Once I got off the bus, I started walking and keep walking and couldn't seem to find the hotel that I was looking for from Lonely Planet, so I keep walking and eventually I stumble upon the Post Rendevous restaurant which was written up in LP. So I decide to stop for a juice and figure what to do next. While I'm there, I see an older woman, clearly a foreigner with this great big bag speaking English with the waiter. So I wait until she's done eating and ask her if she knows where the Pinna Hotel or Mountain Snack(where the donkey library is supposed to be) and she says "I know both and you are lucky because I have time to show you." So she helps me pay my bill and starts talking. Her name is Sr. Donna Frances, originally from California, here in Ethiopia starting an orphanage for HIV+ teen-age girls outside Awassa, in rural Southern Ethiopia.
She showed me how to take the little bushots(3 wheeled cabs) and we went to Pinna 2 where the owner says that "due to graduation this weekend, there are no rooms." So we go next door to Pinna 1, where we get the same answer which is starting to freak me out, but Sr. Donna just calmly asked if I needed to be in such a nice place and starts asking if he can call other hotels. Now mind you, the hotel she says at has squat toilets-- so I'm hoping for something in between. Well, lo and behold, he finds a room at his hotel, when faced with being asked to start searching down a room. I book that, which is only 98 birr, or about $9-10 USD. Sr. Donna shows me her information for Heartland for Girls, which has great long term transition plans. She hopes to be fully open by January.
Next she shows me Mountain Snack, which is a little hotel/cafe right next to the Awassa Reading Room, where we go meet Hidar(librarian) and make plans to meet to see the DML in the morning. Then Sr. Donna and I go next door to have a coffee and cake. We go in and we bump into a Peace Corp volunteer and a VSO volunteer that she knows and join them. Sr. Donna invites me come see her compound if I had time(sadly I didn't this trip) and we talked about partnering with my school. Mr. Peace Corp invited me to pizza and beer that night with the rest of the volunteers.
It was a wonderfully divine meeting... and I am so grateful that I met Sr. Donna, and she was so helpful in me having such a wonderful time in Awassa. And kept me from having to hang out at a cafe all night!!! Apparently there is a college in Awassa and everyone had their families in that weekend, there really were no rooms.
1 comment:
I love that picture. What a great chance encounter!
I can't remember if I asked you this before, but did you happen to see the sisters Kidist and Yordanas at little AHOPE? I can email you a picture if you need to see their faces. I would love to hear how they are doing...
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