Hippos in Hawasa

Our last day in Bele. We packed up all of our stuff and said goodbye to all of the amazing people in Hailey's compound. 

Nice gave me a nutella, the traditional Ethiopian prayer scarf, which actually made me cry! I know it was something special that was Alemitu's prized possession and she was giving it to me. These are beautiful people. It has been a reflection of humanity to me. What do people need to survive? She is living in an environment that is more difficult than any camping trip I have ever been on. Their water runs out, their power shuts off almost daily, they live in a home constructed of mud and, yet, they smile. Their hearts are full! Before we came, I talked to John about the idea of joining the Peace Corps. No way! Hailey lives in a town where she is followed and laughed at every minute if the day. There is no one else in her town who speaks English. Many times the teachers don't show up to class. Still she climbs this hill every single day, knowing that she has made a commitment. I hope she realizes that although it may not be apparent now, her presence is making a difference. 

Yared picked us up, and up the hill we went to Sodo, where we met Danny, another Peace Corps volunteer for breakfast. And what a delicious breakfast, it was! We shared fatira and special fool. Special fool is an egg and bean dish with caria and tomatoes that you eat with bread. Fatira is traditionally a Muslim dish. It is served on a round dish, a flaky pastry dough covered with egg and honey. Wow!

We headed east to Hawasa and were exposed to the same beautiful landscapes along the way. We made great time and were almost to the hotel. We saw a wedding going on down the streets of the town. They were driving around the main circle honking continuously. The caravan was blocking traffic so they could take pictures, like leaning out both windows and other very interesting poses. All of a sudden, everyone was pointing at our car. Turns out we had a flat tire and had to pull over on the side of the road to change it. That was fun. We chose not to buy any Ethiopian lottery tickets while waiting. Maybe we should have. 

Hawasa is a lake side, resort town. Cleaner and friendlier than Addis Ababa, in my opinion. We stayed at Lewi Resort, in a family room with two separate rooms, a total of three king size beds and two bathrooms with two showers and a double sized jacuzzi.  I felt relieved to take a hot shower and use a western toilet. I can only imagine how Hailey must have felt. Judging by her screams of joy and jumping up and down, I bet you can guess. We sat by the lake and had a drink, went swimming, and wandered the town. The beauty on the lake was relaxing and peaceful. Monkeys roam free and they are everywhere. John left the door open and a monkey tried to actually walk in our room. 

Our second morning, we were taken on a boat out on to the lake. The intention was to see hippos, but we were told that was unlikely. However on our way to the fish market, the driver took a swift turn into a swamp. It was then we realized that there were four hippos right there in the water. Pretty cool! However, Hailey informed us that hippos kills more humans than sharks. Needless to say, we are still here! We motored up to a fish market where kids, one of them with pants buckled around his head tried to sell us cow horn spoons. We think he was in cahoots with the boat driver. We didn't buy them, but we liked them, so Hailey and I each bought a pair on the street later. 

We spent the day exploring the lake and ended it watching the World Cup. Tomorrow, back to Addis...