Out and About, Embassy Appointment, Shopping and Cultural Show

Since we had our embassy appointment in the afternoon, today, we spent a little bit of the morning bumming around a bit. Steve needed to shop of a baseball cap because he got sunburned a bit yesterday, so we went to shop for one. There are shoe shine boys everywhere in Addis, which is sort of funny, because it is so dirty and there are not really any paved streets, so your shoes just get dirty right away, but Steve thought it would be fun to have his shoes shined. He had two boys each do one shoe and paid them both the full price...they thought that was really funny. While I was busy taking photos of the shoe shine, some of the local people wanted to have their photo taken. They thought it was really cool to be able to see themselves on the LCD panel. After I took the Muslim woman's photo, I showed it to her and told her she is "very beautiful". She took may arm and kissed it a bunch of times...how cute is that?

Double Team Shoe Shine

After our outing, we went back to the Guest House and played with Amelia a bit, then took photos with some of our new friends. What awesome men and women we had that took care of us, cooked for us, drove us places and helped us bring Amelia home. We are honored to have been able to spend time with them.

Abynish, Amelia, Noah and Lalese

Kitus and Amelia

Handsome men...Kitus and Korsa

Girba, Gina, Amelia, Steve and Kitus

After the Embassy appointment, we stopped at the Post Office shops (open shops across from the post office). This is where you can buy cultural gifts and souveniers and you can barter with them a bit more than other places. Kitus, our driver, was always looking out for us...asking for "last price" or telling the sellers that "is too much". He was a great shopper! He carried all of my bags for me, made sure I got the correct change back and even specifically took me to a place that had a bunch of dress shops because I was looking for some dresses for Amelia and one for myself. I got pretty good at bartering. Usually, I would ask for the price, decide what I was really willing to pay and then I'd tell the seller that "this is my last price". If they said "no", I'd tell them "ok, I'll look at some other shops" and as soon as I would walk away, they'd come back and offer the item for me at the price I wanted. Kitus thought it was really funny. I think American woman are probably much more bold than Ethiopian woman.

Steve told me I owed this nice man a kiss for selling me a musical instrument at "my last price".Look at that happy face! ;)

Later, we went to the Robera coffee shop to buy a couple of packages of Robera to take home. I don't think it will taste nearly as good as when Lalese and Abynish made it, but we'll try!

Finally, we treated Kitus, Korsa and Lalese to dinner and a show at Yod Abyssinia, a local restaurant. The restaurant serves traditional Ethiopian food while presenting a cultural show that features singing, dancing and traditional Ethiopian clothing for the various tribes of Ethiopia. There are over 80 tribes in Ethiopia, each speaking their own dialect and having their own customs, dances and special clothing styles. The show featured barious dances and was AMAZING! Talk about dancing! Incredible talent...and I am surprised no one throws their shoulders or neck out! Very fun!! I posted video snippet for you to see, too.

Kitus, Noah, Lalese, Gina, Steve and Kitus at Yod Abyssinia Restaurant

Menu
Hand washing

Yummy traditional Ethiopian meal. Mmmmm!
Coffee Ceremony
Waitress serving coffee
Our dessert, coffee and popcorn.