Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa at 7AM local time (11PM Tennesse time!) 
Getting the 21+ bags for all 8 people was an adventure! They got loaded on top of a van for the drive to Rich & Melissa's, one of the Drawn from Water couples. 
We were invited to participate in a coffee ceremony. (Roasted and brewed right in their living room.) Tradition holds that the coffee is drunk before any serious conversation takes place. So we start with the basics on Drawn from Water ... and then learn that DFW has been cut off from the Ethiopian part of the rescue effort and orphanage so we can't see the kids -- and have no plan for the week! 
To Sishu for lunch. Excellent grilled burgers. To Kore, the dump. People live in corrugated metal shacks all around it, with no running water or power. Meet Jerry & Christy, a couple who live by the dump and are starting a mission of providing child care for women who work at the dump (collecting metal, food, etc.) so they can get better jobs. Two of our pack-n-plays and lots of formula and diapers are donated to them, which is actually an answer to a very recent prayer of Christy's. They just got the final approval to open the day care and needed to start getting supplies and knew that cribs would be hard to acquire. Praise God! Go on a walking tour of the area. Words cannot describe it. To dinner at Lime Tree. Power goes out just as we get our food. As the firenge (foreigners) we are provided with candles before the rest of the customers. Long awaited shower and bed at the hotel. 3rd floor room is actually the 4th floor because the floors are ground, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. 60 steps and no elevator. At this elevation it is a tough climb! Eddie & I have a room with a separate living room and bedroom. Shower has a head that comes out of the center of the long side with no shower curtain and an electrical outlet on the short side. So you can take a shower and dry your hair at the same time???? No hand towel or washcloth. (Glad I brought my own.) Lots of street noise and light, which we aren't used to at home, but I take two Advil PM and hope for the best!
Getting the 21+ bags for all 8 people was an adventure! They got loaded on top of a van for the drive to Rich & Melissa's, one of the Drawn from Water couples. We were invited to participate in a coffee ceremony. (Roasted and brewed right in their living room.) Tradition holds that the coffee is drunk before any serious conversation takes place. So we start with the basics on Drawn from Water ... and then learn that DFW has been cut off from the Ethiopian part of the rescue effort and orphanage so we can't see the kids -- and have no plan for the week! To Sishu for lunch. Excellent grilled burgers. To Kore, the dump. People live in corrugated metal shacks all around it, with no running water or power. Meet Jerry & Christy, a couple who live by the dump and are starting a mission of providing child care for women who work at the dump (collecting metal, food, etc.) so they can get better jobs. Two of our pack-n-plays and lots of formula and diapers are donated to them, which is actually an answer to a very recent prayer of Christy's. They just got the final approval to open the day care and needed to start getting supplies and knew that cribs would be hard to acquire. Praise God! Go on a walking tour of the area. Words cannot describe it. To dinner at Lime Tree. Power goes out just as we get our food. As the firenge (foreigners) we are provided with candles before the rest of the customers. Long awaited shower and bed at the hotel. 3rd floor room is actually the 4th floor because the floors are ground, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. 60 steps and no elevator. At this elevation it is a tough climb! Eddie & I have a room with a separate living room and bedroom. Shower has a head that comes out of the center of the long side with no shower curtain and an electrical outlet on the short side. So you can take a shower and dry your hair at the same time???? No hand towel or washcloth. (Glad I brought my own.) Lots of street noise and light, which we aren't used to at home, but I take two Advil PM and hope for the best!
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