We got a good night’s sleep and were up around 7AM. We both showered and got ready for the day. Soon we were treated to a great pancake breakfast. After breakfast, Michele and I played a game of PIG in the courtyard with the basketball. I am sorry to say that she won. It must be the thin air. Then Michele took on Gretchen and this time she lost. Soon our vans showed up to take us to the museum. The National Ethiopian museum took about 20 minutes to drive to. The drive there was great, the streets were really filled with people, so it was good people watching. The people have an incredible knack for walking between cars and the drivers have really few traffic laws, just go when you can and be aggressive. But no one seems to mind, it is just how it is. We see very few tourists on the streets, 99.5% of the people look to be locals. On the way there we drove past the Sheraton Hotel (very large) and the presidential palace (extremely large).
The museum was ok. We had to be patted down by a security officer to enter the grounds and the highlight was seeing the Lucy (because you have to see Lucy). Lucy is an extremely old fossil of a human being and the actual fossils are now on tour in the United States, stopping first in Houston. Michele and I went through the museum quickly, it only cost $1, so we got our moneys worth. We were the first ones done and stayed outside waiting for the rest of the group to finish.
On the way back to the guesthouse, we stopped at a grocery store so we could pick up some needed things. Then is was off to the care center to pay for the Hosanna trip. After we sat for a while in the conference room, someone came and collected our money. After we paid, Michele, David and I decided to walk back to the care center instead of waiting for a van. When we got back, it was time for lunch. Everyone else was already there, so we took our food outside and ate there. It was a nice day, so it was a good place to eat. Soon Jarusha and Greg joined us for dessert and we hung outside for a while talking.
After lunch we got back in the buses and went to the care center to see the kids. Today was the day that we got to go see the doctor. We picked up Mehandis and we were second on the list, so we headed over to the office right away. Mehandis was in a good mood and it was fun to have him outside of his room. He was very observant and looking everywhere. Mehandis was very good during the doctor visit, he sat on Michele’s lap and was quiet. The doctor told us a couple of things that we did not know but it was nothing too serious.
After we met with the doctor, we got to meet Russ’ kids as he was heading to see the doctor. Michele, Mehandis and I then wandered into the courtyard area and hung out with Mehandis on our own for the first time. We decided to get out our camera and took our first pictures of him with us. After a bit, we went back inside and went to the waiting room where we found John and Alicia with their son, Elijah. He is really small and has tons of hair. When they left to see the doctor, Russ joined our family in the waiting room. Soon David and Willow came and joined us in the waiting room. It was fun because by now, we had spent a good amount of time with these people but this was the first time we saw each other as parents and got to meet each others kids.
We eventually went outside and saw that many of the other families were outside with their kids, still awaiting their turns to see the doctor. It was fun going around and meeting all of the kids. We spent about a half an hour outside and saw that the report was true, Mehandis does not like the sunlight. When the sun is in his face, he crinkles up his face. Soon we dropped Mehandis back in his room and walked back to the guest house with Russ, Alicia, John and David.
When we got back, I decided that we should get a beer. So Russ, Michele and I walked back to Metro Pizza to get a beer. We ran into Jarusha, Greg, Harrison and Gretchen on the way and twisted their arms to join us. The beer tasted great and the conversation was lively. I had to finish Michele’s second beer, which made three for me. In the high altitude, I was feeling the effects.
We wandered back to the guest house for dinner. On the way back, we saw a huge heard of sheep on our side street coming our way. It made for a great photo. So Jarusha got out her camera and took a picture. The herders of the sheep made her pay for the picture. We thought they were joking at first, but they were insistent, so they paid and we left. Unfortunately the picture did not turn out well!
Dinner was leftovers, pizza and the great Ethiopian food that we had for lunch. We had a nice long conversation over dinner. After dinner, we hung out, watched a bit of TV and talked. Michele and I went outside for a bit and were then joined by Harrison and Greg Kenyon. We went to bed around 10PM.
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