Chris and I couldn't go to Ethiopia this summer, but friends from Ethiopia came to us! They flew back to the USA with Shana and the Wettsteins, and we met them in Chicago Tuesday morning. Mathewos has been to America before, but this was Helen's first trip outside of Ethiopia. On their first day here, we introduced her to The Museum of Science and Industry, Indiana Dunes National Park, mac-n-cheese, American-style shopping, road-tripping through the Midwest, the alphabet game, and a fast-food drive thru.
The rest of the week, we took a tour of the middle/high school and my family's farm, taught Helen how to drive the Gator (learning to drive on back country roads is MUCH safer than learning to drive on the streets of Addis Ababa), taught Mathewos how to drive the lawn mower, visited the zoo and Great Wolf Lodge, where we met Larisa and her boys, got ice cream at the Double D, spent time on the trampoline, got a Covid vaccine for Mathewos, visited Starbucks and Grounded, went out to eat multiple times, got their Covid tests so they could return home, toured The Ridge Project where Shana works, introduced Helen to lots of new foods and candies, took them to church where Mathewos helped Chris teach Sunday School, and had an amazing evening at the Steyer Farm where we got to experience traditional Ethiopian food, music, and a coffee ceremony. We made so many wonderful memories! When I asked Helen what her favorite thing about the USA is, she said, "Everything!" We took them back to a hotel at the Detroit airport last night, and they flew out early this morning. Thanks for coming to see us, Mathewos and Helen! See you again, soon!
