Here is the driver we liked best. He speaks English well and will take you wherever you want to go. He has driven almost exclusively for adoptive families for the last 12 years. Take him a bumper sticker of your state, He puts them all over the inside of his car and tells his clients about them. He took us shopping, for a tour of the city and all around to wherever we wanted to go. He knows every place and the best way to get there. He even translated all the jabbering of our boys. That was priceless. While we were there the going rate was 50 birr an hour. Pay him whatever is the going rate, rounded up and give him tips every time. Not at all expected but SOOOO appreciated. He is a great guy. Take his number with you and when you want to go out give him an advance call to reserve him as your driver. He will be happy to drive you.
Terefe Konde: 091-121-05-17 or at 011-122-26-22.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
to my family
Hi,
I am going to gradually post a bunch of stuff for families who are adopting. It comes up in searches and I want it to be available. So, since you automatically get an update and is not so easy to undo and re do that...... you will get some very non-pertinent posts delivered to your email. Please feel free to delete these. :) I will try to title them so that you will know that it is this sort of post.
Thanks.
Jill
I am going to gradually post a bunch of stuff for families who are adopting. It comes up in searches and I want it to be available. So, since you automatically get an update and is not so easy to undo and re do that...... you will get some very non-pertinent posts delivered to your email. Please feel free to delete these. :) I will try to title them so that you will know that it is this sort of post.
Thanks.
Jill
Guest House recommendation New Flower Guest House
Guest House Recommendation:
We stayed at the New Flower Guest House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while we were there for the adoption. The New Flower is run by Helen and her very capable staff. It is a great place to be. This new house is really a great place. It has a large courtyard for kids to play in. While it is centrally located and very convenient to the city in general it is in a very safe neighborhood and feels secluded. While the guests are not limited to adoptive families it is frequented by such. It is really nice to be with other families who are adopting. It is also great to have someone who can translate for you what your child is saying, if you are adopting an older child. It is also really handy that they will also tell your child to listen to you, Mom and Dad. For translation they are always helpful and we felt they were not intrusive.
A word on bathroom accommodations in Ethiopia in general: Hot water is not often plumbed in like it is here. Nicer accommodations like the New Flower have installed hot water heaters in each shower. It take some practice but is a definite luxury in Ethiopia. Most of the rooms have showers but larger plastic tubs are available to wash your baby or toddler in.
The New Flower recently got a dryer! This is a huge perk and luxury. When you have your laundry done it is done MUCH faster and this is especially good in the winter when nothing every drys.
You can expect to be treated well and you will find yourself in good and helpful hands with Helen and her staff at the New Flower Guest House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Please check out their web site by clicking on New Flower.
A dad from our agency recently stayed at the New Flower and this is what he has to say about it:
The New Flower is maybe a 4 minute drive from the airport, really close. (New Flower will have someone pick you up if you need it). The New Flower was really nice, but the people who worked there made it an even better experience. Yonathon, the main man, was awesome. The two drivers, Ayela and Alozar, were great as well.
For the first week we stayed at the New Flower with only one of us leaving at a time as to not ruffle any feathers. However, once you start venturing out you begin to see something that you didn't expect. Families from all over the world with their Ethiopian children in the middle of the grocery store, a cafe, a museum, etc... You also find others that may have said you were wrong in wanting to venture out, out with their children as well. Hmmmm. :) I will say that the New Flower Guest House is located in the middle of a nice district/area and that the people here might be more accepting than some of the other Guest House locations. The NF was approximately 1/4 mile from the Friendship Mall, which was a 4 story building that housed a grocery store, internet cafe, a place called Kaldi's (looked exactly like Starbucks). It's located about 1/2 mile from a really nice cafe called Limetree that has WiFi where some families have been able to Skype with video. It's about 3/4 mile from a pharmacy where you can get antibiotics, cough medicine, etc.. over the counter without prescription. The (IAN) Care Center and Sele Enat are about a 10 minute drive. All in all, the New Flower is in a awesome location. If you need to buy something and you think your getting ripped off have someone at your guest house who is Ethiopian buy it for you. I needed a 4GB USB Flash Drive and they were quoting be 1500 Birr ($120). I knew that was ridiculous. Yonathon went up there and got it for 450 Birr ($35).
Thanks Matt for letting me post this for other families!
We stayed at the New Flower Guest House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while we were there for the adoption. The New Flower is run by Helen and her very capable staff. It is a great place to be. This new house is really a great place. It has a large courtyard for kids to play in. While it is centrally located and very convenient to the city in general it is in a very safe neighborhood and feels secluded. While the guests are not limited to adoptive families it is frequented by such. It is really nice to be with other families who are adopting. It is also great to have someone who can translate for you what your child is saying, if you are adopting an older child. It is also really handy that they will also tell your child to listen to you, Mom and Dad. For translation they are always helpful and we felt they were not intrusive.
A word on bathroom accommodations in Ethiopia in general: Hot water is not often plumbed in like it is here. Nicer accommodations like the New Flower have installed hot water heaters in each shower. It take some practice but is a definite luxury in Ethiopia. Most of the rooms have showers but larger plastic tubs are available to wash your baby or toddler in.
The New Flower recently got a dryer! This is a huge perk and luxury. When you have your laundry done it is done MUCH faster and this is especially good in the winter when nothing every drys.
You can expect to be treated well and you will find yourself in good and helpful hands with Helen and her staff at the New Flower Guest House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Please check out their web site by clicking on New Flower.
A dad from our agency recently stayed at the New Flower and this is what he has to say about it:
The New Flower is maybe a 4 minute drive from the airport, really close. (New Flower will have someone pick you up if you need it). The New Flower was really nice, but the people who worked there made it an even better experience. Yonathon, the main man, was awesome. The two drivers, Ayela and Alozar, were great as well.
For the first week we stayed at the New Flower with only one of us leaving at a time as to not ruffle any feathers. However, once you start venturing out you begin to see something that you didn't expect. Families from all over the world with their Ethiopian children in the middle of the grocery store, a cafe, a museum, etc... You also find others that may have said you were wrong in wanting to venture out, out with their children as well. Hmmmm. :) I will say that the New Flower Guest House is located in the middle of a nice district/area and that the people here might be more accepting than some of the other Guest House locations. The NF was approximately 1/4 mile from the Friendship Mall, which was a 4 story building that housed a grocery store, internet cafe, a place called Kaldi's (looked exactly like Starbucks). It's located about 1/2 mile from a really nice cafe called Limetree that has WiFi where some families have been able to Skype with video. It's about 3/4 mile from a pharmacy where you can get antibiotics, cough medicine, etc.. over the counter without prescription. The (IAN) Care Center and Sele Enat are about a 10 minute drive. All in all, the New Flower is in a awesome location. If you need to buy something and you think your getting ripped off have someone at your guest house who is Ethiopian buy it for you. I needed a 4GB USB Flash Drive and they were quoting be 1500 Birr ($120). I knew that was ridiculous. Yonathon went up there and got it for 450 Birr ($35).
Thanks Matt for letting me post this for other families!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Newsletter
Check out our Christmas 2008 Newsletter
If you click on the word Newsletter it should take you to the PDF file of our newsletter. Merry Christmas to you all and hope to hear from all our friends and family this year too!!
If you click on the word Newsletter it should take you to the PDF file of our newsletter. Merry Christmas to you all and hope to hear from all our friends and family this year too!!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Photograher extrordinaire
See our new photos! Wow! They are great. To see all the photos we just had taken go to this link.
http://pacionephotography.smugmug.com/gallery/6479941_WfjHP
Need photos taken of your family? Holly Pacione Photography (blog) is a great place to start! Contact Holly at hollypacionephotography@gmail.com
See Holly's portfolio (web site) on line.
http://pacionephotography.smugmug.com/gallery/6479941_WfjHP
Need photos taken of your family? Holly Pacione Photography (blog) is a great place to start! Contact Holly at hollypacionephotography@gmail.com
See Holly's portfolio (web site) on line.
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