Archive for April, 2009
I have an infection : ( Please Pray!
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments
I have a nasty skin infection from an insect bite on my left leg. At first I ignored it which was dumb and now it’s all red and even purple in spots. Oh how I wish my body was use to living in this country!
I have seen a doctor though and I’m getting better. I could just use some prayer because it’s making me tired and disappointed that I have to be sick on my one and only five day weekend before the school year is over! Please pray! Thanks!!!
Melkam Faseeka (Happy Ethiopian Easter)!!!
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Here’s a pic of Ayantu, Me and Meski in traditional clothes (this one’s for you, Mom) on Fasika, Ethiopian Easter, which takes place one week after International or European Easter. One of the strange and yet somewhat nice things about celebrating holidays in Ethiopia is that Ethiopians tend to celebrate the same holidays at least a week later. So in this case, I celebrated Easter for a week, starting with International Easter and ending with Ethiopian Easter.
Probably one of the most memorable things about this service is that it was in English and Amharic. I really enjoyed watching people worship Jesus in Amharic. They sway, dance, and show more emotion on their face then when we worship in English. There’s something very special about worshiping God in your first/heart language!
After church I went to my friend Blen’s house and had really really tasty Ethiopian food, watched Bruce Almighty and hung out with Blen and her family. It was especially nice to be with a family on Easter since this is the first Easter I celebrated without my family. Thanks Blen and Fam!
Ode to Sheep, Goats and Other Animals Whose Lives Are Sacrificed
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
This is a picture of one of the sheep herds who live in my neighborhood. Sometimes when I am at home I can hear the crack of the whip as a sheep or goat herd walk past my house. This is the sheep herd after Fasika (Ethiopian Easter). It is significantly smaller than it once was. People in Ethiopia buy goats, sheep, chickens, or other livestock a few days before major holidays here. Then on the day of the celebration, they kill the animal, eat it, and discard the leftovers outside for the stray dogs. I’ve been told that Ethiopians can taste the difference between freshly killed meat and frozen meat, something I think I’m learning too, crazy enough.
The Beautiful Church Near My House
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Finally afer living here for eight months, I took a picture of this beautiful church. It’s called Medhane Alem–Savior of the World and it is probably the biggest church I have ever seen in Addis. The name of my neighborhood is even named after it–Bole Medhane Alem. Bole is the general area and Medhane Alem describes that it is the area of Bole near the church.
Medhane Alem is an Othodox church. There is constant chanting heard from the church, especially on church holidays. In fact, on Good Friday people spent all day at the church, commemorating Jesus’ death and crucifixcion. I was very humbled by this personally, because I don’t think I could spend all day at church. I might not agree with everything that the Orthodox Church says, but it is the oldest form of Christianity and I have a high respect for the level of devotion people in this church can give to God.
A Trip to Debre Libanos
Monday, April 6th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
A group pic in front of a cool rock formation and water (Can you find me? Hint: I'm the only white person in the picture on the left hand side : )
All of the Bible Study groups from the English service at my church decided to take a day trip to Debre Libanos, which is about a two hour bus ride away from Addis. It was a wonderful and very fun trip. I wasn’t all that impressed with Debre Libanos as a town, but the views reminded me of The Grand Canyon and I had a blast with my friends.
First we went to the local Orthodox Church and Monastery. Then we went to a cave where a man prayed for something like 30 years on one leg. Talk about crazy devotion to God. You can also get holy water from the cave. I didn’t try it. I don’t care how holy people say it is, it will probably still get me sick. Then we went to a hotel that overlooks the canyon, ate lunch, the DRAMA girls and I performed our skit, and then we went for a mini hike. The picture you see above is at the final destination of that hike.
All in all, it was a great day and a great way to get away from Addis and bond some more with my Ethiopian pals!!!
LIONS!
Monday, April 6th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
A Lion @ The Lion Zoo--the dark hair below the mane is unique to lions in Ethiopia.
Lions are a huge symbol here in Ethiopia. You can find them on buses, statues, and other prominent places in the city of Addis. Recently I went to The Lion Zoo in Addis. It was a bit of a rip off by Ethiopian standards, but never had I been so close to a lion or its roar, which was exciting and made me glad that they stayed in their cages. : ) Their cages, however, were a bit depressing. They were dark, made out of cement, without anything green around to make it feel at least a little bit natural. These particular lions were the grandchildren of two lions that Haile Selassie (last and most famous emperor of Ethiopia) brought to the zoo. The lions I saw were very beautiful, even though I was a bit sad seeing them trapped in a cage
DRAMA Girls
Monday, April 6th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
This is a pic of me and three of my good friends…Alsay, me, Aberash, and Betreh. We are all in the same Bible Study and I am calling us the drama girls because recently we performed a skit about the needy people in our congregation and how we need to provide for them. I play the needy person, and they play the people at our church who don’t notice my neediness at first. Performing this drama was entirely out of most of our comfort zones but it was a good experience, and now we’ve been asked to perform the same skit for our church’s Easter service. SCARY!
They are wonderful, fun girls who I have been able to share my life with and I am so thankful for friends like them in this country. We try to get together often and chat, have slumber parties, etc.