We cleared Embassy yesterday and requested the next available Visa appointment since we were already in Addis. They were able to schedule that for tomorrow at 1:00 (Thursday, that is)! We're in the home stretch now, and it looks like we don't have to worry about going to Plan B (yea, double yea and even triple yea!)
Today we hung out...and are headed out shopping in a little while. We found an arcade place in a mall and even Jared admitted he had some fun! Finally! He definitely enjoys our daily soccer games in the courtyard...and we're SO glad we brought a little soccer ball. I think the kids play for at least 2-3 hours every day, and most of the time the staff here jumps in to play, too.
This would be a picture of the boys being boys...let's just leave it at that. Don't worry, nobody got hurt.
The two, more well-behaved children I'm traveling with (hehe), played jump rope - again. It's funny to hear Chelsea sing her jump rope songs about ice cream, princesses and getting bit my snakes while Ethiopia music is blarring in the background :o)
Driving lessons started today. All of you in the U.S. should say thank you that we started learning in Ethiopia! Habtamu seems to pick things up VERY quickly, though. The bumper cars were hard to "drive" at first, but he quickly got out of the jams and learned how to "drive" like Chelsea.
What is it about boys? How do they pick up a joystick & shoot stuff naturally without ever having done it before? The best part of all the driving/flying games was that the seats moved and shook.
The racing games were all new to him, too, and Kyle said that he really, really hopes his driving improves before Habtamu gets a license! That, or Utah changes it's age requirement to at least 18.
Jared showed Habtamu how to shoot a "real" b-ball. He got the hang of that pretty quickly, too, but soccer is definitely his stronger sport!
Even Miss Chels had to have a turn...and she did pretty great herself. Nice form, eh?
And this would be Jared enjoying himself...truly enjoying himself. Any guesses as to why? I didn't think so.
At lunch today Chelsea entertained us yet again...this time memorizing beats and tunes to songs on the radio. Not sure I can adequately tell you how awesome she was, but her song went somthing like "bum bum bum bumbum, bum bum bum bumbum, bum bum bum buh buh". We made a video of it, but I'm positive it'll never load here in Ethiopia! She is still having fun...go figure. And no...Bob didn't dine with us today - she looked for him, though :o)
In summary, we are doing well and getting along just fine! Habtamu's English is great, really, and he's smiling as much as we are. We have re-named the game UNO to "GO NU" because if you don't play your cards quick enough, Habtamu says "go!" In fact, as he is choosing his card to play he is already saying "go" to the next person. So funny! Go Fish is another favorite here and if he loses (which he rarely does), he has a funny "ahhh" expression of disappointment. When we ask him something (like "What did that woman say to us?") and he doesn't know for sure, he squints his nose for a few seconds, puts a finger to his temple and then tells us as best he can. Again, very cute.
Now that we have our appointment date we're going to schedule out the rest of our days. Korah, swimming and back to the care center are in our immediate future. MIB 3 is playing (in English) so we we may do that at some point in lieu of soccer - if the kids will let us!
Hey Corey...we're pretty sure Habtamu will like Lagoon...and will need a ride buddy. Want the job? He also wants to play soccer in "big grass," so you better get your soccer skills ready!
Hey Miranda...I hear Tiff does great hair. Can you make an appointment with her for me to sit in her special chair? And please save some macarroni for her kids!
Sounds like you guys are having a great time bonding! So glad all is going 'according to plan'! God's plan:)
ReplyDeletesee you soon!