June 3, 2009
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
1 Corinthians 3:16
“...and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God”
1 Corinthians 3:23
Today was an awesome, incredibly draining day. First off, the call to prayer at 5:45 was louder then it was the morning before and kept me up for forever. Then , Briana went with me and Blair to work. We walked to where I would pick up my first mini-bus (oh by the way, I’ll be traveling throughout the city by myself) where she told me I had to listen to hear where the buses were going (from the guy leaning out the window yelling) and to get on the one going to Piazza. I swear though, these people talk so fast that I can’t understand a word they say. After we got on that mini-bus, I had to pay attention to where we were going so I would know where to get off. Once we got off, we had to walk down and around and across a few more streets (all of which I am supposed to remember!) to catch another mini-bus (more intangible yelling) to another stop I’m supposed to remember, and then walk down a few more roads to the school.
Once we finally made it to the school, we talked to Nicodemus, the man who started the school. I filled out a paper to become an “official volunteer” and Briana and Blair left for Asco. I was outside then and a ton of the children mobbed me, shouting my name and wanting to give me hugs and kisses. We ended up playing games outside (it was recess or break or something) and we played something like ring-a-round-the-rosy, and another game sort of like follow- the -leader or a conga line. The children kept singing me songs too. Some of the kids actually started getting into shoving fights over who would hold my hand or sit next to me. Finally, the kids went into their classrooms and a teacher told me I would be sitting in on Azarat’s KG2 class, so the kids I was with dragged me back there and I sat in as Azarat taught science, mostly in Amharic.
After that, the lunch was brought to the class room and I got to help serve it. I also ate the food with them. It was a huge portion of rice with potatoes, carrots, and onions, and it was really good~ but it was just so much food I had trouble eating it all. After that it was free time again and I ended up playing futbol with the boys, which was pretty fun. They all seemed to think I was a pretty good player! Then I went to the first grade room and sat in on their art exam and English exam.
Hyptomu, a friend of Briana’s and of Cherokee (plus a taxi driver) came and picked me up. He was so sweet and concerned and reminded me of a worried parent because he was lecturing me about how to get home on my own and warning me about talking to strangers. He then showed me a map he had drawn and told me about how I would need to go by mini-buses once I was going to Kechene by myself. He told me that I would need to hail a mini-bus going to Piazza and get off after the big round-about with the statue in the middle - then he told me to get out of his cab and do it….by myself!! He told me he would follow me in his cab but that the best way to learn is to be “practical” and do it yourself. For about 2 seconds, the greatest fear ever seized me and I was terrified, but Hyptomu hailed the mini-bus for me and I got on and everything was fine. Once I got off I got back into Hyptomu’s cab and he told me about all the other roads I would need to walk down and which buildings I should pass to get on another min-bus that leads to Tor Highluch, where Cherokee House is. We then went and picked up Blair from Asco Orphanage and repeated the process, except I went with Blair in the min-buses.
It has been quite the day and though it has been good and I have learned a lot, I am not ready to face the mini-buses on my own yet!
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