Thank God for wifi!!!

It's a Girl!!! For those of you who don't know, my bff is Kalene, and she happens to be pregnant with her first baby :) And I am super thrilled. She had her ultrasound today, and I made sure I was able to get on the internet to Skype! Best news ever! Little Penelope Kendra (yes, KENDRA!!!) is going to be spoiled by this lady! I know of some nice African things I can buy her already!

In other news… I am still loving Africa. Even more so now that  I have found an internet cafe with free wifi! After school today, a friend of Deanna's friend who happens to live in Addis, came and picked us up, and took us to Lime Tree. A very nice and cute cafe in Boli (pronounced bowl-ie). We have decided it is going to become our new hangout. I am 98% sure I can figure out the minibus to get there, and back, so it will cost less than 5birr to get there. (which is 29 cents). 

A lot of people have been asking me to describe Addis, so I am going to try! It is hard to put into words though! And no matter what I write, it will be nothing compared to actually being here. My recommendation is to come, and quickly! 

The weather has been great so far. In the morning it is a little chilly, so a light jacket is needed, but it gets into the high 80's during the day. The sun is always shining, and the sun burns you way more easily than it does in America! The air here is for the most part clean, and refreshing. I had heard before I came that it smells here, and it sometimes does! the cars/busses let off a lot of exhaust, and the animals and people peeing on the streets is a bit gross… but going for a walk is usually really nice and enjoyable. I am still getting used to the altitude. I get winded easily, and am drinking TONS of water. It is really easy to get dehydrated! 

The food has been really good as well. At the guesthouse, Tigist is a rockstar, and always has every meal ready and waiting for us. She is such a nice lady! We eat traditional Ethiopian food, although she tries to make it as nonspicy as possible. She is not sure if we like spice :) All the food is cut up, or mashed so we are able to eat it with Injera, a pancake like sourdough bread that we use instead of a fork. We have been eating a lot of lentils, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Never meat. There is one dish she made with eggs and tomatoes that I did not like, but I don't like eggs, so it had nothing to do with the cooking! At the restaurants you can find any type of food. Burgers, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, anything really. It may not be exactly like in America, but pretty close! 

The clothes that people wear is all over the map! You see a lot of people wearing traditional Ethiopian clothes, middle eastern clothes(head coverings ect) and jeans and t-shirts. The majority of people never match, and wear anything they can find. It is not uncommon to see a boy in pink, or in girl shoes. If the shoe fits I guess… It is also not uncommon for people to wear the same outfit for multiple days. The smell of body odor is  also pretty common, unfortunately.  

People really have no sense of personal space here. But not in an uncomfortable way. It is hard to explain, or maybe I just don't mind. For example, today I was in the Minibus, and it was a bit crowded, and a lady was balancing on the very edge of a seat, and held her hand on my leg to steady herself. It was not weird, or inappropriate, just a good place to hold onto! Men walk around holding hands all the time. and people will walk up and want to shake my hand. Or if they are walking next to me they will give my arm a little squeeze. Not hard, but just like a little hello :) I like to think of it as a little sign of love!

I added a few pictures to Facebook, and hope to add more soon, and hopefully videos! Now that I found wifi it will be easier! Tomorrow we are going to an orphanage that we will be working at a few days a week. We love the school, but don't want to spend all of our time teaching! We are excited, and will take lots of pictures! I hope my heart can handle it, and I will be able to leave them at the end of the day! A few boys asked us for money today, and told us their mom was dead. I almost offered to be their mom! It is probably a good thing that it is illegal to take home babies, who knows how many I would try to keep! 

xoxox

Kendra