Ethiopia day 6--Heading Home

     We began our last day in Ethiopia by going to the ethnological museum that’s housed in one of Haile Salassie’s old palaces on the campus of Addis Ababa University. Our tour guide was a senior at the university, studying tour guiding. I was able to buy Justice a soft, multi-colored ball that has the Amharic alphabet on each section of it, a children’s book about the story of Ethiopian coffee, and a small book about Gondar, which is where he’s from. When Solomon, our driver, picked us up from lunch, he gave us each a gift of several wooden crosses (most people in the Orthodox church wear some sort of cross around their neck) to share with our families, and two different mugs. Gregg had been interested in Aksum and the story of the Ark of the Covenant, so he gave him a mug with a picture of Aksum on it. He gave me a mug with a picture of Gondar on it. Solomon has such a great heart and is truly a kind and good person. He and Christian really bonded over many games of slugbug and good natured teasing. Solomon taught Christian how to make the sign of the cross in the Ethiopian Orthodox church and had him do it with him every time they passed an Orthodox church.
     Today was our day to visit two government orphanages with some of the Gladney staff. At the first orphanage Christian’s paper airplane making skills were quickly put to the test as a long line with small children holding pieces of white paper formed close to him. I was impressed with all of the different models he was able to make—his and Brian’s paper airplane adventures at home have definitely come in handy here! Several of the kids were interested in my watch. They wanted to push every button, so I set the timer for five seconds and let them hear the beeper. One girl wanted to do this over and over, dozens of times, and wouldn’t let anyone else near my arm. She kept covering up my watch and shooing anyone away who got close. She’d count down with me, then put the beeper up close to her ear. I eventually had Christian fix his watch up the same way so that more children could hear the beep. If I hadn’t have needed my watch for the trip home, I’d have taken it off and given it to the little girl. We visited several rooms in this orphanage—pictures weren’t allowed here, and it’s hard to describe in words. I’m not sure the kids ever have had a bath or even know what one is, but they were sweet and desperate for a few moments of attention, hand holding, and love. I had tears welling up in my throat again as we spent time in the special needs room. Several of these kids are terminal and will not be able to be adopted. We saw three children this week with brain atrophy. This causes extreme difficulty breathing and they bend their head back to breathe easier. Eventually their head is so far back that the back of it touches their spine. Their growth is also retarded. There is a boy in Justice’s room with this condition that isn’t any bigger than Justice, but I found out that he’s actually four years old. He can’t move on his own, but when you stroke his cheek and talk to him, he has the biggest smile I’ve ever seen (except for maybe Hannah’s!). Our guide told us that Ethiopia has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. He joked that if you can make it to five here you can live to be a hundred because you have an immune system that can handle anything.
     The second orphanage we visited housed mostly older girls and had several projects going on to sustain the place, including biogas, composting, gardening, and chickens. Gregg was fascinated with the biogas, which entails using the methane from manure and compost for energy. The teenage girls kept their rooms perfectly neat and had pictures of Beyonce, Justin Beiber, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Lautner covering the walls. Gregg played many games of thumb war with one of the girls. This particular girl had run away from home and will soon have to be reintegrated back into her family. We don’t know the cause for her running away, but they simply don’t have the resources for all of the kids there, so they attempt to reintegrate as many of them as possible. One rather shy girl began standing very close to my side. After some time, she subtly grabbed my hand and held it without saying a word or looking at me. I put my arm around her and she laid her head, silently, on me. We stood for a long time just like this. Reminded me of Faith, as they are about the same age. For a moment, I could hold her the way a mom should, and she could have the closeness that all little girls long for. As we were leaving in the car, she never broke my gaze.
     At the airport a porter whisked our bags away from us before we could protest that we didn’t want his help. He said he needed a tip outside of the airport, so I gave him two dollars, which he promptly handed to his boss. Once we were twenty feet inside the airport he said he needed more tip. “US dollars, ten or twenty dollars,” he repeated several times. This was about more than I could stand. “Ten or twenty US dollars?” I gasped. “That’s crazy—I already gave you a tip!” I was quite irritated by this time and the persnickety side of me was coming out. I ended up giving him five more ones and he was satisfied with that.
     We had a smooth ride from Addis to Dubai—about 3 ½ hours and are now on our flight from Dubai to Houston, which is 16 ½ hours. Good thing I didn’t know about the length beforehand! Sometimes not looking at the itinerary too closely can be a blessing.