Ethiopia Days 5-7

Monday finally came and it was a BIG day because we were visiting the US Embassy for our visa interview.  We had waited nine long months for this appointment to come to fruition and we didn’t want anything to go wrong.  Wogene had to come with us and he did fine, but I think he was very scared the entire process.  The embassy building is nothing like we expected.  We were thinking it would be fairly old and run down but it was a monstrosity of a building and it took up a sizable piece of prime land in the city.  It was more like a compound than a building.  I’m not sure when it was built but I do know that it is a very new facility from what others have told us.

We were interviewed very quickly by a young guy who was pleasant and courteous.  He asked us if we had both seen Wogene prior to our court hearing and when we were leaving Addis so they could have our visa ready for us.  The whole process took less than an hour.  They owed us a quick and easy visa interview after all they’ve put us through.

That night we were supposed to had dinner at our favorite restaurant in the city (Yod Abyssinia for those of you APs reading this–much better than Habesha in our opinion).  It’s serves traditional Ethiopian food and has live music and a show with dancers doing various dances from different regions of Ethiopia.  Wogene was pretty tired so we weren’t able to stay for too long to watch the dancing after dinner, but he ate like a champ!  He surprised us by not liking the spicy dishes as much as we thought he would.  He would take a bite, inhale and wave his hand in front of his mouth, wanting water!

Some of these dishes may look like something your dog would puke up, but it’s proof that looks can be deceiving–it’s some of the best food you could ever put in your mouth!  My mouth waters just looking at this picture thinking about how good it is!

 

We loved the dances they did from different Ethiopian regions.

The next morning, we woke up again to a happy boy.  Based on how well he had done in public places, we made the decision to take him to the Hilton Hotel in Addis where we could buy a day pass and use their outdoor pool. He had no fear of the water and eagerly joined L.  Before we knew it, he was trying to stick his head under and sputtering and spewing as he choked on water before he figured out how to hold his breath!  So different from Buddy and Lou!  He loved riding on L’s back and he was a shriveled little prune after two hours in the water!

We were excited that night because we knew the next day was our last before heading back to the US!  The next day, we spent most of our time around the guest house.  Once weekly, the staff prepares a traditional meal for the guests so we had a big lunch. Wogene took a good nap that afternoon and the day seemed to go quicker than I had expected.  I was ancy to get on the plane and get moving towards Buddy and Lou.  I missed them terribly and was so excited about coming home.

He was mesmerized by the plane he was about to board!

Our plane didn’t leave until 10:30 p.m.and we had 23 hours of traveling before we arrived in Atlanta.  The carrot was our family waiting at the airport and I could hardly wait!