Our Last Full Day in Ethiopia

Greetings from the Grants on our last full day in Ethiopia! Today was a (mostly) good day, and we just tucked the boys into bed with happy hearts. The day started on a funny note when we got Ethan dressed. We pulled out a plaid shirt and khaki pants and he began whining. What? What's up with that? He clearly did not like them, but we said "oh well" and got him dressed. If you saw what he was wearing when we picked him up from the orphanage, you would not think this a boy concerned with how his clothes appeared!

The boys did well today and both were affectionate and snuggling for a majority of the day. Levi Yishak even let me hold him when Scott left the hotel room and he did not cry or have a meltdown...he snuggled and then fell asleep. That is a total praise -- thank you, Lord! We started the day out by hiring a driver to take us to Entoto Mountain. We toured the Ethiopian museum located there -- a nice gentleman gave us an interesting description of the items in fairly good English, and then hit the relevant points in Amharic for Ethan Gezahegn. How very considerate! We then walked through the old "palace grounds", but it was difficult to think of the wooden structure as palatial compared to England's historical sites we toured just a few weeks ago. After that our driver took us to a very small church (cave) that was hand-carved entirely out of stone (about 700 years old). The most interesting part of the tour was going into the working church on the same grounds, with it being about 135 years old (if our memory serves us correctly tonight--which I am willing to bet it does not!). It didn't seem overly impressive on the outside, but the guide got keys, unlocked a big padlock door and had us remove our shoes. We then entered but could not see much except for curtains, and the electricity was not working. The guide left to go find long incense sticks to use as candles, and then he pulled back curtains and showed us the paintings covering all the inside walls--all sorts of pictures depicting bible stories, figures, the Trinity, heaven, hell, etc. The paintings were all done by two artists, and it was really neat to see such great work tucked inside this small church in the middle of nowhere. The tour was capped off with the announcement that we could not enter the innermost chamber, as that is where the Ark of the Covenant (yes, THAT Ark of the Covenant) is kept. Wow--who knew THAT? :o) And no guards even needed. We then drove back to the guest house for lunch and we were hoping for naps--but alas Yishak fell asleep on the 20 minute drive home despite all our efforts to keep him awake and then would not take a nap right then. Scott was holding Levi Yishak in the van and Levi was eating bites of a granola bar. Unbeknownst to Scott, Levi fell asleep with a bite still not swallowed in his mouth, which he then let dribble out all over Scott's shirt while he slept. Oh, the fun of having little kids around again!

We ventured back up to the rooftop patio and playroom and played there for several hours this afternoon. The boys delighted in playing hide-and-seek by hiding (obviously) behind a small potted plant, and Scott and I would make a big deal out of trying to find them. They thought it was hysterical. We played a version of Red Light-Green Light but instead used "stop" and "go"--.we thought it would be helpful to teach them the concept of "stop"so they will stop touching all the electronic buttons and messing things up! Scott and I took turns being "it" and the other holding hands with the boys and helping them know when to go and stop?. They were laughing and falling on the ground. Who knew we were so much fun? Okay, I admit we are not that much fun, but these little boys love the one on one attention. They will sit and play for quite a while in the playroom, which I attribute to the fact they have never owned toys, and once they arrived at the orphanage you don't get the opportunity to sit and play quietly without someone taking your stuff. Ethan Gezahegn would dismantle the whole ABC/number foam mat, and then begin matching up the same numbers or letters. So, all three letter "Bs" he would place together, and then all the number "8s", etc. Yishak would then enjoy ruining his older brother's work, as I imagine most younger brothers are apt to do. We finally came back to the room and Yishak napped on my chest while Scott ran down the street to pick up a few things. We were able to Skype the girls one last time and they told us they are having a wonderfully fun time with their friends and the older girls relayed we should be sure to take our time getting home!

We were blessed with the dinner provided tonight--cheese pizza, which Ethan Gezahegn ate up happily. When Levi Yishak would not eat that, Scott asked our sweet chef for a piece or two of bread. He returned with a bowl containing about 5 or 6 pieces of bread, and Levi ate up the entire thing! Wow -- I guess he was making up for lost meals. I wonder if that will put him in a carbohydrate coma for the night? A man next to us allowed Ethan Gezahegn to use his MP3 player -- something Ethan Gezahegn has clearly either done before or he has a gift for electronic things. He easily navigated the volume, fast forward and rewind functions, as well as the ability to run your finger over the screen to roll things one direction or the other. Wow!

We finished off the day on a grand note--after the boys were showered and teeth brushed, we got out their clothes for tomorrow. Ethan saw I pulled out jeans and a t-shirt for him and he was stoked and touched them and then kissed me on the cheek. Go figure! Then we went through the boys' little photo albums we had been sending them at the orphanage. We talked about how we fly home tomorrow, showed them the picture of the house, their room, their sisters, etc. Ethan was so excited--.he was gesturing to himself, and then asking "fly"? "home"?, and would point to himself, then to the picture of the house. We kept going through it -- Yes, you and Yishak fly home with us tomorrow in an airplane (big smile). Yes, we will go to this home, and you will sleep in this bed. (bigger smiles and laughter). Ethan then flopped down and started naming all the things in his albums-- Mommy, Daddy, Victoria, Savannah, Ash-uh-lyn, Lar-uh-me, etc. He then came to the picture of the girls holding their musical instruments and he said, "guitar", and began to do a rockin' air guitar impression. I think this boy wants to play the guitar! He giggled his way through the pictures, and then tucked his album right by his head on his pillow. It was such a sweet ending to the day, and our hearts are blessed with joy at this moment. Are there going to be lots of difficult times ahead? Yes. But we know the Lord has brought us here, and He will see us through each trial as well as all the moments of joy-- like right now.