Ethiopia In Ten Pictures

As I was going through my pictures, I couldn't help but think that they just don't do Ethiopia justice. We have pictures of monuments and attempts at taking decent pictures through the windows of the vehicles that we traveled in, but these pictures do not capture what it was like to be in Ethiopia. I think that these ten pictures will give you a small idea, but you are going to have to go to Ethiopia to understand what I mean...

We stayed at the Biruk Bed and Breakfast off of Bole Road in Addis Ababa. The owners of the place were very hospitable and we also met a friendly Canadian couple while we were there. It was the perfect place to stay the two nights before we went to the CHSFS guesthouse for adoptive parents.

This is Robert and the tour guide who volunteered to show us around Addis Ababa (he was very nice and we didn't mind tipping him for his "volunteer" work). They are standing in front of a staircase that was built by the Italians as a symbol of Fascist domination, one step for each year Mussolini held power. The "Lion of Judah" (a symbol of Ethiopia) on top was placed there as a monument to Ethiopia's independence from Italy. It is located outside of the Ethnological Museum (in what was once emperor Hale Selasse's palace) on the Addis Ababa University campus.

Our second day in Ethiopia was spend with some leaders from a Church planting movement there. Here is a picture of Robert in front of one of their church buildings with six generations of Christians. See my previous post for more details about this experience.

We drove past this place every day on our way to Biruk's care center and Efesson's school. Here one can buy a goat and even have it slaughtered right here along the road. We often saw people walking through the streets of Ethiopa's capitol city with their herds of goats, cattle, or donkeys. A single cow was often found grazing in the middle of a roundabout near this place.

Coffee is a big deal in Ethiopia. The reason why we took this picture is pretty obvious.
Man, there is something so familiar about that sign!

When I went to Tanzania, Africa in 2005 I was amazed by the landscape! I remember staring out the window the Land Rover for hours and hours as we drove from Dar Es Salaam to Chimala, entertained by the beauty of the land and the daily lives of the people. I felt the same way about the Ethiopian landscape. The daily lives of the people are especially beautiful--children walking to and from school in colorful uniforms, people washing clothes in a stream, people outside their homes, livestock, crops, people and their donkeys carrying water from one place to another, and oh so much more. Here are a few shots taken through the window as we drove through the Ethiopian countryside.

Sharing food with new friends. This is a mesob table with the Ethiopian food that we shared with our travel group. We shared this meal together the night before our children were oficially in our care. We ate and enjoyed the traditional dance show at a restaruant called Yod Abyssinia. Robert and I truly enjoyed our travel group! We had an unusually small group with just one other couple adopting a toddler boy and a CHSFS social worker coming as an escort for another little guy. We experienced so many indescribable moments alongside these people and they will forever be in our families thoughts and prayers.

Blog Email From Ethiopia (posted late due to being unable to post it in Ethiopia)

Hey all! Sorry this isn't a post about recent happenings within the Meyer household...BUT! I promise that it is coming! We no longer have internet at home, so it is much tougher to keep up with. Stay tuned, I will at least try and get a couple of pictures posted soon. - Teague


October 23, 2009 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -

We arrived safely in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday evening and headed to the Biruk Bed and Breakfast (nice name, huh!?). We walked all over Addis Ababa (Robert estimates that we walked about 15 miles) the first day, just taking in our surroundings. We also visited the Ethnological Museum located in the University of Addis Ababa. Wehighly recommend that museum. It explains a good deal of Ethiopian history and culture. There was even a small exhibit on pottery fromthe region where Efesson and Biruk were born.

We spent day two with an Ethiopian Church Planting Movement. Prior toleaving for Ethiopia we made plans to travel about three hours outsideof Addis to see the church planting that is being done in a southern region of Ethiopia. We met three different church families, one of which has six generations of Christians (meaning a friend reaches out to a friend who reaches a friend ... times six). It was a very informative experience and we will be using what we learned as we develop a strategy for mission work in Angola. It was also wonderful to look at the beautiful Ethiopian landscape and watch the people as they went about their daily lives. What you see looking out the windowof your vehicle as you drive through Ethiopia is indescribable.

We met Efesson and Biruk today. This morning we spent nearly two hours with them both. They were excited to meet us (Efesson especially) and we had a wonderful time playing outside with them. There were no tears until we were preparing to leave ... then the boys had a colossal meltdown. Efesson and Biruk stay in separate houses and were only together this morning for our meeting. They did not want to be separated from each other as we were leaving, and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. After about 15 minutes of this heightened emotional state, Biruk settled back into his daily routine and Efesson begrudgingly agreed to return to his house for lunch.

This afternoon, I was able to spend another hour with Biruk while Robert spent an hour with Efesson in their separate homes. They're both delightful boys. Goodbyes were much easier in round two.

Tomorrow we will see them both together again for a couple hours in the morning. We hope their separation anxiety will decrease.

Am I REALLY Flying to Ethiopia Tomorrow?!

Just a quick synopsis of our time back in the states...

We flew home on Monday, October 12th and when we arrived at our home that evening we found that there was a ridiculous amount of mold all over our belongings, so we did some unexpected cleaning and went to bed. The next morning I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't sleep, so I got up and cleaned. I cleaned until lunch time and Robert and I went out to lunch with some friends. After lunch Robert, got a hair cut (so that he would look more like the pictures that we sent to the boys) while I went to Walmart to buy a few things for the boys. That evening we went to Silver City Mentoring and then out to dinner with friends. On Wednesday morning I cleaned the house and packed until we went over to a friend's house for lunch. Also, that morning, we put our moldy couch and recliner on the curb and they were gone in less than 30 minutes (a plus to living in the hood)! After lunch we borrowed a mini van to pick up a new used couch from a local church and took it to the house and Robert got a new driver's license. We returned the mini van and I went to Target to spend some gift cards on what we still needed for the boys until it was time for life group. We had dinner with friends after life group, then I stayed up until nearly 2am to finish packing. The next morning we drove to Nashville for a team meeting.

How many future adoptive mothers do you know who can clean the entire (moldy) house, go shopping for all that she needs for her children in Ethiopia, pack, and do all that other stuff in just TWO DAYS! I need some props...comment below :)

I forgot how much fun field trips can be!

Once a month Eunice takes her students on a field trip. This month we went to Belém. We ate Pasteis de Belém , visited the Monument to the Discoveries, visited the Jeronimos Monistery, and then had lunch together. After the field trip, Robert and I stuck around to visit the Monistery's Cloister and the Tour de Belém.

Here are a couple of group pictures...one of us in the elevator and one of us in front of where they make the real Pasteis de Belém.

Monument to the Discoveries

Inside the Monument to the Discoveries you can watch a really great film about the history of Portugal. I highly recommend it!
Here is the group before the show.

From the top of the Monument to the Discoveries there is a great view of city.
Here is the Jeronimos Monistery,


the Tour de Belem,


and the compass mosaic at the foot of the monument.


A more detailed look at the Jeronimos Monistery. It is a very interesting building!






The Tour de Belém.

This rhinocerous is found on the Tour. I guess the Portuguese explorers were impressed by the rhinocerous!

One month from today...

...we meet the boys!

Here are a couple of excerpts and some pictures from each of their social reports for you to enjoy...

"Efesson is a happy and smiley little boy. He has a beautiful and bright smile. Though he is a bit shy, he likes it when somebody gets close and plays with him. Once he is close to somebody, he always gets excited and runs to hug and kiss that person."

"Biruk is a sweet little boy though he usually wears a serious face...He enjoys wrestling with bigger children or his nannies playfully. When they play with him, he babbles and laughs out loud."

Castelo means Castle in Portuguese

On a Wednesday during the first weeks that we were in Portugal we went to the earlier class block (9:30-11:30) and then headed into Lisbon to look around before going to a Bible Study that evening. We visited the Castelo de São Jorge or Saint George's Castle and the Sé Cathedral.

Robert was looking at his map to find the castle while we were standing in this square and I said, "you mean that castle up there?"

Here is a view looking down at that Square from the Castle. There were some great views from the Strategically placed Castle.

Roberto e Jorge
(Robert and George)

This is the Sé Cathedral.

This archeological dig is located within the cloister of the cathedral. Can you find the Roman store or the Islamic dump?


Check out this website for the answers and for more information!

Our First MONTH in Portugal!

Here is a little about our time here in Portugal. I have broken it into four sections: Language learning, where we live, Food, and The Church. Being immersed in the language, the people, and the culture has been great for our language learning, hopefully you will be able to see that as you read a little about our first month here…

Language learning. We go to class for two hours each day, Monday through Friday. We spend the first part of class time going over homework. Usually when we go over homework we read it aloud and translate what we have written. As we read our homework aloud, Eunice (pronounced ay-ou-niece), our language teacher, corrects our grammar and helps us to pronounce things correctly. We often find ourselves being corrected because we are using the Spanish (in Robert's case) and French (in my case) accents that we developed in high school. We are also learning to put the right emPHAsys on the right sylLAble. We have also started meeting with Eunice individually for an extra 30 minutes/day Monday through Thursday. I meet with Eunice on Tuesday/Thursday and Robert meets with her on Monday/Wednesday. This allows us to get some individualized teaching.

I truly enjoy having Eunice as a teacher! She really knows her stuff (she has been doing this for 25 years now!). She is conscious of where we are weak and works with us to strengthen those areas. She does a lot of talking in Portuguese throughout class time and encourages us to talk with her in Portuguese so that we can become more comfortable speaking in Portuguese. Having seen a lot of people come through her program, she has a lot of insight and good advice to share with us. The time and attention that we get from her is quality.

Where we live. We live and go to school in a town called Loures. We are staying in a two bedroom apartment with one bathroom, a kitchen, and a Living room. The apartment is a ten minute walk from the school. Near the school there is a small produce market and a butcher were we purchase fruits, veggies, and meat. The produce is very inexpensive, yesterday I purchased 5 large carrots, 6 pears, a head of cabbage, and 2 tomatoes for less than 3 Euros!

From our apartment Robert and I can take a 20 minute walk to a mall called “Loures Shopping” where we can eat in the food court, go to a Wal-Mart-like store called Continente, or see a movie. We have found that seeing a movie here is extremely reasonable. It is about 5 Euros per person to see a movie and when you get your tickets there is a coupon on each ticket for buy one ticket get one free the next time you see a movie. So from now on both of us see a movie for a total of about 5 Euros! We learn Portuguese from our movie watching experience because the movies have Portuguese subtitles or are dubbed in Portuguese.


Food. In four weeks you can try a lot of Portuguese food and you can practice your Portuguese while doing it! We have eaten Bacalhau which is dried, salted cod that they rehydrate and cook "365 ways" our travel books says. Eunice told us that people were given food stamps for Bacalhau during the war and that is why there are so many ways to cook it (it is the ground beef of the Portuguese). It is not our favorite fish, but it is good. Let’s see…what else have we had to eat… we ate grilled sardines at a sardine festival one Saturday night, we have had some awesome frango with piri piri (grilled chicken with hot pepper sauce), we have tried bitoque (meat served with a fried egg on top), and much more.

Below a picture of me enjoying a sardine and some Portuguese Reggae at the sardine festival.

We are not always found eating Portuguese food. We confess that we have eaten at McDonald’s more than once. We find that McDonald’s tastes much better in Europe (we rarely eat at McDonald’s in the US) and how would we experience the TOBLERONE MCFLURRY if we didn’t eat at McDonalds? We also found some good Pizza at a restaurant called Telepizza.

We eat meals with people from the church on Wednesday and Thursday nights and last Sunday we experienced our first Lisbon Church of Christ Potluck! The people from the Church are from Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, as well as other countries, so we have had Brazilian beans and rice and African Funge (a doughy substance made of corn served with food in the same way you would serve rice), among other things.

We have also enjoyed some Portuguese "sobremesas" or desserts. One of our favorites is the famous "Pastel de Nata." A Portuguese cream pastry that was originally created by monks from the Jeronimos Monastery. They have been produced and sold since 1837 under the name Pastel de Belém. We went with Eunice and her other students to Belém where we visited the Monastery and ate Pastel de Belém topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar made from the original recipe, they are pictured below. More about that Field trip in another post…

The Church. From day one we have felt very welcome at the Lisbon Church of Christ. As I mentioned earlier, it is made up of people from all over the world and there are several people who can speak English. We meet with the Church at least three times a week. On Wednesday nights we go to a home for singing and Bible study, on Thursday nights we go to prayer meeting, and on Sundays we go to Bible class and worship. We have also experienced their youth group meeting, dinner in the Minister’s home, and I went to a baby shower this past weekend.

All the time that we spend with the church has really been beneficial for our Portuguese. We spend a lot of time listening and trying to figure out what they are talking about and we sing songs that we know in English in Portuguese (which is good for our vocabulary). Each week we feel like we understand more and more of what we are hearing. Everyone at church is very encouraging regarding our language study. It is an environment where we can be comfortable practicing our Portuguese. Beyond Portuguese practice, we have been immensely blessed by the friendships we have formed with our Christian brothers and sisters here!

P.S. Update on the blankets for the boys: Blanket #1 is put together and blanket #2 is on its way! Here is what I have left to do: (1) Put blanket #2 together (2) Knit boarders on both blankets (3) Sew backings on both blankets.

Below is a picture of the pieces of blanket #2 laid out over blanket #1.

We meet Efesson and Biruk in 39 days!