Day 10

Today we were invited to Yehuala's church. Yehuala is an orthodox Christian and he is very devout. He goes to church every single morning before work!!! Anyways, when he told us he would pick us up at 6:30am I almost died and I wanted to back out of it, but I knew that we wanted an authentic experience and that we had to go. So... we actually managed to get Moses up and dressed and were on time for church!

Now, I asked Yehuala beforehand what I needed to know and how I should dress and all he said was cover your neck with a scarf and wear a dress. So I did. Except when I arrived I quickly realized that wearing a dress that barely reaches your knees is not a good idea. I of course don't own any dresses that go to my ankles but really wish I had of worn pants! Not only were we the only white people in this conregation of a thousand but I was also the only one showing so much skin! I felt so uncomfortable! When we walked up to the church Yehuala told me I had to go through another door. I assumed that we would meet up inside but men and women were separated and it felt like I was miles away from him and Solomon and Mike and mose. So any questions I had were left unanswered and I just tried to "fit in". Ha!

The service was in Amharic... I wish I could've understood it but it was still a very beautiful experience. This older women beside me often grabbed my arm and helped me to stand when I was supposed to stand and sit when I was supposed to sit. After two hours of this I noticed that Mike and moses had left with Solomon. I tried to stay till the end but realized I never asked Yehuala just how long a service was.... and if you know me, you know I need to eat every two hours or I feel like fainting. So I tried to leave indescretely out the back! Ha! Nothing is indiscrete when you are white and wearing a short dress. But I put my head down and walked out the back of the church. When I got outside there were hundreds of people outside worshiping as well. It was quite amazing to see. I found my way to our van and about an hour later Yehuala came out and we left.

(Moses being blessed... I love this picture!)

After church, Mike and I decided to take them out for breakfast to this cute cafe. After a quick stop at the Weygoss so I could put on jeans of course. I can only wear a dress for a maximum of two hours at a time. Once again, the food and coffee at this cafe were AMAZING. Oh how I miss the food and service in Addis. It's unlike anything here. My juice was all freshly squeezed, our cappuccinos were to die for, and hanging out with Solomon and Yehuala in the sunshine was a perfect Sunday morning. I will never forget how good they were to us. Their priority is making sure you are comfortable at all times and that you are enjoying your time in Addis. Their love for Moses is also so evident. I think the love for children is definitely a cultural thing as it seems that everyone you meet adores children. I also found it quite interesting how it is not just the women who bend down to talk to your child as it would typically be in Canada. Here, the men are almost more often the one's reaching out and congratulating you on your baby. Yehuala would lean over and grab mosey's hand or talk to him every single time we were stopped in traffic. I'll never forget that!







Okay, this is getting long. After breakfast we returned to the church because Mike really wanted to take some pictures and we obviously couldn't do that during the service. For a small fee we were allowed back inside and we took a bunch of photos. Here are just a few! Enjoy.