We recruited Anteneh for his help today in souvenir shopping. We didn’t even plan to buy anything today, just scope out the shops and the prices - with a native! We knew that prices would be higher at the little shops if the shopkeepers saw tourists coming... We met Anteneh at the Field Office and took him for coffee at the corner shop before driving to a good shopping area. There were many beautiful things and we asked the prices on woven goods, rugs, jewelry, baskets, leather and wooden things... until the shops all started to look alike!
We did buy a few things (with only a little bargaining), then asked Anteneh to show us a good place for lunch. He directed us to Pizza Corner that we knew must be a good place - it was crowded! We ordered a salad and lasagna to share (they were actually out of pizza!), while Anteneh preferred the spaghetti. It was an excellent meal and we kept Anteneh talking, asking questions about his university experiences. We got a couple of high compliments from him too - we are almost Ethiopian because we were OK with sharing a plate at lunch (most Americans would have asked for an extra plate) AND he said we would be good missionaries, since we try to fit in and we interact with people well. That’s high praise!The afternoon was spent in the Field Office Library, using Internet... it’s great to stay connected!
At this point tomorrow looks to be a ‘quite Sunday’, plans are coming together to go out of town next weekend to see more of the country. It looks like this opportunity may include a few times of sharing in meetings also.
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