Friday & Satuday - July 1-2, Days 2-3 in ET (really long post...)

Friday morning, up early and ready to go!  Thankfully, we knew the night before to plug in our water heater so we had hot water for our shower.  We tried to unplug it during the day and just plug it in right before bed at night so we'd have a nice and toasty shower in the morning.   We got ready and got our overnight bag packed and headed down to breakfast.  We enjoyed a yummy breakfast and were then joined by Woudenah.  Our driver showed up and we headed out at 6:30 to go tot he Sodo region where our boys are from.  It was quite the ride.  We had a really nice car and the driver was really nice as well.  On the way we stopped for some coffee and a bathroom stop.  We drove a while longer and got to the town of Hoisana.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there, I felt awful!  My stomach was killing me!  We went to a hotel to use the restroom and to be bluntly honest, I exploded!  I felt awful, had diarrhea, stomach cramps, and thought i would throw up.  It was terrible.  But, unfortunately, no rest for the weary.  We loaded back up in the car, picked up another guy who would translate for us and was the contact with the birth mothers.  What!  Yes, you heard us right.  We were headed to meet the birth mothers.  We honestly had no idea.  We didn't think this would happen until after court.  I guess we were kind of clueless.  It makes since it happened as it did, we just weren't thinking I guess.  We did not have the photo albums ready for the birth mothers, so Woudenah said he could get it to them later for us.  It made us feel better. 
So, back onto the trip... we load back up into the car and head up this rocky mountain road.  About an hour and a half later or so, and one stop on the roadside, we came to a little village.  Woudenah doesn't even know the name of this little village.  We stopped at this cafe type area and sat at a little table in the yard area.  Our translator guy - who we needed because they spoke another language that Woudenah did not know in this area - went off time meet one of the birth mothers.  She lived about an hours walk away.  While waiting and drinking our sodas, the other birth mother showed up.  At first there was no way to communicate.  Woudenah tried, but she didn't understand him.  She sat there shy and looking down, very timid.  Finally a man at a table nearby offered to help and translate since our guy wasn't back yet.  he translated for us and we were able to have a conversation with her.  We took pictures together with her as well as of her by herself.  I am so thankful to have these.  When we were finishing up, our translator showed up with our other little ones mother.  Thankfully, the mothers had previously met at court and knew that their boys would be brothers.  It was neat to be able to have them both there.  We were able to talk to this mother as well and enjoy conversation with both of them there together.  It was an odd and surreal experience.  Mind you, through this whole thing, I am sick as well as emotional because of meeting the mothers.  We did not have this opportunity with Mason's birth mother.  We thankfully have pictures as well, but were never able to sit and visit with her and tell her 'Thank You'.  So, we finished up, gave hugs once more and them we loaded back up in the car and headed back down the mountain to Hoisana again. 

Here are some pictures from along the journey that day:

The church outside the guest house all lit up in the morning.  Unfortunately a little blurry, but you get the idea of how pretty it is all lit up.

 Pictures from along the way...

 The left side of this picture has a sign for All God's Children.  Just down a road on the right is where Hannah's Hope is.  The transition house where Mason was.  It was just neat to see.

 Gathering water

 Going to market

 The village of where the boys birth mothers were

 After meeting birth mothers, headed to Sodo.  People doing laundry at a little stream

 Soccer

 Sodo

Once back in Hoisana we stopped for lunch and a potty break.  We then parted from the translator, loaded back up in the car and headed to Sodo.  Our boys were both at the orphanage in Hoisana originally and then transferred to Sodo before being moved to Addis (as far as we believe at least).  We finally arrived in Sodo and got to our hotel.  We unloaded our stuff and met Woudenah and another man (we later found out he was the director of the orphanages in Hoisana and Sodo were the boys were).  We all loaded up and headed to a restaurant where Woudenah met with another man to get some paperwork done on some other children.  We were able to just visit with the director of the orphanage for a little over an hour.  It was so nice to just visit.  There was, and I am sure still is, a lot going on over in ET with orphanages and the gov't.  In the region where we were at there were 23 orphanages shut down just that week.  Everyone was very on edge and stressed.  I felt bad for them, they just have a heart for these kids and want to help them.  We headed back to our hotel and Dan and I passed on dinner.  We got snacks at the little store next door and went back to our room to eat a little crackers and soda and take it easy.  We were to meet Woudenah in the morning at 6 am. 
Well, our little TV in our room had a bad picture of a show in English.  We sat on our brick of a bed (literally).  Woudenah later informed us that pretty much anywhere outside of Addis, beds like that are to be expected.  So, we both fell asleep because we were so out of it.  About 2 or so, I was up for the night.  I thankfully had a book, so I spent a fair amount of the night/morning reading.  (I finished my book!)  We got up, to cold showers (no plug in on our hot water heater, just a cord hanging)  and then headed down to meet Woudenah.  We loaded up and headed to Hawassa, about 2 hours away for breakfast and to go the the fish market. 

Sodo early in the morning.  About the only time the whole trip we saw the streets empty.

 Headed to Hawassa

We got to Hawassa and went straight to the fish market.  It was pretty amazing to see.  We walked in and there were huge pelicans down by the water as well as up in trees.  There was a row of shops where people were selling things as well as cooking up the fish.  We went down to the water and were able to see the men and their boats.  They had just come in from the morning catch.  Some men were still counting fish, some were preparing their nets for the afternoon catch.  It was fascinating to watch.  We then headed up the where people purchase and clean the fish.  On the way there, there were monkeys running around.  We got up to where they buy and clean the fish.  It was just so fascinating to see.  All it makes me think of is Biblical times.  It makes me think of Christ saying 'Come, be fishers of men.'  It is just fascinating to see. 

 Preparing the nets

 Cleaning the fish

 Overlooking the shops and where people were cooking the fish.  If you look up in the tree above it you can see a bunch of pelicans up in the trees.

 Overlooking the lake and boats

 We then left there and headed to the Haile resort.  It was built by Haile Gebrselassie, considered the worlds greatest distance runner.  It was beautiful.  Unbelievable considering everything we had seen in that trip.  We ate breakfast at their buffet and then went to set out of the patio overlooking the water and just enjoying the landscape and lake.  We were there just a couple minutes and Woudenah looked at us and asked if we wanted to go for a boat ride, so we headed down to the dock, got on a boat and headed out.  We went around to this area where we were able to watch a herd of hippos in the water.  It was such a neat opportunity!  I doubt we will ever have the chance to see a herd of hippos in their habitat any other time. 

At the resort.  This is a big beautiful lounge overlooking the lake.

 You can see the resort in the background on this one.  In the boat headed out

 People on the shore doing laundry.

 All the bumps in the water are hippos.  They moved around a bit and one showed a fair bit more of it's head and body.  They were huge! 

We headed back to the resort and then loaded up to head back to Addis. We were making a big loop, so the way back was different than the way we came.  It was beautiful!  We went through a town where the Rastafari religion was started.  Really a fascinating history.  I honestly was clueless until this trip.  We were able to stop at their compound and tour their church. 

We later stopped at some point and went to what Woudenah called a 'park'.  Here in the US we would consider it a wildlife/nature preserve.  We headed in and picked up a military guy as a guide.  He had us drive a bit and then we got out and walked into this area with trees and grass.  There were warthogs, ostriches, and gazelles.  It was weird to be there in the midst of them all.  We then walked back to the car and headed out.  We drove around another way and went to this area that was an overlook at a cliff.  It was amazing.  There was a lake on either side to the left and right as far as we could see.  It was gorgeous. 

 This is the car we traveled in for these two days.  It was really nice.  Woudenah had us take a picture of it because apparently a lot of people don't take these side trips because they are afraid the cars won't get them where they are to go and they will be stranded.  So not the case!  Wodenah took care of us!

 This is the valley we overlooked.  it was gorgeous

We drove back, got back on the main road and headed to Addis.  We had a deadline because we had to be back to Addis by 6 for Woudenah to go to the airport and get the family that was to come in that night.   We did stop for lunch at a restaurant/hotel place.  It was good as well.  We trusted Woudenah and he ordered for us most every meal.  This food was so good.  It was kind of a dive, not somewhere he said he would take most people, but I am so glad he took us.  We saw so many different things along the way back.

Selling potatoes on the roadside.

 People gathered playing Foosball.

 These were benches people had carved (you can see the shavings in the ditches) and were selling along the roadside.

 This is a tomato farm.

 Plowing the fields.

 Greenhouses.  Apparently Ethiopia is a big exporter among Africa for produce.

 A woman at a well.  It makes me think of the Biblical woman at the well whom Jesus met with.  It is just such a great visual for that story.

 The whole time we were there, there were woman on the street roasting ears of corn on open fires.  It looked really yummy.

We got back to the guest house exhausted and exhilarated.  We had dinner, were able to play with the boys for a while and take it easy.  When they were getting tired, we took them back to the nannies and headed to the family room as I would call it.  We had brought some card games with us, so we were able to just enjoy some time playing cards.  Dan headed up to bed and I stayed up to read for a while.  Woudenah finally pulled in with the other family around midnight or so, could have been later, not real sure.  I said hello and then headed up to bed.  We were exhausted, but thankfully were not needed until breakfast at 8ish the next morning...  where the next adventure began...