Al Fin

We were scheduled to fly out on Friday of our week-long stay in Addis, but not until 7pm, so we had time to visit a coffee factory that morning. Ethiopians are quite proud of their coffee heritage, and apparently Starbucks gets much of its coffee from the eastern coffee-producing region of ET, Harar. We came away with several pounds of coffee and a nice aroma clinging to our clothes: a mixture of roasted beans and Haley's spit up.

This ends my slew of photos that I'll post from our trip. I did not have my camera out nearly as much as I had hoped because of Haley and I being so sick on the trip, but we still got enough photos to bring back all the memories of an exhausting and life-changing week.

Oops - we got separated from the tour group. So what do we do? Take pictures, naturally.

Waiting for mom and dad to buy their coffee.

Parenting is a kick in the pants!


Give her 18 more years and she'll be a good little coffee snob!

These women earned $1 per day in wages.

Sorting through the beans for quality control.

A few random shots from our first meeting day. Looking just a bit tired . . . my allergic reaction to antibiotics I was taking was starting to get worse here.

T was our guide for the first half of the trip. He was always patient and kind - incredibly helpful (even when I embarassed him by asking him to translate some poopy questions I had for the nanny!)

A meal at a restaurant specializing in traditional Ethiopian cuisine: injeera. I could do without the sour, spngy bread, but everything in the middle was soooo good. Spicy!



Robel was our guide for the rest of the trip: an incredibly intelligent man! He was an excellent guide with a heart for Ethiopia's orphans.

Shopping in Addis.

This boy is an orphan living on the streets - one of 23 taken in by Robel. Robel has taught the boys how to earn a meager living by shoe-shining or selling gum instead of begging. He also pays for all of those boys to go to school.