I. woke up sick on our Thursday in Ethiopia. He couldn't tell if it was a stomach bug or a cold. We were hoping it wasn't something he ate in Nazaret. As the day went on he felt worse and ended up with a very high fever by afternoon. The rest of the trip was pretty miserable for him, and subsequently, for me.

We were supposed to wait at the main guesthouse on Thursday for Ashe's visa and passport to arrive. Then they would take us over to the German Embassy to apply for his transit visa. He needed this just to go through their airport since he had an Ethiopian passport. So we went over to the guesthouse and watched some tv, looked at magazines, and napped. They came about 11 or so with the paperwork we needed but said that the German Embassy would be closing and we wouldn't have enough time to go. We would have to wait until the next day. We were leaving the next night so were a little nervous in case it didn't happen then.

We called Jonathan to tell him what was going on. Since we had the time we took advantage of it and went to the Mercato. It is the largest outdoor market in Africa. After 4 hours there, we saw a very small portion of it. We spent lots of time walking around and looking at the "shops". We were able to get lots of neat things, especially items to give Ashe on his birthdays. Isaac was especially proud of his antique knife purchase, to give Ashe when he comes of age. And I was excited to find matching traditional wear for he and Z. We also bought jewelry, decorations, and coffee ceremony supplies. We got great deals as we had Jonathan and his cousins to barter for us. In fact, someone told Jonathan they would have charged us double had he not been there. They also helped our armloads of goods. It did rain on us off and on so we had to run from store to store and avoid the mud as best as we could. It didn't rain very hard until we were just ready to go home. I loved the scene of twenty or so women lined up against a wall sitting on boxes and bags with umbrellas to protect them from the torrential downpours.

Sadly we saw many crippled people making their way through the streets and mud on their hands. They wore flip flops over their hands to protect them and dragged the rest of their bodies behind them. It was devastating to see these poor people without the money or means to get the care they needed or simply a wheelchair. We offered money to those we could though it felt like so little.

Poor I. was leaning on the rest of us by the time we bought our last item. We made it through the water and mud to the car and headed back to the house. I. went to bed and I spent time packing up our things. We almost took I. to the hospital but managed to avoid it and get through the night.