Day five of our journey to Seth Kidus

I need to make sure I get these posts done soon because the memories are already fading! Hopefully I can find someplace to print this blog out and compile it for Seth.

Before I begin this post, I wanted to put a clarification out there for anyone reading this blog who is considering naming their son Seth (a great name, IMHO). The previous anonymous poster who claimed that Seth means "A woman" in Amharic was incorrect. Seth (aka Set) actually means "the appointed one." (http://www.myethiopianame.bravehost.com/ethiopianboysname.html)

Okay, now that I feel good and vindicated, I will began my post about day five :)

Day five also started at the wee hours of the morning with Seth Kidus and a terrible stomach ache. This was the night that he slept on top of me (stomach to stomach) for a good portion of the night. Once again, our plans to take him out with us were changed when he was sound asleep (finally) and not feeling well. So, he stayed with the ladies at the house while we headed out shopping. James gave a pretty good account of our day here.

The shopping was so much fun! I know I am woman and totally feeding that stereotype, but shopping was one of my favorite day trips that we took. If only shopping in the US was like it is in Ethiopia. Let me give you an idea of how pretty much every transaction took place:

Me: "I love it. How much?"
Salesperson: "100 Birr" (Birr is the currency there - approximatly 9 birr = $1.00 USD)
Me: "Hmmm... Will you take 70 Birr?"
Salesperson: "No. 100 Birr."
Me: "70 Birr."
Salesperson: "Okay, 90 Birr."
Me: "70 Birr."
Salesperson: "85 Birr."
Me: "No, that is ok. Thank you anyway." (Start to leave)
Salesperson: "Okay, I will give it to you for 70 Birr."

The funny thing was that they always laughed whenever I started to haggle with them. Every time I haggled and turned to leave I got the price I asked for. One thing we were careful about is that we always paid what we thought the item was worth. We were not there to scam anyone and we knew that even these salespeople could use the money, so we got some good deals, but never paid less than it was worth. Once I even paid the price that was asked. Only once though... They really do EXPECT you to haggle. And it really is a lot of fun. Later, Taylor used this same technique at the Washington DC airport and actually talked a vendor down $10.00 off a sweatshirt. I guess you never know unless you ask.


The shopping areas were obviously tourist attractions because we ran into other adoptive parents there as well. We were able to get some very nice items for Seth when he gets older and to decorate our house now. It is important for us that he feels a sense of Ethiopia in our home.



These children decided to use James for their game of Dare. James and I were standing beside the car, waiting to leave, when James felt someone touch his butt. We turned around and the little boy was running away while all the other children were laughing. I am sure that if we spoke Amharic we would have heard "No, you go touch the white guy." "No, you do it, I dare you!"

It was cute, though!



After shopping, we went home to spend time with Seth Kidus and prepare for a dinner out at a traditional restaurant...

(By the way, this is still his favorite outfit) :)

Due to African Time (which I mentioned in a previous post), Alemu arrived fairly late to take us to the restaurant. Since Seth Kidus was tired and I didn't want to leave him again, I stayed at the house. As James and Taylor were leaving, it started hailing very bad. Within 5 minutes of their departure, all the power went out. At that point, I was so happy that I had a flashlight. Once Seth had his dinner and went to bed, it was like I was back in Michigan, reading Harry Potter by candlelight.

Side Note: A week before we left for Ethiopia, the power went out at our house for three days. The first two night I spent reading book number six of the Harry Potter series to prepare me for book number seven which I was going to read on the plane. I have yet to finish it (I slept a lot on the plane and now I have Seth), so please do not tell me anything about it...yet.

While I was busy ruining my eyesight, James, Taylor, Alemu and the Hahn family had a really nice time at the restaurant. It was a buffet with traditional dance and music. From what I hear, Taylor and a few others even got up to dance on the stage. I am sorry to have missed it, but it was the start of some great bonding with Seth, so it was well worth it.

Here are some pictures from their adventure:


And here is the raw meat that James was going to try, but Alemu told him that he should not:



Aw well, would've made a good story!

The power returned about a half an hour before James and Taylor did. I felt perfectly safe during the entire outage, but I was a little worried for my family. I did not know if the power was out everywhere or just our neighborhood, so I really did not know what was going on outside the compound walls. I prayed often. Come to find out, our neighborhood was the only area out, so they were just having a good time, but I was relieved when they returned home!