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? ;)
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? ;)
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