Just life. African style. But America has its perks.

Life has been good here. I think we have settled into a routine. We wake up, eat some breakfast (which I do not usually eat. I don't like cereal, and that usually is what we are given. Milk is not my fave. Then we either go to the school, or attempt to catch the minibus to get to the orphanage. lately we have not been able to catch them in the mornings. Apparently there is a shortage of minibuses, and by the time they get to our stop, they are packed full. After an hour of waiting Deanna and I give up. If we do not have to go to the orphanage, we have a bit of time before we have to go to the school. So today we went for a nice long walk, and got to explore Kore! Amare took us, and we had a very nice little walk. Since the kids in the school that we normally teach are on break, they have a program that any kid can come for the morning, and play, and have school. It is nice because Deanna and I have our own class, and we are able to teach anything, and not have to deal with another teacher in the room, just us! So we are able to teach American style, and have a lot of fun in the process.

We also have afternoons off, so monday we helped paint the new hospice center that Strong Hearts is opening. We were doing great, jamming to Deanna's Ipod, until Amare started a paint war. We got paint all over ourselves... which would have been fine, except the lack of running water at our house prevents us from taking a shower. I miss that a lot.
Here is a list of things I miss.

Running water.
Meat. That is not chewy, and suspicious. 
Driving in my car.
I miss not feeling the freedom to safely walk around my living space barefoot.
Flushing toilets.
Being able to throw TP in the toilet. 
TP, for that matter.
Target.
My Iphone.
Sandwiches.
I miss the smell of laundry detergent.


I still love Ethiopia. I am looking forward to getting out of the City for a bit. Possibly this weekend, or next. You can never get a real 100% answer here. But I think the country will be a nice change. 


Here is deanna's recent blog: it pretty much sums up what we have been up to. My computer is about to die, and for some reason I can only charge it at home. My fancy converter does not work well. 


A couple nights ago, Kendra and I were hanging out at King's Hotel for awhile, because we've discovered that they have wifi. Nice! It's much closer than the wifi cafe we had been going to, and cheaper because they let us just sit in the lobby and use our computers. And they pretty much just love our company. They do anything to make sure we're enjoying their internet to the fullest extent possible. Once when we were there, Kendra's battery was low on her laptop. The only outlet is behind the counter, so they not only used another cord to make it reach far enough, but they also got three men working on it when her plug wouldn't stay in. They even busted out duct tape. It was intense. They also apparently find Skype pretty interesting, because often we catch them watching or laughing at us. When Lee Ann was Skyping with me, she noticed that one of the hotel guys was just casually standing behind my chair watching. He was trying to play it cool, but it was totally obvious. Silly guy. Anyways, we had been hanging out at the hotel for awhile one night. To get home, we have to take two minibuses. We hopped on the first one, and got off where we catch the second. As we stood outside waiting to fight our way on, we decided we should just walk home. Why not? It was quite a beautiful night out (btw, you can see soooo many stars here...it's pretty awesome), and it's really not that far of a walk. In the end, it only took us about 30 minutes. It was hard work though, because it's a pretty steap uphill most of the way! When we were nearly home, we ran into one of our friends. He kept us company the rest of the walk, and we told him about how we stole Dundee's sheep the previous night. His response: "Okay." I think perhaps we confused him. Maybe because sheep stealing doesn't happen very often? Oh well, it happens.

So when we got home from our wonderful walk, we were reminded that we apparently have our own minibus now. There it was, just parked in our yard. It had been there the day before as well, but we didn't think it would stay...I mean, what the heck is a minibus doing parked at our house? But alas, it was still there. So we thought, well, we should obviously drive it. Amare, Mastasha and Desta were pretty excited about this. Mostly, I think, because they like laughing at us, the stupid Americans that get really excited about pretending to drive an old, rusty, broken van. So the boys laughed and took lots of pictures of us, and Kendra and I took turns being the driver and conductor. We basically had a fabulous time. Afterwards, we went inside and played some pretty exciting card games. We tried teaching Desta how to play spoons, but it took him a very long time to catch on. Like 15 rounds. Once he got the hang of it, he got serious fast. It was intense. Spoons were flying.

When we finished playing cards, Amare and Mastasha brought their new puppy over. Kendra was cuddling with the super cute little guy when she saw a little bug crawling in his fur. She said, "Um, does he have fleas?" and Amare answered, "Yes, I think so." I cracked up, Kendra changed her clothes. I sure hope she doesn't have fleas ;)

Yesterday, we went to the school in the morning. The kids who are normally at the school have this week off. The school provides an after-school program to a different group of kids. Since normal school is closed this week, the after-school program is during the morning. Kendra and I helped with that, which was a lot of fun! We taught some English and Math, and then played outside with them for a long, long time. The kids taught us a game that was very similar to Red Rover, and Kendra and I got pretty dusty and dirty playing!

When we got home, we had lunch and then headed over to a house that Strong Hearts is going to use for hospice care. They needed help painting the walls, and Kendra and I volunteered. Pretty soon after we started, a rather large paint fight broke out...thanks to Amare. Paint was everywhere. It was win-win though: We had a wonderful time attacking each other and in the end, it earned us a shower! After all, they couldn't let us sit around all covered in paint. Dundee took us to the gym, and....oh yay yay yay, we showered! We're feeling spoiled, because it's only (haha, "only") been a week since our last shower. We are a couple of lucky girls ;)

I'll end on that happy showering note for now...especially since I think this post is kind of a whole lot of nothing. But hey, not every post can be about something as exciting as freeing sheep...I can only steal so many animals, after all.

Operation Rescue Baaa-xter. Part 2. The good. The Baaaad. And the ugly.

RIP Baaaa-xter. You will be greatly missed.

The only thing ugly about this post is that Baaa-xter is now dead. Poor baby. 

Anyway. Once Dundee went to bed, we texted Amare, and headed out to hide the goat. The guard was looking at us like we were crazy. We tried to get the sheep out of the compound, and he was not having it. Who would have thought that moving a sheep would be so difficult. Lucky for us, Amare was there. And also the guard Desta. Desta is our guard, he is the best. He lives in a 3x5 room next to the gate, with a tiny bed in it. He can't even stretch out his legs. Anyway. Once he realized what we were up to, he took charge. He has moved sheep before. He took the ram by the horns, and pulled that little buddy across the yard, and tied him to a tree. Mission accomplished. 

When we woke up this morning, I had a black tongue. I took pepto tablets yesterday, and they turn your tongue black, for some reason. But I had to google it to make sure I was not turning African, or have some odd disease. 

Also, Dundee came in and asked if we had seen his sheep. Ummm no? Why would you even ask that. 

He somehow had seen the text that we had sent Amare saying "he went to bed, come help us steel the sheep". Incriminating? I think not. No, I did not touch your sheep. (truth). I did not move your sheep (truth, again!) Seriously Dundee, how could 2 american girls move your sheep (again, fact). 

He knew that it was us. But it took him awhile to find were the sheep had been relocated. So although the mission was not a success, Baaa-xter has since died, at least his memory, and friendship is something I will never forget. 

Operation rescue Baaa-xter. Part 1.

So heres the back story. Dundee is  prankster. He tells us things that are not true. Teaches how to order elephants at restaurants (when we think that he is teaching us real things) and if you turn your back he will add salt to your coffee. Not cool. 

Today: I come home to find a sheep (a ram?? It has horns, so I don't know what it is. They are calling him a sheep… so it is a boy sheep.) tied to a tree in our yard. His name is Baaa-xter. (named by yours truly). we come to find out… after taking pictures of him, and spending quality time with him, basically deciding that we were going to be lifelong friends… that his life is ending tomorrow. This news came as a surprise, and not the good kind. Baaa-xter? Why him? For what reason does HE need to die? And why is he even in my yard? Well. Apparently before a weeding the groomsmen are supposed to ask the father of the bride if the groom can marry his daughter. If the father says yes, then Baaa-xter gets the axe. 

Dundee is the only person I know who is a groomsmen in a wedding…

Enter operation rescue Baaa-xter. unfortunately I can't really rescue him. He is not my sheep. Just my newest friend. And Dundee might get mad. But as Deanna and I were laughing about the possibility of rescuing him, I came up with a fantastic idea. Why not HIDE the boy sheep? We can tie him to a different tree! Or even put him in the yard across the dirt path (aka street). Genius! 

But, it is not as simple as it seems. Every house here is called a compound. There are multiple buildings in one, and they are all surrounded by a big concrete wall. And there is only one entrance, a big gate that is manned by our guard. (yeah, we have a guard ;)) He is very nice, but does not speak much english. I am not sure if I can convince him, or the guard across the dirt path that it is okay that I am taking the boy sheep, and tying him to a different tree, in a different compound. In the middle of the night. Enter Amare. Dundee's brother. He lives across the street, and speaks perfect Amharic! He is the perfect accomplice to our crime. When we asked him to be in on it, he agreed. Only after laughing at us, and Thinking that we are totally insane, I am sure. 

But I don't care. Operation rescue Baaa-xter is on, tonight. 

To be continued. Please stay tuned for "Operation rescue Baaa-xter, part 2. The good. The BAAAAAAAD. And the ugly." 

Coffee Ceremony x2

We had our first coffee ceremony! It was very exciting! Two new volunteers came from Brazil, and apparently Dundee wants to make things special for them. I could be mad… but am reaping from the benefits ;) He is even talking about making the water work! Can you imagine? I can't. Anyway. We had a coffee ceremony. Dundee's sisters roasted the coffee beans and ground them. Then they brewed it in front of us, and made popcorn! It was yummy! Today the woman from the Kore community made us lunch, and had another coffee ceremony. The food was really good, except the meat. The meat here is super fatty and chewy. I really don't like it! It is rude not to eat the food given to you, so you have to force yourself to eat it. Then when I was almost done Dundee told them to put more on my plate. Ugh. It was so nice of them to cook for us, but so hard to eat it! I hope we don't get sick from the meat! 

Also, this morning we went to the field day at Bingham Academy. Bingham is the international school here in Addis. Being on the grounds was very similar to being in America. Everyone spoke english, and no one stared at me because I am white. It was a small oasis in Addis. (Jill, I can totally see your kids going to the school, it was your type of place! It made me miss you!)

We had our second Amharic lesson with our other teacher, Ready, last night. He is intense! I learned so much I could not soak it all in. My brain is still hurting.  

We are now sitting in Lime Tree with our new Brazilian friends, waiting for the internet to work. We had the longest minibus ride ever to get here, and now the internet is not even working! Don't they know I have 2 blogs to post!?!? 

Showers and cooking lessons, my life is grand!

(this blog has taken three days to write. I am sorry for the craziness of it)

Good news. I showered. A real, flowing water, and soap, even shaving, shower! I think it was the most luxurious shower I have ever had. Although thats not very true. It was in a gym, and in America I have showered in some very fancy showers. But not  showing in 13 days does things to a person. So I am clean. This week at least ;)

Yesterday we went to the orphanage, and they were celebrating their 4 year anniversary, and we got a plate full of cookies, cake, and little crouton like things, that were weird. None of it tasted very good, but because of Ethiopian Culture, it is rude not to eat it. So Deanna and I busied ourselves with the kids, and set our plates aside. We took our plates with us when we left at lunch time. right outside of the compound I told deanna that we needed to find someone to give it to, not just throw it away. As I said that a  (beggar looking) teenage boy passed us, came up to us, said "thank you, I love you very much. Take?" and took our plates. I am not sure if we got stolen from, or if we gave them to him. He did not know our intention to give it away, and was not forceful… but really did not ask. Needles to say, Deanna and I have decided to save any and all leftovers to give to the street people. I don't know if you knew this, but there are starving people in Africa. And I am in Africa. 

We had our first Amharic class. I am pretty much fluent. I can say so many things! I can tell people what color clothes they are wearing, and how many of an object they have. I am good to go! We have our next class today… can't wait! After language class, we leered to make Shiro with Tigist. We love Shiro! It is SO SO super easy to make. If anyone back home wants me to make it for them, let me know! I am going to get to make injera today! It supposedly is really hard, but we will see! 

We failed at being Ethiopians yesterday :( We were supposed to go to the orphanage, and we woke up, got ready, and headed out. We waited for the bus outside of our house for an hour. We were supposed to catch the bus to Mexico (hehe, Mexico?) ant then transfer to meganana hiya hulett. But for some reason the buses to mexico never came! We eventually got one that was going to mekanissa, which is on the way to Mexico, so we got on that one. Once we got there, we still could not get a dumb minibus o Mexico. After an hour and a half of trying, we finally gave up, and came back home. We were very upset with ourselves. Come to find out that there was as Africa Union (all the heads of the African countries) meeting and a lot of the roads were closed to the public. Oops. 

It actually worked in our favor. Dundee took us to a handmade toy store, and I was able to buy gifts for my favorite nephews! The Ross family, and I got little Penelope Kendra's first gift! And her big brother Zach ;) All the toys are African looking, and are made with people with disabilities. Pretty sweet find. 

I got to check my email, and got an exciting email from Barb Blasey, the best math teacher at WWCC (Walla Walla Community College) and she said that her students are going to bring in a bunch of things for that babies, and the school kids, and TRiO is going to have a fundraiser to pay for the shipping costs! WOOOHOOO! Thanks! The kids are going to be SO happy! 

This morning we were supposed to go to the school. They were having exams all week, and we were excited that they were done, so we could finally play with them. When we got to the school the gate was closed. Curious. The gate is always open in the morning. So I knocked on the gate, and the guard answered and said that the kids are resting for 10 days. Which means they are on break. Why don't people tell us things! Oh well, we are going to go to Bambis today and go buy some things for the kiddies. Teaching here is HARD! And look around, and see if there is anything we need ;) It supposedly is like a supermarket. Exciting. 

Last thing. When we were walking back to the house from the school, we were waiting for our guard to open the gate, and Bobby, one of our dogs, walked up, and had a goat head in his mouth! I looked at him and said "ewww Bobby!" Which Deanna thinks is the funniest thing to say to a dog. Once the gate opened, Squeekers snuck up and stole the head. Then Dundee chased all 3 dogs around, truing to get the head away from them. It was funny, and so gross. 

Oh no, my life is boring!

I can't think of anything exciting to blog about. But I am sure, my loyal followers, that you are waiting on the edge of your seats for my new blog, so here it is! 

Deanna and I are seriously considering buying a Donk. We will love him, and feed him, and keep him forever. Well, 3 months at least. And when we leave, we will donate him to Strong Hearts. (To use, not to eat.) The boys who hang at our house (we live in a party house, it is used for worship time, and prayer, or just to chill, in a Christian environment) don't think we are serious. They obviously don't know us! So that will be fun. They are about 50 USD, 25 each. Donks are cheeaaap!

Deanna slept with a bug last night. He was curled up next to her pillow in the morning, trying to snuggle, I believe. She was less than thrilled, but did not totally freak out. She did kill him though. Future spouse of Deanna, beware. 

I drove a real car here, on the real street. It was late, and not many people were out, but I still did it! Wooohooo! 

We fit 8 people into said real car last night. Is is not a big car… it was a TIGHT squeeze. But fun!! I like adventure. (not while I was driving) 

I have gotten a few emails about sending supplies! YAY! The kids are going to be thrilled. And so will this lady. 

My new Toms are almost ruined. Poor Toms :( I wear them daily, and the streets here are not exactly shoe friendly. The paved roads are not horrible, but for the most part they are not paved, and it is rocky terrain that I am hiking over, in my beautiful canvas Toms. Even sidewalks, when not so crowded that you have to walk in the street, are broken, and are really rocky dirt with patches of sidewalk. So if anyone who is sending a package to me, wants to send a new pair of Toms… I wear a size 6. Just sayin'. 

People can smoke in restaurants here. It is not a big smoking community, nothing like Europe, probably even less than the US, but is still not easy to enjoy a meal with someones smoke all up in your space. 

Still no improvement on the showering. It has been over a week since I have properly showered. At this point I think maybe we will see how long we can go. Why not? It can't get much worse! Water bottles don't count as showers, but they are what we have at the moment… and am grateful for them! Especially my BIG one. HE holds 2000ml! Thats like a whole body wash right there. 

Dundee seems to think he can read my mind. It is a bit creepy, and as I type he is guessing all the things I do not like about ET. He just looked at Deanna and said while STARING at me "I am just reading her mind". Weird, Dundee. HE is also my Facebook friend, and I am certain he read my blog about things I don't like. As an American, I don't like cheaters! 

The internet at Lime Tree is down right now. Its a bummer. I would like to connect with my peeps, now that it is an acceptable time for you all to be awake. Ohhh, cakes here! YUM!

xoxox

They call me Mommy.

Sweet sweet babies. I know you live in an orphanage, and I know you want a Mommy. I don't blame you. You should have a Mommy. You should have your biological Mommy, and Daddy. But unfortunately you don't. It breaks my heart. I want you to have a Mommy more than I want anything in the world. I even want to BE your Mommy. I really do. But I can't. Not yet. But I am praying. And praying hard. But you calling me Mommy makes it even harder for me not to love you. And I already love you so much. I want you to have everything. A Mom, a Dad, maybe even brothers and sisters. And I really really believe that you will. God says that he will not leave you as orphans. If only 7% of Christians adopt one child, than there will be no more orphans! 7%! Very doable. 

So don't worry, babies. Even if I can't be your mommy, I know there is someone out there who needs a baby. Just be patient! And until then, I will love you. I promise.