Day 2 finally begins!

I remember before I went to bed closing our first day in Addis, after experiencing AHope I prayed my heart out asking God to make his presence known in an undeniably big way. Our entire team amped up the prayers and boldly demanded God to use us, break us and change us ~ He sent us to Africa and we came wanting Him to guide our every footstep. We begged the Lord to use our time for His purpose and help us find a way to impact and flood the hearts of these beautiful Ethiopian souls with the love of Jesus. Every one of us knew the gift of that supernatural love first hand and we came eager to share that invitation with those who may not have ever known the invitation was for THEM as well (and you too for that matter)! I remember tucking myself into bed feeling like I was so small and I didn’t accomplish anything of value my first day. I came with big dreams to share Jesus, His infinite gift of hope and love with these children, the ones who truly needed His hope to survive. I had not yet shared that hope with anyone and felt useless. I begged God to make His face known; if He had a plan to use me in Africa He might have to show up with big flashing neon lights to get my attention. I wanted to remind Him how truly ignorant I was to this new world of serving Him and so He needed to hold my hand a little longer here!! I knew every minute I had to spend in Africa was precious beyond measure and I wanted to live every nano-second in the fullest glorifying our amazing God and His miraculous power! I came to Africa to be emptied and I reassured God that I was ready for that to begin! (When I came home I truly realized that obviously had begun from the moment I touched African soil. But during the “present time” in Africa I did not know or feel this yet.)

So I awoke on Thursday, July 10th amped up for a big day! I had no clue what was about to come my way and all I can say looking back now is “I asked for it!” and I’m so glad I did!

Our day began at a place called Hannah’s Hope; a transitional home for the adoption agency All God’s Children. That means the kiddies we were meeting are the lucky few that would soon be on their way home to their forever families. I met the extraordinary Almaz for the first time ~ a lady who is dear to many hearts!! FYI: Sorry no pictures of the kiddies could be taken so you'll have to settle with only a few shots.

The girls in our "gang" posing with Almaz.

Coming to the front door of this place was symbolic for me as an adoptive mom. Here’s a door I’m about to enter that means so much more than a door to so many people who are aching to become “mom & dad”. A door that many adoptive families gaze at through a single photo endlessly for months until it is finally their turn to knock; a door that holds so many precious dreams behind its bolted lock; a door that opens to a new chapter for every child and parent whose beginning takes place behind this door. Here I was about to be gifted the opportunity to walk through this door and smother these children with love, love that so many desperate parents are aching to pour out of their hearts. I had the chance to be a vessel for that love to find its way to their precious child on this day. Although I have no idea who had parents and who did not nor who their parents would be, I walked through that door with the heart of an adoptive mom throbbing on my sleeve. Coming from that place of excruciating patience longing for the day to touch the magically soft skin of the very baby God chose for you, the child you searched high & low for, the one you cried bucket loads of tears to be gifted to you, the child that took you on a journey that changed your life before you even had the chance to meet, there was no denying this moment was a tender gift for me.

But wait, because there’s another side to this coin and another box to unwrap inside this gift. I was being given an opportunity to see the children’s lives inside their “home away from home” and to be a part of their world to see inside their view of this journey. This place truly is their home, they are so loved here, they are magnetizing in their boisterous personalities too large for their little bodies. They clung to their nannies for protection from our big scary white (some nearly albino ~ like me) faces! They giggled profusely at the mere sight of our crazy puppets. They were ticklish beyond belief. These children were happy and this was their home. The mood was so much lighter, the hope and renewal in their spirits was big enough to nearly grab onto! Every one of these 50+ children confirmed to me the miracle of what love can do when sewn into one’s heart. There were a couple vivacious little divas in the making, somewhere between 2 -3 years old. I remember thinking their families have no IDEA what’s coming jam packed inside their tiny bodies! I LOVED IT! Every little face was gorgeous, which was no surprise because that seems to be the norm in Ethiopia ~ absolute stunning natural beauty. I played outside for a solid 30 minutes before someone announced to me there was a house full of babies to be drooling over, so I raced inside for my chance to oogle! When I walked in the room I was shocked to see somewhere around 20+ babies. There were babies everywhere! I guess thinking from an adoptive mom’s point of view I always thought babies were so “far and few between" thus creating such painfully long waiting times for parents. So to see more than 20 sweet babies inside this room blew my mind! Of course there was a chubby little guy just waking up from a nap flirting with me, using his endless smile to lure me in ~ so I scooped him up a laid the kisses on thick! He was such a sweet natured lil ham, dimples and all! I could barely give him back, but I was missing those little divas outside so I had to give him up so I could commence with the running, tickling and torturing the toddlers!

When I came back outside I laid my eyes on a beautifully shy little girl, I came over to see if she wanted to play and she shrieked with terror and latched onto her nannies leg for dear life. Soon, I began to piece together that I was probably one of the first whitey’s she had the pleasure of seeing. The nannies were caressing my arms and one kissed my cheek to prove that I was harmless…and finally this little girl warmed up to me and planted a tiny peck on my cheek that took me by complete surprise. Once I had taken my eye off her she found the courage to sneak in for the kiss. Then she became my best friend! I loved it! Soon Donny came over and she shrieked in terror again, I totally understood where she was coming from on that one! Ha!

There was this little toddler boy that captivated the audience and I hung on his every swift move. He was truly a little Einstein in the flesh. This boy was so eloquent in the way he danced with a soccer ball, his coordination far surpassed his tiny age. This boy had soccer skills that would give David Beckham a serious run for his money and I think this mini-pro was about 3yrs old. I know he schooled every [bad] American soccer player we brought with us! The boy just could not quit kicking the soccer ball and wooing us with his mad skills. I was tired from simply watching his explosive energy never end. This kid was a genius! I inquired with Almaz if this boy’s family had any idea the little energizer bunny that was coming home to them. That was when I learned this little boy hadn’t been chosen by a family yet and I felt so sad in that moment because he was so exceptional, a true shining star with a little extra twinkle. She said he might have a harder time than the other children here finding a family because his "head is bigger" in circumference than the average. I thought this boy was so special, incredibly adorable and simply magnetizing and it pained me to think of this vanity. Here was my first glance inside the view of a child longing for a family. The flip side of the coin I mentioned above but here was the reality of that side being overcast by shadow. Because of some measurements on a piece of paper prospective parents might be deterred from seeking him as their own babe. That hurts my heart to think about a child who longs to be loved and dreams of a family while he watches all his friends go home with their forever families. I came in the door as an adoptive mom but now I was envisioning life from the little shoes of a waiting child. The agonizing time I spoke of as a parent waiting for their child miserably fails in comparison to the heart-wrenching wait of a child who can only dream and never have security in knowing a family is coming to love him, although that dream is coming true for all the friends that surround him. What a dark shadow to be living in when every single child is so preciously and uniquely designed by our Father to be perfect. I see this sweet boy every time I close my eyes and I pray God's perfect family finds him soon because he is the grand prize of one-in-a-million kind of babes. He will do great things in his life, I could see that instantly from sharing time with him. What an ultimate gift he would be to a family that took a chance on "not-so-average" numerical statistics. Those statistics we base our decisions on in life seem so minuscule when you meet the faces before ever seeing the numbers. God gifted me yet another valuable lesson in this encounter at Hannah's Hope. He proved to me with a beautiful, talented, shining star of an adorable face with beautifully brown eyes so big you could fall into them that beyond a doubt "waiting children" have a cozy warm home in my heart that I didn't know existed this deeply until now.

So again, I'll leave you with the last sight my eyes were set upon when leaving Hannah's Hope. This picture seems so symbolic to me ~ a perfect visual representation of the long, lonely journey for a "waiting child" to find their home.

Pause!

I know, I know...most people hate when you pause in the middle of a potentially GREAT story to share something totally random. BUT, what I love about my life is how much God inspires me and how I'm desperate to share with all of you God's inspiration! He pumps this dream through my veins as if it were the essence to my survival, the foundation of my heart beat to keep passing on to any one this blog may reach that spark of hope that is born from inspiration ~ that spark of hope that saved ME! :)

So today I share this because I'm inspired to dream that my life's journey may make me a little more like Matt some day.

I rejoice in the fact that this video probably makes God smile and cry just as much as it does me! :)


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Don't close the curtain yet....

I have one more post relating to our experience at AHope that has been heavy on my heart since my eyes were captivated by the little girl's smile in this photo and the story that surrounds it. This photo destroys the old saying "a picture's worth a thousand words" and demolishes the definition of the word "priceless". There are no words on this earth that do justice to the value of this photo...


Since this is not really "my" story to tell, I'm going to preface this entry with some confessions. I took the liberty of borrowing this pic from my friends ~ as you've noticed two of their very beautiful faces in the picture ~ before asking permission, I'm hoping they don't mind! EEK! I also want to note I didn't get the opportunity to let this little girl change my life like she truly affected many others on our team. My path did not "cognitively" cross hers until the end of our day where I did get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pray for her. That is how God put her on my heart just as deeply as He tied her to our entire team's heartstrings. With double knots and fancy girly bows...this girl is attached to all of us. Sadly, I do not even know her name so for the sake of my "story" I'm going to call her Hope, for that seems the most appropriate title for this lil diamond.

Hope was another beautiful face in the line-up of many shy girls we encountered when we first came bouncing into AHope's playground. I imagine she warmed up to us in due time along with all the other girls and busily enjoyed all the activities. I may or may not have had the privilege of painting her, I simply do not know (for that lack of memory, I'm greatly saddened). I know other team mates have notable memories of their time shared with Hope. So why is Hope heavy on my heart you ask? Why must I dedicate an entire post to a little girl I didn't get the chance to even play with? Because Hope's story is one of heartbreaking reality and the first time that very reality check slapped me sternly in the face. Hope's battle with AIDS affected her time as a joyful little girl embracing childhood and I seen with my very own eyes the evidence of her little body fighting to stay alive.

I don't have Hope's "story" from beginning to end, but what I *think* I know of her story is that she's a very sick little girl, she tires easily and so she often slips off to bed very early(I'm talking afternoon), quietly, unnoticed, alone, with no one to comfort her or hold her as she battles pain and sickness. She curls up in a tiny ball and lulls herself to sleep in a state of discomfort with no mom to be found. Could you imagine being 9yrs old and sick without a mom to hold you? Unfortunately or fortunately most of us cannot imagine this. So how could we even stop to imagine for one second what it must be like to be 9yrs old and dying all alone without a mom to hold you? How Hope came into my life and affected me was when I was in the midst of our tour of their home, we came loudly and boisterously crashing into the bedroom where little Hope lay motionless, sleeping, curled up in the fetal position in the furthest corner of her tiny bed close to the wall, no blankets on her to snuggle her in, no jammies, no mama, no comfort. When did this beautiful little girl sneak away from all the fun we were having and become overwhelmed by her sickness? None of us knew how long she had been there but the mood in the room instantly fell to silence. Many team members knelt down beside Hope and caressed her back. There was no response from Hope. Our team felt moved in this moment to cry out to Jesus and ask for his presence and his healing touch to flood down upon our dearest Hope. We gathered together in prayer because that was the greatest gift of comfort we had to offer.

So this picture is golden beyond measure to me for now I have a memory of Hope with a smile. I can see her beautiful eyes and her perfect little face and I can try to stop the image of a lifeless, tiny, frail, curled little body of pain from plaguing my memory. There is a reality to AIDS and in the face of Hope it struck me like a mack10 semi-truck for the first time; every single hand I held, face I touched, smile I shared, giggled I heard will be a child on the same journey as Hope's. It pains me to embrace this reality yet God keeps reminding me I have to. So I dedicate this post to Hope and the "hope" she brings to my life. I stretch my arms out to Jesus and I cry to him for Hope. I feel you all should do the same so I bring Hope's story to this place so you too can see her smile and her beautiful eyes and her perfect little face. So your dreams can be haunted too by the face of Hope and your prayers too can be prayers of hope for Hope's future. May you join me in prayer for every single child whose story is just like Hope. Even though I know God's hand is upon them, I cry out to him asking that He embrace them with the comfort that only our mom's can give when our bodies are weak and sick and love is the best medicine. So many times in my life my mom was the greatest doctor I had ever known! If no mama is there for Hope, may she feel God Himself curled up beside her in the furthest corner of her bed. May He be that blanket that tucks her in and the jammies that keep her warm. May He be the healing hand placed warmly upon wherever her frail body aches with sickness and heal her with His mighty touch. May each child know that they are never alone and God is always by their side. May all your prayers include Hope....

Continued Hope

Our next stop on July 9, 2008 was another orphanage belonging to AHope. It was the home of the older children. Children who have been "dually" orphaned by AIDS ~ as in losing both of their parents to the virus.


I was still rocking & rolling my “mom” shoes. I thought it worked well at our first stop so I just continued on with the ideals of loving, hugging and tickling these kiddos like any mama would.

We came to AHope for the older kids with a similar load of Toys R Us accessories. We put on a puppet show, some magnificent spontaneous miming took place, and we spoke about Jesus. I loved how the hands raised HIGH in the air when we asked "who knew Jesus"!





While enjoying the show I let me eyes soak in the striking scenery ~ children’s smiles, shy little glances from a far, dirty little feet, timid body language with nervous excitement and soulful giggles!

After we shared all the “tricks” we came prepared with the children graciously had a gift for all of us. Another one of those miraculous moments when time stands still in the presence of God. The gift they shared with us was sent down from heaven’s jukebox through their beautifully big souls straight to our ears and hearts. I’ll give ya a taste for yourself because no lengthy description I can muster will do justice to this melody that makes my heart dance a rhythmic African beat.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The time came for us all to drift back to our childhood and jump in sync with these bubbly children and enjoy just being a kid, that was our greatest privilege on this afternoon. I could hear the laughter and children’s chatter above all else and as a "mom" I smiled so deeply inside my heart I could feel God's hand stretching it bigger so my smile could just keep growing! As I dug through the goodies I found my perfect job. I absent mindedly fell into an unengaged zone embracing this job = as a painting machine! It was the perfect fit for me and I sat on this little chair with a massive swarm of hands greeting my eyes. I look back now and wish I would have taken the time to meet each pair of golden brown eyes that belonged to the beautiful hands and arms that were my canvas that day, but I was so intent on painting EVERY child (I didn't want to miss ONE eager pair of hands) that I rushed through without savoring the priceless moment I was being gifted and I missed the opportunity to cherish each child individually. I loved that the shy and timid girls were now coming to life and I was painting bracelets and rings onto their arms & fingers so they could feel like the princesses they truly deserved to be!


The most memorable moment I will forever cherish from my experience at AHope that afternoon was when I was encircled by a gang of little girls awaiting so patiently their turn for some 'artistic' jewelry. They sniggered and giggled like little girls do conversing in a language that I couldn’t comprehend but their voices floated around me like musical notes! These girls were typical pre-teens, it took a solid 20 minutes for them to become “comfortable” enough to start coming out of their shells. There was a moment in the midst of their girly giggling that I became present of my situation on a supernatural level and I knew I better savor these seconds. Soon I found myself secretly giggling along side these girls when they started to explore this intriguing mess I call my “missionary hair”. I think it was the fact that I had gel in my hair and it was “crusty” (for lack of a better word) that caught their innocent interest. Their tiny little fingers took turns caressing my hair and discovering a new texture unknown to them. For the first time since I hacked my hair to pieces I was ever so grateful to have this hideous hair-do. What a gift I had been given from simply making a bad styling decision. God can make EVERYTHING good! Even bad hair-do's! :) I will never forget those moments and I giggle just like a 9yr old girl when I remember every precious second.

By far the star of the show was one absolutely phenomenal artist ~ a girl who lived at the orphanage and had many adoring "motherly" qualities. It was sad yet beautiful to see her mothering the other children. I wished each one of them had a mother, they all deserve that and so much more.

The line up for a sitting with the professional pictured above was miles long!

Some of our team's collective beautiful masterpieces!

The afternoon seemed to be over in a snap of a finger, all I stared at was HANDS the majority of the time so I was deeply saddened when it was time for us to go. We helped the children clean up the chairs and they were so anxious to invite us into their home and give us a tour of their rooms. That was when it hit me ~ this was an orphanage and yet it was NOT an orphanage. That word is so cold and institutional and we Americans throw it around without having any relatable context to really knowing life inside an "orphanage". I was not standing inside an orphanage, I was welcomed inside their home. They were proud and the presence of that amazing Ethiopian hospitality was yet again overwhelming me. They literally had nothing and the conditions of this place made me ache inside. These children are so precious and I feel they deserved to be living in a castle knowing there moments here in our midst will be cut short way too soon. Every one of them deserved a brand new bed with Spiderman pillows and Barbie sheets ~ yet here they were showing off their depleted mattresses with rags for blankets as IF THEY WERE Spiderman & Barbie accessories. This was home ~ the reality of their resilience, their joy and their pride humbled me to the point of shame. God opened my eyes to a wonderful lesson that he had been preparing to teach me for a long time and one I needed to learn ~ your home is where His heart is and no matter the condition of the "house" you live inside, no matter how great or how small, how new or how old... your "home" is always perfect when God's love built it. There's no doubt in my mind that the carpentry of Jesus Christ built each and every heavenly home we call by the name "orphanage". I switched from pity to pride at this realization and I was very honored to have been welcomed inside one of God's homes that day.

So again, I'll leave you with the last sight I set my eyes upon as we exited the gates of AHope, ending our day's events on July 9, 2008 and the words that lull me to sleep at night.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty; there is nothing my God cannot do...........

An introduction to the faces of Hope…

A place on this earth where God’s hand gently cradles his favorite children and the world stops spinning for a brief moment can be experienced inside the walls of a home called AHope.

In hindsight, I imagine my experience on July 9, 2008 at AHope, an orphanage for HIV & AIDS children, could have been magnificently earth-shattering and soul quaking had I been emotionally prepared to soak up all that God had offered me, but my journal entry from that day summarizes very well the mindset that I was trapped in.

“Our first day in Addis was not what I expected of myself. To see the city in the day light was mostly numbing, extremely shocking and a bit surreal for my small town, country girl eyes. I focused mainly on the tragic conditions and the poverty while on spinning wheels trying to let my brain consume the reality of this country. I spent little time with God today and for that I feel disappointed in myself. I feel I have wasted one of my precious days in Ethiopia.”

We arrived at the AHope orphanage (for smaller children) our first morning in Ethiopia with jumpropes, soccer balls, face paints, music, puppets, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and undeserving hearts and I confess I wasn’t sure how to engage in the experience. I was not in the presence of mind to invite God into the driver’s seat to lead and guide me for His greater purpose to touch these children in a spiritual way so I quickly shifted to the instinctual mode I’m most comfortable in; I reverted back to “mom” mode. I embraced these children with the heart, eyes and touch of a mother because that was my natural reaction. I enjoyed them just as if each one’s hand that I held, arm I caressed, cheek I painted, smile I shared and tiny body I embraced was that of my very own child.

My experience on this morning had nothing to do with AIDS or HIV and there was nothing present in my mind or my heart to force me to remember this devastating detail. These children were not defined by an illness of epidemic proportion that we Americans refuse to recognize. These children were not a statistic so huge my eyes cringe at the sight of reading. Wrong or right, AIDS just couldn’t possibly exist in my heart at this moment. These children that I looked in the eyes were simply one thing: KIDS!

They had beautiful faces and tongue twister names. Innocent babes that had chubby cheeks that I yearned to pinch just like my sweet baby Boston. They had belly clenching giggles that filled the air with that heavenly tune all mothers dote on hearing. Their smiles were so huge and so bright the sun's rays dimly failed in comparison. They had energy levels so intense that lazy, out-of-shape Americans like myself had no idea what level of exhaustion awaited. They were KIDS.

So when you look at these photos, please know these are my memories as a proud mother showing off her beautiful children for when these photos were captured it was my pleasure to see myself as their mom if only for a moment in time. Instinctively, I gave them the love of a mother because that was the only gift I had to share in return for the reward of simply knowing them during their short life here on earth.

I realize now what an enormous gift God was giving to me on this morning and I didn’t need to ask him to be present within me for his presence was surrounding me embodied in vivacious little 2-3-4 year olds souls. This experience was God’s gift to ME and it was never my purpose to gift something to these children. He was sharing His chosen children with me, the precious few that are held on high in God’s favor. A place all true-blue Christians long to be, that safe haven where you are held intimately in favor with our compassionate Father. Here I was in the pleasurable company to see with my own two eyes those very lives that shone so brightly with His almighty favor. This day was MY gift. God was welcoming me into his heart, found inside the heart of Africa on this day. God loved me so much He made this unbelievably huge orphanage experience small enough for my fragile heart to consume. He led me inside these doors wearing a comfortable cloak; a mother loving her children. This was how God introduced me to his most precious gems: the orphan with AIDS.

I’m thankful this colossal realization did not hit me until I was home for I know I would have been a useless puddle with tears of humility weeping uncontrollably at this undeserving gift God was blessing my little life with. That is why I am now a mess as I reminisce upon my very first morning in Africa where I thought I had missed my opportunity to share in God’s plan and His hindsight has revealed that I did not miss a thing.

The pictures below are the closest to my heart. This young boy was an obviously sad little man and when we shared our puppet show with the children he was visibly frightened and so I felt I had to snuggle him up in hopes to comfort him from fear.

Well, minutes passed, the puppet show ended and I could not find the strength to part ways with this little guy and it seemed as cranky as he was he wanted to hang on to me as well. So we took out some sidewalk chalk and drew some smiling faces hoping that might prompt him to try out a smile. No such luck. Next we tried some bubbles but they were met with a blank stare of unamused boredom. Just then one of the nannies shared with me that "he's a very unhappy little boy, he never smiles." So my agenda quickly changed from "a smile would be nice" to "I HAVE to find a way to help this boy giggle". He held on to me tighter and tighter as time passed through the course of this morning so I deemed him my little side-kick. Soon, I set out to dig into the face paints so that I could also enjoy all the other children along with my chubby lil grumpy assistant.

To my heartwarming surprise face paints were the magical cure, I painted his fat little hand and he met my eyes with a sheepish smile. At the very same moment one of the nannies caught this rare occasion and responded with excitement "he smiled" and so I painted his other fat little hand and he smiled even bigger and my heart smiled the biggest smile I've ever felt.

Soon our secret was exposed and many of the kids came rushing over to be the next in line for paints and no matter how crazy the commotion I noticed my side kick never left me. He stayed faithfully by my side through the madness of anxious kids and through it all he maintained one of his chubby little hands resting gently upon my knee.

Now without doubt, you can see....this was MY GIFT from God on this morning. I weep when I remember this boy, I don't even know his name but we are forever connected by a special soul tie woven by God Himself between our two hearts. He is the first of my beautiful African babies...I may never see him again and his physical life may be much shorter than mine but I can love him through God for eternity. I find great comfort in knowing God's love for him is greater than any capacity I have inside my heart to love...so although he is labeled an orphan with HIV or AIDS, I know he is so much more and he is taken care of by a magnificent Father...which is the greatest peace a mother's heart can have.

So this was my first morning in Ethiopia. We started out with a bang and the explosions only continued to leave me breathless as the minutes, hours and days rolled onward.

I'll leave you all with very last sight my eyes were set upon before I left the AHope orphange. One that haunts me and simultaneously comforts me. I'm haunted because I know the reality of the possibility that the tiny clothes on that line will not be dressing the same bodies I came to know and love on July 9, 2008 for they might not be there tomorrow. But I find comfort in the fact that one of my favorite smells on this earth is the smell of fresh clothes pulled from the line and I can believe and hope that those clothes WILL be dressing the same little bodies who's eyes, cheeks, faces, hands, bellies, smiles, giggles and hugs meet me in my dreams each night.


Thank you God for this gift you so graciously gave to me!

AHope's story doesn't end here, soon I will share about the second AHope orphanage we visited on July 9th. The home for the older children.

Sensory overload!

A measly 8200+ miles under our belt, somewhere near 19 hours being held hostage on a handful of varying airplanes, a severe overdose of Dramamine, the new found skill of that oh-so flattering bobble-head / rubber-neck upright sleeping trick and it had become official ~ our feet were about to touch the ground we could only imagine in wonder many many anxious nights prior to this moment. It was Tuesday, July 8, 2008. I remember vividly as I waited for my feet to feel the ground beneath me and make this dream “real”, butterflies of excitement and butterflies of nervous wonder were at war inside my stomach, no amount of Dramamine could tame the fluttering. Here began the defining moment of my initiation to a foreign land and foreign customs that would eventually engulf me… mind, body & spirit. I was anxious to embrace the unknown and I continued to focus on my aspiration of being a blank canvas for Africa to be my artist and paint its beauty deep into the pours of my life. These were the minutes I remember when my life changed course from auto-pilot to NO pilot! These are the sensations that captivated me!

My first sight(s) was complete and utter chaos; literally masses of people scrambling like ants on a disturbed sand hill inside this airport ~ each with their own purpose and rushing along diligently to make their way through the mess. There was no order to follow, no rules or regulations to incorporate calmness and ease, coming from America all I could ponder was where in the world was the "end of the line"? For a rookie to simply survive the airport experience was an accomplishment all of its own! Once we edged through the chaos of people pushing here and pushing there, luggage being strewn about and one random security check point after another we were met by huge smiling faces outside the airport doors. My first sight of pure beauty in Africa was the faces of strangers greeting me as a personal friend expressing the warmest welcome I could’ve dreamed to receive. A young man holding a sign that read “Ethiopia Guest Home” anxiously waving it in every white person’s mug as he bounced around with a toothy grin planted across his face stretching from ear to ear. When Donny and I responded to his excitement with a little twitch of the eyebrow and a smile of confirmation his eyes grew even bigger with enthusiasm, which I didn’t even know was possible. How eager could one person be without spontaneously combusting?! Meeting our hosts and being welcomed to Ethiopia was one of the most heartwarming experiences I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. Little did I know at that point, the same gift of hospitality is ingrained in almost every African soul I would soon meet.

My first memorable smell was the odor of a dirty men’s locker room, the smell that lingers on a Friday afternoon after a week of football practice in sweltering August heat ~ that would be the flavor of our bus! (seriously our bus deserves a post all of it's own to pay appropriate tribute to that wild wagon on wheels) At first the aroma was bitter to me and I thought the smell would be sickening so I opened the window for a breath of fresh air and my lungs were graciously greeted with the choking gasps of diesel fumes. So if I had to summarize two smells that will fondly bring me back down memory lane in Ethiopia it would be perspiration and diesel fuel. I seriously and honestly say this with a smile on my face. In no time at all I grew to embrace these smells and I seriously await with eagerness the day one of these two fragrances catches me by surprise and sends me on a reminiscent path down that Ethiopian road.

The sounds of the city could be summarized in one simplistic yet perfectly descriptive word: HONK! Every contraption on wheels had a horn and let me tell you they are not afraid to use it. I truly believe a horn is an essential piece of survival in Ethiopia. All hours of the night, EARLY morning and especially throughout the day a horn can be heard whistling away! When I find myself in a quiet moment I can faintly hear the distinctive tune our bus horn sang and it brings a giddy smile to my face. If I could have had one souvenir of choice to remember our travels through the city of Addis Ababa, it would have been the bus’ horn!

The party bus in all its glory:

Our driver

An inside peek of the pink leopard print beast!

Our drivers side kick. Yes, driving in Ethiopia is a two-man job just to survive, this kid save the day many a times!

My first taste was a delicious meal of Ethiopian spaghetti. It tasted nothing like the Ragu/Prego version you are envisioning from your kitchen stove. It was a unique Ethiopian version and by far my favorite meal I encountered in Africa. The food was not my most memorable portion of the trip so I'll end the descriptions there and keep this paragraph short & sweet! (speaking of sweets ~ there was nearly none to be found...can you believe I survived!)

My first feeling was “chaos” in its purest form but that was quickly replaced by an indescribable definition of the word “hospitality”. From the inside of their enlarged hearts to the outside of their glowing smiles the Ethiopian people are warm, kind, friendly, welcoming, accommodating and by nature they exude this humbleness and quietly proud temperament at what they believe to be a privilege to share their country with you. (If only they knew it was OUR privilege) There’s no mistaking the feeling of “hospitality” when you encounter a beautiful Ethiopian soul. It is so vivacious you can physically feel warmth all around you. I’ve come away from this experience inspired on a deep level to strive for growth towards a place in my heart where “hospitality” with Ethiopian intensity becomes a natural part of my character.

Our amazing hosts!

The Amazing Akim

The beautiful Hannah Banana!

The gorgeous miss "Zee"

Welcome to Ethiopia my friends! Your eyes are the window of your soul, if you let your senses be your guide you might just be able to feel 1/100th of the emotion I do when I gaze upon these photos:

The view from our 2nd floor balcany.

Another city shot from our guest home.

Shoe shining with smiles! I have a doozy of a shoe-shining story coming up!

A common sight near any "market" of sorts.

60 KPH isn't just the speed limit for motorized vehicles.

TRAFFIC ~ or what I call a near death experience.

Rushour traffic comes in all shapes and sizes!

The chicken market.

Homelessness, which unfortunately is a more common sight than street signs.

A typical house.

A "grocery" store.

Another beautiful Ethiopian face!