An Ethiopian Celebration

Well today was a little laid back and relaxing.  We were up at 6am after another restless night.  We have been bagged by 10pm and usually start to node off.  From 12pm to about 2, we sleep good but then are restless till about 4.  We are usually wide awake then but try to get to sleep only to decide to get up at 6am

Breakfast was prepared and served by Tigi, one of the ladies at the hotel.  Coffee, tea, orange juice, toast, fried egg sandwich, watermelon and a rice dish was more than we needed.  Your so full your ready for a nap but we don't

Karen & I decided to take a walk outside the guesthouse grounds.  Everything reminds us of our stay in Uganda.

 

 

 

The compound itself is clean, safe and has friendly staff.  There is barb wire on top of wall and there is security at the gate.  Security has to let you in and out.

 

 

  The area around the compound has other compounds intertwined with poor residential shelters.  The street is in very poor condition filled with potholes, broken pavement gravel, and debris.  Beggars and street vendors trying to sell their wares in front of almost every building.  Something we didn't notice in Uganda that we see here is allot of street people that want to wash your shoes.  Maybe this is due to the wet season they are now in.  Mornings have been nice here but every afternoon, it will rain for 2 minutes to two hours.  It would clear up and then rain sometime in the night again.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked about 10 blocks stopping at a bakery and a grocery store to purchase items.

At noon, we were picked up by Marcus so we could join fellow Canadians from Sasktoon, Candy & Rob for a traditional celebration at his house.  His nephew was presented to the church which is similar to our baptism.  He said up to 300 people will pass through and eat in his mother's humble shelter.  She has cooked traditional Injera, potatoes, rice and several different wats (with varying degees of spiciness) to feed all these people. 

 

 

It was more than we would fathom that they would invite 4 total strangers into there home to share in their celebration.

After about 2 hours, we thank our gracious host, and departed to visit some open market shops.

 

 

  Marcus escorted us through the market helping us barter where neessary and ensuring our comfort around the locals.  After about 2 hours, we retuned back to the guesthouse to relax for the night.  We will stay up as late as possible so we will hopefully have a good sleep.  We want to be ready for court tomorrow, the second most important day of our stay.  Picking up Ibssa so he can officially join our family will be the most important.