Friday, July 11: Saying Goodbye to Tio Sebas

Since Sebastian was going to be leaving early on Saturday morning, we wanted to spend as much time with him as we could, before having to say goodbye for another year before he come back to the US. The highlight of Friday morning was the inaugural game of “Bumper Block”, which, fortunately, I was able to videotape so that we could go back and watch it later. I’m still a little fuzzy on all the rules, but from what I picked up, this fantastic new game, invented by Sebastian and Jeff, involved shooting stacking cups between empty water bottle obstacles to try to knock down your opponent’s toy animals. Points are awarded according to the number on the stacking cup used to knock down the toy animals, and knocking down one of the empty water bottles incurs penalty points. Because the caps of the water bottles are the same shape as the stacking cups, but were smaller than the cup number 1, one of these was added to the game as cup number “0”. Although it was so much fun to watch Sebastian and Jeff playing with stacking cups and toy animals as they ironed out the rules of this new game, the best part was watching what Juan Pablo was doing in the meantime once we got to sit down and watch the video footage I had taken. Because his dad and his uncle had taken all his toys for their new game, Juan Pablo was left with two water bottle caps to play with. He spent about ten minutes during the game trying every possible way that he could to fit one inside the other- I mean, they look just like the stacking cups, why shouldn’t they stack too? Every once in a while he would manage to grab a stray stacking cup that went in his direction, and you can see the satisfaction with which he puts the bottle cap inside the cup- finally, one that fits. Our little boy definitely has a lot of determination.

the first game of Bumper Block

Bumper Block ended (I don’t remember who won), and Juan Pablo was ready for a nap, so I stayed with him at the guest house while Jeff and Sebastian went out to run a final errand- buying coffee. Earlier in the week, Sebastian and I had enjoyed macchiatos at Tomoca café, which also sells coffee from various regions of Ethiopia in sealed bags, perfect for getting them through customs. Even though the coffee is only $4.10 for a kilo, we were running low on birr that day, and hadn’t had enough to be able to buy all the coffee we wanted. So Sebastian went back with Jeff and more money, to have a macchiato and buy coffee beans to bring home with us. They also stopped to have pizza at Sydeny Pizzeria, and brought back some for me to have for lunch. When they got back to the Guest House, Juan Pablo was awake, so we hung out and played some more while Sebastian packed.

That evening we went pack to Akihome Café, where Sebastian, Juan Pablo and I had been the day before, so that Jeff could try the mixed juice. Our juice came with lime halves on the side, so that we could add fresh lime juice to the mix if we so desired. By the time we got our juices, Juan Pablo was going a little crazy from having to drink formula and eat puffs, rather than being allowed to drink avocado juice and eat fries. He kept reaching for the limes on the table, so I finally handed him one, and he put it in his mouth, and immediately puckered up his face. I thought he would throw it away, but no, he kept sucking on it and making faces while the rest of us ate and drank our juice. We enjoyed one last round of pastries, and then started to walk back up to the guest house, stopping in at a store that Sebastian had found to buy a picture of St. George, the patron saint of Ethiopia, for Juan Pablo’s room at home.

drinking mixed juice

eating a lime

Juan Pablo fell asleep in the baby carrier in the way back, but as soon as we arrived back at the guest house, he woke up, and was wide awake for the next several hours. He must have known that his Tio Sebas was leaving early the next morning, and wanted to play with him just a little longer. Since we picked him up from the foster home, we noticed that Juan Pablo had become increasingly more vocal, chattering more, chattering louder, and starting to actually make sounds when he cried. All this was a good sign, that he was realizing that he could interact with us and had someone to communicate with who would respond to him. Friday night, he decided to introduce a new sound: a screech, signifying excitement, that we decided sounded like a pterodactyl. Sebastian gave him the nickname "Petrie Selassie", since he seemed to be half pterodactyl, half Ethiopian. When Juan Pablo finally decided he was tired enough to go to bed, the rest of us went to get some sleep too, thankful for the opportunity that the Lord had provided for Sebastian to meet us in Ethiopia and have a chance to get to know his new nephew.

Tio Sebas is fun!