Day 3-Sunday

Our first full day in Ethiopia was quite relaxing. The best part is, we were so tired from the traveling that we slept a full 10-12 hours and woke up at 8:00 a.m. Addis time. There you have it: adjusted to the time change! That was easy! (Don't laugh, it seemed that way. Then I came home....not so easy. Maybe still adjusting?)

We made our way to the lobby of the Union Hotel where the restaurant is located. I had heard good things about the pancakes, so I ordered that and a cup of coffee. The pancakes were pretty good, and the coffee was t h i c k ! The waiter brought it out in a small pot with a demitasse cup, a pitcher of milk, and some sugar. He filled the cup pretty full, so I just put a *hint* of milk and sugar in it and took a sip. The rest of the jittery first encounter with Ethiopian coffee went like this:

WHOA...that's strong! (More milk and sugar)

another sip

WHOA...still strong! (More milk and sugar)

and pretty much that way until I got to the bottom. I was glad I ate the pancakes first, or else I'd have had syrup splattered over my face from my shaking hands. It was incredibly smooth coffee though; unlike any coffee I'd had here in the States.


The hotel was pretty much empty except for one other AGCI family, so we had the whole hotel to ourselves. We spent some time on the porch watching people and traffic, took a nap, and tried to find Hannah's Hope from the 3rd floor window. I remembered HH being yellow, so I looked for a yellow brick building. Little did I know, the cute little RED brick building with the yellow front was where our Juniper was staying! AND, it was at the center of all our photos from that window! It was good I didn't know that our I might have headed over there!

Look how close I was to our little girl!!!

We enjoyed an afternoon thunderstorm (it's the rainy season) and finished the day with spaghetti with tomato sauce; my father in law had the roasted chicken. Both were great. Several other families had arrived (including Michelle and Chad's and Leah and Jay's families; I don't think the others had blogs), so it was great to meet them and wonderful to have company in the hotel!

We went to bed, prepared for paperwork the next morning with Almaz, the orphanage director. Our itinerary said we wouldn't meet the kids until Tuesday, so we all discussed a petition or something so we could meet our kids the next day rather than wait 2 days! (Fortunately, we were able to meet the kids on Monday!)