Calls from Africa

Julie & Brandon sent us a number today to call them. It was 11:30 at night Sunday night. So far, she says the country is so much more beautiful than she ever imagined. Everything is very green and the number of types of flowers and trees is amazing. Upon arrival they found themselves exhausted and it was hard to get used to the higher elevation. Julie says there are mountains all over. They went for pizza Saturday night with their group and believe it or not Brandon actually ate it. He has said all along he was going to live on protein bars. From the start of their trip, their host has picked Brandon to be a leader with the group. When he receives the calls from Alemu, he then updates all of the families and gets them organized for their outings. This has been a great distraction from the lack of amentities. Although they are in a "version of modern" hotel, there are certain things that are not quite the same. The bathroom in particular.

Today they were taken by a driver to a couple of museums that helped to explain the proud past of Ethiopia and it's people. Julie was amazed to see all of the Christian artifacts. Actually the whole city has crosses everywhere you look. They spent some time shopping and Brandon discovered he is a natural born shopping negotiator. He had others amazed at his talents and they were able to get some great things. They were treated to a traditional dinner and native dancers where they were offered either Ethiopian or International cuisine. Julie stuck with International "chicken kabobs" and they were good. Brandon bonded with a protein bar. They were asked to sample some kind of Honey wine, which was warm all the way down.

They are busy packing up to get ready for the journey to the Blue Nile. They were happy to find out that rather than stay in a village they have found the group a hotel. The Blue Nile area is pretty undeveloped and Brandon wasn't sure how much adventure he was up for. This would not be a typical camping trip. None the less a hotel was good news. Julie says the people are very friendly, but the sights of poverty are difficult to see. Even though the city is modern for its country, you don't get away from seeing poverty on just about any street.

The next time we can here from them will be on Tuesday evening when they return to the city. They were so glad to hear Gavin's voice. he asked them if they were in Africa yet and did they see the lions. They haven't seen lions, but at night the wild dogs from outside the city come in to hunt through garbage. She said you can hear them fight out side.

Unfortunately, Gavin has been sick all weekend and that made it hard for them to hear that news. We are laying low this weekend and praying he will feel better in the next 24 hours. He seems to be better today, so give it another 24 hours and he will be back to pestering his Grandpa again.

That's it for now,
Sandy