Restaurants-- Center Of The City

Breezes Location: Poolside at the Sheraton in Addis Type of food: Mexican, American, Asian. Iced Coffees. Other: more expensive than average ($11-$20 USD) ---------- Ghion Traditional Restaurant Location: in Ghion Hotel, Menelik Ave Type of Food: Ethiopian Other notes: Traditional dancing most nights after 7 pm. ------------- Cottage Restaurant & Pub Location: near Harambee Hotel and Ghion Hotel on Desta Demtew Ave Type of food: Swiss food and pizza. Other notes: Affordable prices ($5-$8 USD) --------------------... more

My new 11 year old daughter is teaching me to make injera. But today as I watched her, I realized she is bringing much more to her new family than just a formula for producing proper injera.

Each time as my daughter has finished cooking the injera, when she has only a little batter left to cook she calls her 9 year old sister. Her sister comes running to make one last smaller piece of injera for herself. The younger girl them claims that piece of injera for herself, to eat with... more

That last long flight on the way home was when we really had to work to come up with entertainment. Fortunately I had lots of little things to pull out at various times. Some things didn't work as well as others. My two year old kept accidentally shining her flashlight in the eyes of the young man sitting next to her. Oops, ditch that. And the little toy cell phones with candy inside...well, the candy was good, but the repetitive ringing, not so much. Ditch those too.

The very best toy turned out to be the beading kits I made up in ziplocks. The older girls strung beads on strings, and added real clasps to the ends to make fun necklaces. The two year old loved stringing... more

I thought it might be interesting to list some of the things that have amazed and delighted our girls since we met them in Addis.

They've discovered that although businessmen sometimes do fall on escalators, with much briefcase and suitcoat-flapping, it is possible to ride an escalator without trauma. It is best to watch at least 5 steps as they pass to properly gauge speed before jumping on, however.

They have ridden bikes for the first time. They've seen their first acres-wide new-car lot and their first car transport trailer and their first garage door opener. They've learned to play the piano-- half a dozen songs in the case of the 11-year old. They've learned how... more

Our flight from Addis to Frankfurt was accomplished mostly while the girls slept. I wish the same could be said for John and me. Unfortunately a very loud businessman right behind John and across the aisle from me decided to talk to his seatmate-- loudly -- for at least 4 hours of the flight. Until then I hadn’t know it was possible to talk that long with so little encouragement.

When his seatmate finally got it across that he’d rather sleep, the man still wasn’t quiet. He rustled his newspaper and cleared his throat and twitched and got up and sat down. To make it more... more

Ethiopia has many beautiful natural attractions for the tourist willing to leave Addis and do a bit of exploring. Some places will require a few hours of driving. Others can be reached by flying Ethiopian airlines on their domestic routes.

Bahir Dar/Blue Nile Falls Bahir Dar is located on the southern shores of Lake Tana and is accessible by land and air. Bahir Dar is one of the most convenient centers for boating to the various islands on the lake. A must-see attraction in Bahir Dar is Tis Isat, the Blue Nile Falls. The waterfall is over 1300 feet wide at flood stage and is 150 feet deep. The continuous spray of water drenches onlookers and produces beautiful... more

By the time the AAI driver got to the guesthouse around 7 pm, we had indeed gotten everything into the suitcases, including a large round woven injera mat that we’d bought a couple evenings before. A woman had been selling them near the guesthouse when we were walking by one evening. When I spotted it, I knew I wanted one. I stuck 10 birr into my 11 year old’s hand and asked her to go back and get it for me. After a minute or two of talking with the woman, she came back with it looking pleased, and so was I. On our last trip, I’d bought a couple similar mats about the diameter of a pot-holder. This one was big enough to hold a whole large piece of injera.

One thing I didn’t... more

We all want our children to grow up caring about others and to interact with others in a loving and appropriate way. Children who have been through great trauma in their own lives sometimes have a deeper understanding of the challenges others face and can demonstrate that with an unusually sensitive way of interacting.

Other children become so wounded by their own pain that they try to wall themselves off from their own feelings. This disconnect from their own sadness can leave children less sensitive to the feelings of others. Our challenge as adoptive parents is to help our children connect to their own feelings. This will help our children work through their own feelings, as... more

By the time we reached the Hilton, the blue patch in the sky was growing, and we were starting to feel like our swim just might work out. We didn't know exactly how long the girls or the weather would last, and told our driver so. Dawit said it didn't matter-- he'd just hang out and wait for us. The man is worth way more than the 60 birr (about $6) per hour he charges.

Once inside the Hilton we stopped at the bank to change some money. At $7 for kids and $9 for adults, this was the most expensive swim in my life. The fee includes the use of a very nice dressing room, and a huge fluffy towel each. My new girls were rather uncertain about the (lack of) modesty of their bathing... more

Saturday morning we woke up with the knowledge that this was our last day in Addis. I wanted to cram in as much as possible, and I was relieved to see that the our new girls seemed to be in good spirits and ready to go, despite the emotional day yesterday.

We'd arranged for our very kind driver Dawit to pick us up at 10:00 for some shopping and touristing. If the weather would cooperate, we also hoped to sneak in a swim at the Hilton. So far the sky looked grey and threatening, but we packed swimsuits so that we'd be ready if there was a break in the clouds.

While shopping, we hoped to find something fun to bring home for our kids who hadn't come to Addis with us. I... more