Mission(s) Accomplished

So this morning after we arrived and settled in, I realized that tomorrow was Sunday and the banks would likely be closed.  We had no Ethiopian Birr, and no USD smaller than $20, so it was a priority to get that taken care of today.  Dave stayed with the kids, while I went down to ask at the front desk if they could make this happen for us.  The receptionist said that yes, I could bring her the money and she would arrange for it to be exchanged.  So I went and got $1000 USD from the room and brought it down.  When she saw the money, she got a concerned look and went and got the manager.  He explained that they could only exchange "smaller amounts" on our behalf, but that there was a bank we could walk to, and the security guard would accompany us.  Since the kids were napping in the room with Dave, I decided I could do this.  I mean, if we're going to spend a few months here, I can't be scared to leave the guesthouse.

So, the security guard and I set off.  He led the way down the alley that Afroland is located on and then on to the main road.  The bank was only about 1-2 blocks down the main road. When we got to the bank, he just pointed for me to go in, so I headed in by myself.

Inside the bank, there was a little table with deposit slips, etc, 4 teller windows, with no discernible line ups, and then a back area behind the tellers with a few desks, etc.  I stood by the little table for a while, trying to see if there was a form I was supposed to fill out, but I couldn't find one.  I considered asking a teller, but again, with no line, I wasn't sure if I should just walk up, or what.  Just then, a handsome young man in a suit comes and says, "Come with me," and led me to his desk behind the tellers.  He spoke excellent English and helped me exchange the money.  He asked if the guard was waiting to walk me back, and I assured him he was.  I stuffed the massive amount of birr in my money belt and tried to do up my hoodie, but it would barely do up... I was totally conspicuous with my wad of cash!  Yikes.  Then I leave the bank, and can't find the guard!  Like, he was no where near!  I tried asking the bank guards if they new where he was, asking for the "Afroland guard" which they interpreted to mean that I wanted to know where Afroland was.  They pointed and nodded, "Yes,  Afroland."  I foolishly had left without any contact information for the guesthouse.  I was a little panicked.  The neighborhood had felt safe enough with my USD hidden and a personal guard, but I wasn't about to set off with a bulging wallet by myself.

I went back into the bank to look for the man who had helped me before.  He wasn't at his desk, and embarrassingly, I couldn't remember exactly what he looked like.  He approached me, and I foolishly asked, "You speak English, right?" (D'uh!  He and I had just had a 10-15 minute conversation!  I was very flustered, so that's my excuse). I explained that the guard was nowhere to be found.  He spoke to the bank guards, who had me sit in a chair while one stayed with me and one disappeared.  He reappeared a few minutes later with the guard from Afroland.  I think he walked over there and got him!

So the guard walked me home, and I explained to the manager that I had expected him to stay and he apologized and all was good.

This little experience made me realize that I didn't want to be without a cell phone that I can use to call the hotel or whatever.  So I asked the manager about arranging one.  "Yes, it is possible."  Is it possible today? Yes.  He would get me a SIM card and minutes for $40 Birr ($2ish).  But since we have iphones, I wanted to buy a cheap phone as well.  He told me I could get a phone for under $500 Birr ($25ish). Sounded good to me! He told me that I needed to have an ID style photo, and a copy of my passport page.  I had the photocopy of the passport page, but not the photo, so he pointed me to a photo studio down the lane.  It was close, so I set off there by myself, armed this time with the hotel phone number and only $500 birr.  I got the photos done easily enough and came back to the hotel to head out again with the guard.

We went to the first little "shop" to get the SIM card.  That went smoothly enough, and the guard and I each had a Fanta while we waited.  I thought we were getting the phone there, too, but nope.
We walked further down the main road to another little "store" where there were all sorts of phones with no prices. haha.  Nothing has prices. "Just pick one," the guy says.  I point.  2000 Birr.  Nope.  Please, just the cheapest phone.  They had one for $450 birr.  After buying the photos and the sim card I only had $430 birr left! I can't believe I left with so little money!  I think it will take me a while to get used to carrying "so much" birr, since the value is so different than home.  Anyway, the guard thought this phone was not a good deal anyway, so we walked on.  The next shop was even more expensive, and we had to walk further and further down the street.  He suggested a taxi but I had no money.  Oops.  So we walked.  We eventually found a place with a basic phone for $450 birr and I just told them that $430 birr was all I had with me and they sold me a very simple phone.  As we walked back, the guard waved the phone box at every other cell phone store/booth we passed.  It was pretty funny.  We have charged it but can't set it up because all the menus are in Amharic.  Tomorrow, I will see if the manager will help me with that.

I finally got back to the guesthouse around 12:30.  Everyone was still sleeping, so I had a shower and a nap too.  We had supper (pasta) around 6:30 and then played and organized the room most of the evening.  Before bed, I washed what will be the first of many loads of laundry by hand.  Made me very thankful for my washing machine!

Now it is late, and I should go to bed, as tomorrow morning we are being picked up to visit Bereket at the orphanage!  I can't believe we get to meet him!!! <3 p="">

Thomas on a cot, and Faith in a make-shift version out of two chairs! (I think she is yawning in the picture!)