Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 30. a forever home

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 28. aunt mel time

Emily held this little guy during both flights. She tried to get some sleep while we were in Frankfurt and I got a chance to snuggle with him for a bit. Little maybe isn't the right word to describe him...the word anchor comes to mind.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 27. what color passport do they have?

People watching is good. People watching in airports is awesome. My favorite game is to spy out someone's pasport and figure out where their from. Here is the problem. Passports come in a limited array of colors...navy, maroon, forest green, and of course, the don't always have English on the cover.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 26. one type of dog

According to the family we stayed with, a dog is a dog is a dog. They don't differentiate between breeds. The would be more familiar with American Idol than they are with Golden Retriever.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 25. common materials

Tin (much of which was much newer than what is shown) and barbed wire. It seemed like everything was made out of these.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 24. available in any language

According to Abebe, there are no McDonalds in Ethiopia. But, thankfully for me, there are Cokes and Snickers. By the way, this is written in Amheric.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 23. friendly smile

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 22. fresher meat

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 21. Look familiar?

The green circle might have originated in Seattle, but the black beans originated from Ethiopia.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 20. blue butterfly

Maybe my favorite images just from an artistic perspective.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 19. coffee ceremony

A few years ago, Emily took us to eat Ethiopian food in Indianapolis. I discovered then that Ethiopia was known for a coffee ceremony. I didn't get to partake until our hosts made coffee for us in honor of the holiday which also landed on Emily's birthday. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I did drink a bit for the sake of experience. It was naturally bitter, but I could tell it was good coffee.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 18. slug bug

Stephen used to love bugs. Now he is more of a Kharman Ghia man, but still the prevalence of VW bugs in Ethiopia caught my eye.

Souvenires from Ethiopia/ 17. pickled frogs

These caught my eye at the museum of natural history. Loved the look of the labels.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 16. bannanas

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 15. rough

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 14. A few fireworks with our chibo

Abebe enjoyed playing with fire!

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 13. Buhe

On the Friday we were in Ethiopia, the Orthodox Church there celebrated a holiday called Buhe. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this holiday...Buhe is a ceremony of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, held on August 19 (according to the Gregorian Calendar; August 6, Julian calendar; Nähase (Ge'ez: ነሐሴ) 13, Ethiopian calendar). On this date, the church celebrates the transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor in the presence of the three lead apostles. People of the neighborhood tie a bundle of sticks together to make a chibo, and set it on fire while singing songs. The main song is called "Hoya Hoye" with one singer singing while the others follow in a rhythmic way. It involves young boys singing songs of praise outside of people's homes.Usually once the boys finish singing, the owners of the home will give them a bread called mulmul.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 12. harry potter my man

I was excited to see that their was still a Harry Potter left for me to read...The Philosopher's Stone?

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 11. please

This was such a difficult moment for me. Watching these people come up to the door asking for money and knowing that a dollar for me that I waste on whatever my heart desires could mean a lot for them. D'arcy always wants me to keep change on hand when we go downtown so we can drop coins in the homeless' buckets, but I'm not sure if I can do that here without being mobbed. Abebe, our driver (and friend), told us that there is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor in Ethiopia. They have less "opportunity". The opportunity we have in the United States is also an excuse to be hateful and stingy to the poor in our midst. It's complicated. It always is, and, no, I didn't roll my window down.

Souvenirs from Ethiopia/ 10. roundabout

Traffic flows a bit different in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capitol). You scoot your way into the fray and push your way past everyone else. A driver is always on the look out for people crossing the road. As we were driving the interstate to the airport on our last night there, people were jumping over the side and running across as fast as they could. Abebe said something about the Chinese making the interstate and that they didn't build enough bridges over the road for people to cross and get home. So instead of walking out of their way, the risk their lives to get home sooner. Notice that an old car is right beside a new one. I noticed this a lot in Addis. Modern items like computers, internet, and cell phones are juxtaposed against primitive things like carts pulled by horses and mules. The ancient and modern coincide.