All sorts of fun little adventures!

Hi friends!

We've just been up to all kinds of fun stuff here. I'm telling you, Ethiopia is pretty much amazing. Nothing big has happened, but we're certainly having a fantastic time. Lots of laughing. Definitely. Though I suppose if you know me at all you would expect nothing less than an absurd amount of laughter from me...whether I'm in America or on the other side of the world. Here's what we've been up to the past couple days:

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 Free the Sheep: Part 2

Spoiler alert: If you haven't already read "Operation Free the Sheep: Part 1", you may want to. Because I'm about to tell you about the results of our mission.

Last night, circa 11:00pm, Dundee finally left to go to bed. His room is around the back of our house, so we knew as soon as he headed there we would be good to go. We sent Amare a text, telling him we were ready to free the sheep. A few minutes later, we headed out. We met Amare and Baaa-xter out front...not that Baaa-xter had much choice of where and when to meet us, since he was tied to a tree and all. Background info: Our guard that I told you about in the previous blog is a guy about our age, named Desta, who lives in an itty-bitty concrete "room" (it's about 3 feet by 5 feet...and I'm being generous) right next to our gate. He was still up, and was watching curiously (and laughing at us a lot) as we met Amare and put the plan into action. Amare informed him that we would be hiding Baaa-xter from Dundee, and Desta jumped right up to help.

Apparently moving a sheep is not an easy task. I have a feeling the poor little guy knew he was to be killed soon, and thought we were bringing him to his death. Kendra and I tried to encourage him, but we definitely needed Amare and Desta's muscles. After a bit or work, we got him across the little dirt path to Amare's yard. We re-tied him (even though I realllly just wanted to let him run away) and said goodnight.

This morning, we made sure to get up early enough to see Dundee's reaction. He came in for breakfast and we asked when he was taking poor Baaa-xter to be slaughtered. When he noticed his sheep was missing, he said, "Oh Desta probably took him to get food." After awhile, Desta got back, sheep-less. Dundee came inside right away and said, "What have you done with my sheep?" Of course, we played innocent. "Dundee, do you really think we can move a sheep? Where would we even put a sheep?" There was an interrogation that followed, in which Dundee tried to scare us into admitting the truth by promising us snakes in our beds and other terrifying things. We weren't frightened, and kept up the lie.

Unfortunately, it all unfolded when Dundee told us that he had evidence: He had seen the text we sent Amare. Apparently he got ahold of Amare's phone, and since we had texted him something along the lines of, "Are you still awake? Come over so we can steal Dundee's sheep!" he had a pretty good idea that we were guilty. Still, we kept insisting that we didn't move Dundee's sheep...which (Dundee, if you're reading this) we really didn't! We weren't strong enough :) Anyways, long story short, Dundee discovered us.

He claims to have a brilliant plan of retaliation, and tells us that we should be ready. Dundee, we're not afraid. And you know what? We might just have some more tricks up our sleeves, too! This isn't over.

What is over, I sadly presume, is Baaa-xter's life. He was taken away via van early this afternoon. Our furry little friend who we came to love ever so quickly was tied up laying underneath the back seat. We said our goodbyes. There was nothing more we could do.

I suppose it's kind of a bittersweet story. Bitter due to the fact that Baaa-xter had to lose his life, but sweet because of the adventure he gave us. Last night was quite possibly one of the most hilarious nights in Addis thus far. I have a new respect for our guard, Desta. He's now awesome in my book, for helping us steal a sheep. No longer is he just the guy that opens the gate for us. Also for Amare, for being our fantastic partner-in-crime. We had lots and lots of laughs, and got some pretty funny pictures that I'll hopefully be putting up soon. All in all, a good time. Still, we must never forget dear little Baaa-xter...

Operation Free the Sheep: Part 1 (1/28/12)

Okay. It is currently 9:57pm on Saturday January 28, 2012 and we have a mission.

First, allow me to tell you about the sheep. His name is Baaa-xter and he came to our house this afternoon. When we found a sheep tied to our tree, we naturally asked what was going to happen to him. After all, we took pictures with him so he's pretty much our buddy now. Dundee gave us some sad news (though I don't think Dundee was actually sad). Apparently it's a tradition for a guy to ask permission of a girl's father before asking for her hand in marraige. Sounds familiar, that's what we do in America. But there's more. If the dad says yes, a sheep is killed to eat. If he says no, the sheep lives. Dundee's friend is doing this tomorrow, and Dundee is providing the sheep. Baaa-xter. He says, "I'll put him in the trunk of my car and drive him to my friend's house". Since we're assuming the dad will say yes, we've had to come to terms that Baaa-xter is living his last hours :(

Here's where the mission comes in. Kendra and I decided to play a little prank on Dundee. We realize that we can't actually set the sheep free (though we would really like to), because Dundee probably paid for that sheep and he might be a little pissed if we let it run away. So instead, we're going to hide Baaa-xter.

How do you hide a sheep, you ask? Well, let me tell you. It's not so simple, because each house here is in a "compound". Each compound is surrounded by a big, concrete wall with only one entrance. Each entrance has a guard (I know, pretty legit that we have our own guard!). So we had to get creative. First, we got Amare involved in the plan. He is Dundee's brother, and lives across the road from us. We realized we needed him for three reasons. One: How do you move a sheep? Two: Where do you hide a sheep? Three: How do you explain to the guy who guards the gate to your house and isn't fluent in English where you are taking the sheep? When we brought him in on our plan, he was all for it (after cracking up for a few minutes). Amare told us we can hide the sheep in his yard, which is excellent. And, since he's Ethiopian, he can explain to the guards no problem! He makes the perfect accomplice. When Dundee goes to bed, hopefully soon, we'll give Amare a call. He'll meet us back here, and together, we begin Mission Free the Sheep!

Find out about the success or failure of our mission in blog post "Operation Free the Sheep: Part 2".

Ewww, Bobby!

Yesterday morning, we left home and headed to school...only to find out that the kids were on break. We knew that they'd be on break next week, but it was a surprise that they were already off on Friday. So, we turned around and walked home. As we were waiting for our guard to open the gate to our house, one of the dogs that lives with us (Bobby) walked up and proudly dropped a goat head at our feet. Kendra yelled, "Ewww, Bobby!!" Sensing our digust and disappointment, I guess Bobby realized he didn't need to share. So he picked it back up and started eating. Just chewing on a goat head. It was quite possibly one of the most disgusting things I've seen. I mean, the head still had eyes and everything. It was a legit goat head, and the dog was munching away on it like a tasty treat. Totally uncalled for. When we got into our gate, all three dogs started fighting over it as Dundee chased them around the yard trying to get it away. Classic.

Since we were apparently off school, we had a pretty uneventful day. We hung out at the house for awhile, and then made our first journey to the supermarket. It was a pretty sweet grocery store, and we got ourselves some delicious stuff! A couple waffles for breakfast, some bread to make peanut butter and jelly, Mr. Potato Crisps (which is a way cooler name for Pringles), and some candy (I'm feeling chocolate deprived out here!). It was pretty exciting, I must say. After that, we headed back home for some dinner and our second Amharic lesson.

We have two wonderful Amharic "teachers". Really they're just friends of ours that Dundee asked to teach us. Amare did our first lesson, and last night Ready taught us. He taught us the alphabet, which is just so big and tricky! He tells me that I speak better than some Ethiopians because my pronunciation is so good. I'm thinking this isn't true at all, because half the time I pretty much just make up sounds. It's such a tricky language and a lot of the time it's hard to tell what sounds they are making, which leads to me just guessing away. Therefore, my pronunciation cannot be amazing. Sorry Ready, I'm not sure I believe you! :) Learning Amharic is really fun though, and I hope we are able to learn a lot while we're here. Ready even gave us homework, so we've got some studying to do this week!!

After our lesson, we had our first Ethiopian coffee ceremony! Everyone has been talking about this, so we were pretty excited. It's quite a fancy little thing. First, they roasted coffee beans over a little fire with coals in our house. Then they grind them up by hand and make the coffee. It was yummy! They serve it with popcorn, which seems like a random combination...it's quite enjoyable, though.

Kendra and I decided today was kind of like Thanksgiving in Ethiopia for us, due to the large amounts of food we were given. Because the school we are teaching at is celebrating their third anniversary, a bunch of moms from the community cooked lunch at our house. It was a huge lunch, and there were lots of people there. Kendra and I filled our plates with delicious food, and then started eating away. When we were almost finished, and totally stuffed, Dundee started talking about how we have to finish everything on our plates and then get more to eat because "it's the culture" (notice the quotes...Dundee often tries to trick us, and when we asked other friends they told us otherwise). Kendra and I said no way, we couldn't eat anymore. As we finished, Dundee asked one of the people that cooked to bring us more, and we ended up with another full plate. We ate more, but couldn't manage to finish. Right after that, they started giving us coffee, popcorn, and other snacks. It was just food, food, and more food! So very much food. I'm ready for a nap :)

Oh and guess what? We still love Ethiopia ;)

Officially an Ethiopian Chef!

Wow, I feel like it's been forever since I've posted! To those of you that live to merely read my blog (I know, that's a ton of people), I am so very sorry. I hope you survived the wait.

You'll never guess what Kendra and I got to do on Tuesday. Well, if you have Facebook you might be able to guess. Anyways, we got to shower!! First real shower in 12 days! I know, that's disgusting. Just keep in mind that during that time, we did clean off using bottled water. No worries. I've totally smelled like a beautiful flower every day in Africa...don't doubt it.

In other news, we went to the orphanage on Tuesday and played with the 6-12 month olds. I know I've already mentioned this, but it's ridiculous how little they get changed. When we got there in the morning, they were just waking up. They got pulled out of bed and put on the floor without being changed. When we left for lunch four hours later, they were laying down for naps and just being changed for the first time that day. All of them were in wet clothes, and stinky. That can't be comfortable. You guys (whoever is actually reading this) should just come adopt these babies because they are incredibly adorable and would be so much better off out of the orphanage! The nannies seem nice enough, but the babies just don't get cared for very well and it's really sad. They cry and cry (probably because they're sitting in soaking diapers and stuck in a tiny room) and Kendra and I can only hold so many babies at one time. I could go into a lot of details, but let's just leave it at this: the babies are so super cute, and the orphanage is a rather sad place.

On a happier note, we've handed out a lot more toys recently! We brought beanie babies to the toddlers at the orphanage, which they loved, and a bunch of little toys to the 6-12 month babies at the orphanage. They were so funny...even the babies were fighting over the new toys. Their old toys totally got the cold shoulder. At the school on Wednesday, we brought some tennis balls. Oh man, were these a hit! There are about 90 kids at the school, and I only had 10 that day. It nearly caused a riot. After about a half an hour when they stopped attacking each other, they had a lot of fun. Some were kicking back and forth, others were playing catch, and a few were playing basketball with me...sort of. I was the hoop, which resulted in me getting a tennis ball to the face pretty often. But they had so much fun, and we can't wait to bring more.

The kids have tests all week this week in school, so they have half days. In the morning, they test the whole time. Then they have about an hour of playtime outside, and then they go home. When my class was testing, only half could test at a time because the room is so small. If they all tested at the same time, they would be practically sitting in each other's laps (because this is how they usually have to sit) which would make cheating pretty easy. So for over an hour, half of the kindergarten students sat squished on one side of the classroom silently. They had nothing to keep them busy, they literally just sat there and waited to take their tests. It was quite the process. As they finished and handed them in, I was looking them over...a lot of them didn't do very well. These kids need some serious school catch-up! They have next week off, because these tests finish off their semester. After that, Kendra and I will make those little five and six year olds hit the books ;)

Speaking of hitting the books, we had our first Amharic lesson yesterday! Amare is one of our amazing and brilliant teachers. He taught us all kinds of stuff...I've got some practicing to do! Next time I skype with you peeps, I can show off my skills. Get ready.

Okay, be excited. Because when I get back to America, I can make Shiro for all of you! Tigist, who cooks and cleans for us at the house, taught us how to make it yesterday. It's very similar to stew/soup, and it's delicious. This weekend, we're supposed to be getting an injera lesson, too. I could pretty much be an Ethiopian chef. It's impressive, I know. Get ready to taste some authentic Ethiopian when I get home! Kim, I know you're crazy pumped, but unfortunately you're going to have to wait another two and a half months. Sorry.

We had our first blackout yesterday! We had our second blackout yesterday, too. So that was pretty thrilling. The first happened when we were playing cards with Amare and another boy (whose name I have no chance of spelling right, so I'm just not even going to try) at our house last night. It was dark out, since it was nighttime (sidenote: we couldn't find the moon here for like a week and a half. But no need to fret, we finally spotted it a couple nights ago), so when the power went out we had to bust out some flashlights. In the end, it was a bit anticlimactic because the power came on about five minutes later. The second time, we had just killed several bugs and were peacefully reading in bed. When all the lights went out again, we decided that meant it was time to sleep. I suppose we should have turned the lights off before, because when the power came back on at like 1:00am it was pretty bright in our room. Kind of a rude awakening...not that we didn't fall right back to sleep :) Not gonna lie, my bed here is pretty comfotable!

This morning, we got up nice and early and got ready to head to the orphanage. We've been pretty proud of our minibus skills, feeling almost like legit Ethiopians working the system. We didn't feel so confident anymore after we were standing on the side of road for an hour and a half trying to flag one down. Usually we can get one...not so much today. We gave up at about 9:00 and went home feeling defeated. Dundee was at our house, and we told him our sad story. He laughed, and told us that he would drive us to a store today to buy some things for the kids at school instead. As a result, we didn't get to go to the orphanage today because we aren't as good at being Ethiopian as we thought ;) but we did get to buy some fun kid things! Casey, Maggie, Brady and Henry...I've got some souvenirs for you, too!

I think that brings us pretty much up to date for now! Hopefully I didn't forget any thrilling stories...I always feel like I'm leaving things out. I suppose when I get home and show you the one and a half bajillion pictures/videos I have, I'll remember all the other little stories. It's gonna be intense! :)

Bustin' A Move, Ethiopian Style!

Last night, Dundee and his friends took us to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. It was quite the experience! There was music, dancing, and yummy food (obviously). We had two giant things of food that everybody ate from...all kinds of stuff on top of injera. I actually have no clue what I ate. But I'm alive and well today, so it couldn't have been bad! And it was certainly tasty. The music was fun, and the dancing was...I don't really know how to describe it...you should just see these people move. It's crazy, I don't know how they do it. The good news is you can all laugh at me when I get home because the guys we were eating with made us go up and dance, and I have a video of it. Too bad the internet isn't good enough for me to upload it now, I know you're all dying to see me busting some Ethiopian dance moves :) There were four guys and four girls dancing, and every once and awhile they go out and invite people to come dance with them. Of course, they invited us...perhaps because all the guys eating with us kept pointing us out to them. Even though I'm sure I looked like a total fool, it was fun!

Staying out late partying it up at the Ethiopian restaurant meant two very sleepy girls this morning! After all, we were out til like 10pm. That's like two hours past our bedtime. Since we have quite the commute to the orphanage (it takes about an hour, maybe more, by minibus), we got up early and got going. It's pretty easy to get ready in the morning, seeing as we still have no running water. In cases like this, there's only so much you can do to make yourself look decent. Anyways, I spent my morning with the 6-12 month babies. There are nine of them, and every single one is adorable. They were cuddling with me and climbing all over me all morning. Love it. It's a messy job though, being with those babies...good thing I have a fantastic person to do my laundry every day (I know, so spoiled!), cause my clothes are a mess! I have mashed up food, drool, and...possibly baby pee all over me.

That's one of the problems at the orphanage. They use cloth diapers, which takes some getting used to. But they leak a lot, and the nannies that work there don't change them all that often. It results in holding wet babies fairly often. This is a bummer for us, and I imagine the babies as well. It can't be comfortable sitting around in wet clothes, poor little guys. Another thing that confuses us is the fact that the babies all stay in their little room all day, every day (at least all day every day that we've been there...so even if they get out, it's not often). They don't get to go outside, or even into another room in the building. It's the same with the other infants and the toddlers. We don't know why they don't get to go outside and get some fresh air, or at least a change of scenery. It's sad, because the babies have barely anything to look at or play with. Combine that with the fact that they don't leave their tiny room? It can't be the best. Kendra and I are planning on asking if we can take one or two out for like an hour at a time while we're there. Let the toddlers run around, give the babies something to see...

We've finished at the orphanage for today, and are hanging out at Lime Tree (our very favorite wifi cafe). We kind of live here. It's like our home away from our Ethiopian home. While we were munching on our Tomato Fir Fir, we met a really nice couple who had two girls with them that they had just adopted. Fun! We also ran into someone we know, which is funny because we are on the other side of Addis Ababa right now. Really though, we're pretty popular out here. We run into people we know all the time. We see friends at Kaldi's, on random streets 20 minutes away from our house, at Lime Tree across the city...everywhere! You'd think we knew tons of people out here already! What can I say, we're pretty awesome.

Just some odds and ends! (1/21/12)

Seeing as we've had a rather uneventful day today (by uneventful I mean we woke up, ate breakfast, took a nap, ate lunch, went to Kaldi's and then Lime Tree, the wifi cafe) I thought I'd just write about a few random little things...

Most excitingly, as some of you may have seen on Facebook, Kendra and I found out a couple of days ago that we can actually purchase a donkey for ourselves for only 800 birr...that's like $50! What a steal! This blows my goal of "befriending" a donkey way out of the water. Could you image? A pet donkey! And it's win-win for everyone: Kendra and I get to have our very own donkey for three months, and then Dundee said we can donate him to the organization when we leave. We win, Strong Hearts wins, obviously a great plan. I'll keep you posted on the shopping for donks (that's how cool people say donkey, btw).

Unfortunately, we have still only have one legit shower since leaving America. You see, although I told you a few posts ago that we had running water, it's apparently not totally true. The water comes on and off...more off than on, though. So whenever we have time to shower, it's off. Of course. You're probably all picturing me disgustingly dirty and smelly, but I swear I'm not. At least, not as bad as you're thinking :) We've found ways to help. Just yesterday, we did a nice hair washing in the sink using bottles of water. The other day, we made a sort of shower with bottled water as well. It takes creativity, but it's worth it. That, and lots of baby wipes and perfume....

Yesterday afternoon some of Dundee's friends were hanging out at our house with us. They're some funny guys! You're going to have to use your imagination a bit here, and it probably won't be as funny for you. It might be one of those "you had to be there" moments. But I'll share anyways. Kendra took out her camera and took some pictures and one of the guys said (Ethiopian accent here) "Did you just take my pic?!" Another said at one point, "That ain't funny." Both times, we about died laughing...you have to imagine that these guys usually speak in broken, yet very proper, English. After all, it's their second language and you don't hear them using slang. So the words "ain't" and "pic" coming out of their mouths were hilarious.

Last night, we went to dinner and a movie with friends (side note - there were 8 of us all together and we all fit into a tiny 5 person car...success). For dinner, Kendra and I shared a vegetable pizza. The description said, "all kinds of vegetables". We were thinking pretty standard pizza toppings...peppers, tomatoes, onions...the usual. But no, it was really all kinds of vegetables. Among other things there were carrots, green beans, and cabbage. Ethiopia, that's a little weird...just saying. It wasn't bad, but it was certainly a little odd.

This morning when I awoke, I discovered something had tried to snuggle with me in the night. A small black bug, curled up right next to my pillow. Those of you that know how much I hate bugs, just listen to how tough African life has made me already: I didn't even freak out. I simply squished him. Yes, I killed him even though he was just trying to cuddle. Kendra and Lee Ann think that's not very loving, but I don't let just anything crawl into bed with me!

Today, at Lime Tree, I got spaghetti. I had some left, and since I'm in a third world country with lots of hungry people I thought I should take it to go rather than throwing it out. So they dumped my spaghetti onto a piece of foil and folded it up. Creative.

A quote from Kendra: "I think my tattoo dyed my skin." I informed her that I think that's kind of the point... (a note from Kendra {deanna does not know about this} I meant the area AROUND my tattoo... not the actual tattoo. Speaking to non-english speakers makes your english BAD)

To my peeps in America: I want to Skype with you! It's no excuse to not be on Skype at 3am your time when it's noon here and I have internet. You need to start being more accessible ;) But really, I have internet at other times too. So get on that Skype, fools! That's all for now, just keep that in mind. Thanks.

The Minibus: A Five-Senses Description

In previous posts, I've written briefly about the wonderful transportation we use here, known as the minibus.  Seeing that we spend so much time on these fantastic vehicles, I've decided to give you a more detailed description today.  I'll be using the five sense and perhaps by the end, if you close your eyes, you can almost understand the experience of being a passenger.  Alright, here goes!

Sense Number One: Sight
These beauties generally come in a nice, chipped coat of white and blue.  Rarely are they without many dents, scratches, broken mirrors...you get the idea.  There's a sliding door one one side for people to pile in and out of.  This is where the "conductor" stands.  The conductor, a guy ranging in age from 9 to 30+ years old, balances on the step just inside the sliding door and sticks his head out the window to yell for passengers.  On the inside the van officially seats 10, including the driver.  However it would be quite the sight to see a minibus carrying only 9 passengers.  Generally, 19 is more like it.  In fact, the minibus Kendra and I took just this morning had 19 people in it.   And that wasn't even the most crowded minibus we've been on.  As you can imagine, looking in from the outside you see many people squished into a space that is far too small.  Looking out from the inside, you see cars and pedestrians alike trying not to get run over.  It's most frightening when you're sitting in the front seat.  The first time you manage to grab a seat up front you think, "lucky me, I have so much leg room!" even though you're still sharing the front seat with two other people.  Quickly, you realize this is a scary place to be and the leg room might not be worth it.  When sitting in the front, beside the driver, you have a nice clear view of all the things you come so close to hitting.  People, animals, cars, other minibuses...with no driving rules, it's kind of a free for all.  Therefore the sense of sight is much less terrifying in the back seat.  In my opinion.

Sense Number Two: Smell
More often than not, when climbing onto a minibus you are overwhelmed with the smell of body oder.  Sometimes you think to yourself, "I don't have running water, so I haven't showered in days...is that awful stench coming from me?!" but then your friend smells you and says that you actual smell quite nice.  You stop worrying about yourself, and try to locate the culprit of the fumes.  If you can discover where it's coming from, you can attempt to face the other way.  If not, you just have to breathe as little as possible.  On really lucky trips, you are able to secure a seat next to a window.  Open that baby up, and you smell the fresh (although very dusty) air outside rather than the stale oder inside.  It's quite a relief.

Sense Number Three: Taste
I can't say I've tasted a minibus yet.  I imagine it would be quite unsanitary, and probably not very delicious.  But if I ever get the opportunity, I'll be sure to give you an update.

Sense Number Four: Touch
Personal space is something you cannot be concerned with on a minibus.  To get on the minibus, you often have to push past crowds of other people trying to get on the same minibus as you.  Once you get on, you most likely have to sit practically in someone elses lap.  As I said before, having 19 people or more in a van that holds 10 is not uncommon.  Sometimes, you have to sit on a teeny stool up against the side of the minivan, or balance on the very corner of a seat.  You also get really bad leg cramps sometimes from sitting in awkward positions, but there's not much you can do about it since you can't move...at all.  So, you sit through the pain.  The seats, when you manage to get one, are fairly comfortable.  Pretty standard van seats, with some rips and holes in them.  On certain minibuses, your seat may not be firmly secured to the floor anymore.  In this instance, it's even more like riding a roller coaster.  Hold on tight.  It's always a bumpy ride.

Sense Number Five: Sound
When looking for the correct minibus, you need to listen carefully.  The conductors stick their heads out the windows and yell their destination.  When you hear yours, you flag him down.  Sometimes you have to ask where the minibus is going, but with your American accent the conductors have trouble understanding.  When this happens, you rely on the other passengers to try to translate for you.  Once you get on, you can hear a wide variety of sounds.  Some minibuses have music, others don't.  When music is playing, it could be anywhere from American rap songs to traditional Ethiopian music.  You might hear people talking about how there are "faranje" on the bus, or you might hear Kendra and Deanna laughing a lot.

I think this about sums it up!  Now next time you're driving to work in your nice car, you can think of Kendra and I heading to work in our fancy minibuses :)

Pickpocketing, black tongue, and lots and lots of birr... (1/18/12)

Okay, okay, the truth comes out in this blog. I've officially been pickpocketed. I wasn't going to say anything, for fear of giving my mother a heart attack. But with this story coming out, she'll know I'm not keeping any details of this trip from her! See Mom, I told you I'd tell you everything...even the slighty scary things. Don't worry, though, it was only a pair of headphones! So here's the story...

Kendra and I had our first day at the orphanage yesterday, and we left for our three hour lunch break (yeah, what? Three hours? I can't eat lunch for that long.) to find somewhere to eat. As we were walking down the street two boys, maybe 10 years old, came up beside us and started asking for money. We get this a lot due to the fact that we're "Faranje", so it was no big deal. We just kept walking, and there were plenty of other people around. I was holding my bag in front of me, because we have been told many times to watch out for "sneaky stealers" (side note: everyone also tells us that these pickpocketers don't harm people physically, they just try to quietly take your money...not good, but not the worst). Anyways, these boys weren't giving up and were starting to get very very close, practically stepping on my feet. I felt his hand go for my bag, so I grabbed it closer to me and we swatted him away, essentially. I checked for my wallet and camera right away, the only valuable things I had with me, and they were still there. I didn't find out until we got home that he had grabbed my headphones from the side pocket. Bummer! Still, it could've been a lot worse. Today I switched bags and am now using my backpack that came to Europe with me (not the giant one, of course, the mini one that comes off the giant one) because it is practically sneaky stealer-proof. It opens in the back instead of the front, so no one can get in while it's on my back. So don't worry, Mom and Dad, all is well. I even got new headphones today...they only cost a couple of dollars, since everything is so cheap here! Which brings me to my next story...

As most of you know, we have to pay a fee to volunteer. It's $1400, and it goes towards our housing, food and whatnot for the 12 weeks we are staying. We were not allowed to pay it until we got here, and just started trying to figure it out today. One American dollar is equal to about 17 Ethiopian Birr. If you do the math, that means our fee is approximately 24,000 Birr. That's a lot of birr. As I said, things are very cheap here. Let me put it into perspective for you: A carmel macchiato at Kaldi's (which is exactly like Starbucks) is like 12 birr. That's about $1.50. A big restaurant meal (I'm talking like not fast food...a legit restaurant) costs no more than 50 birr. That's around $3. A 30 minute taxi ride costs about 80 birr...that what, like $5? I think it costs that much just to sit down in a taxi at home. You get the idea, it's cheap in Ethiopia. A few birr goes a long, long, long way. Getting back to the point, you can only imagine what you could do with 24,000 birr here! So today, we attempted to get that money to pay the fee. As a result, I feel kind of like a drug dealer of sorts. Currently, I am sitting in a wifi cafe with 6,000 birr strapped to my stomach. So is Kendra. We failed at getting anywhere close to 24,000 birr from the ATM. We assumed we wouldn't be able to get it all at once, but we thought maybe 10,000 at a time? Not quite. So, thus far, I have 6,000 birr of the 24,000 birr fee. The best part is, the ATM gave me a HUGE wad of 50's. So here I am, with lots and lots of birr. Luckily, Kendra and I brought our money belts (I know, we are SO cool!) so we have our piles of money safetly hidden beneath our clothes :) We're going to ask Dundee if there's a bank that will let us take out the rest of the thousands of birr that we owe, which would make things a lot easier!

And the last story: The Black Tongue. I wasn't going to write about this either, because at first I thought maybe this is something awkward...or disgusting, and therefore embarassing. Further research shows that it is not. In fact, apparently it's quite common, so I'm willing to share with you. Last week, I woke up in the morning and went to brush my teeth only to discover something awful. My tongue was black! What that heck?! I was able to brush it away, but it pretty much freaked us out (naturally, because a black tongue is just gross!). Well, a few days after it happened to me, Kendra woke up to the same surprise. With this, we decided it was time to google "black tongue in Africa". Good news, it's not caused by some weird disease (or, what I was more concerned about, eating a large black spider in my sleep...remember the one that escaped under my bed?!). It's actually from Pepto Bismol! We learned this, and thought back: both of us had taken some the night before the black tongue incident (we haven't actually gotten sick yet, we both just had little tummy aches). Apparently it's some sort of reaction. Weird, but a relief!

Well, that's enough odd stories for one day! Bye for now :)

Anyone need a baby? Cause...there's some really cute ones here. (1/17/12)

First day at the orphanage today!! We absolutely loved it. I was so happy to get to go there! I feel like I don't need to say this but...the kids were adorable. Obviously. In fact, the minute we walked into the orphanage, we were attacked with hugs from the toddlers. They had never met us, but they were so excited to have us there.

The orphanage is quite far away from our house; maybe a 30 minute minibus ride. But it's definitely worth the trip. When we got there this morning, we were given a little tour and introduced to everyone. There are about 50 kids there, from newborns to 13 year-olds. The older boys have a room, as do the older girls. There is a toddler room, and two infant rooms as well. Aside from that, there's a kitchen, an office, and some space outside for play. Not surprisingly, it's very small for housing 50+ children. Not only that, but the amount of supplies they have is extremely limited. The toddlers have very few toys in their room, and the infants have only two balls and a rattle. They're in old-school reusable diapers, and very, very old clothes. We can't wait to bring them some toys tomorrow! Thanks to all you that donated, you'll be making their day, I bet!

After we were shown around, we spent our day in one of the infant rooms. The one we were in is for newborn - 6 months, and the other room is for 6 months - 1 year. All morning, we held little babies. There were 5 in our room; 3 boys and 2 girls. Already, at less than 6 months old, you can tell these little babies have become "self-sufficient", for lack of a better term. They soothe themselves, fall asleep without being rocked, don't cry for bottles, and hold their bottles themselves in their beds. They are happy to just be laying on the floor, without toys or anything. It's sad, they have learned to be like this because there aren't enough people around to give them the attention little babies should get. There often isn't someone to rock them, feed them, play with them. But we couldn't get enough of them. We held them and played with them, and gave lots of hugs and kisses! One of the little baby boys, who can't be much more than 2 months old, is there because his mom left him in the toilet at the hospital. How sad is that? He is so tiny and cute, and Kendra and I spent a lot of time holding him. Another thing we thought was sad is the fact that they have so few toys. There is almost nothing there for them to look at, hold on to or play with. The whole time we were there today, they were in their little room. They weren't even taken outside to look around or anything. We're not sure if this is how it always is, or if it was just today for some reason. Either way, we'd like to take them outside to get some fresh air and a change of scenery...these babies need something more than sitting in a tiny room all day every day. Although it was kind of sad, I can't tell you enough how cute they are.
We spent a little time with the toddlers, too. They were amazingly well-behaved! They all share a room, and we went in as they were being served lunch. They ate on the floor, and as they finished they cleaned their places, put away their dishes, washed their face and hands, went to the bathroom, and climbed into bed to take a nap without being asked. Woah. Impressive. They are incredibly cute as well, and you can tell they just want attention. I'm excited to bring some fun things for them tomorrow!

We didn't get to see the older kids much today because they were at school until late afternoon, and we were in the infant room. Hopefully we'll get to meet more of them soon.
We left to head home at 5pm, and it took us quite awhile to get back...those minibuses can be tricky! We have to take 3 to get home, and we managed it. After walking in a few circles. When we got home, there was meat and injera for dinner! We haven't been given meat since we arrived...crazy! And the injera was delicious. Kim, I know you think I'm lying :) but I really love this stuff now. The injera is so good, and when our house runs out Kendra and I miss it dearly. It's good stuff. Also, btw, on our lunch break today we ate at "Chicago Cafe Restaurant". Sweet!

Alright, that's all for tonight...bedtime! Miss you peeps at home and can't wait to talk to you all! Until then, peace out :)

Running Water?? What?!? (1/16/12)

Surprise of the day: We came home around 10pm tonight to the wonderful news from Dundee that we have running water!! And he says by tomorrow, we should be able to shower! I don't even know what to do with myself. When I turn the knobs for the faucet in our bathroom sink, water comes out. A steady stream. It's legit. You can also tell that water must be running due to the fact that both the toilet and sink have sprung a leak, leaving a nice sized puddle on our bathroom floor. But no worries, there's a drain in the middle so it shouldn't get too bad. And it's better than no water at all, right?! So pumped. Tomorrow, I might get to take my second official shower. Oh! But guess what else? Kendra and I managed to wash our hair in the sink with bottled water this morning...so I'm actually feeling quite clean. :)
Today was our first official teaching day. Wow is teaching in Ethiopia different than teaching in America! Oh my goodness gracious, quite the experience. Today I taught English and "Maths". Usually I will teach science as well, but they didn't have science today. It was not an easy task! Meagan, I probably should have paid more attention in Sister Mary Eunice's class or something, because trying to teach 30 five- and six-year-olds who know very, very little English is tough. Especially when the teacher working with you knows very little English herself, and therefore cannot clearly tell you what you should be teaching. I am working with a teacher who actually works for the school, and she's very nice. However, there is definitely a language barrier. Lots of sign language and guessing is going on. For Math, she wanted me to "review anything" because the kids have an exam next week. Using the one tiny math book they have for reference, I did my best! The kids seemed to understand most of the lesson. Another tricky aspect, though, is the fact that this school has nothing. They have so little school supplies and resources, it's unbelievable. We have one mini dry-erase board hanging on the wall that I had to use for the lesson. Nothing for the kids to use, nothing to do activities with. I think I'm going to try to make some things to bring in to make the lessons more exciting. That's the other thing...these are kindergarten students, and they essentially listen to the teacher lecture all day. It's amazing how well they just sit quietly and listen! Although they are fantastic listeners, I'm hoping I can find some things to bring in or buy to help them get involved in the lessons. Something interesting to end this school talk with: Today, my teacher gave a little quiz during their Amharic lesson. After she graded it, she made all the students who got zero points stand up in front of the class. Um, bummer!

After we taught all morning, we got to walk home for a lunch break. After lunch, we went back to school and, so cute, nap time was just ending. Okay, again, 30 kindergarten students in an incredibly small classroom. Of course, they have no where else to go for naps. They were all sitting in their chairs, heads resting on their arms on their metal tables. And most of them were asleep. Kim, get your preschoolers at Northbrook in shape! ;) There wasn't even a teacher in the room. She was in the room next door drinking some tea while they all quietly slept. It's sad that that's how they have to nap, but amazing how well-behaved they are.

After school ended, we went home and Amara (one of Dundee and Tamrat's friends) taught us a bunch of Amharic words...we're getting good! And we start lessons tomorrow...watch out, I'm going to be fluent soon! Then, we went out with a sister of someone I met in Northbrook. She was very nice, and took us to a fantastic cafe. It's beyond fantastic, because it's the first place we've found to have wifi! We didn't know this when we went out with her, so we didn't have our computers. Now don't judge us, but after we got home, we grabbed our laptops and headed back to take advantage of the wifi (yeah, it's like a 30 minute journey, but that's how much we miss you all at home and want to talk to you!). Getting there was quite the experience. We took a minibus most of the way (I've written about the craziness of these in a past blog, I believe) and then grabbed a taxi for the end of the ride. Unfortunately, our taxi ran out of gas in the middle of the road...nice! Our cab driver got out and sprinted to a gas station. Kendra and I couldn't stop laughing. Nevertheless, we made it back to the cafe and happily got online. The connection was even good enough to put pictures on Facebook! Get ready to be proud of us, now. On the way home, we had to take a cab because it was late and the minibuses had stopped running but...our cab driver got lost. Guess who told him the way. We did. The two girls who have lived here for less than a week. I know, we're amazing.

So we're home now, chilling in bed writing our blogs. We're incredibly excited, because tomorrow we get to go to an orphanage! We're really looking forward to it!!

I have a few random things to tell you, and they don't really fit in. So, this is going to be the paragraph of random stories. Good? Okay, first of all, everyone here gets excited when I tell them my name is Deanna. They say, "Oh! The Queen!" They mean Princess Diana. Today, I gave the adorable little girl at our house (she's the daughter of the fantastic lady that makes our delicious food and washes our clothes) a bouncy ball. She was so funny, chasing it around. Cute! Last night (Lee Ann, this ones for you - remember when I freaked out about that bug and had to sleep in your bed with you?), I had my first African spider encounter. It was big and black, and scary. And fast. I suppose maybe it was small for an African spider, I don't know, but it was big compared to the spiders I've seen in America! Well, I was too slow to squish it because I was freaked out. Bad move, because it escaped to beneath my bed. I can't get under there, so I'm not sure where he is. Anyways, I was very brave and slept just fine. Impressive, I'd say. Kim, Ben, Cheryl and Jeff, next story's for you. I can't remember which one(s) of you kept teasing me about the clicking but...guess what. It's real. No, Amharic is not all clicks. I told you. But there is a "letter" that is a click! Dundee and Amara have been trying to teach us how to pronounce is (aka click correctly) but we can't do it! They think it's hilarious. It's so hard! Maybe I'll have it down by the time I get home, and I can show you. :) Now a story about Kendra. Last night, I got up in the middle of the night (like 3am?) to go to the bathroom. Kendra (who wakes up before me every morning) sat straight up in bed and in a very loud and cheerful voice said to me, "What, you're getting up before me today?!" I responded by telling her, "No, it's the middle of the night...I'm not getting up." Dummy. Last random tidbit, I just want to let you all know that they give us a LOT of food out here! And you thought I'd be hungry...no way! We are given breakfast, lunch and dinner at our house every day. It's usually pretty normal Ethiopian food...lots of bread and vegetables. It's all very good! Apart from that, people always want to take us out to restaurants or for coffee. Yesterday, we went to a super delicious Italian restuarant! I could talk a lot about the food, but for now I'll just say that there is no need to worry because I have plenty of it.

Whew, it is late here! Way past our bedtime. Which reminds me, they tell time differently here and it's only the year 2004. Odd. I'll explain that another day :) Anyways, off to bed! Since we have our wifi cafe now, we might be able to Skype more! So you peeps keep your Skype open, I'll be around! Miss you all!!

Stranger Danger? Apparently not in Ethiopia

Highlight of my day Friday (although secretly exchanging my rock hard pillow for a soft squishy pillow we found in the other bedroom is a close second): When we were walking to the school that morning, a little boy (maybe 7 years old?) just walked up beside me, took my hand, and started walking with us. So strange. Evidently the rules of "stranger danger" don't apply in Ethiopia. It was no big deal that he had no idea who we were, he just wanted to walk with us. When we gave him a sucker, he got so excited and popped it right into his mouth. Candy from a stranger?? Not a problem. He's not the first kid to take candy from us, I just think it's interesting. In America, if a kid just walked up to some random person, took their hand, walked down the street with them and then ate their candy, Mom and Dad would not be pleased. Everyone is just so friendly here that I guess it isn't a problem! Crazy. Anyways, just a little difference I thought I'd share. The little kid was so cute, by the way. In case you were wondering.

When we got to school Friday, the kids were playing some Ethiopian games together. One game was similar to Duck Duck Goose. The other game was hilarious. All the kids stood in a big circle, and two would get in the middle. The two in the middle had a piece of fabric tucked into the back of their pants so it stuck out like a tail. They would then run around trying to get the other person's fabric to win. It was so funny, these little kids had such strategy! And their faces were so serious. I took a video of it, so someday I can show you all :) When we came outside again later for play time, Kendra and I took out bubbles that we had brought. Wow, were these kids excited! Excited is an understatement. I was nearly trampled by a stampede of children. It seems they really enjoy bubbles. A lot. They were crowded around me, trying to get as close as possible (we have a movie of this as well!) to the bubbles...they were pulling on my clothes, jumping on me, and at some point one of the kids got boogers all over my pants. Bummer. I guess the excitement was just too much for him. It was crazy how excited they all were with such a simple thing. But I suppose when you don't have bubbles very often, it's pretty fun! We disappointed them to the max when we stopped for the day and told them we'd bring them again on Monday. We had to keep saying, "Sanyo!" which means Monday (although I'm sure I spelled it wrong again...I'm learning tons of Amharic words, and I can say them but...spelling is another story!), until they all finally gave up. Honestly, it was getting a little dangerous. Small children were starting to get trampled. Bubbles aren't fun anymore when the mob gets too crazy. But we'll bring the excitement back again next week :)

Fridays are half-days at school, so we were off at lunch. We walked home, and of course lunch was on the table. Why wouldn't it be awaiting our arrival? Our laundry had also been washed, again. Seriously, I'm living the life of luxury over here (besides the fact that we don't have running water...still). Really the water issue has been more humorous than problematic, though. Anyways, we ate a yummy lunch and then went out for a bit. After we came back and relaxed for awhile (we were really pumped about trying out our new squishy pillows, definitely a huge upgrade) we went out again with Dundee, one of the people from the organization, and some of his friends. We went to Kaldi's and got coffee, which was fun.

This morning (Saturday), we went to the Marcado (spelling?) which is the largest open-air market in Africa. It was huge! And wild. Crazy busy. Luckily, one of our peeps took us so we wouldn't get lost. There were people and shops everywhere! News flash: I'm white. I don't think that fact has ever been commented on more than it was at the market. Just about every five steps we took, someone was either yelling to us "you" or "faranje" ("foreigner") or saying hello, asking how we are. It was funny how many people made a comment. Obviously we stick out here. It was all very interesting, and certainly different from any market I've ever been to! We bought our first souvenir there, a scarf for each of us. They are made in Ethiopia, and we're pretty excited about them! Aside from that, we just walked around for a long time looking at everything. I think you can literally buy anything you need somewhere at this market. From clothes to electronics to chickens (both alive and dead). It was unbelievable. I took a couple videos, but it was tricky because I had to watch out for the "sneaky stealers" that our Ethiopian friends told us were there...but don't worry, those sneaky stealers got nothing from me! Oh, and good news. I took the first step in befriending a donkey. There were tons at the market, and we got to pet one. Don't worry, I used lots of hand sanitizer after. Awesome.

We're having a really good time here, and are getting a lot more used to everything. Everyone is teaching us new Amharic words every day, and we are even going to get real language lessons starting Monday. We're meeting more and more people, and getting to know our way around. And we haven't even been here for a whole week! I like it a lot so far, though of course I really miss you all at home! Anyone wanna come visit? ;)

Freckles

Dananachu? For those of you that don't know Amharic as well as I do, that means "How are you?" (although I really don't know Amharic that well, so I probably spelled it wrong:) ). But I'm learning!

This morning we woke up and had breakfast, which was of course waiting for us at the table. My milk had been poured into a pitcher this morning, which was quite disappointing. I mean, how often do you get to have milk in a bag? Too bad. After breakfast, we were taken over to the school that we will be working in. It's a short walk, about 10 minutes, from our house. On the way, we bought bottled water from a "store". Really, it's a hole in a wall. Literally. It's across the dirt road from our house and in the middle of a wall is a small window and a room that's about 5 feet by 5 feet. There, after walking over a bridge of sticks covering a big ditch, you can apparently buy bottled water. It's no Jewel Osco, but it worked out for us! The walk to school is nice. There are tons of people out on the street (and plenty of donkeys and goats as well, but I'll try not to talk about how much I love that in every blog post...) and they are all very friendly. Many people apparently think it's really funny or awesome or something that we're, well, white. We get comments on it a lot, and people yell hello to us from all over. Little kids even walk up to us just to shake our hands. We're basically celebrities...

When we got to the school, as soon as we walked through the gate (by gate, I mean more like a sheet of metal that encloses the area used for the school) kids were all over us. They ran over and grabbed our hands, arms, anything. They were all smiling at us, and would get so excited when we said hello. By the time we got there, they were getting ready to start class so they all had to line up. I am officially helping a teacher of the "lower kindgergarten" class. The school is tiny, only 3 or 4 classrooms. To my teacher friends, listen to what these classrooms are like: Each class has about 30 students (and I mean young students, such as my class of 30 five- and six-year-olds) in a room that is, at most, a quarter of the size of classrooms in America. They are incredibly tiny rooms, and mine doesn't even have electricity. There are some small metal tables with little chairs all in rows, and one little dry erase board hanging up. That's it. The most amazing part was how the kids acted. Those 30 kindergarteners were so well-behaved, I couldn't believe it. They sit in their chairs, in their rows, and just listen to their teacher and do exactly as she says. They are so quiet and attentive, and much different than other kindergarten students I have seen. Not only are the rooms tiny and seemingly incredibly inadequate for these students, but the outside area used for the school is so surprising. It's all rocks and dirt, with piles of rubble and sheet metal "fences". There are huge sticks and debris everywhere, and one metal slide with two swings. Still, the kids seem to have a fantastic time playing out there. It just goes to show how much we take for granted in America!

Today, I just watched the class I will be working with. On Monday, they say I will start teaching Math to students who are behind, along with teaching English to the entire class and science as well. This will certainly be a different experience from teaching in America. After they had their lessons, they had some play time outside. I went out to play with them, and kids were fighting over my hands the entire time. They don't even care what I'm doing, they just want to be holding hands. They kept asking me, "Where do you live?" and when I'd say, "America" they'd all go, "Oohhh America! America!" As a group of kids crowded around me, one noticed my freckles. When she asked what it was by pointing to all the spots on my arms, I told her "freckles". From then on, they talked about it constantly. "Freckles, freckles, freckles!" as they pointed all over me. They would show me their arms and say, "No freckles!". One little girl even said, "You give me all of them!" Apparently she wanted to have my freckles. Who wouldn't? Anyways, they were super cute...so easily entertained, and so happy. And so well-behaved in school! Amazing.

After school, Kendra and I did something very, very exciting. We...hold on, get pumped...took a shower!! Yayyyy! No, we still do not have running water in our house. Yes, this means we're still washing our hands with only hand sanitizer, wiping our dirty dusty feet with baby wipes, and pouring a bucket of water into the toilet to "flush" it (I can't believe I just admitted that...) at home. But today, after not having a shower since we were in America on Monday, we found a way! When we were free to leave school, we took one of the very exciting minibuses, without help from our organization peeps, to the little area by the coffeeshop we went to yesterday, Kaldi's. There's a gym there and we paid to use the gym...and then used their showers. It was spectacular, and I feel clean and awesome. Then we got some coffee, used the internet cafe for awhile (at which time no one from home was on facebook to chat with me...what the heck people, just cause it's like 5am your time is no excuse!), and headed back home.

Now we're sitting around relaxing, waiting for dinner to be served ;) Speaking of being served, when we got home today all of our dirty laundry had been washed and folded. Seriously, I might be getting spoiled here! We're both exhausted, maybe still a little jet lagged. It's hard work exploring Ethiopia!

Well, dinner's ready on the table! And this is incredibly long, anyways. I promise I'll try not to write too much every time, I don't want to get too boring ;)

Miss you all!!

Plenty of donkeys, not so much running water...

Hello from Ethiopia!!

After many, many, many hours of flying we arrived safe and sound in Addis Ababa. There's so much I could tell all of you already, I don't know where to start!

Our layover in Turkey was thrilling (not so much)...though I did set off the alarm at security, which led to a pat down for me...oops! We hung out at the airport for three hours and tried to get cell phone service or internet, which was very much unsuccessful. After another five hours of flying, we finally landed in Ethiopia at about 1:00 in the morning. We got our Visas, and went through customs. Then, we went out to meet the people from the organization who were picking us up. Tamrat and Dundee both came, and are from the organization. They also brought two Swedish boys, who were volunteers that left to go home today. If only you could see the car we rode in. Six people, a lot of luggage, and a very tiny car. Me, Kendra and the other two volunteers squished in the back with luggage piled on top of us. It was a fun ride! There was absolutely no one out in the middle of the night but, get excited, I did see my first pack of donkeys! They just walked right out in front of our car, carrying all kinds of stuff on their back. I was pumped, to say the least.

When we got to our volunteer house, we were shown our room. Kendra and I are sharing, and have the room to ourselves. In fact, we are the only two volunteers in the house for a couple of weeks, since the two Swedish boys left today. We even have our own bathroom! But wait, it's not quite as luxerious as it sounds. When we arrived last night and turned on the faucet in our bathroom, nothing came out. We didn't have running water (though there was a bucket of water in the bathroom, apparently for cases like this). We tried it again today, and still, nothing comes out...better hope it starts working soon, cause we haven't showered since America! Ew :)

Our room is pretty basic, definitely nothing fancy. Two beds, a few shelves, and three little drawers. We unpacked as much as we could, and tried to get a little bit organized. I'll try to show some pictures later, but we don't have much internet yet so I'm trying to keep it simple. When you see pictures, you'll be able to tell I'm not living like I was in America...that's for sure!

After we got settled, we slept for a couple of hours and then got up for our first real day in Addis Ababa! This morning, we got out of bed and breakfast was waiting for us on the table in our little kitchen. Coco Krispies, milk in a bag (not a carton, a bag), and bread. Not bad. Next, Tamrat took us on a little tour of the area we're living in. I can't even begin to describe how different it is here than it is in America. When we leave our volunteer house, there's a little rocky dirt road. People are all over the sides of the road selling things and making things. Everyone seems nice, and it seems very safe. The kids all get excited to see us walk by and yell "faranje", which means "foreigner". After walking maybe half a block, we passed by a cow head. Just the head. On the side of the road. A nice sight to see. Tamrat walked us to the school/orphanage where we will be spending most of our time. There were no children at the school today, because they are off for a holiday. When they aren't at school, they are at the orphanage which is a little farther away. We got to look inside the school, but we won't meet the kids until tomorrow.

Tamrat then took us on a minibus to Kaldi's, the Starbucks of Ethiopia! The minibuses are crazy - they are essentially very cheap taxis (cheap as in about two American cents for a ten-fifteen minute drive), and you hop on and off wherever you need. People cram in, far more people than there are seats. Not only are the minibuses crazy, but driving in general is wild here. There aren't stop signs, street lights or street names, and there really don't seem to be many rules. Everyone just goes. On our short drive, I saw more donkeys, goats, and sheep than I think I've ever seen. They walk down the streets all over the place carrying things on their backs. Personally, I think it's awesome. We even saw some oxen! Despite the crazy roads, we made it to Kaldi's just fine and had some delicious (and super cheap!) coffee.

This afternoon, after stopping back at the volunteer house to enjoy a tasty lunch (again, waiting for us on the table...I'm going to get spoiled!), we went with one of Tamrat's friends to the Ethiopian Museum and the lion cages. The museum had just about everything about Ethiopia and the lion cages...had lions. And monkeys, actually.

The weather here is beautiful. It's warm and sunny, and perfect for walking around outside. Despite the fact that it does definitely look like a very poor country, it has a pretty landscape with mountains and hills all around.

All in all we are certainly roughing it, but we're actually having a really good time. I'm really hoping to get some time on the internet today so I can post this and talk to all you people back home! I miss you all already!! :)

The Adventure Begins!

Hi everyone!
I've never done a blog before, so I hope this lives up to your expectations and isn't too incredibly boring :)

Only a few short hours until Kendra and I will be off to the airport.  I still can't believe we're actually going!  To AFRICA!  And to think it all started with a little texting...

Deanna: "Hey, wanna go to Africa for a few months next year?"
Kendra: "Yes!"

And so it began.  So simply!

I'm sure those of you that are actually reading this already know, but just in case...I'm going to the far away land of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to volunteer in an orphanage.  I'll be there for 12 weeks, working in the orphanage Monday through Friday and hopefully doing lots of sightseeing on the weekends (I know, Kim and Cheryl...you don't think there are any sights to see...but I've heard otherwise;) ).  While I'm there, I have a dream to ride a camel and an elephant.  Because that would just be awesome, obviously.  I have no clue if this is even possible, but I have high hopes.  I'm also planning on befriending a donkey...I hear they're all over the place out there.  I figure it'd be kind of like a puppy.

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with my packing job.  We are allowed to check two suitcases and carry on one.  We had a slight problem today when we discovered that our checked bags can only weight 44 pounds...not 50.  It doesn't seem like a big difference, six pounds, but it really is!  After some rearranging and a few eliminations, we've shed some suitcase pounds though and are hoping for the best :)  My biggest suitcase is still a bit overweight...but it's all toys, stuffed animals, and other things for the kids.  So I'm hoping the airline will let that slide.  We'll see how nice they are!  Besides that, I'm bringing my big backpack that travelled with me to Europe.  That sucker weighs a wonderful 45 pounds (I know, one pound over!) and I'm proud to say I can carry it on my back, no problem.  It's filled with everything I need for three months in Africa...lots of bug spray, soap, meds and band-aids, among other random things.  Last and most impressive, I have fit all the clothes I'll be taking into my small carry-on suitcase.  If you know me, you know I usually pack more than that when I fly to Arizona for a week.  Therefore, pretty impressive.

Today, I've been working hard to live up my last day in America.  Mom graciously turned up the water heater and I took the longest, hottest shower I think I have ever taken in my life.  With my eyes wide open.  My doctor says there can be none of that in Africa...apparently we don't want dirty water sneaking in through our eyes and making us sick!  After that, I planned a lot of eating.  Mom made pancakes for breakfast, and bought me Portillo's for lunch.  Kendra and I have planned a stop at Chipotle on the way to the airport tonight.  Yum.  After that, it's African food for us!  Injera and wat, here we come!

We leave tonight at 9pm and land in Ethiopia on Wednesday at 1am (Ethiopian time).  On the way, we get to spend a delightful three hours in Turkey.  That should be exciting, I've never been to Turkey before! I'm sure their airport will be thrilling.  It'll take 11 hours to get to Turkey, and another 5 to get to Ethiopia.  Fun times, for sure.

Alright, that's enough about my life while I'm still in America.  The exciting stuff (hopefully!) comes after I start living my life in Addis Ababa.  I'm not sure how fantastic internet will be in the volunteer house, but I'll get back on here when I can after I arrive to update you all!  Thanks so much to all my family and friends who have helped me make it this far...I couldn't have done this without you :)

Peace out, America...see you in April!!