Archive for May, 2009
Something New….
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
These are five high school girls I’ve been getting to know at the youth group at my church. They are super fun and I’ve had a blast getting to know them. I’m hoping to be like their big sister/mentor/Bible Study leader in the near future. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get to know them better. They are great girls!!!
Cultural Dress Day!!!
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
So, here are some pics from Cultural Dress Day. The costumes represent many tribes in Ethiopia, as well as cultures outside of Ethiopia. Don’t ask me which one is which. I haven’t learned that yet. It was a pretty fun day..filled with cultural dances, dramas, poems, and the grand finale-singing the National Anthem. This was the last hurrah before we start all of our testing starts next month. I guess that’s it for Cultural Dress Day. Hope you enjoy the pictures!!!
A (Rather Stressful) Field Trip
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Part of Prep B on the bus
- I love how Medhanit posed!
Isn't she cute? Meron is super loveable!
Miss Melat and Ali with beautiful smiles
I asked the kids to be silly. This is my all time favorite picture!!
I like how random this picture is.
Since it’s the end of the year, and my beautiful/special/wonderful prep students are moving onto Grade 1, we took them all on a field trip. I was under the impression that field trips are supposed to be fun, but unfortunately this one was rather stressful. Teachers hardly smiled. They shoved kids into straight lines and rows and then asked them to smile for the many pictures I was asked to take. I wish they had just let me use my own artistic license and take the pictures I wanted to take, but sometimes my bosses are rather controlling. I struggle with this.
On the plus side, I had a blast singing songs on the bus with my students. It was a wonderful feeling as a teacher to hear how well they knew all of the English songs I had taught them. I also loved watching them smile as they went on rides at the amusement park and saw animals at the zoo, especially the lions and monkeys. Their joy was definitely my joy that day and I’m so glad I was there to see it, in spite of the stress.
The Messages on my Wall
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Here are two pictures of things that I look at every day in my room. They are two huge reminders to me of what is really important in life…to trust God and to know that I’m loved.
“Remember You Are Loved” is a poster that I made to remind myself that there are people back home who love me, even though I am so far away and keeping in touch can be a challenge. Most likely if you have sent me something it is either on or beside this poster. Thank you if you sent something and thank you if I call you a friend or family member!
I think I’ve told this story before, but when I picked out which room I was going to have in August, I did not realize that the back of my door had the words “In God We Trust” on it. This was and continues to be a huge reminder to me of the reason I’m here. I trust God and His Plan and Purpose for my being here.
Thank you God for Parents and Grandparents!!
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
For some reason, this week I have heard about several friends tha I have here who have either lost both or one of their parents at a very young age. One friend lost his dad when he was 22. Two of my friends in their late 20s/early 30s have already lost both of their parents. Another friend lost his dad when he was 12 and his mom when he was 18.
And then there’s me. I am one year away from 30, and I still have both of my parents and even all four of my grandparents. How did I get so blessed? It’s certainly not because I somehow deserve it more than the rest.
How does God’s will play out that some of us get to say goodbye to our parents when they’re old and some of us don’t? I don’t know. I’ll never know. Somehow God has different roads for us to walk. But when I realize that I still have my parents and grandparents in my life, I am so grateful that I’ve had this much time with them! Thank you God and thank you family for doing your part to stay healthy!!
A Wedding And A Funeral–When The Community Comes TOGETHER
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Sometimes life is full of big events all at the same time. When it rains it pours….
Last Friday, everyone in my Bible Study group and I went to the wedding of our friend Aiyantu. She’s the first one in our group to get married and I’m sure she won’t be the last as most of the people in our Bible Study Group are currently single.
It was a beautiful wedding. It was mostly in Amharic, but my friend Blen translated for me. I like how the audience claps often during the ceremony. They make more noise than is heard in American weddings. They clap when the bride and groom exchange vows, rings, and sign the marriage certificate. After the wedding we went to the reception, had tasty tasty Ethiopian food, took tons of pictures, worshipped (The Protestants here do not dance at weddings. They “worship,” which involves some culturally appropriate dancing.), and had loads of fun!!
Then on Sunday (two days later) when we were all eating lunch, which we always do on Sundays, Sandra got a phone call that Goitam’s (another one of our members) mom had just died of cancer at the age of 47. I watched as everyone agreed to drop whatever they had had planned for the day and go over to Goitam’s house to be with him.
Personally, I am amazed at the level of community and support that I see from my friends in Bible Study. Sometimes in Bible Studies I’ve been in, we discuss what it means to have true Christian community. The Bible Study I’m in now doesn’t really talk about it (they don’t need to), they just do it.
For the wedding, we donated money to the bride and groom and plan to host a meal in their honor when we can give them their gift. For the passing of G’s mom (and this is more typical of Ethiopian culture), friends have come to G’s house every day since her passing and have spent hours there just being with G and his family. Some have even spent several nights there as well. Today, we are planning to host lunch at their house in support of them and their huge loss.
So, that is the end of my story. Coming from America, a much more individualized society than Ethiopia, I am learning tons about what it means to have true community from my fellow Christian friends here!!
Pick-up Lines and Other Funny Happenings
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
As a single foreign woman in this country, you can get a lot of random pick-up lines without even trying. Here are some of the hilarious ones Cindy and I have received from men whose names we were never told…
1. Will you marry me?
-No.
-Why not?
-I don’t even know your name.
2. Would you marry me so that I can move to America to be with my girlfriend who lives there? (How romantic!)
3. I never kissed a white girl before.
4. I like white women.
5. I love you. (You believe in love at first sight?)
6. I need an English teacher. Will you teach me?
Funny things that have happened in Ethiopia….
1. Balding Man: The sun took my hair. My hat eats my hair.
2. On the way home from Harar, our bus stopped in the middle of nowhere. Why? So someone can buy a goat for dinner which they then strapped on top of the bus. (Poor goat!)
3. Question: How do you know when a goat has good meat (you buy it when it’s still alive)?
Answer: Just smell his butt. (Not sure what it’s supposed to smell like and I’m not going to ask!)
The Funny Things Kids Say
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Here is a compilation of the funny things our students have said so far this year. Hope you enjoy!!
Question: Where do you swim?
Answer: I swim in my bedroom.
Question: But where do fish swim then?
Answer: They swim in the dining room.
Question: What is a kind of sport?
Anwer: Gameboy.
Question: Name a famous Ethiopian runner.
Answer: Barack Obama.
Question: Does a dinosaur still exist?
Answer: Yeah, in America.
Question: Where does a lion sleep/live?
Answer: In my bedroom.
Question: What does the doctor do?
Answer: He eats people.
Child’s response to looking at Van Gogh paintings….
“Miss Ruth, is that your sister in the painting?”
“Is that Superman in the sky?”
(Children’s response to the big bandage on my arm from injections…
“Miss Ruth, is that punishment??” (Sure felt like it for Miss Ruth!)
“Miss Ruth, did someone beat you??”
A kid said this to me during the last quarter of school…
“Miss Ruth, you’re a foreng (foreigner), yes??”