Ethiopian Genesis

About freshman year of high school I got a big bite from the travel bug. I had been on a short term mission trip to Malawi, Africa and I loved it. Since then I always wanted to go back to another country in Africa. I had no idea I would end up in Ethiopia. My final arrangements put me in an orphanage in Ambo Ethiopia. Ambo is about two hours outside the capital of Addis Ababa which means "New Flower".  I had so many excited nervous butterflies as I got ready for the trip. I had no idea what to pack, what do you pack for a six month trip into the heart of a foreign country? After packing, un-packing and repacking my suitcase several times I finally thought I had come to the perfect items and amount of items for my trip. 

The day finally came to leave. First landing in Washington D.C. and then onto Addis Ababa. The flight from Washington D.C. took about 18 hours. There

 were several of us traveling together: Fletcher, Nolan who were going to work at a hospital in Gimbie, Ethiopia. We ran into Katie Currier a fellow student who was on her way to Tanzania as an SM. We grabbed our stuff, got through customs without having to scan our bags or go through any sort of security, and walked into the main waiting area of the airport. People were everywhere waiting for friends and family; the atmosphere buzzed with excitement and smog penetrated oxygen. We were greeted friendly faces who introduced themselves as Taye, Sulliman, Dawit, Gheta and many others. We shuffled off to the Adventist Union where we stayed that night. It was a surreal experience driving through the streets of Addis. The city was still much alive even late at night. We bundled down for the night excited for the next days adventures.