Day 211 - Rotary Meeting - Best Western Hotel - 2000 Abesha Restaurant - Daniel gets sick
Wednesday, January 30th, 2018.
Today was a lazy morning at home. Very frustrating for Sunshine, who actually had time to do some homework but couldn't get on the Wifi. She had two options: either go to the Hilton with Gregory (the Rotary club meets there) or walk with me to the Best Western where we had been before. She chose the second one.
In the morning, we just hung out in the apartment. Gregory had our taxi friend drive him to his Rotary meeting and we just relaxed at home. Around 2:00pm, the kiddos and I walked to a pizza and juice restaurant at the corner. We had a nice lunch and afterward, Daniel walked home while Sunshine and I walked to the hotel.
We ordered a drink, even if we just had lunch but we needed the internet. The waiter told us that we needed to pay for internet. We told him that we had been here before and that we just had ordered a drink for the internet. He said, “no problem” and asked us where we were from. We said Mexico and then we told him Sunshine’s name in Amharic -- Sahai -- and he smiled. He came back with our drinks and two hours of free internet! That was super nice of him. Sunshine was so happy to finally be able to get some work done.
I enjoyed some Facebook time but then I felt guilty and wondered if I should be doing some research on our next destination. Instead, I ended up reading the history of Ethiopia, because I started to love this country and its people! I feel like I’m always behind and I can never catch up to where we are going next. It takes time for me to adjust and start to settle in one place.
Time went really fast. I also had a chance to call my mom. It was great to talk to her, it always cheers me up! Sunshine finished her assignment and we got ready to go. I wanted to give a big tip to our friend Fikir, which means love in Amharic, but he had come before to say goodbye and asked for our facebook page. We gave him our card to follow us! We touched based with Gregory who was still in search of his Habesha t-shirt. We agreed to meet home.
We walked home and then had some time to rest and finish packing. Gregory made it home closer to 7:00pm. I wanted to go early to the traditional restaurant so we could go to bed early to wake up early for our tomorrow flight. I do not like to go out the night before our flight, and this he knows but since we postponed this restaurant for a long time, we just had to do it to watch the traditional dance live. We walked to the restaurant that Gregory had found only to find out that it was the day off for the musicians. The place was awesome but we wanted to see the dancers. Luckily the other place that they had recommended us before it was nearby. We made it there by 8:00pm and they sat us in the very front of the stage, which was great because I got some good pictures and videos of the dancers.
The kids had a long face and Daniel had an upset stomach. I thought he was exaggerating and just wanted to go home. I figure that they were just hungry and that if we ordered food, their mood would change. We ordered a traditional fasting dish, which means no meat or dairy. It was a big dish with injera on the bottom, extended like a flat pancake and on top a taste of different vegetables and lentils! It was delicious. The kids hardly ate anything but Gregory and I had a feast. The dancers were amazing and I really enjoyed the band. I could tell that Sunshine did too because she was smiling at them and at the end. She gave the dollar bill that she had in her jacket pocket to the dancers.
Gregory tried to pay with the credit card, which of course, didn’t work and had to walk to the ATM which was conveniently located at the entrance of the restaurant. Only two times has he been able to charge the credit card. Ethiopia credit card system hardly ever works, be prepared to pay with cash. It is also important to carry small change to tip everyone! I’m so happy we made the effort to go because it was worthwhile! We walked back home and I was nervous because it was dark and there were a group of young men hanging around in the street.
I saw a man with a white hoody and a box with gum, sim cards, and other things like that approach Gregory and Sunshine who was walking a little ahead of me and Daniel. Gregory moved away and said quite loudly: ”stay away from us.” When I asked Gregory why he had said that, he told us that the man put one hand on Greg's back and one inside his pocket where Greg had his phone and wallet! I was shocked of course, while Gregory was calm and continued walking. I started to walk faster and told everyone to hurry up. These are the occasions I get mad and told Gregory that next time we would be taking a taxi. His response was that next time, we don’t walk in the busy street (like I had suggested) and walk in the empty streets”. Different perceptions I guess.
We stopped for water before going to our place and I’m glad we did because they shut off the water at 10:30am and we hadn’t brushed our teeth. Daniel went to bed saying that he wanted to throw up and sure enough, he did around 2:00am! I felt so bad because I thought he was making it up, plus I made him eat food even though he said it made him want to throw up. I got up with him and tried to clean but guess what? We still had NO water.
Today was a lazy morning at home. Very frustrating for Sunshine, who actually had time to do some homework but couldn't get on the Wifi. She had two options: either go to the Hilton with Gregory (the Rotary club meets there) or walk with me to the Best Western where we had been before. She chose the second one.
In the morning, we just hung out in the apartment. Gregory had our taxi friend drive him to his Rotary meeting and we just relaxed at home. Around 2:00pm, the kiddos and I walked to a pizza and juice restaurant at the corner. We had a nice lunch and afterward, Daniel walked home while Sunshine and I walked to the hotel.
We ordered a drink, even if we just had lunch but we needed the internet. The waiter told us that we needed to pay for internet. We told him that we had been here before and that we just had ordered a drink for the internet. He said, “no problem” and asked us where we were from. We said Mexico and then we told him Sunshine’s name in Amharic -- Sahai -- and he smiled. He came back with our drinks and two hours of free internet! That was super nice of him. Sunshine was so happy to finally be able to get some work done.
I enjoyed some Facebook time but then I felt guilty and wondered if I should be doing some research on our next destination. Instead, I ended up reading the history of Ethiopia, because I started to love this country and its people! I feel like I’m always behind and I can never catch up to where we are going next. It takes time for me to adjust and start to settle in one place.
Time went really fast. I also had a chance to call my mom. It was great to talk to her, it always cheers me up! Sunshine finished her assignment and we got ready to go. I wanted to give a big tip to our friend Fikir, which means love in Amharic, but he had come before to say goodbye and asked for our facebook page. We gave him our card to follow us! We touched based with Gregory who was still in search of his Habesha t-shirt. We agreed to meet home.
We walked home and then had some time to rest and finish packing. Gregory made it home closer to 7:00pm. I wanted to go early to the traditional restaurant so we could go to bed early to wake up early for our tomorrow flight. I do not like to go out the night before our flight, and this he knows but since we postponed this restaurant for a long time, we just had to do it to watch the traditional dance live. We walked to the restaurant that Gregory had found only to find out that it was the day off for the musicians. The place was awesome but we wanted to see the dancers. Luckily the other place that they had recommended us before it was nearby. We made it there by 8:00pm and they sat us in the very front of the stage, which was great because I got some good pictures and videos of the dancers.
The kids had a long face and Daniel had an upset stomach. I thought he was exaggerating and just wanted to go home. I figure that they were just hungry and that if we ordered food, their mood would change. We ordered a traditional fasting dish, which means no meat or dairy. It was a big dish with injera on the bottom, extended like a flat pancake and on top a taste of different vegetables and lentils! It was delicious. The kids hardly ate anything but Gregory and I had a feast. The dancers were amazing and I really enjoyed the band. I could tell that Sunshine did too because she was smiling at them and at the end. She gave the dollar bill that she had in her jacket pocket to the dancers.
Gregory tried to pay with the credit card, which of course, didn’t work and had to walk to the ATM which was conveniently located at the entrance of the restaurant. Only two times has he been able to charge the credit card. Ethiopia credit card system hardly ever works, be prepared to pay with cash. It is also important to carry small change to tip everyone! I’m so happy we made the effort to go because it was worthwhile! We walked back home and I was nervous because it was dark and there were a group of young men hanging around in the street.
I saw a man with a white hoody and a box with gum, sim cards, and other things like that approach Gregory and Sunshine who was walking a little ahead of me and Daniel. Gregory moved away and said quite loudly: ”stay away from us.” When I asked Gregory why he had said that, he told us that the man put one hand on Greg's back and one inside his pocket where Greg had his phone and wallet! I was shocked of course, while Gregory was calm and continued walking. I started to walk faster and told everyone to hurry up. These are the occasions I get mad and told Gregory that next time we would be taking a taxi. His response was that next time, we don’t walk in the busy street (like I had suggested) and walk in the empty streets”. Different perceptions I guess.
We stopped for water before going to our place and I’m glad we did because they shut off the water at 10:30am and we hadn’t brushed our teeth. Daniel went to bed saying that he wanted to throw up and sure enough, he did around 2:00am! I felt so bad because I thought he was making it up, plus I made him eat food even though he said it made him want to throw up. I got up with him and tried to clean but guess what? We still had NO water.
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HhxxdNxzKE7f4T828
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