Today was a tiring day. Last night we fell asleep right away (which we did not the night before) but we both woke up around 3:00AM and could not go back asleep. I ended up going back to sleep for another 1-2 hours but Courtney stayed up the rest of the time! Perhaps that was God preparing us for a waking baby boy in the middle of the night!

This morning we went to the Mercado which is supposed to be the largest open air mall in Africa.  It actually wasn’t as bad as I expected as most of the shops/booths were actually in permanent buildings along the street.  They were also organized in areas (ie. an area for clothes, one for electronics, one for rugs, etc.)  Much different then our experiences in Uganda where the markets seemed much more chaotic and less organized.

Then we went to a few other shopping areas where we got souvenirs and gifts.  We also bought some Ethiopian coffee for $23 birr per pound (about $2.50 USD) where Starbucks sells this same coffee for about $15 a half pound! 

For lunch we ate at a place Kaldis which is a Starbucks knock off.  They have almost the same logo, look, feel, uniforms for the employees and drink choices as Starbucks but much cheaper.  It was very good.  We had cheeseburgers for lunch and Carmel Macchiatos for dessert which were only about $0.50 USD each!

After that we got to see Noah again!  We only spent about an hour with him today as he fell asleep almost right away after Courtney started holding him.  It's funny because many of nannies at the orphanage think Noah looks like Courtney.  We did try feeding him a bottle with some Similac formula we brought from the US and he seemed to like it.  We were a little concerned because with the babies in the orphanage they start out on formula but then switch them to cows milk which Noah has now been drinking for several months.  However the formula seemed to work well.  We also brought him a pacifier which he liked.  The little guy really likes sucking on his own fingers and hands or those of other people so the pacifier was an easy transition for him.  He was so cute.  We had to leave him one last time as he is now spending his last night in the orphanage.

Here is a video showing Courtney feeding Noah his first bottle of Similac formula.  The video shows Noah's hands and face really well.

After that we came back and took a two hour nap to make up for our lack of sleep over night.  Then we went to this wonderful Italian restaurant called Castellis.  They had some of the best Italian food we’ve ever had (and the best tiramisu Courtney has ever had.)  Italy tried to conquer Ethiopia during World War II (and they did occupy it for five years) but was unsuccessful, however they did leave much of their influence and culture behind. 

Well, it’s time to get Noah’s things ready for tomorrow.  Good night.