Children at Play

Because we were there for a whole month, there was plenty of time to hang out and play (in between soccer games, of course).  This may seem surprising to those of you have traveled with me, since I am notorious for over-scheduled agendas.  Admittedly, I did have a suitcase full of activity books, games and crafts for the boys; of which we used only a fraction, of course.    

Z-Guesthouse, Addis Ababa.

The most redeeming things about our first guest house were the large living space and its proximity to lots of city sights.  The lack of outdoor space to run around was a bit problematic for these energetic boys, who could barely sit still long enough to play a game of Battleship (thanks to jet-lag) -- though we did play plenty of Uno!

Fortunately the boys found plenty to play with around town, including playgound equipment no longer seen in the US since it's too "dangerous."  We ate in restaurants a lot -- since food was so cheap, it just didn't make sense to grocery shop and borrow kitchen space -- but it did mean lots of tic-tac-toe and connect-the-dots games while waiting for food.  

One source of entertainment for the boys was to catch flies and try to keep them as long as possible as pets.  This was a fine game that lasted days (and multiple stupid pet flies)  until a elderly woman came up to them and lectured them (in Amharic) about how disgusting and dirty flies were!

Skater dudes at an empty mini-bus station in Addis let Amare try out their boards.

Marbles, marbles, marbles!
These are a great thing to bring and give away to kids.
They love them and they are always -- wait for it -- losing theirs.

Stork feathers!  from the Hawassa fish market.  Sadly(?!) the boys left their feather collection in a hotel room -- I didn't exactly remind them to check!

During the planning of our trip, Amare heard me mention "mini-golf" when I was talking on the phone to a family that had recently been to Sidama.  This became a destination for him and the boys played multiple games at Lewi Resort (since the pool was too darn cold!).

Dave has just knocked Em's ball out of the hardest hole in the course.  Jerk!

The monkey wants to play mini-golf?!?

AHOPE for Children