Archive for December, 2008
December 24th and 25th
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
This is what my new nativity set looks like. I like it a lot!!
Christmas Eve started with a church service that had a loss of power, which was quite fitting in some ways because this being a Christmas Eve service, we all had candles. So we lit them early, listened to the Christmas story by candlelight and sang Christmas carols acoustically. I was surprised at how much this service reminded me of something in the states and how much I’m just not used to this style of doing church anymore. I like swaying and clapping my hands more than sitting so solemnly. Then I had pizza with my friends and opened an unexpected gift from a friend of mine.
In general, Ethiopians have been really sweet about helping me celebrate my Christmas since theirs isn’t until January 7th (Orthodox Christmas). I have received many text messages wishing me a Merry Christmas and questions of “How was your Christmas??” over and over again. I really appreciate the value of kindness in this culture! It is wonderful!!
I had a really great Christmas, better than I was expecting. C. and I started off the day opening our few gifts from Santa by the tree and having my traditional Christmas breakfast of rice pudding. Then we had some coffee and hot chocolate and did some last minute shopping and headed to our friend’s house for lunch. Once there we did a white elephant gift exchange, had some delicious food, chatted with our friends and played with the cute kids there. One of the kids even made up a song for us and somehow put the whole gospel into it. It was just what we all needed to hear!
In the evening I went to yet another friend’s and to my surprise I got to play the piano with a violist and a violinist. What a treat! The music was beautiful, the company was great and so was the food!
I never expected Christmas away from home and family to be this good. Thanks for your prayers!!
Christmastime Is Here??
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
This is our cheesy Christmas tree! (much better than nothing)
So right now our days are filled with sunny 70-80 degree weather and stores are putting up their Christmas trees and other decorations. It feels kind of strange for me. There aren’t any Christmas songs playing in the stores, but Christmastime is here and Cindy and I are trying to make the most of it without our families. So, on Saturday we went Christmas shopping, mostly for ourselves since our Christmas packages for our families won’t get here in time. We bought Ethiopian nativity sets, baskets, makeup, etc. etc. We spent way too much on a fake Christmas tree and cheesy lights and decorations. I made my favorite Christmas cookies and went to church on Sunday to a wonderful Christmas presentation. It made me fall in love with God more to realize just how far He reached for me in bringing His one and only Son to this crazy, harsh world. So, tis the season to be jolly. It’s not the usual Christmas season for me, but it has many fun unexpected twists and turns in it. And to top it off, I was given more offers of places to spend Christmas with than I could accept.
Everyone’s Fine All The Time
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
When you ask someone in Ethiopia how they are, most people say, “I’m fine,” and it’s starting to drive me CRAZY. I’ve been here for four months and I really want to know how people are really doing. What does “fine” mean anyway?? I want to know when someone’s had a good day or a bad day and why. I want to be a part of their lives and I can’t do that very easily when they don’t tell me what’s going on.
Okay, enough venting…I know this is just part of moving to a new place. It takes time to make real friends. And this is partly a cultural thing. My Amharic teacher told me that people only tell their really good friends how they’re really doing. So, I guess I need to become that really good friend to somebody and earn their trust.
Thanksgiving (sorry, no pictures because my camera ran out of batteries)
Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
For Thanksgiving, our boss invited Cindy, Matt and I to join their family and friends at the most luxurious hotel in Addis. They had a Thanksgiving buffet—complete with all foods Ethiopian and Indian, but without key Thanksgiving foods like cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie with real spices. So, it was a mixed blessing, although I felt like such a snob complaining about the lack of Thanksgiving food at a 5 Star hotel. But as an American I just can’t help but have certain expectations for Thanksgiving.
It was a nice time to be spoiled by a nice meal and beautiful hotel, but it felt very strange to go by a neighborhood full of shacks and then walk into such a fancy hotel. The richest of the rich in Addis and the poorest of the poor sleep right next to each other and something about that seems wrong. As I tried to speak in a little Amharic with the hotel staff they looked at me surprised and some of them smiled. I don’t think they hear Amharic from a forengee (the common word for foreigners, aka my new name) in this place.
As Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is approaching, I realize that these holidays just won’t quite feel the same without my family. That’s just life here far away from home. Nonetheless, I have to enjoy them for what they are. I have never gotten to go out to eat for Thanksgiving. My family always slaves away in the kitchen the whole day. And I’ve never celebrated Christmas in Ethiopia and here I’ll probably get to celebrate it twice since Ethiopian Christmas is in January.
An Unexpected Visit to Harar (I Missed My Flight!)
Saturday, December 13th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
View of Harar
Dawit @ his university
Me, Cindy, and Matt
a classic house in Harar
gateway to the old city in Harar
As I stared at the clock at the airport at 3:45 a.m. and wondered what to do since I missed my flight, I decided to go with my friends Matt and Cindy to Harar.