beep beep

Well, 2 out of 3 kids are currently sleeping, so it seems like a good time to blog. (It would also be a good time to sleep!)

Picking up where I left off before. . .

We finished up our afternoon of injera-ing and coffee-ing and went on a quick tour of the city with Ephraim, our driver. Ephraim was fabulous and the kids absolutely love him. We had to stop and get gas (I noticed that they didn't post the prices like we do here, so I have no idea how much it cost) and we noticed that the men at the gas station seemed to be talking about us and chuckling a bit. All kinds of possibilities went through my head, but I was pretty off base. As we pulled out of the station, Ephraim explained that they when they found out who we were and why we were there, they were joking that we could take them with us too. Kind of like, hey, do they want more? They can adopt us to America, too! It made me smile.

My smiling ended as our drive continued. Driving in Addis Ababa is nothing like driving in the U.S. Don't have a lane to drive in? No problem! Just make one. Going through an intersection with no traffic light? No problem! Just look both ways and try to get through without getting hit. Pedestrian? Oh, just honk your horn. You know that feeling you get when you are almost in an accident? Imagine feeling it constantly (from the backseat while holding a child) and you have an idea of driving in Addis. It was hard to know what to focus on: the chaotic traffic seemingly endangering your life or the random sighting of pack mules and other livestock that may be walking the city streets. How about the woman getting off the bus with a dead chicken clutched in her hand? Or the bare-butt little boy standing on the sidewalk? It was so much to take in. Ephraim did a wonderful job of showing us the highlights, and he is obviously very proud of his city. However, I had to fess up and admit that I was getting car sick. I never get car sick, but my gills were turning green and had to request our return to HoH. I think other things contributed, like jet lag, the air quality, the stress and excitement of the day, but I knew that driving in Addis was something that would take some getting used to.