Today was very similar to yesterday. Schoolwork in the morning, museum in the afternoon.
We’d thought last week that we might head out to visit the orphanage yesterday or today, but it turned out that several families have court dates tomorrow and Germatchew, the KL driver, was busy collecting birth families to ensure they would show up. This was an indication to us of how much effort goes into ensuring the success of the court hearings the first time around. Germatchew popped in to tell us this himself (he lives close by, apparently). He said that, since it is the Christmas season (and despite this not appearing to be a big deal, at least not here in Addis), some of the families he needed to find might not be at home. Most of the birth families live in or near Adama (also known as Nazaret), a 100 km drive SE of Addis. Germatchew said some of them might be visiting relatives in Debre Zeit or other places, and if he could find out where they were and it was not too far away, he would go to those places to track them down and bring them to Addis. (So all you KL families, rest assured that everything possible is being done to see that you get through court successfully the first time!)
So we weren’t expecting to get to visit the orphanage or Poppet’s birth family today or tomorrow, but I called Solomon to discuss our options, and he worked it out that they will hire a van and driver and take us and another family out tomorrow.
Today, then, we were on our own again, which is fine. We’re used to getting around and doing things that way! After lunch we hopped a cab to the Natural History Museum. This one, while small, is well worth a visit, especially if you have children over about four years of age who like animals. Giggles most certainly does, so she was very interested in visiting this museum. She even asked in advance if Laolao could read some of the information to her while I watched Poppet.
The displays begin with some information about natural history, the importance of observing and documenting wildlife, and the various types of habitats in Ethiopia. From there, you move into several rooms filled with stuffed and preserved creatures. Many amphibians and small reptiles are preserved in jars of formaldehyde, while other creatures are represented by skins hanging on walls. But the fourth room from the beginning has several impressive, if small, dioramas, displaying a variety of animals in their natural habitats. Many of the species on display are endemic to Ethiopia - i.e., they are not found anywhere else in Africa or in the world. Past the dioramas is a hallway with a stuffed leopard, a lion skin, and the mounted heads of a variety of deer and antelope. Off to the other side of the hall is the bird display. This features one diorama-type display and six or so glass cases with mounted birds. Over 400 birds are on display, about half the 800+ species found in the country.
We spent about an hour and a half at the museum and got a fairly good view of all the displays. As we went through, a museum curator followed us and responded to questions. He was obviously very knowledgeable about Ethiopian animals and the specimens in the collection. He identified the v-tailed bird we frequently see in the skies as the black kite.
(I’d recommend, to anyone interested in doing museums, to combine the National Museum and the Natural History Museum in one half-day excursion, and to give a half-day or even a full day to the Ethnological Museum on its own.)
We were done by 3:00 and decided to stroll down King George VI back in the direction we’d come from, just to pass the time and see some sights, perhaps stopping for tea or ice cream at a suitable establishment. So off we went.
This section of town had some small shops lining some of the streets, but other sections of road were devoid of such establishments. We kept on going, turning on Menelik II Avenue when we reached it, and heading down towards Meskel Square. By the time we got to the square we were tired and no eateries seemed to be in the vicintiy, so we found a taxi to take us to our favourite haunt on Bole Road close to home.
After ice cream, Laolao and Giggles went to buy some eggs at Fantu’s, while Laoye and Poppet and I headed home. As usual, Poppet refused to hold my hand, so I decided to force the issue and made him. He was not at all happy about that and cried most of the way home. Once home, seeing as he had yet to stop crying, I took him into the bedroom and shut the door. I figured he needs to understand that (a) I am not poisonous and touching me will not hurt him and (b) Mommy is the most important grown-up in his life, not Laoye or even Laolao. It took a while, and some even more vigourous crying, but in the end we seemed to have reached some sort of an understanding. It remains to be seen how it will weather over the coming days. When we emerged from the bedroom the rest of the family had about finished eating supper and discreetly disappeared for an evening walk, so he had to deal with me some more. At first he refused to come eat, but when I gave him some “decision room” he did come, though he ate sparingly.
After supper I was going to read stories to him, but he indicated that he wanted to play on the computer, which I was willing to do. He was quite content to sit on my lap and explore some of the CDs I brought along. He started to cry again when the computer was turned off, but just then the others returned, providing some distraction, and he went off to bed willingly enough with Giggles.
It is starting to feel like high time we got home to Canada and into our normal routines. While being at the house here is comfortable and almost like home, it is not quite normal (for one thing, at home I won’t be sitting with Giggles half the day doing schoolwork). Once we wake up tomorrow, we will have only five more sleeps to go. Then comes a long trip, after which the real adjustment can begin.
(Continue to 10 January: Orphanage)
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