Sunday and Monday's Adventures!!!

On Sunday morning bright and early we left for a trip to the southern part of Ethiopia. We traveled to a remote region called Kembata where the twins are from. It was a beautiful (and eventful) drive. Driving here is quite the experience. It seems like it is somewhat of a free for all. We were dodging people, goats, cows, kids, potholes, and horses the entire trip! We got a flat tire along the way and it seemed like half the village came out to watch us change it. Pretty funny. We had fun taking pictures of the kids and then showing them the picture on the camera's screen. They got SOOOO excited! It was so wonderful to see more of Ethiopia. It was amazing. I can't wait until we are home and able to more easily post pictures and info. The internet connection here is very unreliable and shuts down often. But, it was an unforgettable experience and one that we are SO grateful to have gotten. We will have so much to tell our children about the amazing beauty of their homeland and their culture.

We stayed overnight in Awasa by the shores of a huge beautiful lake. The lake apparently has hippos in it! Tony and I were dying to see them, but we weren't able to travel to that area. We left early in the morning on Monday to drive back to Addis (a 4 hour drive). We saw many people bringing things to market on ox or donkey carts. You see even little children (maybe 5 or 6) driving them! It was very cool.

We got home from the trip just in time to quickly get ready for the US Embassy appointment. We filled out the paperwork and traveled there as a group. It was SOOO cute because the nannies had dressed Tesfahun and Zenete so that they were coordinating in red and white. Zenete had on this adorable red and white polka dot dress with a matching headband. She was such a doll! Everything went great at the Embassy and they are officially ours! They did great being with us....very smiley and fun. And we got to feed them their first bottles and they fell asleep in our arms. It was perfect.

Tonight they took us out (just the parents) to an Ethiopian restaurant for food and music and dancing. It was so great. We had so much fun and it was relaxing and so fun to see so much of their cultural music and dance.

So, now it is off to bed for a fun day tomorrow. We are planning on watching the cook make injera tomorrow (the national bread which is like a huge sourdough pancake) and maybe go to the market.

Lots of Love,
Tony and Jill