Ethiopia Trip South

I am quite excited to finally be able to post about our trip because it gives me a good excuse to re-live it and look at the pictures. Our week of traveling around Ethiopia was amazing . . . as in the best trip we've ever had. Our adoption week was, of course, incredible. So, here we begin.

We arrived in Ethiopia on Sunday night May 17th, got off the plane, spent a few long hours getting a visa, and were greeted by a wall of Ethiopian faces pressed as close as could be to the gate, eager to see family visiting from the states. We met our guide, Daniel of Glory Ethiopia Travel, right away and walked out to the parking lot, where there were huge groups cheering, singing, dancing, hugging, and crying with family they had not seen for too long. Ethiopians live out loud and outside; something that was very refreshing to us coming from America where privacy creates walls between everyone.

After an interesting night listening to Ethiopian club music below our window, roosters crowing, dogs barking, call to prayer, and traffic, we woke up to begin our trip to the south. Here is a view out our hotel window that first morning

From Addis we drove south for a day, stopping in Hossana, our son's birthplace, which will get a separate post. The countryside in the south was green, mountainous, and beautiful. It is rich agriculturally and most people are farmers of the fertile, but rocky soil. Here are some sights from out our window.

These mysterious things hanging from the trees are beehives. We saw them in many trees around Arba Minch. It is seasonal, but provides some money for those who tend the hives.

The roads in Ethiopia are very, very different from the interstates here. People, goats, cows, and sheep outnumber the vehicles on the road and lorries are few and far between. As we drove past everyone waved and kids frequently would try to race the vehicle, or run after us with outstretched palm, or chant "highland, highland, highland" as fast as possible. We asked our guide what that was about and he explained that it is a brand of bottled water. They wanted our empty bottles. Once we figured this out, we were happy to give our bottles to them. It felt inadequate to only give them what we considered trash, but it was something simple we could give them, and they were all thrilled; all except an older woman in the north I gave one to - she was rather offended.
The road between Sodo and Arba Minch was under construction, so we spent the majority of the trip on the detour, which wound back and forth over the future road. In places you weren't allowed to drive, large stones had been scattered about the road - one way to prevent vehicles from traveling on it. I never did quite understand the construction politics, but there were two parties working on the construction, one Ethiopian and one Korean. Driving was slow going I guess, but we really enjoyed it. It gave us a chance to take in the scenery and get an Ethiopian back massage :-)

Children were everywhere and very happy to get attention from us or get their picture taken. While in Ethiopia, it was difficult to believe that there are communities in the U.S. that don't have or don't allow children to be present. There, children fit in to daily life, helping when they can, going to school, and bringing joy and smiles to those around them. They are definitely NOT told to avoid strangers and we were free to interact with them. When we smiled at them or tried to talk to them, we were met with lots of giggles.