create any more problems, yet my insides were ripping apart. It was all I could do not to completely lose it and burst into tears. I literally hurt inside. That little girl, caring for her baby brother. She was starving and alone. A little girl who should have been playing and attending school. Instead, she was caring for her brother and begging for food for the two of them to survive. But the worst part was, I HAD SOME right there in my purse and couldn't give it to them. My small contribution couldn't begin to touch the overwhelming need. It was one of the saddest moments of the entire trip for me. Their little faces still haunt me. The desperate, pleading little girl and her brother. The girls faces lighting up over a pen. A cheap pen that I probably have hundreds of laying around my house. Not even a fancy pen. Just one of those free pens from the bank or the insurance agent, and their eyes lit up. Like we had given them a pony or something.

I know it sounds stupid, but the heaviness in my heart was lightened just a little bit later that night when I found out that one of the guys in our travel group had slipped the 3rd girl a pen during the chaos.

We are so blessed. There is so much need around the world. One person can't fix it, but together we all can help.

Court Trip - Post 2 - In the Morning Light

I suspect that when many of you looked at our pictures of the inside of the guest house yesterday, you thought -- "well, THAT doesn't look bad!". And, you're right. It wasn't. It was beautiful. But, it was a guest house for visitors. These, on the other hand, are the views out our windows when we awoke the next morning.

Looking out our bedroom window toward the back/side of the guest house

One of the women who lived there was doing laundry by hand

Looking off the side of the balcony of the family room

One of the women who lived there was drying all kinds of peppers and other veggies in the sun on sheets of corregated tin.

(God, forgive me for whining and complaining when I have to walk down the stairs and throw clothes in the washer, add detergent, and turn on the machine. I could have to walk for miles, carrying a large jug of water every day, wash the clothes by hand, and hang them out to dry in the dirty, dusty air. Forgive me for whining and complaining when I have to open a can of veggies and toss them in the microwave. I could have to grow them myself, dry them in the sun in order to save them, and then cook them over an open fire made from fire wood that I have to collect myself.)

Looking off the family room balcony toward the front/side of the guest house

As the time grew a little later (we were up early!), more and more people were out walking around the alley by the guest house. These boys were playing soccer. They were wearing worn out flip flops and other sandals and playing with a beat up, half flat ball. We had taken some new soccer balls with us to donate to Holt and AHOPE so we got one and headed out to play with the neighborhood boys.







The boys were surprisingly good. They laughed at Eric when he TWICE let the ball roll into "hazards" that we don't have to deal with in the United States on a soccer field. First, he let the ball roll (and then he nearly stepped into) a giant dung pile from the animals.

Second, he let it roll to the other side of the street where it landed in an open sewer drainage ditch. Excited to have a new ball, one of the little boys jumped right down into it despite the women around yelling at him, but thankfully, sweet Workineh from the guest house took it and washed it at the guest house for us after that. At that point, it was time for us to leave, so Eric gave the ball to one of the boys to keep and I gave them all snacks that I had in my purse - just little individual sized packs of granola. We know that they will all share the ball and play together, because that's how they are. Loving, community-oriented, and kind. There is no me-centeredness in Ethiopia like there is in the U.S. It's a beautiful thing! And, these boys were sweet, beautiful boys who deserve so much more than a new soccer ball and a pack of granola!