Ethiopia...Here We Come!: April 2010

Saturday, April 17, 2010

One Down

Well, we have our first month of waiting under our belts! We can't remember if it seems to be going slower or faster than our first adoption. Regardless, the wait doesn't bother us. We continue to love our time as a family of three. Let the waiting continue...

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