Day 4

Day 4

Ahh.... A nice lazy day. We didn't wake up to a western alarm, but the roosters started making noise at 5-6am. We snoozed until about 8:30. It was fantastic and the kids were exhausted after the last few days... emotionally and physically. The weather here has been nice. About 80-85 degrees with a slight breeze and 60s at night. It can get hot out of the shade in the heat of the day but overall the weather has been very good.

The entire city has been really preparing for the Holy Week. Most Christian Ethiopians have been fasting for the past 40 days at least. To most, that means no meat and dairy. For the ultra conservative that means no food or water while the sun is up. That ends at 6am on Easter Sunday. Everyone will be having a huge feast (for what they can afford) with their families on Easter. Most people will go to church Saturday night and and the service will last until 3am. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasika

The streets are full of chickens, sheep, and ox for sale. Chickens run 150-200 Birr (7.50 - $10). Sheep run 2000 - 3000 birr ($100 - $150). Ox run about $1,200 USD. Prices have gone up by about 20% in the last 2 years because of inflation but prices are usually higher during Holy Week because of demand.

Our guest house has a sheep tied to a tree for the guests here. It will be slaughtered on Sunday morning. The boys and I will partake in the slaughtering... more on that later.

Our driver has invited us to spend Easter with him and his family on Sunday. So we will be feasting at their house. It is an honor to be invited. We will post a recap on that as well. We will also be attending a service in Amharic Sunday morning. It should be an interesting way to finish the trip!

We did a little more shopping today: Oscar and I bought some more "Soul Rebels" shoes to take home. http://www.solerebels.com I think Hermella thinks we just eat and shop! Fortunately, we also were able to meet up with an old friend, Temesgen. He was a boy we met at Kolfe in 2008. He has a good job now and is a great person to catch up with.

Ice cream in the afternoon and then soccer and trampoline back at the guest house was a great way to finish the day.

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