The past few days have been a transformation of sorts. I was feeling a little overwhelmed during my last post but have really started finding my "groove". Friday was a great experience as I went to support Strong Hearts on the first day of their Gospel series. It was a great experience. Dundy had one of his friends translate for us (Trish and me) and two people came to Christ. The building was packed and it was very charismatic in nature. Dancing energy and tons of emotion filled the room. People were making noises and praising God. Some were even crying. It's times like this like I begin to think, "how much more faith must they have in order to live in the situations that they live in." With all the materialism stripped away, all that's left is the spiritual and I was fortunate to get a taste that night. I hope I get an opportunity to see more over the next few days that I'm here.
Saturday morning I painted with Masresha, Trish, and Habuba (the handy man) and we pretty much finished the second class room. Tamrat, Dundy's friend and the government's coordinator for LaVolunteers (the organization Trish came with), stopped by the school for a visit. He proposed that we go see Hawasa, a city by the lake. I initially declined thinking that Dundy would want me here but when I came back to the guest house, he insisted that I go. I guess he really wanted me to get an opportunity to see other parts of Ethiopia and to take a break after all the work I've been doing. We took a five hour taxi ride that was quite eventful. Long story short, the taxi got a ticket before we left Addis and left a passenger behind at a gas station when we stopped for gas... Glad I didn't go...
Sunday we spent the day in Hawasa. Tamrat made friends with a taxi driver and he became our permanent driver. He would drop us off and pick us up whenever we needed something, then continue working his normal route. The first thing I noticed was how clean the city was. There were cobble stone streets and the streets were well lit and seemed relatively safe. We went to the lake and took a boat ride. For the first time ever I fed wild monkeys peanuts and saw wild hippos. We had a great time. Getting a taxi back, however, was tough. There was a lot of arguing back and forth about price and taxi drivers fighting over us and our business. The whole process took about 2 hours and I could tell everyone was getting irritated. It helps to know in situations like this that God is in control. It was a good opportunity to be there for Tamrat, who I could tell was getting upset. Side note: I saw my first Chadt and the guy chewing it was missing teeth... Doesn't seem like a good idea to get mixed up in...
Monday was great as far as teaching. I'm not sure what you all think about dreams but I sometimes I feel like there's a divine element to them that help me find resolutions to issues or bring issues to light that I haven't thought of before. Sunday night and Monday night brought resolution and I somehow began to feel a lot lighter emotionally. Perhaps the day trip was good for me to have a change of scenery. My uplifted mood definitely couldn't have come at a better time. Trish was asked to do a workshop for the teachers (she has been a teacher for a number of years and has a Phd) which means I was going to have to teach the kids and keep them entertained for an hour and a half straight. The class went by extremely smoothly. In the afternoon, I found that my computer class is becoming extremely popular. All of a sudden more kids want to take my class and there are like three classes now. The kids are learning fast and it's great to see. I think it's a combination of God's blessing and the fact that I gave the kid's candy on Friday during a typing race competition...
Tuesday we continued painting and had class like normal. I'm starting to really connect to the people here. They are already asking me when I'm coming back. Kayla (the full time missionary) said that I'm picking up a lot of Amharic and that she was really impressed with how much I've picked up. Apparently I know way more than she did in two and a half weeks. Every time I walk people look at me and kid come up and talk to me. Some people will yell "farengee" (which means foreigner) at me, which offends some people, but I just yell back abushae (which means Ethiopian) with a smile and I get smiles and laughs. I'm really starting to feel at home here and am starting see familiar faces. Can't believe I only have another 12 days. I wish I had more time... I will say that there is a lot to be done here and now that I've seen the needs first hand, I feel moved to put together a team for next time. Let me know if any one's interested! ;) No experience necessary!
Saturday morning I painted with Masresha, Trish, and Habuba (the handy man) and we pretty much finished the second class room. Tamrat, Dundy's friend and the government's coordinator for LaVolunteers (the organization Trish came with), stopped by the school for a visit. He proposed that we go see Hawasa, a city by the lake. I initially declined thinking that Dundy would want me here but when I came back to the guest house, he insisted that I go. I guess he really wanted me to get an opportunity to see other parts of Ethiopia and to take a break after all the work I've been doing. We took a five hour taxi ride that was quite eventful. Long story short, the taxi got a ticket before we left Addis and left a passenger behind at a gas station when we stopped for gas... Glad I didn't go...
Sunday we spent the day in Hawasa. Tamrat made friends with a taxi driver and he became our permanent driver. He would drop us off and pick us up whenever we needed something, then continue working his normal route. The first thing I noticed was how clean the city was. There were cobble stone streets and the streets were well lit and seemed relatively safe. We went to the lake and took a boat ride. For the first time ever I fed wild monkeys peanuts and saw wild hippos. We had a great time. Getting a taxi back, however, was tough. There was a lot of arguing back and forth about price and taxi drivers fighting over us and our business. The whole process took about 2 hours and I could tell everyone was getting irritated. It helps to know in situations like this that God is in control. It was a good opportunity to be there for Tamrat, who I could tell was getting upset. Side note: I saw my first Chadt and the guy chewing it was missing teeth... Doesn't seem like a good idea to get mixed up in...
Monday was great as far as teaching. I'm not sure what you all think about dreams but I sometimes I feel like there's a divine element to them that help me find resolutions to issues or bring issues to light that I haven't thought of before. Sunday night and Monday night brought resolution and I somehow began to feel a lot lighter emotionally. Perhaps the day trip was good for me to have a change of scenery. My uplifted mood definitely couldn't have come at a better time. Trish was asked to do a workshop for the teachers (she has been a teacher for a number of years and has a Phd) which means I was going to have to teach the kids and keep them entertained for an hour and a half straight. The class went by extremely smoothly. In the afternoon, I found that my computer class is becoming extremely popular. All of a sudden more kids want to take my class and there are like three classes now. The kids are learning fast and it's great to see. I think it's a combination of God's blessing and the fact that I gave the kid's candy on Friday during a typing race competition...
Tuesday we continued painting and had class like normal. I'm starting to really connect to the people here. They are already asking me when I'm coming back. Kayla (the full time missionary) said that I'm picking up a lot of Amharic and that she was really impressed with how much I've picked up. Apparently I know way more than she did in two and a half weeks. Every time I walk people look at me and kid come up and talk to me. Some people will yell "farengee" (which means foreigner) at me, which offends some people, but I just yell back abushae (which means Ethiopian) with a smile and I get smiles and laughs. I'm really starting to feel at home here and am starting see familiar faces. Can't believe I only have another 12 days. I wish I had more time... I will say that there is a lot to be done here and now that I've seen the needs first hand, I feel moved to put together a team for next time. Let me know if any one's interested! ;) No experience necessary!
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