Trip - Days 3 & 4

Day 3 - Friday

I finally woke up around the time they were serving breakfast on our flight. We landed right about on schedule. Thanks to all the travelers who have gone before us we knew right where to go for our Visas. We were only the 2nd or 3rd people in the visa line and we got through that very quickly. Then through customs, and then we got our luggage. There were plenty of luggage carts available. We didn’t witness all the baggage helpers who we’ve heard would be trying to help us get our luggage for a price. I think the fact that we were arriving in the morning and weren’t on a flight originating in the US meant less guys hanging around trying to get tips. We were able to easily get our bags off the carousel and onto the luggage carts. From there we got in the line to have our luggage scanned. A kind gentleman pulled us over into the empty line, scanned one of our storage tubs and then let us through.

We walked out and right away spotted the Ralphs waiting there for us. They were amazed at how quickly we had made it through everything (visa, customs, security, etc.). Everything just went really well for us. We traveled back to the Ralphs in their Camry and a taxi. We visited with the them until lunch time and Jim made me my first cup of Ethiopian coffee. It was great! After lunch we laid down for a short nap that turned into a 2-½ hour nap because Monica turned the alarm clock off.


The Ralphs

Friday evening is their pizza/movie night so Jim, Zack, and I went to get pizza. We ate pizza and watched two episodes of Perfect Strangers on DVD. It was pretty funny to flashback to a show from that long ago. After that we sat around talking until our eyes couldn’t stay open much longer. We went to bed around 10:30 and slept until 7:30 in the morning.

Day 4 - Saturday

We ate breakfast at the Ralph’s and then ventured out to see the city. First we drove over to find the Union Hotel so we’d know where to go Sunday. We found that pretty easily. It was a little weird knowing that our son was only a few blocks away. We even saw the famous path that families walk on to go to Hannah’s Hope. After we had spotted the Union, we went to find the bridge where Jeremiah was found. All we had was the name of the sub-city and the name of the bridge. We were able to find it remarkably easily and I got some video clips from the area. Unfortunately I had forgotten to put the battery back in our camera. I felt like an idiot! Thankfully we can capture still images from our video camera.



After spending a little time at the bridge, we went to a restaurant for lunch. They served mostly American and Mexican food. At this point of the trip I was gung ho about eating Ethiopian food so I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any on the menu but by the end of the week when we went out to eat with the Ralphs again, I was very happy to go back to this restaurant. After lunch we went shopping. It was a little overwhelming trying to figure out what to purchase. After walking in and out of many shops we started buying some stuff. We got clothing for each of the boys and for ourselves as well as some coffee mugs and a coffee set and some various other items. We knew we’d get another chance to shop with our travel group later so we didn't have quite as much pressure. It turned out that we came back to the same spot.

We made a short stop at a grocery store where Jim and I ordered macchiatos (#2 for me on the day) while Monica and Anna got a few groceries. After that we went back their house to drop things off before heading to supper. We decided to go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant for supper. I loved it! I really enjoyed the food, especially the dora wat. After we finished eating we had a cup of coffee. I even made Monica take a sip. On the way back we drove past the Sheraton hotel. It is huge! We were going to go in and see it but security wasn’t letting anyone in. So, we headed back to the Ralph’s to call it an evening.






Rare sight of Monica drinking coffee