A walk to remember (Ethiopia: Day One)

Ini and I had no sense of time, so we just guessed when to get up. This was determined when the daylight flooded our room and the heat began to make lying under heavy blankets uncomfortable. Later we estimated that it was around 10:45 in the morning.

We went to a church across the street called International Evangelical Church (IEC), where we walked in half an hour late and found Carol sitting by herself. The service was nice. It had a mid-90's Presbyterian feel to it with worship songs like "Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart" and the people actually dressed up in real long dresses and a collared shirt and some nice slacks. I felt lucky that the only pair of clothes I have right now was something a little more dressy.

We didn't really talk with the congregation much after the service. We just went straight to the hotel and had lunch and talked for a good while. An hour or so later, Sam came by and took us out to a restaurant because he and his wife just flew in and hadn't had lunch yet. Bob and Will came along as well, and we had a good time conversing about a bunch of different things, but it was mostly about ethnic backgrounds and sports.

I guess it's a cultural thing to have coffee after a meal, so we all went to a coffee house and had macchiatos, which is highly favored over there.

Ini and I were feeling pretty adventurous, so him and I decided to walk the streets with our cameras and take pictures. Yeah! Carol thought that was a bad idea fearing we'd get mugged or some pickpocket would snatch our cameras when our defense was down. Sam, Bob, and Will assured that this area was quite safe, but we should probably not be out there past six when it gets dark.

We walked around for about two hours, and it was a blast. Taking pictures here and there, and the people were very welcoming of our cameras. In fact, most of the pictures we took were instigated by the Ethiopians! Ini and I made no protest against that, and we shot pictures with glee. The kids especially loved hamming up to the camera, and treated us like superstars who wanted to shake our hands or give us high-fives.

Again, the area reminded me a lot of the Philippines, but with a bunch of Africans instead of Asians around. Lots of stores right up against the main roads, huts put up wherever there was room, public transporters hanging off vans calling for more riders, and individual food stores all around rather than larger corporate chains. Frankly, I didn't feel endangered much around the people. They were all very friendly and wanted to talk to you...perhaps a little too much.

Dinner time.