Training prep, a little shopping & a LOT to be thankful for

Thursday morning, our co-worker from the Nairobi office arrived and that meant work needed to get done.

We started the day off with a trip to the Ethiopian Heath & Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) to make sure all of our training material had arrived. The company had shipped the training binders to Ethiopia several weeks before, but on past trips they had gotten hug up in customs, sometimes not arriving until the majority of the training was complete!

Thankfully, all of our boxes arrived. Included in this shipent were the Trainers Toolkit, LaboratoryWorkbook Binders, Postal Couriers workbooks, Trainers Guide Workbooks, and some tote bags to give each of the participants.

We will have 44 participants in Adama the first week of training, so we needed to put aside 44 of both the Trainers Guide binders and the Laboratory Workbook Binders. Week 1 was going to be spent training the Laboratory technicians on the importance of a quality system in regards to laboratory samples & specimens. Week 2 we would be travelling to several different labs doing assessments and giving recommendations for improvements. The last week, several of the participants from the frist week would then be performing the training themselves to new students in their own regions. We would participate in that week by observing their training & participating when needed. More to come on those weeks as they occur.

Right outside the EHNRI building, there were some beautiful flowers in bloom. The weather here in Addis seems very simliar to San Diego. Moderate temperatures year round. Its been in the low to mid 70's the last few days, and then in the low 50's at night. Very comfortable.

In the afternoon we had lunch at The Lime Tree. The atmsphere was very inviting and the food was delcious!

Meat FirFir with Injera

Beef Tibs

Chicken Tahira (curry)

Later, we went to a market place to do some shopping. There were beautiful scarves, handwoven baskets and many gorgeous wood statues.

In one of the shops, three small children greeted us. All very shy but their mother was happy to allow me to take their pictures.

It took a lot of cajoling to get this young boy to break a smile...but I was finally successful!

Right outside the shop was a traditional coffee ceromony.

Back at the hotel we noticed a palm tree with several bird nests.

Since it was Thanksgiving back in the States, we decided to splurge and go to the Sheraton Hotel for dinner. This hotel was very beautiful...obviously THE prime place to stay while in Addis.

There was a gorgeous fountain in the back of the hotel, a colorful light show timed perfectly to music.

 

Dinner was a buffet with so many different choices. Our first selection was a delicious French wine.

  

The Turkey was cooked to perfect, and even thought I don't really like Turkey I decided to have a small slice to celebrate the holiday.

Just a small sampling from the dessert bar was enough to fill me up.

On our way out of the lobby, we found a detailed miniature replica of the hotel property. This place was HUGE!

A full day and we are all exhausted and heading back to the hotel to rest up before tomorrow.