Ethiopia Part III

January 29

Today half of our group went to the first church in Addis Ababa. It was established by Emperor Milik. Almaz recommended that only 1 parent go and that the other stay home with the baby. Matt graciously allowed me to go see the church, because he knew I REALLY wanted to go.

Thank goodness that we did not take our babies – since it was St. Mary’s Day, the entire city was at the church worshipping.

As we were driving up the hill (switchback, hairpin curves), thousands of people were wearing the traditional Ethiopian white and walking up the hill to the church.

Many beggars were along the side of the road, because it is tradition to give Alms to the poor on St. Mary’s Day. As we passed one group of people, they called out “Look, tourists!” That made us all laugh.
When we got to the top of the hill, there were people set up selling food, umbrellas, and candles for worship.

The top of the hill by the church was wall to wall people. I was so glad that I did not have Samuel strapped to my front – I would have been very nervous. I was scared enough about getting separated from our group. I just kept my eyes on Johannes and followed him. We first went to the museum of the church which had many artifacts of Emperor Milik and his wife. They established the first church in Addis Ababa. There were also a few things from Emperor Haille Selassie.

After our tour of the museum, we went out to the path up to the church and watched the worship service for a few minutes. I think we all would have liked to go in the church and see it, but there were too many people to get up there. I’m not sure we would have even been allowed in on this holiday.

Periodically during the worship service, the leaders would say something and the whole crowd would erupt into calls that sounded like a native American war call.

We headed back and ended up at Hannah’s Hope. When I got there, Matt was examining a new set of twins that Almaz had gotten a few days before we got there. While he was finishing up with the twins, I handed out candy to the older kids. I also walked around the whole compound and took pictures of everything I could think of. I took Samuel up to Mesekarame and Mestawet to say goodbye. They were really sad, which made me sad as well. Then we left. After we got outside the gate, Getemesay, Mike, and Leslyn took our pictures in front of the gate.
We went back to the hotel and ate lunch, packed, and showered. Sam napped while we packed up. He decided to stretch out instead of lying frog-leg, and his little feet hung off the end of his Moses basket. It took quite some time to pack, but we got everything in 3 bags that were no where near 50 pounds each! Matt did a great job padding everything and nothing broke on the way home. Once we showered and dressed, we carried everything down to the lobby and waited for Johannes to come get us.
We left for the airport at 6:00. The bus was so full of luggage, adults, and babies, that some of the guys had to stand up the whole way to the airport. When we got to the airport, multiple people came to help us unload. We hugged Johannes goodbye and walked up to the terminal. We had to go through security on our way in to the airport. Then we checked in for our flight (which took forever). We thought we had plenty of time to eat, but when we got to our gate they told us that we had to go on and go in. I was tired and hungry and I didn’t see the point of sitting inside the gate for an hour when I could have been eating. There were no bathrooms, food, or even trashcans inside. We had to go through security again to get into the gate.
When we got on the plane, Katy and Brett, Travis and Sunny, and we all had bulkhead seats. We got all settled and Matt was planning to hold Sammy for the first leg so I could sleep since I was so tired. Once we got up in the air, the head flight attendant came and woke us up to put a bassinette in the bulkhead – it bolts in so you don’t have to hold your baby the whole flight. I have never been so excited about anything on a plane in my life!! Sam slept most of the way from Addis to Dulles, as did we. It was wonderful! When he was awake, we used the bassinette as a little pack-n-play so we didn’t have to hold him the whole time. We sat him up in it and gave him some toys to play with. It was awesome!!
January 30
When we arrived in Dulles, we had to go through customs and immigration.

Then Katy and Brett, Clark and Sarah, and Matt and I left the secure area and went up to the Delta ticket counter to check back in. We had to rearrange our carry-ons for American security since we were allowed bottled water and other liquids through Ethiopian security. When we got to our concourse, we changed the babies’ clothes, changed our clothes, washed our faces, brushed our teeth, and felt much better. Of course, Sam spit up on me as soon as I got my clean clothes on! Then we went to find some real American food!! Five guys and fries tasted AWESOME!! Finally, it was time to board our flight to Cincinnati. Sam was fussy by the time we got on the plane. Actually, he was screaming!! He wanted a bottle, and of course we couldn’t get it fast enough for his liking! Thankfully he calmed down and fell asleep after the bottle, and I got a nap too.
When we got off the plane and came out of the secure area, Mom, Dad, Grace Caroline, Drew, Katy and Brett’s moms, Sydney, and Zachary were all waiting for us. It was so fun to see how excited they all were to meet their new brothers. Cameras were flashing all around!! Grace Caroline got to be the first to hold Sam, as promised. We collected our bags and went home. All told, we were 30 hours from our hotel to CVG. When we got home, I was so tired I felt sick and it hurt. I went to bed around 8 or 9, I think. It was a great trip, and I can’t wait to go back (just not for another child!)!