Embassy Today

Around 10:30am Sarah was awaken by Micah and me playing around on the floor.  She then took over the playing while I got ready for the big Embassy appointment.  Wanting to look like me, I dared to use one of Sarah’s razor and shaved my week old beard off.  It wasn’t as bad I thought it was going to be.  If you are ever in this situation just take a hot shower and really rub your beard and then when you are out, go the sink and lather up a bunch of soap and start whacking a way.  This recipe proved successful for me.  Beard is gone but I still smell like Sweat Pea and Violets.  Is worng of me if I like it?  Sarah soon followed and right on time our driver (Ermias Ambachew) was here and off we went.  If you every make it to Addis Ababa I would highly recommend Ermias.    

Driving was as usual but another interesting thing happened on the way.  We were cruising right a long and then all of sudden we went off roading.  Seriously off roading.  We were driving on a nice stretch of road when all of a sudden, this part of the road is not complete.  Who knows why?  We were driving in mass chaos, huge gravel and huge holes and nobody seemed to be bothered by this.  Then we were back on the road again cruising right along.  We soon came upon a monument that honored all the Ethiopians that the Italians had killed and then we passed the University and on the horizon you could see a white building with a bunch of metal buildings and concrete barricades, the US Embassy.

We parked down an alley and then walked up to the main road where we crossed the road and ended up in a metal shack with a metal dictator.  After we exit the guard shack, we sit on benches underneath an awning outside between the guard shack and the building.  We are soon told to go in and we are greeted with a man who checks our passport and then we go through another metal detector and they scanned our bag.  Nobody tells us what to do next so we follow signs which lead us out that building and into another building where we are told to sit down until 1.  Typical waiting room with rows of chairs and a little play area for the kids.  After 1 we go upstairs and sit it another waiting room which is lined with bank teller windows and the whole time people are trying to get in front of the other person and they are calling people to 9 different windows.  At this point we are a little worried because we see nobody from our agency and its 1:30.  Soon after two representatives show up and do their thing and we wait.  It was a little before 3 and they call the David family.  Sarah comes up from the bottom waiting room because Micah is one hot fella and needed to be in the “cool” room and we approach the window of unknown.  All we do is answer some questions honestly and she stamps a bunch of stuff and says his visa will be ready tomorrow by 10.WooHoo!!!  Like any good American we celebrate by going to the blue top restaurant and dine on some fried and grilled chicken and finish it off with a chocolate Sundae. 

After all that we went to mount Entoto.  Which I will write about later because Sarah is hungry and I feel like she wants me to start packing but she has forgotten I don’t have any luggage.  Ha Ha Ha.  I have told Ethiopian Airlines just to send it back to Cincinnati.  My luggage enjoyed a nice vacation in Rome.  I just hope I see it again.