Update from Mekelle

Written n the 16th:
Selam!I hope all of you reading this newsletter are doing well, because we are doing more than well here in Mek’ele! I’m hoping that this letter gets out sometime in the near future, as the phone line has been out for a few days now…but I’ll send it off as soon as possible…Anyway, like I said, life in Mek’ele is going really well. We’ll start with a youth center update…English Clubs are absolutely amazing. Tim and I are teaching the little little kids, who speak no English, and we agree that our class is way cuter than the other two classes. The kids are slowly but surely picking up on colors, and some of them are pretty adept at the alphabet as well! Matt and Jamie’s class and Becky’s class are studying countries of the world, this week is Ireland…I think they’re doing a bunch of stuff with potatoes and then learning a jig. Reading clubs are going well too, we’ve successfully built sheep, learned rhymes, and figured out that if you do your homework, you get a bouncy ball.On Saturday we had a big AIDS awareness/peer educator graduation. The little girls started off with their interpretive dance to “Stand By Me,” followed by the circus kids. Ok, these kids were incredible. They juggled flaming batons, they built human pyramids that were more like human flying buttresses, there was a girl who could contort her body in every possible way, there were kids flying in the air, it was out of control. Then the older girls did their “Wait For Me” interpretive dance (they loved performing!), they graduated the peer educators, and then a live Tigre band played. Ethiopian dance party anyone? We were all up in front trying to do Tigre dancing, but it’s hard for us to do! The kids said, “nice try…” Comforting.Jamie and I are supposed to start a new interpretive dance with the girls this week, so we’re working more on Miracle Drug. We’re supposed to do a Shania Twain song after that, but I think we’ll search out a different artist. I don’t think I have the patience for that much Shania.Oh! The fast is over! Hallelujah! We ate at the Meat Hut twice yesterday. Big plates of Zilzil tibs…best meat in all of Africa. Think steak, cut into small pieces, fried up with onions and garlic, and you eat it with you hands/injera. Delicious. Maybe we’ll head back there today…Ok, well, I think I’ll sign off for now. If you think about it, keep our team in your prayers; we’re half way done here, which we can’t believe! Just keep praying that the relationships we’re in here would be fruitful, as they have proved to be thus far! We miss all of you a ton, you are in our thoughts and prayers daily.Ciao!Kelly