Didn't Realize I'd Missed...

Sarah here.  Over the past few days of being back in our relatively new homeland, I've been making a list of the things I've noticed here that I either didn't think I would miss, or things I didn't realize I would miss.  Enjoy.

- The way a lot of people walk here reminds me of a giraffe.  Many are tall and thin and their head, neck and upper body sort of sway back and forth, and their arms sort of sway gracefully back and forth.  Especially when they walk uphill.

- All the Toyota Corollas.  They are EVERYWHERE and it always makes me laugh to see a huge line of them in a parking lot, almost like a dealership.

- The exhaust fumes, especially if you have your window down while driving which is hard not to do because the sun is strong at 5 degrees north of the equator.  Oh wait, I didn't miss that at all.

- Being called fat over and over as a compliment by all of our Ethiopian friends.  Fat and really white.  To them it's a big compliment.  To me it's not.  Oh yeah, I didn't miss that either.

-Tariku!  Our guard!  Jackson missed him the most, or maybe he missed Jackson the most!  They are best friends and it's so fun to see and hear them playing and laughing together all the time. 

-Our tacky curtains in our home, and drawing them back in the mornings, closing them in the evenings.

-The really funny signs with incorrect English.  My personal favorite ever since we moved here is a tiny "restaurant" called BURGER LUSCIOUS.  Pretty sure they mean burger-licious. Every single time!  I need to start getting pictures of some of our favorite signs.

-Looking out the window, of walking around and seeing Ethiopians and Somalis walking everywhere.

-Going out into the city, driving or walking, and being completely amazed at how many people there are - there's never an empty street, most are full of people walking.  I always wonder where everyone is going.

-Yonas the salesman who became my friend when he offered me an umbrella to buy from afar and I held up the one I already had in my lap.  He thought it was pretty much the funniest thing that had ever happened to him personally, and loves to hold up his umbrella to me as a joke every time we see him on Bole road.  Which is all the time.  He's such a sweet salesman!  He's on to sunglasses now that the rainy season is over.

-Going to one of the relatively few ATMs to get some money and finding it to be out of money, and then laughing because it's Ethiopia.  Not an uncommon occurrence.

-Seeing our (Jackson's) friends at the Parisienne cafe where we go for a good Macchiato, and for an omelette - one of the few places with good breakfast food.  Jackson loves it because everyone that works there treats him like royalty and they give him ice cream cones.  Just the cone usually.  Sometimes the ice cream, but I think the manager told them not to give ice cream any more...

-The noise - people talking or yelling, music blaring (not always), lots of people greeting each other (Ethiopian pastime - ours is baseball, theirs is a series of greetings that can potentially go on and on and on).

-The crazy driving!  It usually amuses me when Andrew's behind the wheel, but then I get nervous when I remember I need to practice a it and then it's my turn...oh dear.

-The expectation of a tip.  From so many people.  For ridiculous things sometimes.  There's a little boy who likes to con people outside of the Parisienne and he's always trying to get money out of people.  The place was busy, and there were waiters and parking attendants outside near all the cars, but when we finished and were leaving, this kid is leaning on our car, hovering over everything we're doing as we put Jackson into the car seat, as if he was helping, then told Andrew he had been guarding his car while we were inside (which means, give me money even though you didn't ask me to do this and there was absolutely no need for it).  I know it might sound cold, but it's funny to us when some people want a tip for absolutely everything.  Sometimes people even sort of turn their hand in a circle as you're almost finished parking to "help you" into the spot even though you've got it under control - some people do it to be nice and expect nothing, others then hang around after the little hand motion and wait for you to give them money... This is when we chuckle a bit.