I'm writing this post from memory, so I hope I can recap most of it. Some of the other posts I wrote on the laptop while we were in Addis, so they will reflect more details.
Today is Sunday, we went to church - - the same church Abby and Ryan go to. It is the International Evangelical Church. I was surprised how big it was! More than that, I started to cry during the second song as I looked around and truly saw representation from many nations. Wow, do we Americans have a lot to learn about living and worshipping together! It was refreshing, yet sad that we still don't "get it" in America.
Afterwards, Anbes drove us around Addis. We drove through Merkato, the open air market. It is not what you'd expect from seeing open air markets in movies. It was pretty much the slums, with people urinating on the side of the road. It really was an eye-opening experience to see up close and personal how most people in Addis live. The "store owners" have the opportunity to "shop" on Sunday, so although it was chaotic, Anbes said that it is really chaos during the week! I'm glad we experienced it on a Sunday!!! Later in the week, we spoke to Ryan about it and said that Merkato during the week was very stressful for the Gladney staff because although crime is very low in Ethiopia, Merkato is filled with pick-pockets. Apparantly, it is not a place to go where you can wonder away from the group.
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