Our First Day in Ethiopia

 

Touchdown Addis Ababa!  After way too many hours of travel and two red-eye flights in a row we stumbled off the plane at 625am Ethiopia time in the bustling capital city of Ethiopia.  Our amazing guide and driver met us at the airport, but our hotel would not be ready until noon.  So we did what all good visitors to Ethiopia do....head for bunna, Ethiopia's beloved coffee!

With a few more hours still to burn our next stop was Addis Ababa University, the home of the National Museum of Ethnology.  I wasn't sure how well a museum would go over with 5 jet-lagged kids, but we all LOVED it!  I can't believe we have never gone there on our previous trips.  The museum was a treasure trove of ancient clay artifiacts, intricate tapesteries, relics from ancient empires, and stories about Ethiopian customs and culture.   History came alive and it was fun to see the kids really get into learning!

We then made our way to the hotel for a long afternoon nap. Revived and refueled after the nap, the boys were eager to make their way to their first Ethiopian dinner in country.  They couldn't wait to get their hands on injera, shiro, and doro wat.  Dinner did not disappoint.  

Later in the evening, Kass was able to connect with a few friends who are now living in Addis Ababa.  We loved meeting them and were so glad they could spend some time together.  These are the moments that will make this trip special!

We are all headed to bed now and eager for our day tomorrow.  Tomorrow is ALL ABOUT DAGIM as we meet up with friends from the orphanage and spend time with them at Unity Park.  A few quick prayer points - unfortunately Sophia is not feeling well (so she and I were not able to go to dinner).  Would you pray that she is on the mend soon and the rest of us remain healthy.  Also that God would bless our time of fellowship this week with all of the family and friends that we will get to meet up with.

See you tomorrow!