Owlhavens in Ethiopia: Thursday (later)

After Kidane Mehret, our next mission was to find traditional dresses for all 4 of our Ethiopian daughters. Dawit drove us to a row of little shops near the U.S. embassy, and very kindly walked into the various stores with us translating and helping us bargain.

Three of the four girls stated a preference for pink, which several shops did not have. But eventually we ended up with a lovely blue and gold dress for the 11 year old, and pink and gold ones for the younger three girls. The older girls’ dresses were 160 birr each (around $16) and the little girls dresses were about 40 birr each. We were well pleased, most of all by the smiles of delight on the faces of our older girls.

Next we headed for a little drive up Entoto mountain, which is just on the northern edge of Addis. The mountain views and lush trees were lovely, and it was nice to see a more panoramic vista than is visible in Addis. Very often our van would pass a woman carrying huge loads of firewood on her back. I’d seem pictures before, but to see it in person was distressing. I wished there was something we could do. As it was, the best I came up with was to not take pictures– it seemed unkind, somehow, when they were working so hard. I cannot imagine doing such difficult work for only a few pennies a day.

A half-hour’s drive brought us to Menalik’s palace, which was next door to a nice little museum about the king. At the museum we met a gem of a tour guide, who walked us around the various exhibits in the museum, explaining everything in both Amharic and English. He had a sweet grandfatherly way with our older girls, and explained things s kindly to us all. John and I both loved him, and our children seemed to enjoy listening to him as well. His kindness to us was a high point in our trip.

Part way through the tour, the girls needed to use the restroom, which turned out to be another ‘squatty potty’ outhouse — thankfully much cleaner (or at least less frequented) than the one at the Merry Fam. By the time we finished our tour, the rain, which had held off all day, began to fall in earnest. We loaded back into the van and headed back for the guesthouse.

On the way back down the mountain we came to a spot in the road where a rock had fallen into the road off a hillside above us. As our van was approached the rock, a woman who was walking back up the mountain (probably for more firewood) saw that the rock was in the way of our vehicle. She shoved the rock over to the side of the road. As we went on by unhindered, our driver tapped his horn in thanks to her. I found it an uneasy thought that this poor woman had taken a moment from her hard labor to make life easier for the rich Americans. Really, we should have been doing something to help her.

Back at the guesthouse dinner was injera and wat prepared for us by the extremely capable guesthouse cooks. We all enjoyed the meal. All week both of the older girls enjoyed working John’s little camcorder, and that evening the older one spent several minutes videotaping every detail of her beautiful Ethiopian dress, which made us feel good. Then both girls produced an adorable video where they named each member of our family and said, “We love you, ____!” It was sweet.

But as the evening grew later, they got more somber, and both wrote some more letters to friends. They were still responsive to our overtures, returning smiles and talking when we spoke to them. But it was obvious that tomorrow’s going-away party at Layla house was weighing heavy on their minds. I wished there was something I could do to ease their hearts. But this was just one of those times in life we were going to have to get through somehow.

Previous portions of this story
Sunday and Monday
Tuesday
Tuesday(later)
Owlhavens in Ethiopia: Wednesday
Owlhavens in Ethiopia: Thursday (earlier)

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