Stories, Thoughts and Observations from Ethiopia

Greetings all!

I pray this blog finds everyone doing incredible, getting an awesome summer tan, and enjoying life! I always realize that since I don't update my blog THAT often I often omit different things I see because of time or size and many times I forget to put things in, so here is some stories, etc. of my time here...

-About a week ago when myself, the Swede, and three Ethiopians went swimming, one of the other fellas (Teddy) left his bag that contained his passport and bank card, in a taxi in an exchange point so he had to go find out how to get it back. So he and Mohammed went to chase it down leaving myself, Johaness (Swede), and See-Sai, a former Pastor here in Ethiopia. Well See-Sai decided to go somewhere, we still don't know where, and told us to wait for him, thus leaving myself and the Swede, who also speaks very little Amharic waiting on everyone. So first we did what any like-minded whitey would do, bought some bananas to eat. So soon there was a small group of children staring close by (this always happens, I kinda love it) and we tried what little conversation we knew with them, so it lasted about 45 seconds. Then up came an older woman begging, we of course also having little money and unable to understand what she said.Then came a man up to us to tell us about his church. Then came a crazy person whom even the Ethiopians didn't know what he was saying. This crazy person drew an even larger crowd of laughing locals. So here we were surrounded and having absolutely no idea what anyone was saying. We just kept wondering when our friends would return. I of course thought the situation was hilarious and just stood there smiling. Thankfully our friends returned after about 5or 10 minutes and we were on our way...

-So everyone's name here has a meaning. Most are biblical names or names that have some to do with the bible or spirituality. For instance some popular ones translated are 'angel', 'light from above', 'patience', 'God's gift', etc. Anyways I wanted a name with meaning so I told the others at the English school. They soon came up with one, 'Rabash'. I asked them what it means and they said 'Notorious'. I thought this was kind of cool so I went with it. I told Melaku when he arrived and he laughed and I asked him why. He said the other translation for it was 'Disturber'.... So yeah.. haha.

-As I have said football (soccer) here is very popular. Well I bought a ball for the school (they have a soccer team) and my friends to use at their discretion. Well we went outside after a good rain last weekend in the neighborhood and started to play, knowing a huge crowd of neighborhood boys would soon come join, especially since their was a furinjee (white man) playing. Sure enough soon we had 4 or 5 different teams. I of course had to prove myself to these Africans so was going hard. I promptly tripped on a rock and fell on the wet ground. This happened to others too so I felt a little better about myself. Anyways after about 10 minutes I needed a break. The elevation here is so high I got winded really fast... oh and I am also out of shape... Anyways, I did score one goal against Africans.. boo ya.

-About a week ago we visited the Addis Ababa Sheraton Hotel. It is insanely nice. Look it up on the internet.

-They sell grilled corn (bucolo) on the side of the road everywhere. I love it. I buy it all the time. It costs 2 Birr, which is the equivilent of about 15 cents.

-I have only heard two Lady Gaga songs while I have been here. Both caught me off guard. She has yet to take over this country. 'Telephone' was on in a restaurant yesterday and I dedicated it to you Will Thomas Zorn.

-I miss Mexican food, Nacho Dorito's, and driving a vehicle.

-Funniest things anyone has said to me yet... "I love you more than I can say"

Anyways that's about all for now. We got the go-ahead to start this sponsorship for kids so we are constantly planning for that. This weekend we are going to Meki again on Sunday. Melaku has asked me to preach again so I am excited for that. After church we plan to play soccer and go swimming. The CrossWay International team works very hard here and I am glad they get a little break. They very much deserve it.

God is showing me so much here and helping me grow so much. It is really hard to portray it in these blogs, but I am SO thankful for all your prayers! When I come home I greatly look forward to catching up with all of you! Thanks again! Someone eat some fajitas for me already!!!!

Grace and Peace!






























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