I have been meaning to continue this blog series... but life has happened.  Shawn has had some medical problems, which has really set our family back a bit.  I need to get this written out now, though, because if I wait much longer, my memories will fade even more.

As we drive to the guest house, Kristan and I were taken aback.  We were prepared for many things... but I don’t know if any amount of reading will ever prepare our spoiled selves for the daily realities in Ethiopia.  In the short drive (maybe 15 minutes?) to the guest house, we experienced so many assaults to our senses. 

The smell was something I was not prepared for.  It was a mix of many different things: diesel fuel/fumes, exotic spices, animals, stale air, dirt. 

The sights were another thing to take in: boys & young men herding goats through the streets, stick scaffolding along buildings under construction, women and men in traditional dress, women and men in quite modern dress, food stands/stores, storefronts that featured baby items (things that would never be allowed here in the US because of insufficient safety), the vehicles everywhere, shoe shine stands alongside the dirt roads, beautiful flowers in people’s yards, unmown city parks (ok, the goats and other animals were grooming the grass), people walking in the streets, the walls of compounds with glass on the tops - or barbed wire - or electric wire. 

The sounds included: short quick beeps from the vehicles (not loud long angry beeps, just ‘beep’ I’m here beeps), animals, people laughing, the chanting being broadcast from the local Ethiopian Orthodox Christian churches (this lasted ALL NIGHT Sat-Sun - and then every morning and evening), music. 

The tastes were so different from in the US. There are no artificial flavors - everything is PURE food.  Even the coke and orange sodas... sweetened with REAL sugar.  Breakfasts included fresh eggs with chopped peppers and freshly made bread.  Our hostess served a plate with different jams, real fresh peanut butter (not oily or gritty, the best peanut butter ever), and even Ethiopian honey (mmmm).  Coffee was freshly roasted and brewed.  Served with real cane sugar - not the white stuff we call sugar - this is a caramel color and so so good.  Lunches and dinners included assortments of fresh veggies: zucchini, green beans, carrots, cabbage, lentils, potatoes, etc.  Spices are added - and it’s all eaten with injera, sourdough teff-flour spongy flat bread. 

So Saturday we just took it all in.  Kristan and I were a little bit... I don’t know how to say it.  We weren’t scared, per se.  But we were not sure what to think.  We weren’t sure about the culture, how we would be perceived.  After we got settled in at the guest house (Tsebay is absolutely wonderful, and I will defintiely stay there again if/when I go back), Kristan said she wanted to go out shopping that afternoon... or else she was afraid she wouldn’t ever leave the guest house all week.  I talked her into just taking a rest - and having an easy afternoon. We were in severe culture shock.  severe. 

We both went up to our rooms and laid down.  It was chilly - not what I was expecting.  The wind was blowing and we had a breeze.  I laid on top of the covers and shivered while I napped.  A nap/rest was just what we needed after the insanely long flights.  The electricity was not working, and we later found out that the staff at the guest house was carrying water in, because something was wrong with the water lines.

Saturday evening Tsebay prepared dinner for us - a traditional Ethiopian dinner.  WOW.  AMAZING food. 

We met another family at the guest house: Mark and Jill, also from Seattle.  They were with another agency, Bethany.  They had picked up their son, Emmanuel the day before.  He was a little younger than Chaltu... and it was wonderful to get to know them, and see how Emmanuel blossomed over his first few days. 

Saturday night the chanting started - and continued all night and through Sunday.  It was broadcast so that everyone in the city could hear it (different churches broadcast all over the city).  The music was beautiful - I laid there trying to remember which modes were which, and which mode these beautiful chants were!  If you didn’t know, I have a degree in music... and so that is where my inner music geek came out.  ;)

Sunday morning Kristan and I went shopping.  Tsebay arranged for a driver to take us to the ‘post office’ area.  It was a row of small shops.  They sold almost everything.  I was able ot purchase scarves, handcarved wooden animals, hand carved wooden bowls, metal coptic crosses, Ethiopian bracelets, stone necklaces, hand carved bird mobiles and a few baskets.  Beautiful items that I plan to keep around our house.

The rest of Sunday we spent visiting with Mark and Jill. 

At this point, Kristan and I were both still quite culture shocked.  Both of us felt like we needed to just get done what we needed to do this week... and get home.  It was a lot to take in. 

I was determined to really experience each moment of the week, and to allow myself to FEEL.  I was NOT going to worry about home.  My main focus was to really experience as much of Ethiopia as I could.  Even though it was hard... it was hard emotionally to reconcile that so many people live with so little while in the US we get upset about such ‘little’ things.  Already, after only a day and a half of being in Ethiopia, I was really questioning so much of my own life back home.  We want and feel like we need so much, and are rarely truly happy. 

I was also anxious to meet my daughter.  I knew she was in the same city.  I knew she was not far from me.  I was ready to meet her... ready to really become her mother.  However, I was also prepared for her to NOT want me.  I was prepared for her to cry when she was handed to me.  I was prepared for grieving.  I was prepared for the hard part of mothering a toddler who had never known what a mother was, what a mother did, and why a mother was so so important.  I was glad I had 2 days in the country before meeting her, because once I met her, I knew my focus needed to totally be on HER - not on noticing the people wearing nice, fashionable clothing carrying water containers walking through the streets (ie: it wasn’t just the destitute... it was life, getting water was life).  Once Chaltu was placed in my arms on Monday morning, I knew my focus would be turned towards her... and towards how to make our relationship strong and secure.

I didn’t sleep well Sunday night... I was so anxious to meet my daughter the following morning.