CALIFORNIAN HOSPITALITY - IN OAKLAND AND BERKLEY

May, 27 2008. Day long drive was ahead of us from wells, Nevada to Oakland ,California. Right now I can only talk about the Northern part of Nevada.I haven't seen southern part yet.It was About 9 hours drive.I saw many small towns far apart until we arrived in Reno, the capital city of Nevada.Fairly flat, hilly to mountainous topography, and dry to desert open land.That is all about it.

We arrived in Reno at 2 pm. We stopped by Jiffy lube for oil change.We grabbed subway for lunch and started driving. Reno was beautiful.There was casino everywhere:-)

Mike Helms, Andy,s mom Christine's cousin, is living in Oakland, California with his whole family.His wife Martha, their daughter Hillary and their sons Tristan and Christopher. (Christopher was born in Uganda, Africa.He has been living with them for the last one and half years.These family have been raising him).

Avi also has a friend in Berkley, California.His name is Idan ( Known also by Bearman). He lives with his wife Sara and adorable one year old son Amitai.Initially, we were planning to spend the night with Andy's family. But Avi didn't want to miss this opportunity to spend with Idan and his family. So we dropped Avi in Berkley and started heading toward Oakland to Andy's family.The whole family have been waiting for us to arrive in.

Martha welcomed us warmly. She introduced herself to me. Then she started introducing Hillary and her boy friend, and Tristan to us. Mike then came in and I introduced myself.Christopher was taking shower so he came later and introduced ourselves.Martha started telling us a bunch of restaurant to choose for a dinner. The whole family and us started driving heading into China town, downtown Oakland. We chose china restaurant among a bunch of options.

All of us sat down around a dining table and started talking about many issues. We talked about Andy's family in Kenya and US, his cheetah in Kenya ( Andy raised him), about myself and my family and many more.

Christopher was excited when he did shake Obama's hand. He met him during Presidential campaign in California.Tristan also started telling us about the campaign in Penn State University where he is going to college.Here is the interesting part. Martha and her daughter Hillary wants to see the first female American President.Tristan is a supporter of Obama.I didn't know about Mike and Andy. Andy never heard him talking about Obama.

Myself, like many Ethiopian Americans have been supporting Obama even if I can't vote because I am not a citizen yet.I explained why Ethiopians have been supporting Obama. Here is the thing.We never had free election in Ethiopia. We had in 2005 but ended up with violence and unrest.There is nobody who doesn't like democracy except the politicians in power now. America is a powerful country so supposed to stand with the opposition parties who won the election that time. Bush failed to do that. Most Ethiopians here in US beleive that if Obama is elected as a president somehow he can influence to bring real democracy in Ethiopia.

We came back home around 9:30 pm. Martha showed us the room where we are going to spend the night. She is a kind of person enjoying to help people. She brought us towel and more blanket. The whole family was a welcoming family. Thanks for the hospitality.

Mike wanted to show us the city. Their house is located in a hilly area. when you are in back yard you see down to Oakland city, the bay area and part of Sanfransisco.So we went out to the back yard. May be it was one of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen during night. Before, I moved to US that was the kind of view I had in my mind. After four years and a half I saw it.This imagination may come from the postcard I saw back at home or from movies. Mike also showed us the hot tab and the bath room.

Finally, Mike brought map of Sanfransisco area and showed us better spots to visit tomorrow. Both Martha and Mike told us many times to help ourselves for a breakfast tomorrow morning and to feel at home any time. Avi also told us the hospitality he got from his friends, Idan house.The organic stake was great.

This is Californian Hospitality in Oakland. Sunny vale's Hospitality is coming up soon. Keep in touch.