Aye Konjo

A post! I will find a way around internet blocks! Ha. (from the editor: emailed to Mom and cut/pasted from there).

So, here is the update after a full week in Ethiopia… things are going really well! The group has settled into out host families and consensus is that everything is much nicer than we expected. I went to a friend's house today and she even had a real flushing toilet! I am staying in a house with electricity and a tv! It gets one channel, ETV, which plays either the same three music videos or news that I have no hope of understanding. But don't worry… my host sister also has a dvd of music videos that offers some variety. Can't beat traditional Oromo music videos... I made the mistake of introducing UNO my second night here. We play a lot of uno now. Every night. For hours. And hours. I'm really good at numbers and colors in Amharic. This week I plan on pulling out the Frisbee to put some options out there. Anything but uno.

Our days are long and structured. Rooster and call to prayer around 5:00am. No going back to sleep after that. Running from 6:00 to 7:00. Breakfast. Language from 8:30 to 11:30. Lunch. More training from 1:30 til 5:00. Back home. Tell family what I learned today in Amharic. Dinner. ETV. UNO. Debate how badly I need to use Shint Beyt (squatty potty). Collapse in bed. Watch mosquitoes fly into net. Ponder how bad malaria is going to be when I get it. Fall asleep to the sound of howling dogs tearing each other apart. Repeat.

My family is great… I live with a woman and her 10-year-old niece. My inatey (mother) speaks good English, so I have communication easier than most. They are both great at speaking to me in Amharic though and are teaching me new words constantly. It's awesome and exhausting. I think I am the difficult child, however, and amuse my peace corps friends at how often I get in trouble. I can't possibly eat enough to please inatey, my room is constantly a mess (Schloppy comes to Ethiopia… who knew?) so my sister feels the need to help me clean it, my hair won't stay in the braids they put it in (they act like this is my fault), and I'm never home on time. Classic phone conversations:

Sister: Kristiana! (this is apparently my name)
Me: yes… hello.
Sister: come to us!
Me: I'm on my way.
Sister: yes. Ok. Hurry.

I haven't had this much supervision in years and it's funny sometimes. My sister is also brutally honest. I haven't been able to wash my hair consistently and it's gross, so yesterday I finally pulled it back in a ponytail. When sister saw me, she made a disapproving clicking noise at me (she does this a lot) and said "aye konjo" (not beautiful). Thanks a lot, sis.

Sunday I went to the Orthodox church with inatey. It was an incredible, overwhelming experience. Before we left for church at 6:00am, she put the Orthodox head covering on me. I thought this would help me blend in. No. As soon as we enter the church, the priest spots me and beckons me to the front where the men sit. Inatey shoves me forward and when I look back she is lost in a sea of white head coverings. Panic. Fortunately when I get to the front, cool married peace corps couple, Chris and Liz, are already there. I am handed a walking stick that everyone else in the front was holding… still no clue what that was about. Two hours of worship followed with an incredibly old, wise looking Ethiopian man poking me and saying, "sit" or "stand." I liked him a lot. We soon found out that this was no ordinary Sunday. It was the 81 st anniversary of this church, which means hours of celebrating, preaching, and worship. It also explained the cameraman who kept getting us on film (cynical church-self was thinking "seriously? Cameras in church here too?"). We are constantly the objects of excessive attention, but it was especially difficult during worship when focus should be on the God of our salvation. I struggle with feeling like I am in the way most days. The service was an experience though- lots of incense, drums, chanting, kneeling, praying, children drinking holy water… It was a humbling experience, realizing that we are all part of the same body and worshiping the same God in different ways. After the service we all hiked up a hill to the site of the original church for some more singing and chanting. We were overlooking all of Wolisso and it was beautiful.

Since Sunday was filled with new, interesting, and sometimes unbelievable (a few people wound up at the charismatic church) experiences for everyone, the subject of faith is openly discussed among the group. It's awesome and Providential. Liz and I were talking about church today and it turns out that she and Chris are reformed Presbyterian… we're going to start listening to Tim Keller sermons they have on their computer on Sunday nights. Incredible. I have also made good friends with an MK from Kenya, Becca, who is great. I'm now praying that I am posted relatively close to the people I have grown closer to. It's also been a good opportunity to hear what other people believe and why they are here. Pray that I have the ears to hear and words to speak when necessary.

Tonight was another great night… Liz, Becca, Nicole and I went out to Nagash Lodge, a resort on the edge of town for tourists. We had run into some white people who turned out to be teachers at a school for missionary kids in Addis (Providential?). They were in Wolisso for a few days of vacation and invited us to come have dinner with them. Now the lovely thing about the lodge is that you can take a shower for 5 birr. The most satisfying 50 cents I have ever spent. I hadn't taken a shower in 6 days… bucket baths do not count, I've decided. This will be a weekly occurrence. We also ate food! Real food! No wat! No injera! Meat! I hadn't had meat in a week! Tuna! Ice cream!

Pat- I'm stirring up interest in Catan. People want to play. I'm nervous… I've never been the one explaining how everything works. And as much as I mock you for your horrible set-up technique, I'm not sure I know how to do it any better. I'll keep you updated.

Em, James, and Kara- the headlamp ties with the iPod for absolute necessity… thanks so much!

Uhh… sorry this is so long… I'm typing it up before I go to the internet place giving me too much time to think and be wordy… I miss you all and find myself wishing you were all here! Much love.

p.s. The best time to call would be 9pm-12pm central time. it's early in the morning here, the rooster has already woken me up, and the phone network isn't as busy (fewer dropped calls).