News from Addis Ababa

I’ve been having a hard time getting onto e-mail. My roommate Bethany and I hiked to the Hilton today after class to use the Internet here, since, as far as I can remember from 2 years ago, it’s much faster here than at the Ghion.

The entry below is from my first night in Addis. I hadn’t written about yesterday and today’s class yet. I may add something at the end.

Monday night

So, I’m back in Addis. It’s so much easier to travel to a place like this when you’ve been here before. At least I knew my way around the airport. The people around me looked different than what I expected, though. That’s because a flight came in from Yemen right before mine. At the luggage carousel, I was surrounded by women in black burkas and red, green and yellow headscarves. Quite the contrast, I know. At first, it seems that Ethiopians have this thing with Rasta. But the truth is that it's merely the colors of their flag, and their previous emperor (Haile Selassie) was known as Ras (like Duke) Tafari (his actual name prior to coronation). But when he visited Jamaica, there had been a long drought, and upon his arrival, it started raining. So they decided he had brought the rain, and from there came Rastafari, the religion.

Once I wrestled my luggage off the carousel, I had to try and get it on a crowded conveyer belt again to be X-rayed before I could leave the customs area. There seemed to be maybe 5 male travelers for every 20 women, at least, and the women were feisty, pushing luggage away to get theirs on…

Outside, the arrivals hall had far fewer people than the Nairobi arrivals (though, nowadays, it’s not at all crowded due to the 80% drop in tourism…) In Addis, people have to pay 2Birr to be allowed into the airport. So unless you have to go in, you don’t.

There was a vendor trying to hawk bunches of fake flowers for 20Birr. He also doubled as a taxi agent, asking me time a number of times if I need a taxi. Which I didn’t. I was just walking around to try and find a person with a BGU sign. (I found him an hour later, but I wasn’t concerned. I knew a few others were coming in after me, so he might be late.)

I did find an ATM, which was a pleasant surprise, seeing that I couldn’t find a single, working ATM in Addis during my last visit 2 years ago. But alas, this one was out of order, too. In fact, it didn’t even have a bank logo on. The screen above the ATM had the name of a bank scribbled in magic marker. To get money out of the machine would take some other magic. It simply wasn’t going to happen.

As I was taking in the sights around me, a woman started wailing. Serious wailing, to the extent that pretty much every person in arrivals was watching her. She was with friends who took turns to hug her and console her till she stopped crying. It was a sad sight. I thought she must’ve lost a loved one. It certainly wasn’t tears of joy!

The other 3 students arrived, and with that, Imme, our driver. We walked out into the warm air of Addis and drove through the colorfully-lit streets of the city. Everything seems decorated for their recent millennium celebrations. (Ethiopia doesn’t use the Gregorian calendar like we do. According to the Ethiopian calendar, the year 2000 just arrived in September last year.)

Tuesday morning

I’m heading downstairs for a cup of famous macchiato. Not the Starbucks type. Real Ethiopian coffee. I slept OK once I got up to put my earplugs in. Lots of unfamiliar noises around.

Had a great time visiting with my roommate last night. Bethany’s a 28-year-old pastor from Chicago. Today’s schedule holds mostly introductory stuff, and then a t0ur of the city. Hopefully Bethany and I can find time in there somewhere to look at a nearby guesthouse, which is far cheaper than the hotel where we’re staying… Hopefully that works out!

It’s nice and warm, by the way. Not hot. Just comfortable.

Despite all the excitement of learning new things today, I cannot help but keep thinking of neighboring Kenya and today’s press conference. I’m praying that February 19, 2008 will go down in Kenya’s history as a day that brought peace…

Wednesday evening

Since we’re studying urban ministry models, we had a tour of the city of Addis yesterday. Jember told us about her city. I thought she has to have a real passion for history. She was able to tell us in minute detail about the city, what happened when/where. We drove to the highest hill, to Entoto, to view the city from where Emperor Hailen Selassie’s home was before they moved into the valley and established Addis Ababa. At the end of the 6-hour city tour, we stopped at one last large home that used to belong to one of the rastas (dukes) prior to the Derg (Marxist) era.

Today, it made more sense. I learned that she herself was a niece of the Emperor. I wrote the bit below during the introductory session this morning. Yes, I like to multitask.

MaAfrika, she’s been hailed. Ethiopia’s Mother Theresa. She’s sitting behind a desk that dwarfes her. Her polite smile and soft-spoken demeanor hides what a phenomenal woman Jember is.

Ethiopians call her “Sister Jember,” or Doctor Jember. Not the ordinary nurse, this is. She is the niece of the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I. Her husband, Dr. Hailegiorgis, a man with a PhD in architecture who had designed some of the most phenomenal hotels and parks in Addis, was a descendent of another monarch, Emperor Menelik II. He was also the mayor of Addis. (Menelik I, it is believed, was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.)

Their wedding was a royal one that lasted 5 days. But because of them being royal, Dr. Hailegiorgis was imprisoned for 12 years by the Marxist government. While in prison, Jember took her husband 2 meals a day, never allowed to see him. He asked for more food because he was sharing his food with the others in his cell.

Jember, herself, was later imprisoned for 5 years. She started a Red Cross training program for inmates and guards, and when she was released, she insisted on being allowed back to complete the training.

Only once everyone in the program had graduated did she leave for England, to be with their children. When her husband passed away from cancer, their sons could not attend the funeral since they’d immediately be drafted into the Marxist army. Their youngest son jumped off the 15^th floor of a building to be with his father in death…

Jember returned to Ethiopia and started a program to serve the city in a way that God would want.

It was one of her husband’s dying wishes that Jember be challenged to get a doctoral degree, which she completed in 2001. Part of the D.Div work included compiling a Handbook for Poverty Alleviation through Holistic Ministry.

And so, here we are, learning from a woman who has suffered much, but persisted through it all and is still persisting to bring about change in a country with a federal system that still bears too many resemblances to the former Marxist beliefs.

Tomorrow, we will be visiting the Patriarch, Abune Paulos. He’s a friend of Jember’s, thus the privilege of meeting him. As the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, his position is similar to that of the Pope.

After that visit, we’ll be going to some of the major Orthodox churches. I look forward to learning more.

In case you wonder: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is indeed the oldest church in Africa after the Egyptian Coptic Church. Many of their traditions come straight from the Old Testament. But they do worship Jesus as the Messiah. In a way, it’s almost like the Messianic Jewish church.

I didn’t bring photos with me to the Hilton. I will try to post photos later this week.

I haven’t been able to read the Kenyan news tonight yet, so I don’t know what’s happening in Kenya. I am desperately praying that things are going well, that there has been a breakthrough in talks.

Tuesday in Addis

We've had packed days and limited access to e-mail. Below are updates I had written last week. Today, we're off to meet the archbishop of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia as well as a number of evangelical colleges, learning from all what they're doing in the city of Addis. I'm learning lots. It's been good. I'll try to upload photos to Flickr. Not sure if it'll work.

Wednesday

Today was a really insightful day. On our tour of Addis Ababa the other day, I was watching people kneel in front of the church, praying for what could’ve been hours. I wondered if they truly had an understanding of the Gospel, or if their devotion is a blind desperation, if you will. It also didn’t make sense to me that they would pray to pictures of Mary and Jesus, or bring flowers or candles as gifts.

But today, we went to visit His Holiness, The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. (Basically, it means he’s like the pope of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.) First, we were received by His Grace, The Archbishop of the Church in Southern and West Africa. (Those of you who know me well would know that I don’t usually pay much attention to titles. But we were drilled on the right way to address or talk about these men, so there you are. We visited with HH and HG.) Ray (our professor) explained to us various aspects of the liturgy, how, in the Orthodox Church, “worship is the recreation of the drama of our salvation.”

Going on a 2-hour tour of the Patriarch’s Museum (led by a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide) opened my eyes to much of this expression of worship. And while I don’t enjoy liturgy and traditional religion, it did make me wonder if we as modern-day charismatics haven’t lost some reverence for the cross.

However, I didn’t like how some Ethiopians were bowing before HH, kissing the end of his robe, and kissing the cross… Ray had explained that the kissing was merely a hope that the virtue of a person (or icon) would rub off on you. Still, to me, it seemed more like people were worshiping the person and the cross, both of which are merely pointing to Christ. I could be wrong

Thursday

Today, we’re going to visit one of the slum areas of Addis to see the work Jember’s group has done. After that, we’ll be having a class on Poverty and Race. That should be interesting!

My roommate Bethany and I have been able to move out of our expensive hotel and move into Kristin Davis’ place. What a blessing! (I met Kristin once in Kenya. She’s the cousin of my former neighbor, Davis.)

Tomorrow, we’re having a “tourist day,” visiting the Nile Gorge as well as the oldest monastery in Ethiopia. Speaking of the Nile: I never realized how much of a source of contention the Nile has been in this part of the world. Egypt reaps all the benefits and balks every time Ethiopia, Sudan or Uganda want to use the water to irrigate their own countries. In fact, we were told that if Ethiopia could use the water in the Blue Nile and in Lake Tana for irrigation, they could grow enough food for all of East Africa. But they can’t. Egypt says the Nile is theirs. Someone even mentioned that they believe the next big war in this part of the world will be because of the Nile. Yikes, eh? (In case you’re confused by where Uganda comes into play: The White Nile starts there and the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. They merge in Northern Sudan.)

Friday & Saturday

Yesterday, we walked some of the slums of Addis. It’s hard to believe that 80% of the city’s people live in slums! And check this out: ALL the land in the country belongs to the government. You can own a house, but you don’t own the land. During the Derg era (communism), the government claimed all land. And though it’s now a federal government, they’ve not given back the land to the people. Crazy, eh?

So, anyway, we walked the slums to see the projects Jember’s group has done. They had broken down shanty homes and built brick houses with shared kitchens and communal pit latrines. (Some areas still simply have open sewage.) They built schools and youth centers, a daycare facility for the elderly, care centers for mentally and physically disabled. Projects you’d expect a government to take on, which they don’t.

People were friendly, and as always, the kids were adorable. No-one should have to live in slums, though. No-one.

Today, we’re going to visit a monastery in the Nile Gorge. Should be interesting. Oh, and BTW, I woke up last night to the laughing of HYENAS! In the city limits, yes. Kristin says this is one of the only African cities where they have to deal with the danger of hyenas. I lay in bed thinking, “That’s a hyena! No, it can’t be!” But indeed, it was.

Oh, the joys of international travel

I've flown Ethiopian Airlines (ET) six times in my life. Of this rather small sampling of their services, I've not been impressed. They have yet to prove to me that they are capable of having an on-time departure.

This morning's flight to Nairobi was rather comical, quite honestly. The check-in area was semi-chaotic. There was a group of 30-some cyclists on the same flight as I. They are riding from Cairo to Cape Town, but are skipping Kenya due to the unrest. So they rode to the border, bussed back to Addis, and are flying to Arusha. (Some are taking a detour to Uganda, or Lalibela.)

Either way, they can't be the reason for the chaos. They're just ordinary passengers, like I am. Their bikes were being carted by road, so that didn't cause a delay. But every so often, an ET official steps up and calls all the passengers going to such-and-such a place to urgently step up. When it came to "Passengers to Nairobi/Kilimanjaro," the guy's eyes just grew big when he saw that there were still several of us in line.

We finally made it through check-in, headed through customs and then upstairs, falling in line for the second X-ray, one at the gate. This took ages, and soon enough, a semi-frantic officer was walking up and down again, calling, "Passengers to Nairobi/Kilimanjaro?!" He then diverted us through a different gate (1A) to ours (1), but soon we were all herded back to 1A again, downstairs, and told to form one line. (Except, you cannot get roughly 250 people to form a single line in a small room.)

And then ensued a huge argument. One group of ground staff were confronting a second group for bringing us down too early. (By then, however, it was already past boarding time.) Their fight continued for a good 20 minutes easily, until they herded us onto busses, carted us off to a plane on the other side of the runway, where we sat again for another 15 minutes or so.

When the captain finally addressed us, he didn't even find it necessary to apologize for the delay and any inconvenience it may have caused. C'est la vie, right?

Fortunately, I didn't have a connecting flight. I really wasn't in a terrible hurry. Just wanted to get to my destination for today: a colleague's home in Nairobi.

But first, I had to
a) find both pieces of checked luggage (one piece, the one with my toiletries and my books in), seemed to have been left behind in the rush of getting out of Addis, or it wasn't unloaded from the plane and was en route to Kilimanjaro. They promised it would be here tonight. (Which it isn't. They're hoping it will be on tomorrow's flight. I'm REALLY hoping it is on that flight. All my clean clothes are in there!)
b) go to the British Airways office to follow up on a damaged luggage claim from 11 months ago. For the past just-less-than-a-year, BA has been telling me, "Come back next time." But praise God for the supervisor I got to talk to today. She apologized for the delay in getting my luggage back to me and asked me to go and purchase a new bag and bring her the receipt tomorrow. Hopefully, by then, my other piece of luggage will have made it from Addis, well rested and possibly fluent in Amharic.

All that to say: It's good to be back in Kenya. There's a definite change in atmosphere here! But my taxi driver on the ride from the airport was quick to tell me, "It would be difficult to trust our neighbors again! In fact, we were very ready for war last week!"

I'm working on a follow-up project for class in the city this week, after which I'll be returning to the village. I especially look forward to seeing the kids in Ilula. It has been far too long since I've seen them. My heart truly longs to sit with them and hear their stories, to hear what they felt, to pray with them, and to laugh with them.

It's good to be back, though some uncertainty about the way toward healing in Kenya still lingers.

P.S. A day later and I have my second piece of luggage back (it had indeed stayed on for perhaps a massage in Addis), and I got a debit card from BA today for the cost of a new piece of luggage. Nice. Very nice.

No crazy stories this week

Hay
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

I’m glad that I have no crazy stories to share from this past week. I have been able to stay out of trouble, probably because I was mostly in Debre Zeit, teaching.

What an honor to sit down with each and every one of my 32 students today and help them see the good in the pieces they had to write at the start of the week as well as to identify areas which they need to improve.

There was one day this week that I wasn’t feeling too well—eating strange food tends to catch up at some stage, plus, I believe, the “excitement” of all that I had encountered during my short time in Ethiopia caused my body to say, “Stop!” My colleague, Dr. Willie Addai taught all of Wednesday, allowing me to I take a day off to recuperate. Though Thursday was a national holiday, we had class, and so I taught the entire day.

“National holiday?” you may wonder. “Didn’t you just have a national holiday last week? We did indeed, and I’m eager to see what holiday may pop up next week as I’ve been led to believe that Ethiopia has several holidays each month. In fact, yesterday’s holiday actually started on Thursday and ended today.

While the Muslim Ethiopians celebrated The Day of the Ram last week, it was their Orthodox Christian countrymen’s chance to celebrate Epiphany this week. This religious holiday marks the end of Christmas, and is celebrated 12 days after Ethiopian Christmas (hence “The Twelve Days of Christmas”).

I was not able to take photos of any of the celebrations this week, or of the crowds, but I am told that while I was teaching on Thursday, as many as 70,000 Ethiopians gathered in our town in a procession to walk with the Ark of the Covenant (or a replica of it, at least). Many of them even spent the night in the field on Wednesday as the procession started that day. Some of the streets in town were blocked off so that the people could celebrate.

After class today, I only saw remnants of the celebrations as Orthodox Christians were walking along the main highways heading home, all dressed in white. It’s really a beautiful sight!

I may have mentioned before that all four lecturers who have been teaching at Debre Zeit have been staying at a resort halfway between our city (or town, rather) and Addis Ababa. There’s really nothing at this resort other than the rooms, a few restaurants, and a pool. You just hear the constant roar of traffic as we’re right off the highway that connects Addis to the south of the country.

Heading home today, I noticed a farm behind our hotel and decided to take a photo of the haystacks. I probably did attempt the one daring deed that could’ve potentially gotten me into trouble: I scaled the guards’ lookout tower in order to take this photo. (Our resort is surrounded by fencing and bushes, making it impossible to take a photo otherwise of the surroundings.) I didn’t get into trouble. Phew!

So, tomorrow (or today, by the time I get to upload this onto the Web) we are being taken to Addis for lunch, after which we’ll have some time at the Internet café. One of our professors (Dr. James Kantiok) has already returned to the US. Another (Christine Wood) is leaving on Sunday to teach in another district, which leaves just two of us to finish out the week.

Has this been a good experience? Despite the challenging encounters I have had in the city, I have been blessed to be a part of a program that is truly affecting the country on the whole. (Right now, more than 300 Ethiopian leaders are enrolled in Operation Impact!) But on a more personal level, it really has been a joy connecting with the students on a personal level. From the highest government levels to leaders of NGOs, Christians, Orthodox Christians and Muslim alike, the students have been a joy to work with.

But it’s not over yet. Next week, I’ll start the final week of teaching. And on Saturday, I’ll fly back to Kenya—hopefully, if the Ethiopian Airlines flight doesn’t get canceled.

This week, will you please pray:
* for the 65 students from the past two weeks, that our discussions will remain with them and that God will allow the seeds to grow
* for meaningful interaction with the remaining 30
* for my flight next Saturday NOT to be canceled
* for a safe journey back to Nairobi, and a safe flight onwards to Eldoret
* for the children and staff in Kenya—I truly miss them, especially the kids!

Blessed that you’re on this journey with me,

Adele

Haircut

My hair's been getting out of hand, but I have no idea where I can get a haircut. Kristin's told me about a good place in Nairobi (a 6-hour drive from where I live), but I'll only be passing through Nairobi in 2 weeks' time, and there won't be time to get a haircut then.

So my APU colleague/friend, Yuriko, who is in Addis for a few days, offered to cut my hair. She often cut others' hair, so I figured it couldn't be too big a risk... But we had to find scissors. That has been quite a feat! The hotel where they're staying (and where I'm visiting Yuriko, Mary and Sue for the weekend) don't have scissors. The front desk sent me to concierge, who sent me to the manager's office, who said "Sorry, we never use scissors." I finally found a pair at the Internet cafe, and she's letting me borrow them for the evening. I'll upload a picture of the process when I can get my computer hooked up to the Internet again. Actually, as I'm sitting here, my hair is HALF done. We had first borrowed a pair from another shop, but after half of my hair was cut, we called it quits since the scissors were blunt.

Yip. Imagine me with the left side of my hair long, the right side short. I don't think the Ethiopians are thinking it's particularly strange, since many of the tourists here are rather unique. They probably see more weird things than people with odd haircuts. (After I had written this update, I did manage to find another pair of scissors and Yuriko was able to finish the job. One would never think my hair was cut by anyone but a pro!)

This is it for now. I will be leaving for Debre Zeit (where my classes are held) early in the morning and will most likely not be able to connect to the Internet for the rest of the week. I might try to come to the city on Thursday since it's a national holiday, but it's not certain yet.

It's been an ABSOLUTE blessing to see some friends and to laugh at the silliest things. We have really had an amazing time, not only being goofy, but also being able to observe this culture and pray for this nation.

It is exciting to know that we are here on a program that is impacting the leaders of this nation. More than 300 government officials and other leaders are currently enrolled in APU's Master's Degree that we're offering here.

I keep thinking of random facts I want to share with you:

1. Ethiopia has no ATMs. This is challenging since I'm no longer used to carrying cash when I travel! (Praise God I brought my US check book with me in order to reimburse my friends for some things they brought for me. I could thus give them a check and get some cash!)
2. Ethiopia has only one university (though it has campuses in a few cities): The University of Addis Ababa. And this university has only one female professor.
3. Of the 300-some students in our program, there are fewer than 10 in the entire program. We're encouraging more to enroll.
4. Arranged marriages and marriage by abduction still happens in this country. Girls as young as 6 or 7 years old can be abducted, after which the abductors send a message to the family to make wedding arrangements. It hurts to imagine that!

Please pray with me and for me this week, will you?

• Praise God for one week's classes that went smoothly, and for the interaction with students, many of whom are Muslim.
• Praise God for safety amidst the many bizarre experiences I've had in Addis.
• Praise God for time with friends!
• Pray for the ability to truly connect with my students this week.
• Pray for safety in travels.
• Pray for the nation of Ethiopia...

Until I'm able to connect again,

Salaam!

Adele

News from Ethiopia

I don't want to bore you with the details of teaching a class on Academic Writing Skills. It's just been a really long week where I ended up teaching for 10 hours straight one day! Plus it has been hard in that I’m just not used to classroom teaching any more. Add to that the fact that only one of my two text books was sent (and it arrived late on Thursday), so I’ve been having to improvise a LOT. That’s hard with a technical class such as this one.This coming week, we'll have 8-hour days, so I'll be teaching in the afternoons for 4 hours every day.

I'll be exploring Addis Ababa with friends (APU colleagues) today. Mary Grams, Sue Clark and Yuriko Glessner form APU had to come and administer English tests. They also happen to bring me some treats.

It was SUCH a treat seeing friends! I came to Addis with them last night, an hour's drive from where my classes are. We were all so tired--our testing only ended at 8pm!--but after dinner we visited till way late. This morning, they're sleeping in a bit while I'm catching up on e-mail etc. We had hoped to go to Lalibella this weekend, but it didn't work out. I’ll just plan to go next weekend. There are two girls here who had just graduated from APU—Chelsea and Lara—and they said they’d want to go, too. They’re in Ethiopia for 8 months for short-term missions. They’re having a bit of an adjustment challenge since they’re not being asked to do what they were told they would be doing here. But that’s a whole other matter!

Where am I?
So, I've finally figured out the name of the town where I teach. It's Debre Zeit—pronounced “daubre zjet”--about an hour directly south of Addis. I'll be taking more photos this coming week so you can get a picture of where we are. For the time being, I'll try to draw word pictures.

Horses and Donkeys
In Ethiopia, there are far more horse buggies than there are in Kenya. (There you see more donkey cars.) Here, you'd see large trucks, old Russian-made taxis and horse buggies on the road all at the same time.

It's a beautifully simple picture to see one of the horse buggies driving towards you with an Ethiopian family on the back, the woman's head covered with a scarf.

Pictures donkeys walking on the side of the roads with hay piled high on their backs... (Mary is convinced that she wants to bring a donkey home as a pet.)

People everywhere
As in most places in Africa, you don't drive along the highways without there being a plethora of pedestrians. It seems like school started again yesterday, so add to the men and women walking to/from work (or market, or where?) to kids in their school uniforms.

School
Speaking of school, my students explained that in rural parts of Ethiopia, there are as many as 100 students per class! Can you imagine that?? Illiteracy is still VERY high in this country, too.

Food
We have had access to "Western" food (or as close a resemblence of it as the local chef can make) at our hotel. But we've also had a chance to enjoy Ethiopian food. In typical Ethiopian restuarants, you do not used utencils to eat. Instead, you get bread called injera, which you use to pick up the rest of the food. Injera is a lot like crepes, but the dough is sour and coffee-colored. Not that there's coffee in it, though. ;) Ethiopians do love their coffee, and their coffee ceremonies are similar to Chinese tea ceremonies, with people sitting around a little table in a corner and being served little glasses of coffee. (Yip, glasses, not cups.)

Ethiopian dinner tables are woven from reeds and are about 4 feet off the ground. They're round (put your arms together in a circle--they're about that size) and there's a clay "plate" upon which all the food is served. The chairs are small, too. Yes, yes, I'll take photos so you get a better idea.

Mary just showed up. We're going to have breakfast now. I'll write tonight and upload photos.

Destination: Ethiopia

I'm in Ethiopia, and was told that we'd be in a city called Nazareth. The classes were moved, however, and people tell me we're now in Omhuru (?) district. Our OI classes are held at the National Defence Training Center, so we're supposedly very, very safe. I don't feel unsafe, though.

First Impressions
My first impressions of Ethiopia was not too positive. When I arrived at the airport on Sunday to leave for Addis, I was simply told, “The flight was canceled. Come back later.” Just that. When I asked the clerk to at least give me my ticket (I had purchased my ticket online and had to pick up a paper ticket at the airport), I was told that my reservation had been canceled and the evening flight was full. “Just come back later,” the clerk kept telling me. He was not going to do anything to help solve the issue.

Six hours later, I returned to the airport. I was issued a ticket (a long and drawn-out story in and of itself) and was finally able to head through emigration. In the course of events, I had made some friends, and we ended up playing cards at the coffee shop, waiting to board our plane.

Welcome to Ethiopia!
Getting to Addis, my opinion of the country changed quite a bit. The Ethiopians, it turns out, are incredibly friendly and laid-back people.

I was met at the airport by the OI site coordinator (Dr. Badeg Bakele) and his assistant, Ephram. There were also two girls from APU with them. They're here for a couple of months helping at Badeg's church. (I hope I'll be able to travel to Lalibella with these girls during one of the two weekends I'm in the country.)

Marchiato!
So, yesterday I started teaching "Academic Writing Skills." The students have one class in the morning (this week, my group has "The Leader as an Agent of Change") and then I get them in the afternoon. You can only imagine the joy of trying to keep 35 adults engaged in the wonderfully interesting field of academic writing in an afternoon session that lasts 5 hours!

We do have a coffee break at 3:30, though, and during that break yesterday, I had a marchiato. It was not, however, like its namesake sold by Starbucks. Nevertheless, it was probably the best cup of coffee I've had in East Africa!

Referring to it as a cup of coffee isn't entirely correct, though. You get served a really small glass (perhaps a small juice glass) of steamed milk with a shot of espresso.

Meet the Students
While enjoying the marchiato, I visited with one of my students and snacked on the favorite Ethiopian snack: roasted barley. In a very gentle, Ethiopian manner--Ethiopians are very soft spoken--he asked me about my experience with Ethiopan Airlines… After answering his questions, I turned the conversation back to him, asking questions about his work etc. Turns out that he is Ethiopia's Minister of Transport and Communications!

Another of my students is one of the supreme court judges of this country. I deliberately didn't want to ask about their positions because I knew that there were some pretty important students in class, and I simply wanted everyone to be on the same foot. But visiting with them individually, you learn about what they do and who they are.

It is a challenge trying to remember the students' names. Except for the two Mohammeds in class, everyone's names are very Arabic sounding (as is their language, Amharic.) Names include ones like Getachew, Tekaligne and Abdurezelak. Try and say that one fast!

My class this week has 35 students. Only three of them are women. One of these women, I believe, will turn out to be Ethiopia's Minister of Health. She is passionate about reforming health care in her country.

I teach for five hours every afternoon (from 2-7), and an APU colleague who is from (and lives in) Ghana, Dr. Willie Adai, teaches in the morning. Today, however, we have the day off since it's a Muslim holiday.

Muslim Holiday
About 40% of my class, I am told, are Muslim. But very few of them are very devout. Today, though, is one of the three major holidays on the Muslim calendar. (The other two are Ramadan and the day they celebrate the birth of the prophet Mohammed.) Today's celebration revolves around Abraham going up Mt. Ararat and sacrificing not Isaac, but Ishmael. In English, the day is called "Day of the Ram," and on our way into the city we encountered thousands of Muslims going to prayer or coming back after praying. We also saw spots where people could buy rams, though one of my colleagues (who did his PhD in Islamic Studies) told me that the Muslims were supposed to have had the lamb yesterday already, as that is the day Abraham would have found the ram.

What was interesting was to listen to my two African colleagues (one from Ghana, one from Nigeria) talk about why they thought Islam was growing so fast in Africa. (They are both strong Christians, by the way.) They explained that many of their Muslim neighbors were incredibly hospitible and generous, and that whenever anyone in their community had a crisis, it was always the Muslims who rallied around the family first. They thought that the Christian church reaches out much less to people in need.

The majority of the country are Christians, and a great majority of the Christians (not sure what percentage) are Orthodox Christians. When you drive along the roads, you'd see people stopping to cross themselves (like Catholics would) and bowing when they as much as see a Coptic Church-even ones that are still in the process of being constructed.

Christmas in Ethiopia
The Ethiopians use a different calendar, so right now, it is the year 1998 and it's still December, I think. Christmas, it turns out, is on December 30th (Ethiopian calendar), which is our January 7th, the day after I landed in this country. In a week or so, they'll be celebrating the official "end of Christmas," or the epiphany. It's supposed to be another major holiday.

Back to Class
So, back to what I'm doing here... I am teaching a 20-hour class (with much more time spent on on-line written assignments) three times over the next three weeks. The class focuses on academic writing skills, such as how to write a proper research paper. Not the most exciting class to be teaching, but I'm supposed to know how to teach it since my official background is in teaching English as a second language, and I've taught similar classes at APU to ESL students.

May it suffice to say, though, that I am delighted that teaching academic writing skills is not what I do year round... I'm not passionate about it, and for me, I simply have to enjoy my job! I cannot see the sense in doing a job just for the sake of working.

And that's what I love about my job in Kenya, and why I'm really looking forward to going back.

Speaking of Kenya
While in Ethiopia, I've been able to watch BBC at night and see news about the severe drought in Kenya. BBC reports than the official death toll is 40, though they believe this is grossly understated since they knew of 30 people--many of which are children--reported to have died in just ONE village. The most severe drought is in the east north of the county, with a severe shortage of maize, though we have a maize surplus in the west, where I live. Please pray for rain!

I'm going to explore Addis for a while before I'm being picked up to head back to Omhuru. I will not be able to connect again anytime soon. I will upload news whenever it's possible to do so.

Now I just need to figure out how many Birr (Ethiopian currency) I have to pay for my time here...

Please pray for the remaining time with my students
* for them to understand the contents of my class,
* for me to be able to know how to adjust to their needs
* for God to work through me and the other APU faculty to touch the lives of our Muslim students, especially
* for us to also be an encouragement to our Christian students

From a hot Addis,
Adele

Sunday in Addis

I had written a long update, but left my flash drive at the home where I’m staying. I’ll try to post it in the morning. We’ve had a HECTIC schedule, going from early in the morning till late at night. It’s now 6:15, and it’s the first time in a long time we’re heading home early.

That being said, it’s been a very, very good experience. An eye-opening one in terms of urban issues and ministry. Today, we were supposed to visit 6 churches, but due to getting stuck in a church parking lot behind other vehicles, we ended up just visiting 5. Everything from an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the morning (where, by the way, you’re not allowed in if you’ve had intercourse in the past 48 hours, or if you’re having your period) to a Pentecostal church, a Lutheran and an international evangelical church. Huge differences, not only in the style of worship & liturgy, but also in the type of people they attract.

Our class is made up of a fascinating bunch of people. There are 3 students from the US (2 of whom are the only other ladies in the program), and then one guy from each of the following countries: Angola, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria. And then 2 guys from Ethiopia.

Yesterday, we drove for 13 hours (seriously!) to see the Nile River Gorge. Actually, it was about 6 hours there, and then we turned around immediately. We weren’t even allowed to get out of the bus to walk across the bridge over the Nile. We made the mistake of taking photos of the bridge (as well as the grand one they’re constructing right next to it), but the military came and insisted we had to erase the pictures. I don’t get it. Anyway. We turned around, drove 4 hours to a monastery (Dobre Libanos) where monks stay in mountain caves, but by then I it was too late to visit the caves, so we saw yet another church. And then drove back to Addis.

Had a good time visiting in the bus, though, especially the last 2 hours when we were really, really tired. The 3 American students plus the program coordinator and the other Kenyan guy and I were having a blast, singing songs, playing “two truths and a lie” and so on. Just fun stuff. The only American guy (other than our professor) is African American, and a pastor at that. He was getting us to sing songs the African American way. Much fun was had. At least by us. J

Want to get home early and get some good rest before we head into yet another packed week. Hopefully I’ll get to upload a photo or two tomorrow. Will try my best.

My mind’s turning from all I’m learning, and with the thought of how things are in Kenya right now…

Traces of a Life Once Lived

I was heading out the movie theater this evening when a book caught my eye. (You've got to walk right through the book store at The Junction to get to the movies. It's like two of my favorite things in one!) It wasn't the title that caught my eye, really. It was the name of the author. Michael Finkel.

Mike Finkel? Can it be? How many Mike Finkels can there be? I skimmed the back cover. ... Montana ... Ah! It's the one and only.

I can pretend I have my finger on the pulse of what's happening in the world, especially in the publishing world. But I don't. Not any more. I remember hearing about the Times writer that got fired for fabricating parts of a true story. But I was in Addis when the story broke. I was out of touch with the real world, seeing just a glimpse of it as I walked by a television in some out-of-the-way Ethiopian restaurant. Honestly, my mind was focusing most of its attention on the realization that my Ethiopian driver was mistaking my friendliness for something more, that I needed to get home quickly. I did. But not before he started talking about the possibility of marriage. I know. Crazy. Just because I was asking about life in Ethiopia on the long drive to Addis.

But that's another story all together. One I'd rather forget. Or one I tell jokingly at times, "Oh, and then there was the time an Ethiopian proposed to me..." Back to my story.

Mike Finkel. Never met him in person, but I have edited several of his articles for our magazine in Taiwan. My favorite story of his tells of his quest to ski Kilimanjaro. But he'd also do bizarre things like ski runaway truck ramps. Just for the fun of it, that is. To say he did it. You can understand why I liked his writing, I'm sure.

Seeing his book reminded me that I wanted to look up another freelance writer from whom I'd often receive business articles for consideration. While I was catching up on friends' blogs yesterday, I saw someone (can't remember who!) said that a must-read is Who Are You People by Shari Caudron.

Seeing Mike's book and discovering Shari's book online brought back memories of spending hours upon hours reading through piles of magazines in search of the best articles to reprint, of editing 5,000-word articles into 720-word essays that would be discussed over three days' radio programs, of looking for the perfect pictures to accompany the said articles, and of always, always looking at other magazines in terms of their design. (What grabs my attention, and why? Or why not?)

And every time I think of life the way it was and life the way it is now, I smile at God's sense of humor. He couldn't have placed me in two worlds that could've been any more different! (OK, OK, I could've ended up living in Sudan. At least I have some luxuries in Kenya. But the differences extend far beyond ease of living. Culturally, rural Kenya and urban Taiwan is as far removed as, well, the East is from the West.)

I've been blessed to live in such diverse worlds.

"Your life just isn't normal," a friend commented today. I guess. But then, what is normal? In my world, my life's pretty normal. At least, I've never tried skiing Kilimanjaro.

Trouble in the City

I'm en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I have to spend the evening in Nairobi due to my flight to Addis being early tomorrow morning. Upon arriving in Nairobi this morning, the taxi driver informed me of a problem they've been having in downtown Nairobi this week:

Due to the severe droughts across the country, the Maasai people have been bringing their cows to downtown Nairobi in order for them to graze. Apparently, they even knocked on the president's door to ask if their cows can graze on his lawn seeing that he has such a big yard. Their request was turned down. The Maasai have since taken their cows to the suburbs, and people are complaining that the cows are ruining the gardens.

Related to this incident, the Kenyans (or the people of Nairobi, at least), are now complaining that their meteorologists are ill qualified since they had recently predicted that the first rainfall of the year will be in March, yet Nairobi recently had two days of rain.

Somehow, I'm thankful that I live in the boonies. I've found cows and goats in my (or rather, the Rogers') yard on a number of occasions. I figure they keep the grass short--and fertilized.

Speaking of the yard: I had mentioned a few days ago that some of the boys had proudly shown me their garden when I returned from home. They've been planting every single seed they can lay their hands on, and you can find them by the fence where they've done their planting almost every afternoon. Some of the younger ones still have to learn that it doesn't help to dig up the seeds to check on their progress, but then again, they'll discover that for themselves.

Hillary and his friends have been admiring the Rogers' roses and have asked me how they, too, can plant roses. Can one grow a new rose bush from cutting off a branch of an existing rose bush? Anyone?

I know I'll miss the kids a lot these three weeks that I'll be in Ethiopia. I went to greet them before leaving for the airport this morning, but as we drove off, all the children came running out and waved again. "We'll pray for you, Adele," Vincent assured me. "We'll miss you, Adele," Vitalin said with a serious look on her little face.

Kipkurui (little Calvin) came running up to me and did what he always does: He looked me in the eyes and spoke Swahili. But he doesn't just speak. The words shoot from his mouth without him taking a moment to breathe! He'd look at you and at the end of the monologue his eyes would get really big, like he's waiting for me to say "Yes!" But I don't know what he's saying. His dorm mom later told me that he came to her asking if I'll be back... Often times, after he's come to talk to me like this and realized that I still cannot understand him, he'd smile, pop his thumb into his mouth, spin around and walk off. His only four, and his English is limited to "How are you? Fine! Welcome!" and, when he's playing and wants me to acknowledge what he's doing, he'll shout, "Adele! See me!"

A year ago, when he first came to the orphanage and was a petite three years old, it took the staff months to convince him that he did not have to get up and collect water before he'd be fed breakfast. See, while living with his aunt in the slums, he and his siblings were required to fill up a water container for their aunt's brewing business before she'd give them their morning tea.

I look at little Calvin and at bigger children like Hillary and Vitalin, and I thank God that they're in a place where they're surrounded by loving parents who are teaching them who they are in Christ. And I have hope for Kenya, because although thousands of children are left orphaned by AIDS, many of them are being taken care of by people who are training them up in the ways of the LORD.

What an honor to play a small part in this work God is doing.

If Weather.com is accurate...

I'll be basking in the hot Ethiopian sun for the next three weeks. The temperature in Addis this past month was generally in the mid to heigh seventies (low to mid twenties Celsius.) I'm glad we'll be indoors all day, every day.

The class I'll be teaching is a 5-day intensive on Academic Writing. I'll repeat the course three times to three different groups of Ethiopian government officials.

What I'm looking forward to the MOST during this time is seeing three colleagues from APU. Sue Clark, Mary Grams and Yuriko Glessner will be coming to Addis to administer an English test. I am thoroughly looking forward to visiting with people who know me and whom I know...

OK, back to my preparations.

How bizarre

“Stop!” a soldier with an AK-47 shouted at me. I froze right there, on the steps leading up to the National Palace.

“What you want?” he asked.

“I wanted to walk around the gardens of the National Palace. The guard at the Hilton…”

“You want Hilton?!”

“No, the guard at the Hilton told me I could come and walk around the gardens,” I tried to explain while ignoring the fact that he's lifting his AK-47 as to flex his muscles, I thought. I wasn't afraid, just taken aback a little. After all, after enquiring as to what there is to see in this area, I really was told that I could walk around the National Palace (where Ethiopia's last emperor, Haile Selassie, lived before the Communist siege in 1974).

“Go away!” he said.

Needless to say, I turned around and headed to my second destination, the oldest Orthodox Christian Church in Addis. This church, which hosts the bodies of Emperor Menelik II* and some of his family members.

That was yet another experience. I made the mistake of clarifying directions, and an Ethiopian man came running up and said, “You go to church? I am going there too. I walk with you.” I made it clear that I wanted to walk alone since I knew I didn't have much Birr (Ethiopian money) on me, and he'd demand payment for his services. “No no no! I go there. No problem!”

We walked up the hill, around the National Palace, and then proceeded to this really old church. My guide refused to leave my side until I told him, “Really! I want to be alone.”

“OK, but you give me something!” he said. Fortunately I had an orange in my bag, so I just reached for the fruit and said, “There. Good-bye.” Yikes!

I walked around inside the church and joined a German father and son's tour group, learning about the good Menelik II and his descendants did for Ethiopia. Exiting the musty basement mausoleum, I was promptly joined by a teenage guide who wanted to point out every gold-painted painting of Mary. “Look, Maria!” he'd say, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“Yes,” I'd nod, politely and discretely taking pictures of the old leather drums and of the pries sitting in a corner praying. And I'd move away at least a step or two. Next picture, next advance. “Look!” he'd say, thinking I might not notice his arm this time having more of a grip around my shoulders. BIG step away.

“Thank you,” I said, gave him 1Birr and he left the church with a smile on his face. I, on the other hand, had the chills. It was just bizarre! I don't mind traveling alone (though I don't prefer doing so). I don't mind asking for help. I don't mind tipping people who do help when I ask them. But I don't like it when people won't take “no” for an answer!

Yikes again. I was happy to leave the grounds. I stopped by a few of the Coptic Christian stores along the way, looking at the relics they had for sale. I spoke to a very friendly Ethiopian lady who explained to me that the 5-ft tall walking sticks they sell (and which I saw in the church) are used to lean on while you pray.

I took several beautiful photos, but plugged my camera into my computer as the computer was still starting up. In the process, all the photos were erased from the camera.

What an utterly bizarre afternoon…

Though I had lost the photos from this afternoon, pictures that will stay in my mind are
* the gentle smile of the Coptic priest as I asked if I may take pictures of him and then showed him his pictures on my camera
* the devotion of worshipers who came and bowed low before entering the church to pray
* the determined look on my guides' faces that they would show me around and that I will pay them for their services
* the “Stop! Go away!” of the soldier whose government has changed, yet the ways of the military still have some Communist remnants

Am I glad I came to the city and walked around. You bet I am. I will be back, but next time I explore downtown Addis, I'll probably invite someone to walk with me. It's so much more fun to share these bizarre moments with someone else! (And it'll probably be easier getting rid of touchy teenagers, too!)

The sun is setting on the city and it's time for me to head southward.

*Menelik II became emperor in 1889, reunified the Ethiopian Empire by gaining control of many of the small kingdoms. In 1896, Menelik defeated an Italian army that had occupied part of Ethiopia. This victory earned him much respect and helped increase his power in Ethiopia.

It's a new year

I woke up this morning to kids' voices outside. Went to check and the Rotich boys (Roghers, Hillary, Vincent & co) were out by the rabbits. (The Rogers family whose house I'm staying in have a small rabbit farm.) The boys had come to feed the rabbits. It was neat to have the visitors on the grounds and we visited a bit. The kids ALWAYS walk up to come and shake my hand or hug me. In the mornings, they always ask, "Did you sleep well?" If I say yes, which I always do, they respond with, "I also slept well."

The orphanage is divided into two wings with two families each. Yesterday evening, I went to lead devotions for the West Wing. (I'll teach at the East Wing devotions this evening.) One of the parents usually lead devotions, but they enjoy the odd evening off.

I taught on John 15:1-12, about abiding in Christ. I took a branch of a passion fruit plant with me as an illustration. When I pulled the branch from my bag saying that we should be able to harvest some passion fruit from this branch this year, the kids' hands went up. "No, you cannot do that," said one of the boys. "You have to plant the branch first." We talked about Jesus being the vine and we the branches, and only being able to bear fruit if we abide in Christ. We also talked about the different fruit God wants us to bear.

It is such an honor talking with these children. The Kenyan staff do an amazing job of discipling and teaching the little ones. They have such passion to see these children grow up as strong workers in God's kingdom!

After devotions, the children have dinner and then prepare to head to bed. I had promised the girls that I would come and read them a bedtime story, and when I came into the one room, the girls were all sitting around their table, ready for their story.

They had so many questions after we finished the story, including questions about my family. They wanted to know everyone's names and when we prayed afterwards, some of them prayed for my family by name!

I chatted with the girls about how they can bless each other. They said things like they could help each other. One girl (Frida) even said, "We can respect each other."

The girls wanted to know how they can pray for me. I explained that I'll be traveling next week to go to Ethiopia to teach. "We will pray for your safety," Vitalin said, and when she later prayed, the little 12-year-old prayed for "all the pilots who are flying right now. Help them to fly safely." I love listening to them pray. Most of them pray in Swahili, though. They are determined to teach me Swahili. (And I'm determined to learn from them!)

The highlight of the evening, though, was listening to little Faith pray. Faith is a very small 5-year-old with a smile that will melt any heart. She prayed and prayed and prayed for every family at the orphanage by name, then for past visitors and former interns. She also prayed for all the children's sponsors, that God will bless them a LOT for sponsoring the children!

I spoke to her mom (Dorcas) about her prayer this morning, and Dorcas explained that Faith will sometimes pray for half an hour as the bigger girls fall asleep...

What's lying ahead this week:

Monday: I'm spending today in town, getting work done on my computer. Tonight, I'll be leading devotions and reading to the girls in East Wing.

Tuesday: I have to come to town with Raymond (our electrician) to buy lights for my house, go to the post office, hand in papers at our office so they can wire the money to the satellite guys in Nairobi. A trip to town can often take most of the day since I'm dependent on others for transport. I have, however, "passed the test" in order to drive by myself. David, one of the parents who is also a mechanic, allowed me to drive Brian's vehicle to town on Saturday and declared that I'm fit to drive. I could not help but smile. Driving in Kenya is a breeze compared to driving in Taiwan and Mozambique! That evening, I should probably go and read a bed-time story to the West wing boys.

Wednesday: I'll be driving around all day (to Kipkaren and other places) with one of our staff members who is in charge of the child sponsorship program. Other than the orphan sponsorship, we also have a program through which people can pay for regular children's school fees, and Anne needs to take me to take photos of all these children before school starts.

Thursday: Prepare for Ethiopia! (I'm leaving for Ethiopia this weekend to teach in a Master's Degree program.) That evening I should go and read a story to the East Wing boys.

Friday and Saturday: Finish up writing and photo projects; spend time with the kids.

Sunday: Fly to Nairobi, then to Addis Ababa.

I'll be gone for 3 weeks. I do believe the hotel where we'll be staying (The Addis Ababa Golf Course Hotel) will have Internet access, so we'll be able to communicate.

If not, I'll be back at Eldoret on the afternoon of January 28th and should be able to post and update soon after than. Hopefully we'll have satellite Internet access by then! If not by then, by February 1st at least!

Once I'm back, I'll be moving into my house! Whoa! Things are progressing really fast in the building of my house, and it's a bit nerve wrecking to be leaving at a time when the workers will start with finishing touches! I'll definitely be asking them to wait with certain tasks until I am back.

Hope to keep in touch from Ethiopia.

Why you *might* not hear much from me the next two weeks

For the past 2 weeks, as I've been away from the unrest around our village, I was able to get my studies done (for the most part) in Nairobi. Today, I'm meeting a fellow APU grad at church, and tomorrow, after hopefully finally getting my work permit - it only took 2 years - I'll be off to Addis for 2 full weeks of classes.

When I was in Ethiopia 2 years ago, the Internet connection wasn't the best. But nevertheless, I'm hoping to post updates from the lobby of the Ghion Hotel, where I'll be staying.

However, if you don't hear from me, know that I probably have lots and lots to tell you, but simply cannot get onto the Internet.

In the meantime, please keep praying for Kenya. The next 2 days are critical in the peace process, and we should know by Tuesday what the verdict is on power sharing, and after that, if the people are happy with what has been decided...

Dzenme pan?

That's Chinese for "What to do?" What am I supposed to do with my new insights on what a missional church should look like, what Christ-like community truly is? What do I do with insights on true transformational leadership? Where do I go from here?

I take one step at a time. Make changes in the way I do life. Which is hard, since some of these ways are habits which are hard to break. Listen more. To God and those around me. Listen more. Speak less. Ask more questions. Take one step at a time. Read more. Interact. Ask questions of that which I'm reading. As God what he wants me to do as a result of that which I'm learning.

My reading pile hasn't gone down at all since I've been back in Cedar Rapids. As much as I wish I can set aside more time for reading and starting work on my next class project, I know that I'm doing what God's asking me to do right now. I'm going to where the people are, taking Christ to them through taking meals to their homes while they're cleaning, sorting through the devastation the river had left behind.

Choosing to read during this critical time would be to miss the point completely.

Instead, at this time, I shall listen. And at times when I don't hear well, I'll follow my friends who've sensed God laying ways on their hearts in which they can serve. We're all pretty overwhelmed at this stage. And cranky at times. Forgetful. On the edge.

And we've not even lost all we have in the flood.

I cannot even begin to imagine what it feels like to have lost everything... As we were driving around Danette's childhood neighborhood, handing out sandwiches and treats to very weary neighbors, one lady stood there, clutching this small, wooden plaque. A man (her husband?) who had retrieved a shotgun from the mud tried to console her. "We can get it cleaned..." She just kept staring at it, shaking her head in unbelief.

What does one say in such a case? The entire hour or two that we drove around, handing out refreshments, I just kept telling people, "I'm so sorry." "God bless you" seemed an odd thing to say as we drove off.

I am sorry. I truly am. When I walked out of my house in February to leave for class in Ethiopia, I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see my house again. Or any of my stuff. Homes were being burned in my neighborhood. Nothing, and no-one was safe. I left with just a bag with the most important stuff. And clothes for the class in Addis, of course.

But I came home to a place still perfectly in tact. So I cannot understand what thousands of families are feeling. Most left with just a few things, believing the river might flood by a foot or five. Some of those home were completely submerged.

"We're in this together," reads the billboard at Theater Cedar Rapids. They, too, were under water.

Amen. We are indeed in this together. Most people in town seem eager to help out, to donate time, skills, money, clothing.

It's so different from the devastation I saw in Kenya earlier this year, when neighbors turned on one another, burning one another's homes... Somehow, I think a flood might be easier to recover from.

What should I do? Continue to listen. Speak when God says. Be quiet otherwise. Learn all I can. Teach when God says I should. Or simply serve, and learn by getting dirty.

Karibu Kenya!

That's "Welcome to Kenya." I am back "home," or, at least, almost home. I am in downtown Nairobi, killing time before heading to the airport for my flight to Eldoret. This morning, I walked a hotel close to the hostel where I stayed to get a cab. Originally, I thought I'd try to get a driver to bring me downtown and take me to the airport after a few hours. The guy wanted to charge me KS4,500. I reminded him that I wasn't a tourist, that I live in Kenya and know how much things cost, so I just had him take me to the city, which is KS300. He tried his best to convince me that I needed to hire him since I have luggage, but fortunately I had left my bigger, heavier suitcase at the domestic airport yesterday when I tried to get an earlier flight home, and only have overnight luggage with me. I left the lugagge at a downtown hotel while doing all I needed to do this morning.

One thing I wanted to get while in Nairobi was a transformer for my printer. We use 220V in Kenya, and my printer needs just 110V. The first shop I went didn't have any step-down transformers. I went to a big hardware store next door, and they suggested I go to "Electric City." Since I had no idea where that was, they offered to send Mr. Sunday with me. They also suggested that it would be safer since I had my backpack on me.

Mr. Sunday's name doesn't suit him well. It makes him sound like he's a laid-back guy. He should be Mr. Lightning or something! He walked like something was after him, cutting through traffic and occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure I'm keeping up. We got to Electric City just to be told they didn't have transformers; we should go to their other store which is around the corner from where we started. By the time we reached the next store and I got what I needed, Mr. Sunday had a big smile on his face. He said, "You got good exercise today." I was red in the face from the walk. But I was glad that Mr. Sunday had walked with me. He actually seemed surprised that I tipped him when we got back to his workplace. I think he was thankful for the opportunity to slip out of the store.

Next, I needed someplace to eat and relax. I was really hungry by then, only having had a donut (called a bombolino) and coffee for breakfast yesterday in Addis, a bite of dry chicken for lunch on the airplane, and nothing for dinner.

After I had cooled down and eaten, I decided to walk around some book stores in the city center for a while, come to an Internet cafe, and next, head to the airport.

Laban, the orphanage director, will pick me up at the Eldoret airport this evening. Then I get to see the kids and my house! I'm having dinner at the Teimuges' house tonight. They're the directors of the ministry. I'm glad I won't have to cook since I don't have much in the house right now. On Monday, I'll go to town to buy groceries and upload photos to Flickr of my house and of the kids in their school uniforms.

I think if anything, being in Ethiopia so soon after settling in Kenya truly made me thankful for how things are in this country. It also gave me time to think and pray through some specifics in planning for ministry focus this year. I'll share more about that at another time.

Today, I had a fight with a gun-wielding soldier

Street kids
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Today, (1/14) I had a fight with an Ethiopian soldier. Literally. Hand-to-hand combat! He tried to grab my camera from me, and I fought him off. I refused to let him take my camera! Here’s what happened…

Sue, Mary and I decided to explore Addis. We left our hotel with lots of energy and decided to simply walk around. Due to my experience the other day (see my previous blog entry), I knew where the Menelik II Orthodox Church was, so we headed in that direction.

One encounters many, many beggars on the streets here, as well as children who either just beg or sell gum, tissues or post cards to make a living. Rather than give children money, we bought bread rolls which we carried with us and handed out as we saw fit. Soon after leaving the hotel grounds, we saw a young boy with the most beautiful smile. His name was Abraham, and he really didn’t want bread or anything from us. He was simply walking, looking for a good spot to set up his business—shining shoes. He’s 11.

We really didn’t know the exact way to the Hilton Hotel (which in turn is close to the church we were planning on visiting), so Abraham was showing us the way. As we were walking, more children joined us. They were talking more with Sue and Mary (even singing Christian songs) while Abraham and I were talking about football—the most common topic for small talk once Africans find out I’m from South Africa, the land of Bafana Bafana.

Aaaaanyway, Abraham suddenly said, “Could I shine your sandals for you? They will look more beautiful than ever!” I figured, No problem, I would have paid the kid in any case for showing us the way, and my sandals were dusty from the walk by then. “Sure!” I said. He promptly sat down and took out polish and brushes from the wooden box he had been carrying with him.

Of course, being me, I had to take a photo of my new friend Abraham cleaning my shoes.

No problem, right?

BIG problem, actually!

It just so happened that we had stopped right next to a high wall, which in turn just happens to be the wall surrounding the National Palace, where the Prime Minister lives. And, despite the fact that there were ABSOLUTELY NO SIGNS that photography is prohibited, it’s here where the soldier came up to me and literally grabbed my camera from me.

And I fought back.

When he realized that this “chick” was not going to give up her camera, he said, “Wait here!” and left. The kids had scattered the moment he approached us, except for Abraham, who was still shining my sandals. This kid was determined to make a few Birr doing what he does well!

The soldier came back with another soldier who could speak a little English. “Give me camera!” he demanded. I said no, I’d show him. I continued to show the man the photo I had taken, and then showed him that I am deleting that specific photo. But they’re not used to digital cameras, so they still wanted to take my camera to rip out the film! I refused to let them touch my camera! “I’ll show you,” I explained.

Poor Mary and Sue were standing there praying! And while this bizarre episode is unfolding, I was thinking a number of thoughts.

1. God, please help us!
2. I’m not letting them take my camera, no matter what! I’d sooner have them arrest me than have them take my camera from me.
3. I’m glad I’m not alone, that Sue and Mary are with me.
4. I’m actually glad Mary and Sue get to experience this bizarre event!
5. I’m not letting them take my camera…
6. God, please help us!

When the guards were satisfied that the photos on my camera did not include any of the wall, they finally let us go.

My heart was pounding! Those of you who know me well know that when I get excited/tense, I start shaking, so you can imagine how I was shaking!

The rest of the day, we walked around and I was really careful where I took photos. In fact, I took VERY few pictures at all, fearing that a soldier might jump out from somewhere and try to grab my camera.

What a day.

I did manage to buy some beautiful Ethiopian musical instruments! I bought a karar, a guitar of sorts used by the Gambela people. I also bought a mashinko, an Ethiopian violin. And I bought a pizza-size coffee table used by the Jima people. I’m happy with what I can take home to my hut in Kenya. (Click on the photo on my blog to see photos of these instruments.)

That’s it. We’re being taken out by Badeg, our Ethiopian host tonight. I’d better get ready for that!

*************

It is now 10 p.m., and we just got back from our Ethiopian dinner. Ethiopians do not used utensils to eat. Instead, they used only bread (called injera) to pick up everything on their plates. The choices were spicy chicken stew, not-so-spicy chicken stew, tripe, spicy chunks of beef, not-so-spicy chunks of beef, and a gamut of other meat dishes (including chicken liver and other beef dishes prepared in various ways). Oh, and eggs, boiled in the chicken stew. And some salads, for the Westerners, since salad really isn’t an Ethiopian dish.

A waiter comes to your table to wash your hands, and after you’ve had your hands washed, you’re not supposed to touch your hair. That’s a big no-no. (Though I doubt it will result in fighting off a soldier.)

And during this whole time, a band was playing African drums, karars and mashinkos. There were also singers and dancers, depicting bits and pieces from different Ethiopian tribes. I really didn’t enjoy the dancing, but it was one of those cultural events you simply have to experience.

Ethiopia has 80-some different tribes, so the dances varied from styles similar to that of other African people groups to some that were unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The most bizarre one was a dance where the girls spin their heads round and round and round until you wonder if their spinal cords are still in tact. Seriously! I didn’t enjoy watching the dances, plus smoking is allowed anywhere and everywhere in this country, and the smoke probably was getting to me, too.

Perhaps I would’ve enjoyed this cultural event more had it not been that I had walked no less than 10 miles today and been accosted by a soldier.

Tomorrow, we are going to an Amharic church service.

I miss my home church (New Covenant Bible Church)!

Woman

Woman
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

I'm in Ethiopia and am spending the day in Addis Ababa since it's a Muslim holiday and we thus cannot teach today. Click on this photo to see some photos of my trip into town today.

December 16

It’s been almost two weeks since I last wrote. A team from my church in Iowa had been here until today, and my time had been spent with them. They have since left, so I’m spending the afternoon at an Internet café in Nairobi, trying to catch up on work and e-mail.

I’m flying home (to South Africa) tomorrow afternoon, but I know that much of my time in South Africa will be spent doing work. At least, I’ll be in a very nice environment—with my family—while working. Things I’m looking forward to most:

• hot showers
• my mom’s cooking
• baking cookies with my nieces
• possibly scuba diving (My parents live at the Indian Ocean, but where they live, the water is very cold. I got my scuba certification in their town, and on my first deep-sea dive, there were penguins bobbing in the water alongside the boat…)

What I’ll be working on while at home:

• writing the December newsletter for the orphanage
• designing templates for all the other newsletters
• preparing to teach a course on Academic Writing in Ethiopia in January

Ethiopia? Teaching?
This is an opportunity that was presented to me when I passed through California in November. Azusa Pacific University (APU) offers a degree in Organizational Leadership (the program I graduated from), but the same program is offered overseas as a program called Operation Impact (OI). OI was originally intended for missionaries and expats who desired to continue their studies but due to living overseas, weren’t always able to do so. A few years ago, APU started offering the OI program in Ethiopia, and it has been VERY popular with government officials in that country.

I was asked to teach one course in Nazret (Nazareth), Ethiopia, in January. (That’s close to Addis Ababa.) The course I’ll be teaching is called Academic Writing, and is offered to help with all the other coursework students will be doing. The course is just one week long, so it’ll be quite an intense week. I’ll be teaching for three consecutive weeks, starting on January 9th until the 27th. Empowering Lives has a longstanding relationship with APU, so the leaders here were happy for us to be able to give back to APU by letting me teach for those three weeks.

Other Updates

I had written long updates on the team blog about what the team did while here. I was part of the team's activities, doing mostly VBS (vacation Bible school) and assisting in any other ways that I could. Please do read the updates.

As for the progress on my home: I am not sure how much has been done this past week while I was gone. They were supposed to lay the foundation and start with the actual construction. I am told that the work will be done sometime in January. I do not want to rush the process since I do not want the contractors (referred to here as fundi) to paint the place before the cement is fully dry.

As soon as I am back from South Africa, we'll be getting satellite Internet access at our center. That is a HUGE blessing, since right now, we still have to make the trek to town to access any e-mail. (That's anywhere from half an hour to 45 minutes' drive during the dry season, and up to two hours during the rainy season!) As you can imagine, just having to go and send a simple message ends up being a very long excursion. I am very thankful that we'll be moving to satellite Internet access, which will make our jobs much easier.

That's all for now. Please do e-mail me when you have time.

Ubarikiwe,

Adele

News from Lalibela, Ethiopia

I've been having the hardest time connecting the past few days.

But here, in the little town of Lalibela, deep in the heart of the Ethiopian highlands, I finally succeeded to connect to Blogger!

Here's the news:

Thursday

I’m still shaken up. This morning, the taxi Bethany and I were in hit a pedestrian. The guy was going at least 40mph (60kmph) at the time. And like all taxis here seem to do, he kept squeezing through really tight spaces at high speed. He was going down a straight road (Equatorial Guinea Drive, I believe) and seemed to decide he could squeeze between a truck on the left and the pedestrian who walked on the road, just off the sidewalk.

But he couldn’t.

It’s one of those really, really bizarre moments when you think, What’s this guy doing? But you can’t get it out soon enough.

So with the corner of the little blue Lada we were in, we hit her! The whole car shook. The driver came to a screeching halt, still smiling, and ran to get the girl. He was literally carrying her holding on to her breasts as handles (!!!), half dragging her. And still smiling!

As I’m sitting there, he’s pushing her into the back seat, telling Bethany and I we cannot get out! But we did. He had to get her to the hospital! He seemed more concerned to get the fare from us than to care for the girl. We paid him and urged him to get to the hospital. The side view mirror was busted. The front corner of the car was dented. The insulation from the window was ripped out.

As we walked the last 200 yards or so to the hotel to meet the group, Bethany and I prayed for the perhaps teenage girl, that she would be OK. And that the man and women who jumped in the cab with her would fight for the girl! They seemed adamant not to let the cabbie get away with the accident. I heard them mention “police” several time while talking Amharic.


I keep wondering about the girl, though. Does she have internal bleeding? Will the cabbie pay for her bills? How’s this accident going to affect the rest of her life? Her right arm and leg HAD to have been shattered! God, help her!

We spent some time in class yesterday talking about justice. How do we live justice daily. Personally. As families. Businesspeople. Educated individuals. NGOs.

And so, as we’re heading out to visit a monastery, the sight of the young teenage girl haunts me. The anguishing pain was all over her face… Was getting out of the car the right thing to do? Is that “living justice”? If it weren’t for the fact that several Amharic-speaking eyewitnesses jumped into the cab to help, we would’ve gone with her to the hospital. But as foreigners, we would’ve been in the way.

Still, it bugs me that we don’t know how the girl is. It’s hard.

On a different note: We went to visit the Archbishop of the Catholic Church yesterday. He’s a delightful man with a heart for uniting the Trinitarian churches of Ethiopia (as in, the churches who believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) He urged us to visit the Missionaries of Charity, which we did. However, it’s very, very awkward walking into a ward filled with men in uniform pj’s and be told, “And this room is the men with TB…” None of us felt comfortable with being tourists of other people’s suffering. So Ray (our prof) politely explained that we love what they are doing, but we need to go because we’re late for our next appointment, which we truly were.

Oh, about Kenya. If you’ve read the news, you’d know that today’s mass protests were called off, that 200 youth militia were arrested in Kitale (not too far from where I live), that Kibaki finally agreed to creating a Prime Minister position for Odinga. How exactly it will work, I don’t know yet. But things are looking up.

Class is officially over, and little by little, the students are leaving. Tomorrow morning, I’ll fly to Lalibela for a 2-day visit before returning to Nairobi. Lalibela is famous for its rock-hewn churches dating to the 13th century. I look forward to time alone with God in places where people have been worshiping him for centuries.

I will only be able to blog again after my trip to Lalibela.

Till then,

SALAAM!

Last Sunday

It's been a very, very good experience. An eye-opening one in terms of urban issues and ministry. Today, we were supposed to visit 6 churches, but due to getting stuck in a church parking lot behind other vehicles, we ended up just visiting 5. Everything from an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the morning (where, by the way, you're not allowed in if you've had intercourse in the past 48 hours, or if you're having your period) to a Pentecostal church, a Lutheran and an international evangelical church. Huge differences, not only in the style of worship & liturgy, but also in the type of people they attract.

Our class is made up of a fascinating bunch of people. There are 3 students from the US (2 of whom are the only other ladies in the program), and then one guy from each of the following countries: Angola, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria. And then 2 guys from Ethiopia.

Yesterday, we drove for 13 hours (seriously!) to see the Nile River Gorge. Actually, it was about 6 hours there, and then we turned around immediately. We weren't even allowed to get out of the bus to walk across the bridge over the Nile. We made the mistake of taking photos of the bridge (as well as the grand one they're constructing right next to it), but the military came and insisted we had to erase the pictures. I don't get it. Anyway. We turned around, drove 4 hours to a monastery (Dobre Libanos) where monks stay in mountain caves, but by then I it was too late to visit the caves, so we saw yet another church. And then drove back to Addis.

Had a good time visiting in the bus, though, especially the last 2 hours when we were really, really tired. The 3 American students plus the program coordinator and the other Kenyan guy and I were having a blast, singing songs, playing "two truths and a lie" and so on. Just fun stuff. The only American guy (other than our professor) is African American, and a pastor at that. He was getting us to sing songs the African American way. Much fun was had. At least by us.

Want to get home early and get some good rest before we head into yet another packed week. Hopefully I'll get to upload a photo or two tomorrow. Will try my best.

My mind's turning from all I'm learning, and with the thought of how things are in Kenya right now…

Back to Today

So, since I didn't think I'd come to Ethiopia anytime soon again, I decided to take a 2-day trip to Lalibela, to see the famous rock churches. Saw 6 of the 11 yesterday, and in the evening, decided to go out with the group I connected with an have some tej (honey wine). It's not good, by the way. I had hardly had a few sips when I decided to head home. On foot, since it's so safe. Over rock roads built hundreds of years ago. Crawled into bed at maybe 9 pm, just to wake up several times in the night. It was either the tej or something I had eaten earlier in the day, but I didn't feel good at all. Still don't. I've taken some meds and decided to stay in this morning.

If I feel better by the afternoon, I'll walk around the Saturday market. And very, very early tomorrow morning, I'll head back to St. George's (look it up on Wikipedia) and see a celebration. People will start gathering there at midnight tonight to start with chants. Should be interesting.

**
I'll connect again on Monday, when I'm back in Nairobi.