Party Prep

Kids in Ethiopia don't get to really have a childhood. They are orphaned at young ages and most of them find themselves fending for themselves as only an adult should, with very few years under their belt. So Kim and I decided that giving them Bibles and a few soccer balls would just not be enough. We wanted to throw them a special party like none they had ever had and like most would never have again.

When we left the orphage that day, we went to find wrapping paper for the Bibles. We got luck and the first place we stopped at had shiny tissue paper and tape. It would take several more stops to find the ribbon. In Ethiopia, people don't commonly spend money on gifts. Let alone, on paper to wrap gifts. This would be EXTRA special, and what a neat way for them to remember the day they all got their very own, leather bound Bible.

Tom and I took Nettie and Kim back to the guest house. Nettie was going to nap while Kim and the house cleaner would work on wrapping all 50 Bibles. Kim and I had devised a list of wants for the party and Tom and I were to get that while the ladies wrapped like elves back home. The cleaner was so thrilled to help. We intended to pay her for her time, but she was so excited that the money really wasn't why she was there. She smelled the Bibles and held it close to her chest. She loved the Bible and was excited about the task at hand. She asked me how to wrap it, and I told her to cut the tissue in half and then do it. She was confused. I had Tom show her how to cut it in half, but it turns out that the confusion was over how to fold it and tape it. She had NEVER wrapped a gift before. This was her first time.

The girls got to work (Nettie was not thrilled about her end of the bargain and kept Kim from her elfish duties for a short while at the start. Remember the first REAL tantrum, Kim!). Tom took me out. We had 64 oranges and 64 bananas to buy. That was the total number of people to be at the party tomorrow at 3:00. There were 19 staff and the rest were children. We would stuff gift bags for each staff member to take home, serve cake and milk and fruit to the children. It was all planned out in our heads, and the reality of making it happen was a totally different thing.

We went to a fruit stand. They had bananas and no oranges. (Side note, their oranges are green. There limes are yellow.) Anyway, we went to two different fruit stands just to get the fruit. Everything was sold by the weight, not the piece. This made for more challenges and we found ourselves getting too much in order to avoid not getting enough. Anyway, then the realities of the bag shortage were now setting in. We bough many, many oranges, and yet our plastic sacks were way over stuffed. I wanted extra sacks to make bags for the staff and we were refused. We ended up having to buy plastic sacks for 25 cents each because bags are a real cost for businesses there and they do not have enough to give them out. That took me back! Anyway, the bananas...always gettign side tracked... Tom ordered TOO many bananas. The vendor would show us a bunch, Tom would pick off the ones he didn't approve of and the rest would go onto the scale. The ones weighed and agreed upon would go onto a table to the side for me to purchase. And I think we ended up with over 100 bananas in all but they worked so hard at it that I didn't have the heart to ask for some to go back. Besides, they would get eaten and they were not that expensive. Once we got them all on the purchase table, the assistant began to cram these already over ripe gems into a bag. Several pounds to one bag. I just HAD to protest. I mean, I know that bags are rare and special, but the bananas would be bruising eachother... They gave in with reluctancy. I paid 100 birr, and the total was 95 birr. They searched for change. There was none to be had. I asked for 5 birr worth of tomatoes. That was about 25 tomatos. What a deal! So with the stand nearly out of bananas and rich beyond their hope for the day, we drove off. I shouted my AMISAGANADO as we drove away (wow, did I even get close to spelling that right? It is supposed to be "thank you" in Amharic). They would all laugh at my attempt to speak their language.

So we went to the bakery. We ordered 19 loaves of bread. 5 to a bag, of course! They had cake, normal cake. It was like a coffee cake or pound cake. Not a special cake. I refused. I wanted this to be a SPECIAL party with very special food. We would keep looking. Kim and I were paying for this party from our personal money, so a decision about milk had to be made. Each cup of milk was an American 25 cents. With so much being spent already, could we do it?! OF COURSE we could! We would have to get the cake and milk in the morning but there was one more thing I needed for our staff bags- nuts. We went back to my favorite place to buy soccer balls (Yes, I bought soccer balls there 3 times in three days by the time it was said and done)... I bought each staff member a packet of nuts and then broke down and bought 2 more balls. The kids just love them... how could I pass. Off to find jump ropes for the girls... which proved to be time consuming and difficult, but we got them. Now it was after 7pm. I had not eaten dinner and Kim was still at home with Nettie.

The trunk was now full. Really full. I asked Tom to take me to get take out food to bring back to Kim and Nettie. He took me to a pizza place where we paid a "carton fee" and "service fee" for our pizza order. It cracked me up. Anyway, I get home and the Bibles were all wrapped. They were ready for the ribbon that Tom and I found. Tom carried up all the food. Then we ate together.

Kim and I stayed up curling ribbon and writing names on each package. (Second side note- I hope Santa does the ribbon at Kim's house. Her ribbons were REALLY short!) We laughed and chatted, giddy with excitement over what lie ahead. We stuffed bags for each staff member. Oh yeh, and tom and I found pens with flashlights built into them so we tied one into each ribbon so even in power outages the kids could read their books.

We were beyond exhausted, both emotionally and physically. We needed rest. We still had a lot to do before the party the next day and EVERYTHING takes so much longer in Ethiopia than what we were used to. It was time to call it another day and get some sleep... all to the sound of dogs howling and the smell of fresh baked bread.