Day 14: Meeting the lions and Flying to Israel!

We met Teddy this morning to talk about Invest in Children and what they do. Teddy is a local pastor who is interested in opening a clinic for mothers and children escaping the sex trade. Apparently, trafficking is rampant in Ethiopia, and many women and children have AIDS because of it. SO SAD!!

Getu joined us for lunch and we went to a local place for lunch. I had been craving pasta, so I ate fettucini alfredo. It was SCRUMP (as Tracy would say)!

After lunch, we went to see the LIONS! Finally, I got to see lions in Africa! These were in a zoo sort of deal, so it wasn’t in their natural habitat, but I got closer than I probably would have gotten on safari. They were GORGEOUS, and Kimmie got some GREAT pictures of them!

By 4, we had to be out of our room, so we packed up and met Getu and Teddy for dinner at the hotel. Before that, Kimmie and I walked around the grounds and took pictures -- SILLY ones.

Dinner was and AWESOME buffet of all sorts of foods -- Italian, Asian, Ethiopian, Middle Eastern... SOOO GOOD! I stuffed myself.

We made it to the airport for our 11 pm flight to Israel and had some time to shop. That was when I realized I was missing $20. Still haven’t found my money, so oh well...

At some point in the airport, I got VERY claustrophobic and started feeling like part of a cattle drive. We were shuffled from one large area into a smaller waiting room into a SMALLER waiting area... I began to experience the panic and unease that Jews must have experienced during WW2.