Friday, June 16, 2006
They have decided to charge the mission rate for adoptive families- so that will be cheaper than the rates I have listed below- and they have the ability to house guests until September- the buyers have agreed to let them do this- they will probably be searching for a new home for the fall- but if you are traveling this summer- I highly recommend this as an affordable and homelike option for your adoption.
Friday, June 09, 2006
General information:
This is info that I cut and pasted directly from emails with the folks who started the guest house. The internet was not working while I was there- but I believe someone in the main office was checking it- it took a few days for them to respond to me via email- but I did get a confirmation that way. You can always call- ask for Ray- if he is not there you can ask for "Al" or call Erimius on his cell. Ray will be there until June 26th and then heads back to the states until August.
The address is K. 15, W. 23, H. 1080. You need to write that on your entry form. Or you can just say you are going to stay at the Hilton Hotel. They don't have street names and numbers like the U.S. The telephone at the guest house is 0113712438. The country prefix is 251. Ermias Zenebe's mobile phone is 0911458639. We assume that someone from the orphanage will meet you at the airport. They know where the guesthouse is. Let us know if they won't.
Yes, there is room. It is $16 a night per person in the main house or
$13.00 per night in the smaller rooms behind the house. Breakfast is
available at $2.50 per person. Children 2-12 are half price and babies
are free.
Everything you need is there--bedding, towels, dishes, etc.
It is very safe- there is a day and night guard at the gate at all times. You can lock your door- though we never did because we were the only ones staying there besides Ray. They are very safety conscious and were careful with our belongings. I felt much safer here than I ever did in the hotels I have stayed at in other African countries.
Here is some contact info for people mentioned:
Missionary guest house:
(you don’t have to be Baptist, we aren’t, they just ask
that you are Christian), rate is $16 per person per
night, less for missionaries (I think $9 or $10 each) –
they did our laundry (we gave a donation for this), and
they will cook for you for little money. They have warm
water, though sometimes water is not available. You
share two bathrooms, the kitchen and living room with
other guests.
addiskidan@ethionet.et
phone number from USA:
011-251-11-37-27-637
from Addis, drop the 011-251 and add 0
011-37-27-637
cell phones start with 911, home and office with 111
Also- there is a SIM guest house- but I have found that it is often booked very far in adavance because they have so many mission teams. The baptist house has only been around 9 months. One thing to know is that it may be sold this month and they may not be able to keep it- they are hoping that the person buying it will still rent it out to them- please ask about this when making reservations.
SIM missionary guest house (bigger, a bit more
expensive)
011-251-11-515-0660 or 551-3726 ask for Maxine or
reservations
This is info that I cut and pasted directly from emails with the folks who started the guest house. The internet was not working while I was there- but I believe someone in the main office was checking it- it took a few days for them to respond to me via email- but I did get a confirmation that way. You can always call- ask for Ray- if he is not there you can ask for "Al" or call Erimius on his cell. Ray will be there until June 26th and then heads back to the states until August.
The address is K. 15, W. 23, H. 1080. You need to write that on your entry form. Or you can just say you are going to stay at the Hilton Hotel. They don't have street names and numbers like the U.S. The telephone at the guest house is 0113712438. The country prefix is 251. Ermias Zenebe's mobile phone is 0911458639. We assume that someone from the orphanage will meet you at the airport. They know where the guesthouse is. Let us know if they won't.
Yes, there is room. It is $16 a night per person in the main house or
$13.00 per night in the smaller rooms behind the house. Breakfast is
available at $2.50 per person. Children 2-12 are half price and babies
are free.
Everything you need is there--bedding, towels, dishes, etc.
It is very safe- there is a day and night guard at the gate at all times. You can lock your door- though we never did because we were the only ones staying there besides Ray. They are very safety conscious and were careful with our belongings. I felt much safer here than I ever did in the hotels I have stayed at in other African countries.
Here is some contact info for people mentioned:
Missionary guest house:
(you don’t have to be Baptist, we aren’t, they just ask
that you are Christian), rate is $16 per person per
night, less for missionaries (I think $9 or $10 each) –
they did our laundry (we gave a donation for this), and
they will cook for you for little money. They have warm
water, though sometimes water is not available. You
share two bathrooms, the kitchen and living room with
other guests.
addiskidan@ethionet.et
phone number from USA:
011-251-11-37-27-637
from Addis, drop the 011-251 and add 0
011-37-27-637
cell phones start with 911, home and office with 111
Also- there is a SIM guest house- but I have found that it is often booked very far in adavance because they have so many mission teams. The baptist house has only been around 9 months. One thing to know is that it may be sold this month and they may not be able to keep it- they are hoping that the person buying it will still rent it out to them- please ask about this when making reservations.
SIM missionary guest house (bigger, a bit more
expensive)
011-251-11-515-0660 or 551-3726 ask for Maxine or
reservations
Cost:
16.00 per adult a night
1/2 that for children 2-12
0-2 free
Ray and I talked about possibly having a special adoption rate for families adopting 3 or more children. He was considering that.
Where you really save is on the hotel taxes and also on food. CWA will take you to the grocery store and you can pick up some staples to have for the week. If you cook and use the gas stove it costs 1.00. If they cook for you its a few dollars- I forgot to bring the fee sheet home with me. They will do your laundry for a donation and that was really nice for us since we did not bring a lot of extra stuff for ourselves.
You could do a spaghetti dinner for a few dollars for you whole family and those who have stayed at the Ghion, Hilton or Sheraton can tell you they paid a lot more for a simple (and not always that great) spaghetti dinner at the hotel. Also- we all know that sometimes a kid just wants a bowl of cereal but you end up paying for a breakfast buffet.
Our whole bill for 10 nights- two adults a kid and infant- including phone calls- was 500.00- and it could have been less but we always let Ray cook when we were home- he liked it and so did we-Phone calls are cheap to make in Ethiopia but 2.00 a minute to call the us. we made only two calls- the first one to my mom to tell her we were ok and to spread the word was 13 minutes and 26.00. The second was a very quick call about work - 6.00. Your best bet is to schedule times for family to call you or use an internet cafe phone to call home.
10 nights at the hilton would have cost about 1500.00 - about a thousand dollar savings. And the perks were wonderful.
16.00 per adult a night
1/2 that for children 2-12
0-2 free
Ray and I talked about possibly having a special adoption rate for families adopting 3 or more children. He was considering that.
Where you really save is on the hotel taxes and also on food. CWA will take you to the grocery store and you can pick up some staples to have for the week. If you cook and use the gas stove it costs 1.00. If they cook for you its a few dollars- I forgot to bring the fee sheet home with me. They will do your laundry for a donation and that was really nice for us since we did not bring a lot of extra stuff for ourselves.
You could do a spaghetti dinner for a few dollars for you whole family and those who have stayed at the Ghion, Hilton or Sheraton can tell you they paid a lot more for a simple (and not always that great) spaghetti dinner at the hotel. Also- we all know that sometimes a kid just wants a bowl of cereal but you end up paying for a breakfast buffet.
Our whole bill for 10 nights- two adults a kid and infant- including phone calls- was 500.00- and it could have been less but we always let Ray cook when we were home- he liked it and so did we-Phone calls are cheap to make in Ethiopia but 2.00 a minute to call the us. we made only two calls- the first one to my mom to tell her we were ok and to spread the word was 13 minutes and 26.00. The second was a very quick call about work - 6.00. Your best bet is to schedule times for family to call you or use an internet cafe phone to call home.
10 nights at the hilton would have cost about 1500.00 - about a thousand dollar savings. And the perks were wonderful.
This is the Addiskidan Baptist Guest house - a view from the gate- the porch is great to sit on- but after Maren came we had to hide the key- because it’s probably not the safest for a curious toddler! They were fine with locking it while he was up and about and hiding the key! :)
This is the driveway area- this is where we played a lot of soccer, blew many bubbles, and played with our little cars. Mark got a soccer ball from the guy at the end of the street- he has this little hole in the wall store- Mark said it was like their version of a 7-11. He bought Maren the soccer ball for 1.50, and one day a candy bar, and mostly they went and hung out with the guy and became friends. Dagne thought it was funny that when he would pick us up we would be saying "hi" to all of the local neighborhood folks. When you first see this little "shop" you are wondering what on earth he is selling, and then you realize how practical it is.
This is Ray Lindholm who has been a missionary in Ethiopia and a few other countries in Africa for - well- ever. He and his wife come and stay for two months and then return to the US for two months on and off throughout the year. Ray was there while we were and he was wonderful- entertaining, a real raconteur, and so wonderful with our children- completely understood Maren's meltdown's and often was the one who could bring a smile to his face by playing with him and being really silly with him. It was also great that he is fluent in Amharic and could tell us what he was saying. He actually felt that Maren might be older than what they have said based on his language skills- this is something we would never have been able to figure out on our own or in the US- only while still in Ethiopia when he is still using mostly Amharic and hasn't lost any of it could this be assessed.
They do this cool weaving and he completed this rug while we were there.
This is Maren in the Garden playing with the hose - its no swimming pool at the Hilton- but he had a lot of fun plying with it.
This is the Living Room
This is the Kitchen
This is the Dining room, which is really part of the big living room
This is one of the guest rooms
This is our room--yes its pretty messy! :) We had a big bed and then a bunk bed- which was key because we could stash stuff we did not want Maren to get into on the top bunk- there is also a wardrobe and nice windows which open for fresh air. Maren liked playing in the big wardrobe. The room was a good size for us. There is another really big room - but Ray was in there That one has a bathroom in it. There were 4 or 5 rooms in the main house and then these little rooms out back. You would want to be in the actual guest house with your kids I would think.
This is the main bathroom. It was really clean and has a hot water heater- which we did not know how to use the first two days (brrrr...) its easy- you need to switch it on a little bit before you want the hot water. We were able to bathe the kids in the tub and I also gave Yabsera a traditional Ethiopian Bath with Hana's help!
This is Kidist the Manager and Hana who keeps the house and does much of the cooking and cleaning. They adored our children and treated them like their own. Hana walked me to AHOPE a few times and stayed with me their while I visited. Her English is not wonderful- but she really wants to talk and so we spent a lot of time talking and sharing stories.
These are from when we are leaving and saying goodbye- it was really sweet. Eliyu is Kidist's husband and speaks English pretty well - he is in school and studies hard. If you call and Ray or Lauralee are not there you may want to ask for eliyu or "Al" because he is the next best English speaker of the bunch. Al wants to help- he took Mark to buy coffee and Beri beri and a few times helped us get a cab.
There is a taxi stand about a block away- a 5 minute walk and you get a cheap cab to the Hilton or Churchill road- 30 birr- but when you come back the cabs at the Hilton, ghion, Churchill road will always charge you 70 birr and you can sometimes talk them down to 60 and if you are lucky 50 birr. If you can get the same cab driver or ask him to wait for you- it will be cheaper. This photo is of the taxi stand - there are always about 6 blue taxis at this corner near the house so you can go anywhere at any time.
This is Kidist doing a coffee ceremony- she did this several times while I was there including our first night. While she did it Ray explained all of the origins and history around it. She seems to really like doing this and did them almost daily and the coffee was incredible!
This is the driveway area- this is where we played a lot of soccer, blew many bubbles, and played with our little cars. Mark got a soccer ball from the guy at the end of the street- he has this little hole in the wall store- Mark said it was like their version of a 7-11. He bought Maren the soccer ball for 1.50, and one day a candy bar, and mostly they went and hung out with the guy and became friends. Dagne thought it was funny that when he would pick us up we would be saying "hi" to all of the local neighborhood folks. When you first see this little "shop" you are wondering what on earth he is selling, and then you realize how practical it is.
This is Ray Lindholm who has been a missionary in Ethiopia and a few other countries in Africa for - well- ever. He and his wife come and stay for two months and then return to the US for two months on and off throughout the year. Ray was there while we were and he was wonderful- entertaining, a real raconteur, and so wonderful with our children- completely understood Maren's meltdown's and often was the one who could bring a smile to his face by playing with him and being really silly with him. It was also great that he is fluent in Amharic and could tell us what he was saying. He actually felt that Maren might be older than what they have said based on his language skills- this is something we would never have been able to figure out on our own or in the US- only while still in Ethiopia when he is still using mostly Amharic and hasn't lost any of it could this be assessed.
They do this cool weaving and he completed this rug while we were there.
This is Maren in the Garden playing with the hose - its no swimming pool at the Hilton- but he had a lot of fun plying with it.
This is the Living Room
This is the Kitchen
This is the Dining room, which is really part of the big living room
This is one of the guest rooms
This is our room--yes its pretty messy! :) We had a big bed and then a bunk bed- which was key because we could stash stuff we did not want Maren to get into on the top bunk- there is also a wardrobe and nice windows which open for fresh air. Maren liked playing in the big wardrobe. The room was a good size for us. There is another really big room - but Ray was in there That one has a bathroom in it. There were 4 or 5 rooms in the main house and then these little rooms out back. You would want to be in the actual guest house with your kids I would think.
This is the main bathroom. It was really clean and has a hot water heater- which we did not know how to use the first two days (brrrr...) its easy- you need to switch it on a little bit before you want the hot water. We were able to bathe the kids in the tub and I also gave Yabsera a traditional Ethiopian Bath with Hana's help!
This is Kidist the Manager and Hana who keeps the house and does much of the cooking and cleaning. They adored our children and treated them like their own. Hana walked me to AHOPE a few times and stayed with me their while I visited. Her English is not wonderful- but she really wants to talk and so we spent a lot of time talking and sharing stories.
These are from when we are leaving and saying goodbye- it was really sweet. Eliyu is Kidist's husband and speaks English pretty well - he is in school and studies hard. If you call and Ray or Lauralee are not there you may want to ask for eliyu or "Al" because he is the next best English speaker of the bunch. Al wants to help- he took Mark to buy coffee and Beri beri and a few times helped us get a cab.
There is a taxi stand about a block away- a 5 minute walk and you get a cheap cab to the Hilton or Churchill road- 30 birr- but when you come back the cabs at the Hilton, ghion, Churchill road will always charge you 70 birr and you can sometimes talk them down to 60 and if you are lucky 50 birr. If you can get the same cab driver or ask him to wait for you- it will be cheaper. This photo is of the taxi stand - there are always about 6 blue taxis at this corner near the house so you can go anywhere at any time.
This is Kidist doing a coffee ceremony- she did this several times while I was there including our first night. While she did it Ray explained all of the origins and history around it. She seems to really like doing this and did them almost daily and the coffee was incredible!
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