Salutations and Selam!
These 8 weeks have absolutely flown by and it’s hard to believe we are on our last day in Mekele, Ethiopia! We’ve been saying our goodbyes to the kids, adults and everything in between and though it’s been hard all of us could not have imagined a cooler experience! This last week has been one full of lunch dates at the kid’s houses, coffee dates with friends and the finishing up of classes. This last Saturday we held a pancake breakfast for the little kids at the center. We told them to come over at 8 am and they were there very promptly….at 6:45. We had a ton of fun though and learned that the kids are definitely connoisseurs of jelly and syrup and by that we mean that they enjoy a little pancake with the jelly. They pile it on, eat it off and ask for more (I like their style personally!). We played soccer, ate pancakes and introduced them to the Frisbee which they really seemed to enjoy.
On Monday we had our last English club and the summer we have been studying different countries. We decided to end on the USA and our activities consisted of playing basketball and making/eating PB&J sandwiches for the older kids and making hemp bracelets for the younger ones. Kelly has taught a couple of them how to make bracelets and necklaces and we think she may have spurred the next major export out of Ethiopia! The basketball was particularly entertaining as it basically turned into a game of American football with occasional dribbling. We didn’t have any broken bones so it was a victory in our minds! The PB&J had a similar result to the pancake feed. The kids loved them, but we eventually took the bowls of jelly away when they were fighting over who got to lick the bowls. Tuesday we had our last reading club in which we played numerous rounds of musical chairs and had a
ton of fun! Tuesday night we had a goodbye bonfire for the older kids. We figured it was the Ethiopian equivalent of lighting wooden pallets or maybe a couch on fire! We built a big fire in the backyard and just hung out with everyone. We found our Sunday that another fast just started to there was no grilling, but we still had a lot of fun!
Kelly and Jamie finished up their Anti-Aids clubs, Mike finished his computer classes and I finished my HIV classes so we’re officially ready to go. An on an additional note we don’t think anyone is play host to anything right now (translation = No one is sick!). Also, Millione and Yohannes (Two of the little guys who have been very helpful and who all of us want to take home) are here and they say hello!
Friday at 6 am we head out for Lalibela to see the rock churches (google it, they’re cool!). A couple of us checked out the bus yesterday and were told it was more like a military convoy vehicle so we’re working on that. As much as we would love to sit sideways on benches nailed to the floor of an old flatbed, we figured we would see if they have anything else! We’ll be there until Sunday morning, then it’s off to Addis Ababa for a couple days and then to America on Tuesday at 11:55 pm. We fly for something like two days and touch down in Seattle three hour after we left, should be fun!
We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers for us while we have been here and though we’ll miss everyone and most things about Ethiopia, we’re all excited to see all of you when we get home. The experience has been one of a kind and has shown just how big the love of the God is! We’ve all learned a ton and are excited to share (either the short or long version) with you when we get home!
With Much Luv,
The Ethiopia Team
No comments:
Post a Comment