Family 2013

Family 2013
Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Ethiopia part #2 & Baby Sweetness


Play yard at Hannahs Hope

Daddy and baby girl -love at first sight



Mama & baby girl Pure love :)

The second we met Baby girl we couldn't

believe how small & perfect she was!







Baby girl instantly connected with us. She never showed

fear, just a slow interest...she would feel our faces, and lean

her little forehead on mine while I talked to her.She loved daddys chain and bracelet. Within seconds of meeting she was cooing and baby talking with us. The special mothers were laughing with us :)





She was looking at me at me like

"Are you who I think you are?"(we had no electricity the morning of our first meeting with baby girl!)

(the guy in the back is Hiyem? sp? ..he is the

nicest man. We spent alot of time with him and he is awesome and very

funny. He made us feel so comfortable, and he LOVED baby girl)




The lobby of the UNION , very pretty.







If you go to the 2nd floor and look out the back window, you will see this families backyard. Each day this women would be outside doing her wash. She owns the chickens and rooster :) she has some brick on her house which means her family did well at one time.








View out our window to the right a bit..yellow tin building is a store front, owned by a well dressed lady, and the tin panel just to the left is a gate for a family home. You gotta love the small pole scaffolding. Looks ricky but it works !









View out the window to the left..this building has been under construction since we started our ethiopian journey i think! Ethiopia is such a contrast of wealthy and poor right next to each other..the yellow home looks very fancy, and it is right next to the very meager tin homes. Everyone co-exits which I found awesome.



This street is HOPPING first thing in the morning and again when folks are coming home for the day. You have to just sit at the window, with it open and see and hear the sounds of Ethiopia. We spent hours enjoying it with Baby girl on our laps..she found it fascinating just like us :)










Union bath room :) not bad






room 103, open the curtains wide and open the large
windows! We slept with them open each night. The breeze
was amazing:)





The bed is very pretty and comfy, we brought our

own sheets and pillows cases. (Ethiopians use

the fancy pillow shams as the case.) Room service

washed our sheets for us too :)



The gentleman at the gate, and his friends all hang out during the day, just waiting to be helpful. The are super friendly and would give us the biggest smiles :) somehow i didnt get a picture of them....
We arrived in Ethiopia late..and the streets were FULL of people all dressed up going out on the town.
The traffic is amazing! Insane and loud and tons of near misses! It really is exciting and funny. We were ready for it, since we traveled in Guatemala too...I wouldnt say it is dangerous, they have a system and it works for them :) ~One horn honk means "dont cut me off, Dont walk in front of me" ~2 horn honks , means I am letting you go" Seriously no road rage :)
At first we thought the city wasnt too poor. Daytime was a rude awakening. It is very poor...but the people are living their lives and are happy. They all seem to be kind to each other. In the mornings a very old , poor gentleman would sit across the street by the telephone pole, begging. Many well dressed ladies on their way to work, would stop and give him money.

When children do come up to you and ask for birr, they are always polite. Never did we have a pushy or uncomfortable situation. EXCEPT for the belt guy while shopping...he was a pain :)

More baby girl sweetness to follow :) Boo is struggling a bit, mostly with attitude. She seems to really enjoy her baby sister but is acting out while adjusting :)






9 comments:

Mama Bear said...

Gorgeous Maria. She is just as beautiful as can be. So glad the transition went so well.

Debbie said...

Love the photos!!! And I'm very much enjoying the stories of your trip.

I anticipate Lili having a tough time adjusting to having a little sister too! She's okay sharing mommy for short periods of time, but everyday is going to be hard I think.

missy said...

it's so great to see your photos and hear about your experience, especially since we will be in the same places before too long. she is a darling girl! hope your family continues to adjust well.

The Hill Family said...

love to hear more & more details! and i thought your hair looked NICE! well, considering... ;) tee hee hee :p ok, i better go - i think you might get TOO used to me showing up here! LOVE YOU!

Leann said...

MAria -- we stayed in 103 too!! I totally recognized it in the pictures!! Loved your pics -- makes me miss Ethiopia. Can't believe we've been home almost 3 months!

Amber said...

oh thank you thank you for posting this very thorough blog entry! I love it. We have a court date of May 21st. We can't wait to go and walk in your shoes.

Kristi J said...

Yeah..you posted...I've been waiting to see more pics...so exciting!! She is so adorable and I LOVE seeing where we'll stay..so cool, thanks so much, kj

Troy said...

great post ... thank you for your recap!

The Redman's said...

Too funny! That's the room we stayed in! :)

Your little one is just precious!

"...Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know, and holds us responsible to ACT..." Proverbs 24:12

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -(Mahatma Gandhi)