3-18-2012

Today we made the trip back to Addis.

This time was a bit more interesting because we were going without Sophie, and none of us speak Amharic.

It ended up being a really good trip.

We had a lot of room in the van to stretch out and sleep and had time to chat.

Our drivers were really great too and did their best to make us comfortable.

At one point during the trip this huge black hornet type thing flew into the window and thought it would be a fun idea to hang out by me.

It concerned Audra and I so much that we were trying to figure out what to do when the driver and driver's passenger figured out what was going on.

They pulled over onto the side of the road and had us all get out while they found and took care of the huge hornet thing.

I still have no idea if these huge hornets are really any sort of threat or not, but I do know that they are really scary.

Around lunch time they also stopped off at a really nice sort of tourist oasis for "tea time".

Doug, Audra and I sat around a table on a grassy lawn under the shade of many trees and drank tea and coffee.

We even had some real nice bathrooms to use.

On the trip to Soddo we had to make a pit stop and use a very dirty squaty potty. 

Meanwhile our drivers went across the street to get some lunch.

When they left us there sitting under the trees, they made sure to even leave the van keys with us.

It was such a comforting gesture.

Hey, you are a pretty lady!

You know you have been in a foreign country a while when the sight of other white people makes you freak out and actually point.

That happened during our drive back to Addis.

We passed a van that had a few white people in it and I , No joke, pointed at them and very excitedly proclaimed to Doug and Audra that there were white people in that van.

I remember things like that happening in Ecuador too.

Andres and I would be on the metro and I would see another white person and get ALLLLLLLLLL excited.

Anyways, when we returned to Addis we went and met up with everyone and ate lunch.

It was a down day for all of us so we relaxed, and enjoyed our lunches and didn't rush to get anywhere.

After lunch we all squeezed into the Shannon's van and drove off for the nearest ice cream/smoothie place.

I honestly don't remember the rest of the day, but I am sure it was spent relaxing, eating, chatting, and resting.

My allergies were still really really bothering me.