Coffee Ceremony

We had three of these while in Ethiopia. The coffee is so very good! The reason the little cup? Very strong!

This is the set-up:



She is stirring the green coffee beans while they are roasting.






The smoke means they are getting done.



The beans are done and they fill up these coffee pots with water and heat it up:



The beans are ground into powder in this way:



The coffee powder is then put into the water:



And the finished product:



They had also heated up milk over that kerosene burner. They strain it into the coffee so there is no skin.

The reason behind the coffee ceremony is that the Ethiopians are very poor but coffee is very inexpensive. They have lots of time on their hands so they draw out the making of a pot of coffee.

Saying Good-Bye

So very tearful for all! Alem wailed. Imagine giving up your child you love very much. Imagine knowing you will never see your child again...well, in this life. Alem is a very strong believer so it is comforting to know that they will all be together in heaven for eternity!

When we got to Ambo, school was just getting out and there were mobs of kids walking home. None had a bus to jump on or carpools or cars or mom and dad picking them up.



The only mode of transportation in Ambo:



Alem was so happy to see her son.



A kiss on her cheek.



This is where she lives.



We went in and had a seat. That is her bed. A mattress on the floor and no blanket because someone stole it.



She has a night stand. A candle for the dark. A photo album of her two youngest.



Alem is a very pretty lady!



We had the pastor pray (Amharic)over Tamirat and Alem. We then walked away to leave and Alem wailed. Tamirat cried. I cried. Bill cried. I can't imagine how hard that was for her. She has had a very hard life. Someone is writing a book on her life and I can't wait to read it.

Our driver giving out all the snacks I had in my purse "in case we got hungry". I discovered how easy it is for us in America to eat when we are hungry. How we can carry snacks so easily. Next time, I will carry more food with me.



Take notice of the soccer ball. It was all they had and they came to show us and ask us if we had a soccer ball for them. Dennis and Ben did but back at their guest house. They gave one to Pochi so on her next trip to Ambo, she can deliver it.



On the way home, we stopped to buy onions from this family. The girls are sitting on the side of the road and selling. Once we stopped, the mother, father, and a grandparent came out.



The little girl was so cute! They must be a very poor family, obvious by her clothes and shoes. After taking her picture they wanted me to give her candy. I had just given out all my food! I had nothing for her.



A common scene....cattle all over. Not sure where they keep moving them to, but they are always on the road.

Second Day-Covenant Orphanage

On Tuesday, April 20th, Pochi came to get us and bring us to Covenant Orphanage and then we were to go on to Ambo for Tamirat to say good-bye to his mother. The van was full! The pastor from Covenant church came, the director of the orphanages, and Ben and Dennis from WI wanting to meet 2 girls Dennis and his wife were looking to adopt. They were in Ethiopia with Josh, son-in-law and step-son, who was picking up his baby. It was the classic "Three Men and a Baby".

We traveled west, up into the hills. This is a typical house outside of the city and in the villages. They use stripped young trees to make the house frame and cover it with mud, which consist of red soil, chaff, and water.



This is a funeral we passed.


Covenant:



A second kitchen out back in a separate building where they can build fires and cook the Ethiopian dishes:



This is the other kitchen:



These are the last of the children in the orphanage. They all have families. One of these girls is from the sister orphanage. They are such beautiful, sweet girls. Good thing for all the paperwork or I would have asked one of them to come home with me.



This is the back part of the living room.



Tamirat ended up with Alex's camera. He loves taking pictures!



The start of the "Coffee Ceremony" and I will put that in a post by itself.



He is a cute boy!



This was a building next to Covenant Orphanage. You can see how they build their houses.



Our driver doing some repairs on the playgound epuipment.



Time to say good-bye and head over to Ambo.

First Day in Ethiopia

We arrived around 4am, Monday, April 19th. We then went to bed and slept until 10am. Pochi was called and came with Tamirat right away. Tamirat was a bit shy and very near tears when it was time for Pochi to leave. The boys found a soccer ball and Tamirat was completely comfortable with Seth and Alex in no time. He clicked with them and everything was very easy after that.

Meseret was with Pochi so they sat on the couch at the Guest House and played with the electronic games we brought. Electronic learning games are a great idea for donations!



Here is Seth putting on a pair of the new shoes we bought Tamirat. They were too big so we sent them off to the orphanage.



Here are the boys playing soccer:



This was his first night with us. We had brought DVD's to donate so they put a movie in the computer and watched The Lion King.



Seth has done an amazing job bonding with Tamirat! Seth communicates so easily with him even though they don't speak the same language. Seth can get Tamirat to try most foods. Tamirat only likes pizza because of Seth's encouragement. Pochi had told me that Tamirat does not like pizza. He does not like cheese.



Our first day went very well together. Seth and Alex immediately loved him. (Bill and I did too.) We were both very glad to have had Seth and Alex come along. I think it would have been much harder without them.

We Are Heading Out Today!

I will try to update on FaceBook as often as I can. Hope to get pics here.

Visits to my Blog

I put Map Loco on my blog to see who was visiting. Today, I had one from Ontario Canada. I have no idea who that is but how cool! Tyler TX....hmmmm. It is so fun to see the places that check in on me here. Could all of you leave me a comment and how you found me?

Not much to report here. We leave in 3 days. Crazy! I can't believe it! I keep having to go shopping and I keep buying Tamirat clothes and shoes. I buy donations. I needed some t-shirts for me. The boys needed, well, underclothes. We need to pack 10 days worth. The cameras are all getting the cards emptied, batteries charged, cords all found and put together with the cameras for easy downloads. I have 5 bags packed, all close to 50lbs each. House is getting cleaned, refrigerater cleaned out. Laundry...oh my...everything I buy has to be washed along with the regular loads. I bought 72 diapers that had to be washed twice and dried twice. I am still working on getting them folded and stacked. I am exhausted by 8pm.

We spend Thursday night at our friends, the Kumars. Shanthi is cooking us her Indian food for Thursday night. The boys love her food! They will take us to the Chicago Airport Friday morning, we leave for NY JFK at 11am. We are there for 4 hours and then head to Cairo Egypt where we will spend Saturday night. We get to Cairo at 11:15am. We will see the Pyramids. The Cairo Marriott is where we will lay our weary heads. Google it and check it out. It looks amazing and sits on the Nile River. The boys are really excited!

We leave Cairo Sunday night at 10:15 and head to Addis where we will arrive at 3am. Not sure what we are going to do at 3am...sleep? Our home for the week is New Flower Guest House. We will go to Covenant on Monday to meet Tamirat. He is ours forever!

Sue, the director of our agency, comes on Wed. There are 2 other families there and we all have Embassy on Thursday. During the week we will go over to the Transition House and meet Natnael and Mulugeta, Obsi's friends. They will be coming home to Whitelaw two weeks later. We will have gifts for them from their mom and dad (and us).

We fly out Saturday morning and arrive in Chicago at 9:24. Waiting for us will be Tamirat's brother and sister and their mom, and of course, the Kumar's who will take us to their house for the night, again. We will head for Manitowoc early afternoon. Our families will be here to greet us and meet Tamirat, the newest member of the family.

Tamirat starts his adventure in America. That week we have a doctor appt, dentist, he gets to check out his new school. Soccer practice will start right away and the Goalgetters are excited to have him. Camping starts 4 weeks later and we can't wait to take him camping. We are so blessed to be given the opportunity to raise him as our own! God is good!!

Travel

Our embassy appointment is on April 22nd. We will pick up Tamirat on Monday and keep him with us until Thursday's appointment. We fly out on Saturday.

Friday, April 16th, we head to Cairo Egypt for a mini field trip to check out the pyramids. We will spend Saturday night in Cairo and head for Ethiopian Sunday night and arrive at 3am Monday morning.