Customs and Misc.

A few things I didn't know:

Ethiopians nod by sucking in their breath.

Holding your left hand under your right elbow when shaking hands is a sign of respect, do this when you shake hands with people like the orphanage director.

Ethiopians accept gifts with two hands as a sign of gratitude.

Ethiopians are litterbugs. There is trash everywhere. Guard your trash from a certain adoption coordinator (who shall remain nameless) or he will throw it out the window.

There are between 80 and 200 languages in Ethiopia. This was a very strange concept for me to grab ahold of. Its would be as if every time you went to another US state they spoke a different language. Most of the people we had interactions with spoke some English and Amharic.

I wish I had learned more Amharic before I went. It isn't that hard and the Ethiopians appreciate it. They don't care if you say stuff wrong, they'll just correct you. Boyd learned to say "hello" and "thank you" and had fun using them.

Some places do not have toilets. Sometimes there is a hole in the ground and sometimes there is a toilet with no seat. Sometimes there is a toilet, but no water to flush it. There is almost never toilet paper. Bring tissues and hand sanitizer and try to avoid using the restroom when out and about if possible.

Begging - I brought candy to hand out to children, but I wish I had brought more granola bars and not candy. The begging is relentless. Even in the middle of nowhere in the country the children, who don't even speak Amharic, know two English words, hello and money. When you give out money, be discreet or you will be mobbed by children in seconds. I am torn about giving to the children who are begging, because some say that it actually keeps them out of school when they are being rewarded for their begging. Alemu told us that if we give out money it is better to give a little money to a lot of people than a large sum of money to one person. We usually gave 10 birr to the people who were begging.