Alexa decided she wanted a traditional dress to wear to our
cultural dinner, so after the mountain we went “shopping.” The dress Te-Te (the
desk manager) wore to the fundraiser inspired Alexa’s custom dress. Alexa got
hers at the market for 450 birr. Te-Te got hers (she served at the coffee
ceremony at the fundraiser) for 1000 birr. She fussed about the price
descrepency all afternoon. In her dresses defense, she had hers tailor-made.
At the restaurant Alexa got lots of compliments. She wore
the crocs she had been wearing the whole trip. When we were leaving, a worker
told her next time she would take her shopping so she wouldn’t have to wear
“orphan” shoes with such a beautiful dress!
The cultural dinner was just that. The workers were in
traditional clothes, a traditional meal was served, and the performers were as
cultural as it gets.
A group photo of us at dinner. Dereje was a great host.
Ethiopians often share dinners (on one big plate) and feed one another (they
eat injera and food with their right hand). Solomon offered Ian some food. Ian
willingly ate it and then learned it was cow intestine! He was a good sport and
swallowed, though!
On Monday, after going to see Aiden again, we got a tour of
Tikuret, Hilawe’s sister orphanage. Tikuret, like Hilawe, is a private
orphanage. We met up with another Gladney family there and had a tour of the
inside. Dereje was with us as well. Private orphanages are cleaner, less
child/caregiver ratio, keep better records and have better medical care. We
completed our tour with another coffee ceremony.
After Tikuret, we went to lunch at Arcobaleno with Brad and
Kimmie (the other Gladney family). We had eaten at that restaurant fordinner
the week before. This time we had the pizza, which we enjoyed more. The company
was great as well. The Harrisons were from Texas and it was Kimmie’s third trip
to Ethiopia.
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