Ethiopia...Here We Come!: August 2008

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Waiting...

There is a risk in international adoption that something somewhere at any time could either halt or stop the process temporarily, indefinitely or completely. This is a risk that we've accepted, but oddly enough don't spend too much time worrying about until we have just cause to do so. As we inch toward our second month on the wait list, we've taken on the attitude that no news is good news, and we assume that things are moving along just as they should and there are no glitches of which we need to be aware. This attitude eliminates stress and anxiety that could result from a situation over which we have absolutely no control. In the meantime, we pick up information here and there about adoption, attachment, transracial parenting, and parenting in general. We tend to find that, at times, this overwhelms us more than the actual adoption process!

We also look for "fun" information: childrens music, books, information about Ethiopian culture, travel tips, etc. Here is a link to some Ethiopian music, if you're interested in listening.

Facts About Ethiopia

Ethiopia's official name is Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It's capital is Addis Ababa. Ethiopia covers 437,600 sq miles, roughly 5 times the size of the U.K..
The total population of Ethiopia is approx 76,500,000. Approx 2,500,000 people live in Ethiopia's largest city, Addis Ababa.
The local currency is the Ethiopia Birr, made up of 100 cents. The official language of Ethiopia is Amharic.
There is one physician per 34,988 people, and one hospital bed per 4,141 people.
Per 1,000 people there are 200 radios, 9 telephones, 6 televisions, 2 motor vehicles, and 0.01 internet hosts per 10,000 people.
In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.
Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals).
The story of coffee has its beginnings in Ethiopia, where the coffee plant still grows wild in the forest of the highlands. Ethiopian coffee has earned itself a reputation as one of the finest, most flavorful coffees in the world. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony takes roughly 30 minutes to prepare and consists of each guest drinking a minimum of 3 cups of coffee.
Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy (Ethiopia’s only major export). Unfortunately, coffee prices fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.
Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa