Day 4

Today we awoke in Awassa at the Lewi Hotel (wrapped in our mosquito net hanging above our bed), grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed out of town. Before leaving Awassa we stopped at the Lewi Resort for a photo op on the lake. It was a beautiful lake and resort, and we were all asking why we couldn't stay there instead! As we walked up to the waterfront we noticed a table of "ferenge" (white foreigners) sitting at a table. Roger of course walked up and introduced himself, and lo and behold they were from Iowa of all places. They were in Ethiopia for two weeks working on some water projects down south. I love how I can be in southern Ethiopia and still run into Iowa people. What a small world we live in.

We drove back north to the city, this time taking a completely different route where the scenery was much more desert-like and flat. There was a lot more industry on this road including HUGE greenhouses lined up for miles. We asked what they were growing and our guide told us strawberries and flowers, both of which are exported out of ET. We also saw monkeys and camels today which was something new and entertaining. The traffic was once again treacherous and we saw overturned and charred vehicles which made us that much more anxious to get back to the city.

After arriving back we grabbed a quick late lunch at the guest house and then came up to the computer/family room where we were introduced to the children who have been united with their families and also attended embassy today. They are all just precious and seem to be doing so well with their new family in such a short amount of time. Roger made good friends with one particular little 4-year-old girl who we think is going to be a serious soccer star someday. She was definitely giving Roger a run for his money! For dinner the guest house provided a barbecue out in the traditional-style huts that you see everywhere down south, and it was delicious! Our food experience on this trip has been amazing!

We have been able to Skype with Ari a couple times so far. He can see our picture, but so far we haven't been able to see him. My mom reports he is doing great, sleeping and eating well, but maybe does miss us a little. She said he listens to our recorded books we made for him quite a bit. I'm so glad we made them for him even though it did cause me to have a major cry fest while attempting to record them the night before we left.

Tomorrow morning we will go to the Holt office in the city for a debriefing of what court will be like, then attend court, hopefully receive awesome news, and then lunch at an Ethiopian cultural restaurant. The week has been going by pretty quickly due to our busy schedule and the great people we have been keeping company with.

We will update soon with our court news!