7/27
This past month has flown by. I really
cannot believe that we are leaving in about a week! I have been so
blessed to spend the first month of my time here in Nekempte! It is a
beautiful city filled with lots of love and laughter! The Limero's
could not be any sweeter. They have been such gracious hosts and feel
so much like family!
Speaking of family!!! I was able to
Skype with a big chunk of mine today! It was so awesome to see their
sweet smiling, and sometimes fish, faces! It sounds like they are
having a great time and I am really loving seeing the pictures! Also,
I am trying to get pictures uploaded, but I have not had much luck
the few times I have tried, but I will keep trying because I really
would love for you to see the faces that I see on a daily basis! I am
really going to miss this place and these wonderful people.
The girls time and English class has
been going amazing! I couldn't of asked for a better group of people
to share life with. The English class meets Monday through Friday and
so far I have a pretty steady group of about 11 to 12 people coming.
It is usually all boys, but sometimes I get the treat of having a few
of my girl students show up. I am going to have a awards ceremony/
party on Friday and those students that have only missed two classes
or less get a certificate! They are very excited about this because
here certificates are a big deal! I will probably have about 4 people
that will get one! This is partially due to the fact that I have let
people continue to join even up to last week.
Girls time is actually starting to
become more and more like what I had imagined it would be. Like
yesterday, I gave a Bible lesson on the fruits of the spirit and how
to actually live them out in your life. Then, we talked about God
having a plan for each of our lives. This lead me to the song “still
that girl” by Britt Nicole! This song is a beautiful reminder of
how God has a plan for all of us and how we all still have a that
little girl inside of us that can change the world! If you haven't
had the chance to listen to it, DO IT! At the end one of the girls,
Galanie, prayed that they would all be like the girls I talked about
that day and that we could all be like the girls in the song. This
almost brought me to tears.
College time is another one of the
pleasures I get to attend. Today was college time and we weren't able
to get a translator, but it did not matter. We played games and just
hung out with each other. This was a blessing in itself because a lot
of times, between the language barrier, cultural differences, and
just the fact that they see us as the missionaries; It can be hard to
really just blend in and hang out as a group. That is why I am feel
so blessed that in less than a month these guys and gals have become
friends and it really does feel like hanging out! In fact two of the
girls are going to come over on Monday and braid mine and Kayla's
hair!
Last week we had five of the girls
over for tea and it went awesome! Kayla and I were a little nervous
about saying or doing the wrong thing. Once they got here, it was
very clear that we had nothing to worry about. We served tea and it
is customary to have a little snack, so upon Doretha's suggestion we
served bananas(muzies), bread(dabo), and some delicious
cookies(biscuits). The girls loved it and we had a blast. We played
Uno once every one was finished with their chi(tea). After, Kayla and
I laughed about how it really did feel like having some of our
friends over.
7/28
We officially have one week until we
leave Nikempt. :( :) :/ All of these faces are how I am feeling about
that statement. I am going to be very sad to say goodbye to all of
our new friends, so instead I will say “See you later!” There is
a chance that Kayla and I can finish out our time in Ethiopia here,
but this is still a big question mark. This will depend on how
everything goes in Addis and where we feel God is calling us to be.
So please pray for clarity as I know
that these next six-months will have a good part in deciding where I
go when I come back and stay long-term. I know that Kayla would also
love some prayer about this. She came on this six-month internship
not really feeling like it would lead her to anything long-term, but
I see her heart falling more and more in love with this beautiful
country. I can not blame her.
I would also love if you could pray
for me with diligence with my school work. I have always been more
people focused rather than study focused. So as I am sure that you
can imagine it has been very hard for me to stop and take the time
for my studies. It does help that the things I have to do for school
will help me while I am here. I have to read a few books and do some
reports over them. The books are great and what I have read seems to
be helpful. I have told a few people back at home that I struggle
with this and they must have been praying today because today I chose
to stay back from a fishing trip to work on some much needed school
stuff.
Steve remembered me telling him
stories about all my fond memories about fishing with my grandpa Ross
and my uncle Dan. So since Steve, Kayla, and three of his children
also enjoy fishing he took us to the reservoir the other day and it
was a blast. He wanted to take us all again, but I needed to do some
school stuff and Kayla has a Skype date with some of her family
today. So he just took the kids and I am sure he is having a blast.
It is a beautiful day here today. As I
am writing this blog there are literally birds chirping outside my
open window, the sun shining, and a nice breeze coming in. It has
been a pretty great rainy season so far. There definitely have been
those days where I walk outside and think to myself that is going to
be hot and dry and just as I have walked to far away from the house
to turn back; the sky opens up and it pours. This may last fifteen
minutes, just enough to get me soaked, or it may last the rest of the
day. This is why I have learned to always have my rain jacket with
me.
Funny story of the day. Doretha and I
were headed back from the church with Caeden, Reagaan, and Rowan to
start lunch (Steve, Kayla, and Andwyn had stopped to pick up some
veggies at one of the vegetable stands). We got to the point in our
walk where we take a bajaj (local taxi); so we got in and started
driving when the driver turns to Doretha and asks, in Oromo, “Is
that your baby or hers (gesturing towards me)?” Doretha sweetly
replies “Mine!” So the man driving the bajaj says to her “Okay!
I want to marry her then!” Doretha gave him a long talk about how
he could not marry me because I am young and that he needed to find a
nice Ethiopian woman for himself. He did not like this response so he
continued to ask “why?”. She very kindly, but firmly just kept
telling him that it was not going to happen and at the end of the
bajaj ride she asked if he understood. He said “ No. I didn't.”
She told him that he did and paid for the ride. I might add that the
whole time that this was happening I was just smiling and trying to
pick out the few oromo words that I knew, but I had no idea what they
were talking about. Doretha told me afterwards and we got a good
laugh out of it.
Kayla and I get marriage proposals all
the time and they usually make for a pretty good story and a pretty
good laugh. It is usually made better because they usually get our
attention by yelling “FERINGIE!” which means “white person”.
They do not mean anything by it, it is just what they have learned to
call us to get our attention. I have joked with Kayla about when they
ask my name to just say “Mecan co feringie.” which means “My
name is white person.” I have told them before that I am not a
feringie, I am an ethiopian and that makes them laugh and laugh. It
is never a dull moment here.
There is always something we can find
to do. There is a soccer field really close to the house. Kayla and I
walked by and saw there was a game the other day; so we stopped and
watched. It was awesome! Ethiopians play rain or shine here. They
love their “football”. There were guys that were sliding
everywhere. They did not care at all! We tried to explain to
Calbessa, our Oromo teacher, american football and he looked so
confused about why we would call it that. Tomorrow he is going to
teach us one of their worship songs! I am so excited! Wish us luck!
Thank you for taking the time to read
this and thank you for your continued prayers and support. I can feel
it!:) I can't believe that I have almost been here a month! AHHH
Lots of love!
Kait
