Every night I ask Adam to do the blog and he tells me to do it, so here I am again. (She lies!! (al)
We started the day off with breakfast again, and then we had a souvenir shopping trip. We have been told that one parent should stay back with the kids. Again, what I said earlier. Frankly, all the preschoolers have been doing so well with the bonding that they could have stayed at HOH1 with the nannies for a few hours. Still, when asked they wanted to go with us, which was fine – it was the same with the other kids. We got a few things, but I talked to Almaz and she’s going to take just me on Monday or Tuesday to do some more shopping. The kids were as good as can be expected in a market place. Still, one girl got a doll, so all the other girls wanted dolls. One girl got a necklace… Really, this is a great sign that all the kids are bonding with their parents because they went to their mommies and daddies to throw their fits. Rather, I think the other kids are bonding well, and that it was probably mine who was throwing the fit. 
On the way back, we stopped at a coffee shop and the guys in the van got out to go buy some coffee beans to take back. Unbeknownst to us in the van, they were also drinking coffee, or so it looked. What was really happening was that the guys asked for the coffee beans to be roasted, so they had to go in the back and actually roast them. We are bringing back so much coffee.
We were running late for lunch – which was to be a traditional Ethiopian meal with coffee ceremony. The food was delicious and Adam and I actually drank the coffee. We had great conversations with the other parents, which we usually do, and the kids were as silly as usual. I think Aman has a girlfriend – too bad her and her twin will be living in New York City. Good times.
After lunch, just before “quiet time”, we were all singing “Old MacDonald” and added a couple of lines. He had a Aman with a “hee hee” here and a “hee hee” there. He had a Serawit with a “moooomeeee” here and a “moooomeeee” there (use the whiny voice). Aman got a kick out of it, Serawit thought we were making fun of her and told us to stop. We changed that one on the next verse, but we still look at one another occasionally and do the “mooomeee” to each other. By the way, Aman’s refrain has become a “yesnoyes” here and a “yesnoyes” there (he says “yes, no, yes?” a lot and very quickly)
Dinner tonight was something we haven’t had in a while – PIZZA!!! We have eaten EVERYTHING offered to us this week. However, I had to pick off the mushrooms. I will try just about anything, but mushrooms are my limit. Much to our surprise and delight, the kids devoured the pizza. Serawit was having trouble eating her piece and dropped it, which sent the kids laughing and laughing. They are so cute.
The two other couples who were staying with us, and our social worker, left for the airport tonight. It’s just us now. One of the families had a 3-4 year old girl who the kids are friends with. The kids were really good about saying good bye and not getting upset. I do think they understand that they will see their friend in a few months. That family lives in Maryville, Missouri, and I had thrown out there possibly going to the Renaissance Festival in Kansas City some time this fall and meeting up with them.
Speaking of which, we also learned that Tsegey (our in country representative – the person who runs all this here) and his wife are going to be in St. Louis some time in September. The kids will love that.
Tonight was my second attempt at doing Serawit’s hair. This time I washed it after the coffee ceremony, so it was dry after dinner. Used a lot of product, but got the curls to loosen a little bit. Put in bigger pom poms with the front one in a sparkly rubber band with sparkly stars on it. When I finished I told Serawit she was “kanjo” (pretty) and showed her in the mirror. She had the biggest smile on her face, kissed me on the cheek and said “thank you mommy.”