i've been so excited to share all about our trip here on the blog. i journaled! over 21 pages to be exact. i'm thinking that's a bit of overkill for the blog. maybe?
in the meantime, an abbreviated version:
we left nashville on may 23rd and flew through new york to cairo! wade planned it so that we had half a day in cairo, and we made the most of it - pyramids √, cruise on the nile river √, tahrir square √. the pyramids were amazing - straight out of a history book, y'all! but the best moment by far was the cruise on the nile. pretty sure we interrupted a hindi family reunion. we were 2 awkwardly tall americans among a room of 200 teeny tiny indians. there was belly dancing and other tricks + a hilarious cover of cher "do you believe in life after love" (yes - i have the video to prove it!).
at 2.30 am (yes 2.30 in the morning) we finally flew to ethiopia! our first couple of days were a wash adjusting to the food and the timezone. thankfully we would return to addis at the end of our trip and actually tour the city. on saturday, after a slight miscommunication w/ our driver, we were finally off to hawassa!
not in a private car - but rather a mini bus! poor wade was pretty sick. (again i have video to prove it! but i wouldn't dare - would i?). 6 very hot hours in the back of a bus later - we both sick! and our late check-in left us with a twin-sized bed & no hot water. suh-weet! without going into gruesome details, i was very thankful this trip wasn't our honeymoon as wade had once planned. i was convinced we had malaria! :-/ we didn't. and we eventually upgraded to a better room.
hawassa! hawassa stole my heart. we stayed at the lewi resort in hawassa for 7 days straight. that was a treat: 1) we were finally able to settle into a routine. 2) the staff treated us incredibly. on the last evening, they planned a special dinner for us down near the lake. they even played don williams each time we sat down to lunch/dinner. crazy ironic since the label i work for actually released his music at one point! 3) monkeys!!!
by monday morning, we were keeping down food (yay cipro!) and we were able to finally meet the kids. the hawassa children's project is home to 74 amazing children (an additional 15 or so over the age of 14 living off campus) & a brilliant, dedicated staff. we were blessed to spend the entire day monday (coincidentally also a political holiday in ethiopia) and each afternoon between school and studies with the children. we colored. we played soccer. we took a loooooong hike. we did hair. we played games. we made bracelets. we laughed a whole lot. we loved a whole lot.
during the mornings and evenings, we relaxed at the lewi. we fed the monkeys one morning. we shooed another type away during our meals! we tanned (rather burned) by the pool. we ate like king and queen - pizza, pasta and pancakes. (yes - i cheated and ate gluten.) we took 2 boat rides - 1 to see the fish market and another to see hippos! i was incredibly scared having heard that hippos are the most dangerous animal in africa. but our captain assured me ... "ethiopian hippos and ethiopian people - no problem! we keep peace!".
on 2 mornings, we attempted to work in the preschool. 21 little
voices (screaming in Amharic of course) and 42 little hands. Lord, help
us. oh and the great pee incident - for that one you'll have to direct
message me! needless to say, we were a bit overwhelmed.
instead of traveling further south to arba minch, we decided to spend 1 final day with the children. it was sad saying goodbye but we were thankful for the amazing care & love we had seen through the program. we're so excited to continue to support it - and hopefully return someday. (making that extra trip to arba minch too.)
once back in addis, we were able to spend our final day in ethiopia with an old friend! anteneh and wade met 10 years ago while wade was in ethiopia for a summer semester. it was so fun to see the boys interacting just like (i imagine) old times. and anteneh was an amazing host! he helped us navigate the bus & taxi system and took us to see lions - a promise i made for my nephew dayton who wasn't satisfied w/ hippos and monkeys. ;-) he also took us to the merkato. with his help i purchased a beautiful shawl. another funny random story: while waiting on anteneh and wade to figure out where the linens were in the merkato, i felt a slight tug on my hair. i turned to find a man running his fingers through my hair. it gave us a good laugh. oh and anteneh took us to eat hotdogs! yes - our last meal in ethiopia was pizza and hotdogs. shame shame.
how do i wrap up this post!?! i mean i have so many more amazing stories that i could share.
a lot of people have asked us "why ethiopia". why not a trip to some beach in florida? or a cabin rental in the smokey mountains? or heck a big screen tv purchase! well ... we couldn't think of anything more awesome to do on our vacation than play all day with a group of amazing kids while exploring a new culture. so ethiopia it was! and i'm so thankful for every single memory.
--------------------
speaking of AWESOME & AMAZING. don't forget about this gorgeous noonday giveaway! go. enter. win!
in the meantime, an abbreviated version:
we left nashville on may 23rd and flew through new york to cairo! wade planned it so that we had half a day in cairo, and we made the most of it - pyramids √, cruise on the nile river √, tahrir square √. the pyramids were amazing - straight out of a history book, y'all! but the best moment by far was the cruise on the nile. pretty sure we interrupted a hindi family reunion. we were 2 awkwardly tall americans among a room of 200 teeny tiny indians. there was belly dancing and other tricks + a hilarious cover of cher "do you believe in life after love" (yes - i have the video to prove it!).
at 2.30 am (yes 2.30 in the morning) we finally flew to ethiopia! our first couple of days were a wash adjusting to the food and the timezone. thankfully we would return to addis at the end of our trip and actually tour the city. on saturday, after a slight miscommunication w/ our driver, we were finally off to hawassa!
not in a private car - but rather a mini bus! poor wade was pretty sick. (again i have video to prove it! but i wouldn't dare - would i?). 6 very hot hours in the back of a bus later - we both sick! and our late check-in left us with a twin-sized bed & no hot water. suh-weet! without going into gruesome details, i was very thankful this trip wasn't our honeymoon as wade had once planned. i was convinced we had malaria! :-/ we didn't. and we eventually upgraded to a better room.
hawassa! hawassa stole my heart. we stayed at the lewi resort in hawassa for 7 days straight. that was a treat: 1) we were finally able to settle into a routine. 2) the staff treated us incredibly. on the last evening, they planned a special dinner for us down near the lake. they even played don williams each time we sat down to lunch/dinner. crazy ironic since the label i work for actually released his music at one point! 3) monkeys!!!
{gosh i miss those sweet faces!}
during the mornings and evenings, we relaxed at the lewi. we fed the monkeys one morning. we shooed another type away during our meals! we tanned (rather burned) by the pool. we ate like king and queen - pizza, pasta and pancakes. (yes - i cheated and ate gluten.) we took 2 boat rides - 1 to see the fish market and another to see hippos! i was incredibly scared having heard that hippos are the most dangerous animal in africa. but our captain assured me ... "ethiopian hippos and ethiopian people - no problem! we keep peace!".
instead of traveling further south to arba minch, we decided to spend 1 final day with the children. it was sad saying goodbye but we were thankful for the amazing care & love we had seen through the program. we're so excited to continue to support it - and hopefully return someday. (making that extra trip to arba minch too.)
once back in addis, we were able to spend our final day in ethiopia with an old friend! anteneh and wade met 10 years ago while wade was in ethiopia for a summer semester. it was so fun to see the boys interacting just like (i imagine) old times. and anteneh was an amazing host! he helped us navigate the bus & taxi system and took us to see lions - a promise i made for my nephew dayton who wasn't satisfied w/ hippos and monkeys. ;-) he also took us to the merkato. with his help i purchased a beautiful shawl. another funny random story: while waiting on anteneh and wade to figure out where the linens were in the merkato, i felt a slight tug on my hair. i turned to find a man running his fingers through my hair. it gave us a good laugh. oh and anteneh took us to eat hotdogs! yes - our last meal in ethiopia was pizza and hotdogs. shame shame.
a lot of people have asked us "why ethiopia". why not a trip to some beach in florida? or a cabin rental in the smokey mountains? or heck a big screen tv purchase! well ... we couldn't think of anything more awesome to do on our vacation than play all day with a group of amazing kids while exploring a new culture. so ethiopia it was! and i'm so thankful for every single memory.
--------------------
speaking of AWESOME & AMAZING. don't forget about this gorgeous noonday giveaway! go. enter. win!
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