Monday, November 22, 2010

Adventuresness and Thankfulness.

Another week has gone by, my African adventures seem to be coming to a close faster and faster. I'm excited to come home and see everyone again but I'm so sad to leave this lifestyle and my friends behind. I've decided to reclaim why I originally came here and take some time exploring and having adventures for myself that doesn't involve kids. Call me selfish but being a mom made me go crazy. I've decided to travel up to Northern Ethiopia since I haven't had a chance to do so yet. Alyssa and my mom told me there was no way I could travel alone so I've been trying to track down someone trustworthy to travel with and who could be gone for an extended period of time. I was getting desperate and considering just asking some street bum with dreads to please accompany me but instead decided to ask one of my friends who was working on the farm if he wanted to go on a road trip. I had little hope he would be able to get off work not to mention make it up to Addis from the farm. Surprisingly, he told me he quit the job and would be in Addis in a few days. Maybe I shouldn't be happy he quit but I almost think of it as a tender mercy for me. Me and Nati will be leaving on a ROADTRIP across Ethiopia tomorrow. The plan is to visit Lalibella and Axum. Lalibella is known for it's old beautiful rock churches and Axum is said to have the Ark of the covenant. We are going to be completely spontaneous and live life as it comes. We'll be traveling by bus and sleeping is places there is no question i'll get eaten alive by bed bugs and most likely get lice too. Yay for adventures :). Peace out for awhile everyone.

Just to make this post a little more interesting, I added a picture. Last night I passed out glow sticks to kids on the streets. It was amazing to see them so happy, I love them.



Since Thanksgiving is coming this week and I won't be celebrating it this year I thought It might be appropriate to make a thankful list instead...

I'm thankful for...
1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Family.
3. Friends.
4. Music sung in English.
5. Hot showers.
6. Milk and all dairy products.
7. My car for giving me the freedom of transportation.
8. The convenience of Walmart.
9. Nati for quiting his job.
10. My own bedroom.
11. Receiving emails.
12. Dish washer.
13. Not to be a mom.
14. To be in Ethiopia.
15. For adorable little kids that sell me soft.
16. Skype.
17. The boys that play soccer in the street.
18. The homeless who greet me by name.
19. My pillow.
20. My dog Tramp.
21. Fast internet.
22. Soccer team.
23. My mother's cooking.
24. Running.
25. Sleeping in silence.
26. Clothes.
27. Sidewalks.
28. Efficiency.
29. Paved roads.
30. Road trips.
31. America.
32. Clean hospitals.
33. Fast food.
34. Powder sugar.
35. Adventures.
36. Open markets.
37. Duece Bar for making American Burgers.
38. For the old guard who directs traffic and is always smiling.
39. For the women who made my dread locks for me.
40. For our gatekeeper, Happy, for opening the gate for me everyday with a smile.
41. Glow sticks.
42. Holly and Les Whitt for truly being Christians and helping in every way possible.
43. Marti and Mitch for feeding us American Sunday dinners and allowing me to have adult conversations.
44. Shelly Baum for spending two weeks in Addis.
45. The Ethiopian man who gave me a much needed massage.
46. Etetu for making amazing meals, bread, cakes, and cookies.
47. Tigist and Thige for helping us keep our house liveable.
48. The hundred of men who have given me their phone number.
49. My laptop.
50. My orange backpack that holds everything.
51. My Cannon T2i that helps me capture what I see.
52. Getting Pedicures for three dollars.
53. The sunshine.
54. Electricity.
55. Eyesight.
56. Miracles.
57. Flowers that make the world more beautiful.
58. To have a house to live in.
59. The kids being in school.
60. Airplanes so I can travel.
61. Deodorant, though I wished more people wore it here.
62. The few words and numbers I know in Ahmaric.
63. Marbles, because they keep the boys busy for hours.
64. My parents. I know I already said family but I definitely have a new appreciation and gratitude for my Mom and Dad.
65. Colorful fruit stands.
66. Alyssa for coming back to Ethiopia.
67. Mulu, Teddy, and Dareeba for being good drivers.
68. The boys that ALWAYS want to sell me phone cards and mastika which as a result they have become my friends.
69. Flipflops.
70. Clean running water.
71. To be healthy.
72. Bed sheets without bedbugs.
73. Books to read.
74. Blogs so I can feel cool that people might be interested enough in my life to read it.
75. Harry Potter.
76. The power of prayer.
77. Avocado juice.
78. Ice cubes in drinks.
79. Spontaneous people.
80. Larry Prescott for being a crazy photography teacher, thank-you.
81. Camping.
82. Chacos.
83. Sisters.
84. Colorful painted walls.
85. Facebook for letting me stock people on the other side of the world.
86. Levi and Jessie who have devoted their time to orphans.
87. Swiss Cafe banana bread.
88. Sports bras.
89. Stars.
90. The fact that I'm almost got one hundred so I be done with this list.
91. Spell check.
92. My toothbrush and toothpaste.
93. The beautiful moon.
94. Grandparents.
95. Dan Dummar for teaching me about soccer and life.
96. Fresh air.
97. Memories.
98. My hands.
99. To be adventurous like my amazing Mother.
100. I'm thankful to be alive.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Happenings.

Where to start with recent happenings?
Probably the best thing that has happened has been the arrival of Alyssa, finally! Thank goodness to not be a parent. Hallelujah!

We were able to have a great Halloween! Having to explain the holiday to people who have never heard of it made it seem a lot weirder. The kids couldn't understand why we were carving our food and dressing up, talk about odd. Carving our pumpkins was a definite success. Mine is the happy faced pumpkin with the great big smile, I was still feeling over joyed to have Alyssa back. The international Embassy school put on a big Halloween carnival we got to go too. It was just like the good ol' days complete with face painting, fortune telling, and a haunted house! Before the event, we were able to gather up costumes for the kids from some of our American friends and me and Alyssa dressed as pirates! It seemed fitting with dreads. It was funny leaving the party and walking the streets all in costumes. I'm sure people thought we were absolutely crazy. Here are some pictures from the event...







Fun Halloween Celebrations!



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And these next pictures are just kind of a mixture of things that have gone on....

I took the kids swimming for Tofik's 11th birthday.
This was one of his cakes. Pretty cool candles eh?

Chowing down the grub!

Birthday cake #2 at a friends house.

Sleep over outside!! After we did it once the kids slept out for the next week. It's pretty sweet that it's November and it's still plenty warm to sleep out.

Gutama and Tofik being silly.

This is something we see on a daily basis. The kids are SO good at marbles. I've lost all mine to them.


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Now that you've seen some random pictures in the middle of this post...This past week we were able to visit the farm. It was strange being back but was so happy to be able to see everyone again. It was crazy how much things have changed in just 2 months. Everyone was so happy to see Alyssa and Me again but pleaded with us to get Wes back. In honor of us they coked Tibs (Goat), injara, bread, and cokes. It was a short 3 hr visit before we had to fly back to Addis. However, the flight back was awful. It was so turbulent and we all tossed our cookies or came close. I hope I can visit everyone again.

Eating goat with everyone.

Some of our friends and workers on the farm. Miss you all!!


Umare, Me, and Nati


This is the meal of tibs and injara. Good thing I'm habashaw.


This is looking down from the plane on some of the fields and land clearing on the farm.


An abstract shot from the plane too that I'm sure Mr. Prescott will love. Am I right, Larry?


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Today Alyssa and I visited the Alert Hospital. It specializes in leprosy, TP, and HIV. We were able to tour the facility. It was very impressive. They had a training center, research Lab, Testing lab, physical therapy center, and on and on. They are doing a lot of good there and helping at least 12,000 patients a day! The best part of the hospital was their gift shop though. Many the patients have lost fingers, hands, and have sever deformities- They are given the chance to work. The gift shop is filled only with the crafts, creations, and sewing of the patients. How amazing these people are. I'm so grateful to be healthy and have hands.

Spinning wool with a sweet lady.

They all made very beautiful and intricate things.


This man is weaving cloth.