what to do, where to shop, what to buy in Ethiopia

I was asked this question and they liked my answer so much that I thought that maybe it would be good to actually do a list on this. Ok, I love lists, call me crazy. I can't import an excel spreadsheet here or i would. Here are my thoughts on shopping, buying and what to do while on your adoption trip to Ethiopia. Keep in mind we were there for 2 weeks and traveled with our two older daughters 9, 10 to pick up our two sons, at the time they were both 3. We stayed at a guest house and it was at the beginning of the new ban on going out in public with your kids. In order to get out you may like to take turns going places like shopping and museums. We did this and are very happy we did because otherwise we would not have gotten to see so much of our kids heritage and culture.

Q. Do you have anywhere that you recommend going or seeing while
there? This can be anything! Restaurants, shopping, extended trips
outside of Addis Ababa.

WE WOULD RECOMMEND FOR SHOPPING THE HAILE SELASE MARKET. IT IS FIXED
PRICE HAS GREAT SELECTION AND IS REASONABLE IN COST. NEAR THERE IS A
HANDICRAFT STORE AND IT IS ALSO REASONABLE and HAS A TON OF REALLY COOL
STUFF, hand painted and carved mancala boards, beads, bells, carved boxes, drums, stringed instruments, etc........ We would recommend this as opposed to a mall or market. Many families only have one day to shop and this is a great one stop shop for all sorts of stuff. The mall is very expensive, the market is all barter and as we did go to one and bartered down to what seemed like a lot and they really would not go down more, we paid much less at Haile Selasse fixed price market and their stuff was better in my opinion. Larger selection too, and they let you shop instead of pressuring you to buy what they hope you will get. At Haile Selasse market we saw that they had: baskets, clothes and linens, books, jewlery, wooden and metal crosses, wool and wire animals, wooden animals, etc..... Go to a grocery store on the way to somewhere, you can buy coffee at any grocery, harrar is the variety you are looking for. You can also buy some snacks and fruit to take to the orphanage and to the guest house to eat. Our boys could not eat enough bananas and milk, so I kept going out for those things.

BE SURE TO GO TO ENTOTO. THERE IS A LARGE ORTHODOX CHURCH THERE AND IT
IS GREAT TO TAKE PHOTOS OF, YOU CAN ALSO TOUR THE FIRST HOME OF
MENALIK 2. There is also a museum in the cost of seeing the palace. It is not very big or interesting, but see it, you pay for it with the emperor's home cost. It was about 20 birr each. They let the boys in free. The view of Addis is amazing if the day is clear, so we heard and can believe it. But it was cloudy and fog enshrouded the day we were there. In my opinion it made it all the more wondrous with the mist and the chants from the church and the old barren buildings of the Emperor's first home. It was awesome!!!! THE DRIVE THERE REALLY LETS YOU SEE ADDIS AND THE COUNTRY SIDE AND HOW PEOPLE LIVE. WHILE YOU ARE OVER THERE GO TO THE WEAVERS MARKET OF THE LEPER COLONY. NO YOU WON'T CATCH IT. BUT THEY DO WEAVINGS TO SELF SUPPORT AND THEY HAVE THE BEST VARIETY AND GOOD QUALITY. YOU CAN GET CLOTHING AND LINENS HERE. If you can make it it is better than Haile Selase market for clothes and linens. You don't have to tour, you can just go to the store. I think it was fixed price too. You can go to Entoto together as it is "out of town".

WE ALSO WENT TO WALISOU (spelling?) HOT SPRINGS. There are a few different hot springs but this was reported to be the nicest, it is called walisou so if you need to ask about it and they don't know where the "hot springs" is tell them walisou resort. IT IS WELL WORTH THE TRIP. A 2 HOUR DRIVE ONE WAY. Get a private driver in a van so you can spread out if there are more than 3 of you. I think all day the driver and van cost us 80 birr. THEN YOU GO TO THIS really neat RESORT AND THEY HAVE A
REALLY NICE RESTAURANT AND HOTEL AND YOU CAN SWIM IN THE WARM WATER
POOL. THEY CHANGE THE WATER ON THURSDAYS SO THAT IS A GOOD DAY TO GO
BUT THE POOL WILL HALF FULL. FRI -SUN IT FULL OF water and UPPER CLASS FROM THE CITY AND NOT A GOOD IDEA FOR YOU TO GO WITH YOUR KIDS DUE TO THE NEW
RULES. BUT GREAT DURING THE WEEK. GOOD TRIP TO SEE THE COUNTRY AND
TRADITIONAL LIVING. They have monkeys there on site too. A really charming resort area. The town is very typical and poor. The contrast is truly remarkable and moving. A note on swimming. Ethiopian kids are not familiar with swimming and modesty is a big deal. So, taking off their shirts and "bathing" with a bunch of people may be a bit more than some of them can handle. Ours were freaked out by this and it took a good hour to get them to just try it. Then it was fun, sort of. This is also "out of town" so you can go together.
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IF YOU CAN MAKE A MUSEUM TRIP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IS THE BEST
(PHOTOS OK). This is where they have the throne of Haile selasse and the remains of Lucy and some other archaeological items of interest. ETHNOGRAPHIC Museum IS NEXT BEST (NO PHOTOS). Here they have a collection of money, musical instruments, religious paintings and a bit on several of the tribal groups. It is really interesting, especially the main floor. The grounds are a University and it is a very nice place to walk around too. You can take a tour of each with a guide or do it yourself. We suggest the guide. This is one of those things you take turns doing because you can't take your kids, and having taken them to one just before the rule, you don't really WANT to. :)

TAKE A CAR TOUR OF THE CITY AND TAKE PHOTOS OF ALL THE BIG MONUMENTS. This you can do together, just don't let your kids out of the car. Get a van if you have many of you, it is more comfortable for the long drive. The city is so diverse, you can see so much. Even if you get to drive through Merkato, that is an experience worth doing. Get photos of the Lion Of Judah, the stadium, the millennium plaza, etc.... Your driver will know where to take you.

Q. What do you wish you had bought? Or are REALLY glad you did?

we bought outfits for the boys in 3 sizes. We also bought a
wooden carved box and filled it with little things that represent
their country. (carved lion, bumper sticker that says Lion of Judah, bell, zebra, giraffe, drum, cross). I wish we had brought home a medium injera
basket. For gifts we highly recommend small carved animals, the carved
giraffes, the metal and wooden crosses as larger items and jewelry and
the wire and wool animals. We did not get enough. Small baskets make nice gift boxes for these items. I wish we had bought some of the wooden crosses and more metal ones and more giraffes. We bought a lot of coffee and that is good, but not enough. Harrar is the variety you are looking for. You can get it in the grocery and shops. We also bought hand carved and painted mancala boards, popular game but called something else, at the handicraft store you
can buy pretty painted ones. Your boys or girls may have played this game and
may be good at it and like to play together and teach you. You buy the
beads separately and you can pick. We HIGHLY recommend the Haile
Selasse market it is fixed prices but they were better than the market
variety stores on prices and variety. It is also one stop shopping if
you need that. We also went to the Christian book store and bought
some books in English and Amharic, wish we got more, and wished we had
found a kids cd, they do have them but are not plentiful. Some of the other things we bought are:
Bible, t shirts, bumper stickers, egg basket ( I collect them ), folding stool, dresses for the girls, table runner and napkins (my one spontaneous buy which I questioned myself for and am VERY happy I did buy it), jewelry, carved wooden animals, metal crosses, small baskets for gift boxes for some gifts, wire wool animals, books of stories, music one Christian Ethiopian praise and worship, one secular "Abugida", traditional (I LOVE Ethiopian music!), kids stories from the Bible, coffee, some snacks, cinnamon tea, ginger tea, hibiscus tea, black tea. We bought the boys each a soccer ball. A real one, not a blow up one; Decorative dolls, shawls.

You can go to the Leper colony near Entoto. They have a weaving business and shop there. The variety is best in the city and best cost, plus it goes to help them survive, a good cause! Think shirts, linens, shawls, etc..

A note on shopping from Matt (IAN parent):
The DVD's that are sold in front of the Friendship Mall for 20 Birr ($1.50) work at home. :) In case you want to add to your New Release collection.
- 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). Sometimes they have a pause when you ask the price, when they do that just walk away.
- The restaurant LimeTree has a great pizza... and the ladies seemed to love the Lentil Soup there as well.This is all I can think of right now.

Packing list for families traveling to Ethiopia for an adoption

Our packing list for our adoption trip to Ethiopia. We were there for 10 days in the rainy season and traveled there with 4 people and home with six. We planned to have our laundry done at the guest house. This is a bad idea unless there is a dryer. Nothing was dry by the time we packed up. We had worn all the remaining clothing several days while waiting. It was a pain. They ended up ironing dry one outfit for us to wear on the last day we were there. I had reserved one outfit for the plane, that is a good thing. Dry season, this would not have been a problem. Check to see if there is a dryer before opting for this. We did NOT use the things in red and we DID use everything not noted and the things in orange which have a special note for various reasons. Green things we wished we had more or would have had it at all.

Clothing for each person traveling:

underwear for every day we are there, plus one
socks for every day we are there, plus two
2 pair pants Mom and girls
5 pair Capri's Mom and girls, ***more pants would have been better
6 pair pants Dad
6 short sleeve shirts
3 long sleeve shirts
1 sweater Mom and girls ***wished we had taken two
1 sweatshirt*** wished we had taken two
one airplane outfit to be reserved for coming home
flip flops for in the bathroom
crocks for outside ***(wished we had two pair)
tennis shoes
nice shoes for airplane (worn both ways)
casual skirt and top outfit Mom and girls
casual nice outfit Dad
pajamas one pair *** wished we had taken two
swim suit *yes we used it.
hats (winter) the boys used them
sunglasses
shorts for some **did not use any
plastic or paper bowls **did use
belt
baseball cap for Dad

First Aid and Meds:

scabies cream ***we DID use it
kids antibiotic ***we did NOT use it
adult Cipro ***used when we got home
sleep aid ***did NOT use
bean-o
allergy meds
benadryl
zantac
tums
kaopectate tablets
Tylenol kids
migraine Tylenol
Advil adult
cold meds for all
topical anti-fungal for ringworm ***we DID use it
band aids
neosporin
cortisone cream
benadryl gel
Tylenol pm
thermometer
acidophiles ***taken every day one week before and every day there, I feel it DID help
motion sickness meds ***did NOT use
children's anti-diarrhea ***used
powdered anti-fungal **did not use there but needed at home.
acne cream

Other Bathroom needs:

Kleenex
mini travel TP rolls ***yes, we used it, I carried it in my fanny pack along with some of the following 3 items and we used each thing.
travel wipes
travel Clorox wipes
purell in tiny bottles
feminine supplies
sunscreen ***did NOT use
pull ups for the boys
bug spray ***DID use
shampoo in a tube all shared one
conditioner in a tube all shared one
lotion in a tube all shared one
toothpaste in a tube all shared one
toothbrushes for everyone
floss
make up
comb and brush we all shared one
hair ties and clips for the girls
curling iron and hair dryer ***ended up not using as the adapter we took ended up being broken
kids vitamins
adult vitamins
chapstick for each person
deodorants
razor and shave cream

nail trimmers and file
tweezers
liquid soap ***did NOT use
safety pins
Qtips ***I think the boys had never had their ears cleaned. It was absolutely necessary.
Shea butter or cocoa butter in a tub for kids skin ****we should have taken

leave in condition for boys hair  ****we should have taken

pick for boys hair ****we should have taken 

Snacks:

We did not need so much, left much at the orphanage when we came home
almonds
fruit snacks **rejected
dried fruit **rejected
candy for fun and bonding
granola bars **big hit
trail mix
drink mix tubes ** not used
beef jerky **big hit
instant oatmeal **very glad for this
breakfast mix drinks **not used
HIGH PROTEIN energy bars **big hit
peanut butter
red vines
fruit roll ups **rejected
chai tea
sunflower seeds
slim Jim beef sticks **rejected
tuna and salmon packets **Not use
gum
mints
**We wished we had taken: dry soup mixes, mac and cheese, ramin soup cups.

Things for the Orphanage:

bouncy balls
blow up beach balls ***BEST
stickers
dolls
children's medicine (donated by friends at the adoption shower)
matchbox cars
school supplies ***BEST

gift for teachers/caregivers
agency rep and orphanage director
Asthma medication for agency rep.

***We also took monetary donation and sent some more later. The girls raised a total of $2300 for the orphanage. It would have been better to just take money, not so many things. Also to buy fruit on the way to pass out to the kids is the BEST idea. Gifts for the workers would be best given in a monetary donation to the orphanage on their behalf. Little trinkets things are not of much value.

Similar gifts for our Compassion child and his family and the Compassion center he attends. Again, sending a cash gift when you get home is best. You can send a site gift and family gift. We bought him a soccer ball and he LOVED it!

Other things we took:

Bible (mini)
adapter (it was broken, we had to borrow one while there and it was not too good either)
water bottles ( this is handy if you use a UV filter but if not just buy water in bottles)
umbrella's **would have been useful but were inconvenient and we did not use them.
detergent ** I DID do laundry by hand and that was useful, but it was a pain, it took several days for it to dry (I'm talking about underwear and socks, not jeans or heavy things!!)
line to dry things on in our room
word cards (I made cards that had a photo of a common need like drink, eat, toilet on them. Then we wrote the English word and Amharic word for them on it. Very helpful!)
extra photo books in case they lost theirs ***did NOT need
phrase book and Amharic for adoptive families book **used
flashlights and headlamp **used
extra camera card ***we had to buy another one while there because of a back up problem with our lap top. Check out your connections BEFORE you go!
tons of AA batteries ***indispensable /must have!
video camera (don't let your 9 and 10 year old take most of the video, you will be very disappointed when you get home and you only get one chance to video this event).
camera
sharpie
duct tape (we took just a little wrapped around a dowel. We used just a little.)
pens and pencils
ergo carriers **used once, not too practical for quick use
UV water filter from REI ***BEST thing we took, it is a light stick and we used it several times a day.
sewing kit
pop up laundry bags for storing things like coats, shoes, dirty laundry and toys in our room ***Very handy
wash cloths *needed more
small towels****we should have taken

roll of paper towels ****we should have taken

zip lock bags of all sized-we packed in zip lock bags of all sizes, even the huge ones for clothing. This was a great idea and proved to be very useful later and helped things compact well for travel. ***excellent
plastic forks and spoons ***used
swiss army knife
camera chargers
photo copied pages from travel book of things we wanted to see or do
extra copy of every paper we needed to take and passports and birth certificates for the girls and travel itinerary and of course all of the papers for the adoption.
list of email addresses in case I could not get mine of yahoo. **did not need, know others who did
laptop computer in order to download photos and videos to. Also you can journal on it. But, no connection to Internet. Check to be sure your camera adapters are working properly with it before you go.
Note cards to write thank you notes for the donations and shower gifts and hand me down clothes.
disposable cameras in case and yes we needed at least 3 of the 9 we brought.
phone numbers of things there and at home in case you need them.
cash in envelopes marked with what it is for.
pop up laundry bags and cubes. This is great for organizing and keeping things put away while there. Breathable! *****Excellent

clothing for the boys aged about 3 or 4 (the size 2 was a bit big on them, but worked fine):

size 2 and 3 shirts long and short sleeved, really only needed long /10, ***needed more
size 2 pants 10 pair **wished for more
sweatshirts and jackets **wished for two each
shoes in size 10 and 11
socks and underwear
one pair PJ's each **wished for more
swim suit for each
nice embassy day outfit each
airline home outfit each
hats

Kid's fun things for at the Guest House:

coloring books, crayons** good
maze books
optical illusion book
kid cameras (disposable is fine too if you want to print them all)
note books
books
seek and find books **good
kid music on i pod **did not use
mini dolls and animals
little pet shop
blow up balls **good
matchbox cars **good
bubbles**excellent
soft flying disks
bear for each boy
blanket for each boy
small card games and battle ship travel game **good
we bought two soccer balls there and the boys played with them and have them at home now.
toy cell phones **big hit
board books (even for older kids who don't know how to treat books) with simple plain English story. My first animals, trucks, letters, etc..... great for introducing simple language and reading together.

For flight:
coloring books and crayons
etch a sketch
putty
mini dolls and animals
board book for little boys and reading book for big girls
i pod **not used
journal book for big girls
drawing books and art pencils
20Questions game ball
all in their own back pack. Tiny ones for the boys.


Also In each kids carry on:
one set of clothing
as many underwear as fits
swim suit
toothbrush
snacks reserved for flight
water bottle **not useful as you have to dump it at every check station. Just buy one.
pull up for boys
jacket

Other ideas for toys:
mini Lego set or magnetix, mini set of anything you have to put together and take apart.
play dough
a string and paperclips, beads, etc...
rubber bands
fun flashlight
puzzles
wikki sticks or Bendaroos
magnetic drawing board, mini size
dry erase book with markers and eraser
mini game pads like dot/box game, dot to dot, tic tac toe, etc.
fidgetz toy
Tangle toys
mini magnetic dolls
peel and stick face book or scene book
flatsie dolls
Cracker Barrel restaurant has great travel items for kids.
Just do a search at Amazon for the most amazing travel toys. There are some great ones!!!! Do not hesitate to take toys YOUNGER than the age of your child. They do not know how to play with toys anyway and it is good to start with the younger age toys and work up. They will not mind at all. Never seen any of it.

adult carry on's and personal bag:
lap top
note cards
journal
book
ipod
money
important papers
phone numbers
things to do copies
one set of clothing
underwear
toothbrush
swim suit
things we do not want to loose like adapter, UV filter for water, etc....

Bags:
we used large duffel bags to pack the checked luggage in
Each of us had a carry on back pack or satchel
I used a huge fanny pack for my purse, no one questioned it not even once. Dave took one too as his personal item, it was fine.

Packing tips:
We would suggest packing in large duffle bags. In each bag put some of each group of things. Each bag of ours looked something like this: in sandwich size to gallon size ziplock bags- bathroom items, meds, snacks, toys- all this went into the HUGE ziplock bags and then in the bags. Other things in the duffle were clothes for each person, diapers.
So everything was spread out so if we lost a bag we would not loose all the donations, all the meds or all the clothes, snacks, toys, etc.....

In our carry on's went: swim suits, pajamas, underware, toothbrush, hair brush, prescription meds, laptop, cameras, adapters, reading material, a set of toys for each child, one change of clothes and pull ups -basically the non replaceable items and things we will need on the plane. ALL the papers, money, important information, numbers, etc.....

Hope this helps!!!
Jill K

Ideas for babies
(we did not bring home a baby so this is gathered from other lists, so it is not complete, just a place to start.)
diapers
diaper rash cream
wipes
baby meds like gas, tylenol, cold, benadryl, diarrhea meds, orajel
same scabies and ring worm creams listed above
baby wash
a baby bath, blow up type
leave in conditioner for those of you who have babies with hair, and shea butter or cocoa butter in a tub for their sweet little bodies. You really need a hair product and a skin product. If it contains mostly shea or cocoa butter for the body you will be doing well. Avoid oils in the hair as it attracts dirt and can cause scalp irritations.
sweaters and long pants and sleeves on babies is respectful of the culture so plan that in your wardrobe
sleeper jammies
hat and jacket
blanket
onsies
socks
toys
pacifier
bottles, take a variety of nipples
formula, if you don't know what to take, take a variety. You can always leave the ones they won't take there at your guest house or orphanage
hot pot to boil water for formula and wash nipples
detergent
baby finger foods
baby spoons and bowl (even disposable)
baby dry mix cereals
sling or baby carrier for you to wear your baby
stain stick
extra clothes in case of blow outs
diaper bag backpack or belt pack

Click here for a post on those comfort items for the flight.

John Piper on adoption

John Piper is the pastor at Bethlehem Baptist a Reformed Baptist Church and he is a big fan of adoption. Read what he has to say. Here is his You Tube video on the same topic. See it.

ineresting article on Africa aid and Christianity by an Athiest

This is a very interesting article on what is helping the most in Africa. Check it out. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece

preschool

I just wanted to update you on Pre school. The boys got in at a preschool in our area. They will go three mornings a week. One got in through the Colorado Preschool Program, only one slot was available. The preschool is a private facility and their board granted a second paid spot. So, they will go to the same pre school, but be in different rooms due to age and ability. This is soooooo cool! They start this Wednesday.

Secondly, we got the corrected Permanent resident card for one of our guys who had his name mis spelled. This is super great because I was beginning to think the paperwork never made it there as no one in any office seemed to have any record of it. Praise God!

I do not make new year's resolutions. I just make a list and work though it. This year my list includes, a high paced please focus on this now, validation, citizenship and ss# to do list for the boys. Let's all hope I can stay as focused as I did when doing all the adoption paperwork. We did home study and dossier in one month flat. That was focused. I have two new distractions though. :)

Well, all for now.