Gretting from Addis Ababa

We are having a wonderful time in Addis Ababa.  Our flights, although very long, could not have gone more smoothly.  We're staying at the Hilton, which is very comfortable.  We are on the 11th floor and this morning had a great view of the city shrouded in mist, chanting (which is going on for 24 hrs I think d/t St. Gabriel celebration) and throngs of people moving to and from the church, all the women with white shawls covering their heads made an amazing sight.   We set out this morning and walked for over 2 hrs among the people, absorbing the culture, not knowing where we were or where we should go, it was marvelous.  The children were fascinated by us, staring, giving thumbs up and high fives saying "Hello." . We saw no other caucasians the entire time until we entered the Sheraton, a huge, opulent hotel which contradicts its surroundings.  We got a drink in the courtyard and then it started to pour so we decided to have lunch at an amazing Indian restaurant.   After returning to our hotel we hired a taxi to take us up to the Entoto hills, the sight of the first city and a church.  It was a 40 min drive and we loved seeing more of the city.  The views from the hill were beautiful,  a very kind man gave us a private tour of the museum and old palace, we met children and gave out gum.  After that our taxi driver took us to St Georges Church and museum, the tour guide was very kind and funny and we toured with a group of Italians and Ethiopians (it was a long tour because of being given in Amheric and English) There was a small boy who could not stop staring at Greg and reached out to touch me a few times, it was too cute. 
We are totally enjoying our time here, the warmth of the Ethiopia people and their culture.
 
We are loving it here, eve

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