Ethiopia Trip Two: Hotel and Museum Day

I know this is only my second time ever to post on this blog, but Rebekah claims I had the more eventful day, so she asked me to recap day three of our week in Addis.

Thursday (or Turdsday as our hotel itinerary actually says) we were scheduled to spend the entire day at our hotel spending time with Israel.  Once again, he slept pretty well throughout the night, but Rebekah and I were wide awake by 2:00am.

After breakfast and cleaning the room a bit, Israel went down for a two hour nap. While he was asleep I decided to run into the city to buy a few items and check out the National Museum.  Rebekah stayed and napped, and I grabbed a cab with our driver-friend, Solomon.

Solomon took me through some parts of Addis that I have not seen yet, before heading to the market. I had a list of things that Bekah wanted me to get, which included some table runners and necklaces. Solomon helped me haggle with the store owners. "He is a helper to Ethiopian children. Give him a discount," he would say.  I was able to grab some good deals on the items that Bekah asked me to find, and I also bought a couple of surprises for her and Israel.

The Market in Addis Ababa

Surprise gift for Bekah.

After the market, I asked Solomon to take me to the National Museum of Ethiopia. For 10 Birr ($0.57) I paid for both of our admission. Being a cab driver for tourists, Solomon has probably been in the museum hundreds of times. This worked well, because he served as a pretty knowledgeable tour guide.

Solomon leading the way into the National Museum of Ethiopia

The museum is home to the skeleton remains of Lucy, recognized as the first human ancestor ever discovered, and Selam, the earliest child ancestor ever discovered. It also boasts several items formerly owned by Ethiopia's former emperor Haile Selassie.

Lucy, or as Ethiopians like to call her, Dinknesh, meaning "Wonderful."

Selam, which I am pretty sure means "creepy-looking."

Emperor Halie Selassie's throne

 When I got back to the hotel, Israel was in a fun mood, and we played for the rest of the evening. He had a really great day, with only a few fussy moments. We are seeing more and more of his laughter and personality. I cannot wait to see who this little boy is going to become. I have spent hours just studying his features, imagining what type of work those little hands will do to provide for a family one day... how fast those feet will be able to run... or how crazy that hair will get.

Israel doing his thing.

I don't want him to grow up, but I am eager to see what God does with this kid's life.