Ethiopia Day 1 September 19, 2008

Sounds….9/19/08 7:32 am

For the last hour I have been laying in bed listening to the sounds of my first morning in Africa.  Darkness surrounds my room but the world on the other side of my wooden blinds is coming to life.  We are not too far from the airport.  Now and then the sounds of a helicopter or a turbo prop plane will break the stillness of dawn.  In the very far distance I can occasionally hear chanting…. morning prayers of the Muslim faithful.  A dog barks.  Birds chirp.  Cars begin to fill the streets.  Horns honk.  A baby cries.  Something is making a noise I cannot identify…I can’t tell if it is a bird or a child.  Quick, short throaty moans…5 short uh uh uh uh uh…the last one rising in pitch. A dog cries…it’s in pain.  As quickly as it starts it ends.  So I am sitting here..in the darkness…preconceived ideas of how the world will look on the other side of my wooden blinds based on the noises I hear.

            The airport is bare bones.  Kind of a culture shock from the Amsterdam airport.  Got our passports stamped, fought off eager men trying to earn a small tip by assisting (grabbing) our bags, loaded….unloaded…loaded again our luggage as we pushed our way through customs and finally were met by the  very friendly face of Mr. Teklu.  Phew....but the fun wasn’t over… then we had to make our way out of the airport and into the parking lot filled with more men trying to earn a tip.  Lots of men standing around…somewhat ominous in the dark hour we arrived in Addis..

            The New Flower is wonderful…and Helen is a very special lady.  I anticipate a wonderful stay.  I have a small lamp in my room that I use as a night light.  Several times in the night it would just go out and maybe an hour or two later come back on.  In the corner a tiny cot is set up for Noah Musse.

            The dog is crying again.  I can tell right now I am going to need to find the strength to tune some things out this week…like Cindy and I said on our final approach…we are moments away from something that will be life changing…whether it is something we like or not we will leave this country changed.  I can tell your right now that change is happening….and so now I am going to my window and opening my wooden shutters…and soak in Ethiopia with my eyes as well.