There are some interesting notes about this trip:

• I’m dying for a blog fix. The Ethiopian government blocks a lot of blog sites here in Ethiopia — sites like Blogspot in particular; WordPress seems to be ok — where a lot of the people I like to read post their blogs. So I have been unable to keep up on people’s blogs the entire time I am away! (Unless of course we beat the Ethiopian government’s ban, which is fairly easy to do… when BDH does not have his hands full rocking the babe and walking her around the room, that is. Like right now. Little stinker won’t nap. Too busy gurgling and smiling at us.)
• The pollution in Addis is awful. It’s like being in the smoky part of a bonfire all the time. It comes from all the diesel cars which would give an emissions tester in Canada nightmares for a year. It’s best up by the transition homes, which is comforting since the children are there; and while it is tolerable here at the Hilton, down by the Weygoss, where it is close to a main drag, it’s awful.
• All the babies at the transition homes have a terrible rattle or cough. ALL of them. It is not that they are sick, but it’s a result of the terrible pollution here in Addis. And seeing BDH after yesterday’s outing, I can totally see that — he is suffering. (My asthma has been ok, but breathing is still a challenge. The air is THICK.) Apparently, after the kids are home in Canada for a few days in the fresh air, it clears right up.
• Dianne? Cutest baby pigtails EVER on your little one. I visited with her for a few minutes when we were picking up our girl the other day. She’s got a bad cough (see previous point) and did not look impressed to see me, because I think she would rather have been cuddling with her caregiver and getting ready for a nap. But we had a little chat about how her mommy and daddy would soon be coming to see her, and I eventually got a smile out of her (or it could have been gas, it’s hard to say). She’s clearly happy and healthy and thriving, and her caregivers and roomies love her dearly.
• The bakery-slash-coffeeshop here at the Hilton rivals any in Canada. We go every day for breakfast of cappuccino and a croissant. The staff is so friendly, it’s a nice relaxing spot, and the food and coffees are womderful. Apparently you can’t go wrong visiting a bakery here in Addis.
• Going shopping for groceries and want something “western”? Go to Bambis. It rocks the selection of North American stuff (yay for Pringles!) but you will also see a ton of European goods… and even diet Pepsi from Dubai for BDH! It’s also the best place to get diapers. We have a grocery store here at the hotel (more like a general store, really) and while it has a good selection of stuff, it doesn’t carry diapers. It has lots of formula, just not the brand we were told to use.
• We made the decision based on the accounts of some of the staff at our agency that we were not going to distribute stuff to the local kids who invariably come begging. A lot of foreigners do it, but I have seen how one kid can become a swarm and I am not comfortable with that, most particularly when I have my child with me. I have followed the lead of the liaisons and drivers and just firmly told them no. There are agencies where you can get food vouchers downtown, which I think would be a better option, but we have not gone out enough yet to warrant that. I am not heartless; I know there is need and it IS hard to say no to the little faces at the window. But I think, for me, I would be much more inclined to give my support to an agency that can offer a broader relief, such as an HIV orphanage or an AIDS program or the voucher program.
• There IS such a thing as too much Ethiopian food. And while tasty, 3-4 times in a 10-day stay is MORE than enough.
• It is possible to spend time in Addis rather cheaply, since food, lodging and shopping can be done on a relatively low budget. But I am glad we spent a little extra to stay at a big hotel. The staff here are fantastic, and fawn over the baby whenever we come by. We like our creature comforts, and when trying to learn to parent a new baby, the small things like room service and internet access and grounds to walk the baby in are nice things to have indeed. And it will still be way, way cheaper than the same amount of time at a moderate hotel in Canada. Another great thing is the ability to cocoon and learn to be a family and have some quiet time, which is hard to come by at some of the busier guest houses, which I am hearing are much like living the college dorm life (without the booze, that is).
• I am glad we came as prepared as we were. Yeah, we packed a ton, but some of the stuff has been invaluable. Bringing the laptop was inspired — we have movies we can watch, internet, storage space for pictures and video, and the wee one is positively ENCHANTED by Baby Mozart. Some things we were totally overprepared for, but that’s ok. I’ll have to post a comprehensive list when all is said and done and we are home.
• You can set your watch by the rains here in rainy season. Sometime around 2 pm, it starts to rain, and soon thereafter you have downpours of fantastic proportions, and big rumbling thunder… It refreshes the air and makes everything look a *bit* cleaner. And while you are cocooning with a new baby, napping while she naps or cuddling in a chair or whatever, it is very relaxing. I love the rains.

Hello from Addis Ababa. Sorry for the lack of updates but it would appear that our daughter had some things to teach us, and that our liaison here is active in planning activities.

We have, as Cinn mentioned, not been getting a lot of sleep but I think we are getting better at managing the lack of sleep and the baby’s schedule. Sunday was quite nice… except for the screaming baby parts. But, that was our fault. Around noon time, the little one started to get fussy, and that fussiness eventually stretched into crying for hours, unhappy unless we constantly carried her around the room. (Dude. The football hold ROCKS.) After trying everything we could think of — you go through the checklist: is her diaper clean? check. has she been fed recently? check. is she due for a nap? and so on) we gave her another bottle and eureka! Despite the fact that she had had a bottle on schedule at noon, she was hungry an hour later. It seems that although she was fed on schedule at the transition house, she has a different appetite depending on the time of day. We have been documenting all her feeding times since we brought her home but we are still trying to figure out how much she likes and when.

This brings us to our schedule. Things work a little bit differently here than we are used to. We will get a call from our liaison indicating that he will be here in two hours to take us to a traditional Ethiopian meal, or that he is downstairs and to please come down so that we can go sightseeing around Addis today. This is all wonderful but it is not how we are used to operating. We are used to knowing what the plan is going to be and being able to prepare accordingly, or to opt out — especially now with a certain little someone whose plans (calling it a schedule, as you have read, is a bit of a stretch right now) trump everyone else’s and can change on a whim. And also, we came here with the plan to NOT do any of that stuff — our focus is on our little girl and so we had planned to just spend our time in and around the hotel getting used to being a family. We are extremely appreciative that our hosts want to take us sightseeing and do all these things to show off their country, but this is not our priority. Ten years from now, when our child is old enough to appreciate it, then absolutely, but now? We have different priorities.

So, yesterday’s call came just as we were feeding herself and getting ready to settle her in for a nap. Cinn had showered, I had not, neither of us had seen a toothbrush in a long time, and the wee gasbag was farting up a storm. The phone rings: “Please come down to the lobby. We are going to go to Entoto Mountain and also to do some shopping.” We explain that we are just getting ourselves settled and that we are not prepared but to no avail: “You should come down immediately.” Well, okay then.

So we rushed around like crazy people getting a diaper bag together, getting ourselves dressed, and fighting to get our daughter clothed in the 12 pounds of clothing appropriate to the locals for an Ethiopian winter. She was NOT happy about this plan, and really, we could not blame her. Carting a 5-month-old around in a crowded hot minivan through appalling pollution, jostling her about on unbelievably rough roads, and putting her in a crazy amount of clothing, when all she wants to do is sleep, is totally unfair to her. But we did not want to be ungrateful to our hosts and so off we went.

And it was not bad. Well, except for the fact that the thick smog has now given me a terrible cough and burning in my chest to rival a career smoker, and that our daughter decided about 2/3 of the way through that SHE. HAD. HAD. ENOUGH! and started screaming for all she was worth. Another bottle appeased her a bit, despite the gymnastics it takes to feed a little girl in a Snugli in bumper-to-bumper traffic. And then, to put a point on her displeasure, she peed on her mom’s leg.

So, we are slowly learning who is boss around here. And that what the boss says, goes… despite any preordained schedules, plans for the day, or cultural conflicts that may arise.