7-4-2009
Dear Diary,
I know it's been a while, so I've now decided to force myself to journal today. This week has been long, rainy, and exhausting, but it has also been truly amazing.
Monday was just a prep-day for the week, so not too much went down then. If my memory serves me right, we may have run through the "Everything" skit a couple of times, but not too many times cause the laptop ran out of power (we have the song on the laptop, so the laptop is pretty important).
Tuesday, my group went to Little AHOPE (where the smaller HIV positive children are. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before or not, but all of the children at any of the AHOPE facilities are HIV positive). It was a ton of fun. We started by putting on a show with finger puppets about Noah's Ark and the kids loved it (although, they probably loved the finger puppets themselves more than the actual production we put on with the puppets). Next, we played with them and gave them bubbles, then it was time for us to leave until the later session. We walked back to "Lil' A," as I like to call it, for the afternoon session. While there we played with them one more again (ebonics) and this time with Play-Doh, but the real story began on the walk back to our guesthouse. We walked in a down-pour, like seriously you have no idea (I saw cats and dogs falling from the heavens), we walked approximately 2 miles in the pouring rain... fun times, fun times.
Wednesday we were able to visit a couple of AHOPE run feeding centers (day-cares, really). Unfortunately, we were only able to visit with the kids for an hour each time, but they were definitely fun-packed hours. At the first feeding center, the children just swarmed us as soon as they saw us; they started grabbing our arms and putting them around them. The group of boys that claimed me played "Spider-Man" with me (we just made our hands like we were shooting webs at each other and made like a hissing noise for when the web left our hands) and luckily I caught on quickly. During the skits and stories we did for them, a couple of the boys just sat next to me the entire time holding my hands and putting my arms around their shoulders. When we left I received more hugs and kisses from the kids than I could count. It was just an amazing time from start to finish. The second place started slower, but ended the same way. Although, it was a little heart-breaking when the kids would ask us when we would be back, because we had no idea. Those kids don't really have much that they can depend on besides the feeding centers, so not being able to really answer their question was hard for me.
Thursday my group went to Big AHOPE (or "Big A")for a VBS type of day. The first class went great, we told them the Noh's Ark story and it went great (just as I said earlier in the sentence). However, all that changed with the second class; that is when we discovered that the kids in the second class were really supposed to be in the first class and all of the kids in the first class were supposed to be in either the second or third classes (the kids just sat in the room waiting for us, so we just assumed that they were in the class... but they weren't). The rest of the classes were just so-so, but playing with the kids was awesomely fun (like always). The kids also took pictures with my camera, so that was nice because I'm definitely not the best photographer in the world. The kids probablt doubled the amount of pictures on my camera's memory card, so that was a blessing (they're good photographers too).
Friday we left for a resort 3 hours away. It wasn't anything like an American resort, but it still had a certain likability about it. The water was all from a local underground hot-spring (would have been awesome if it hadn't been hot there too). It was a nice drive, in that we were able to see a different Africa than what we see everyday in Addis Ababa (meaning "New Flower" in Amharic). Zach and I also visited where the hot-spring directly comes from (many a bathing Ethiopian men were present) and it was ridiculously hot... our feet were red from the water for 20'ish minutes after we left. The one down-side of getting all the water from a hot-spring is that all of the water is hot (and I do mean all of the water is hot... the toilet water even). All-in-all, it was a decent time.
Saturday, we just got back from the resort and we are all pretty tired. Not much going on for our 4th of July except relaxing and hanging-out. I did however forget to mention that I was attacked by a cow on Friday. We stopped at a farm on the way to the resort and evidently a cow took a real shining to me. At first it came up to me so I petted it out of politeness, but then it went ninja-status on me and snuck-up on me from behind and licked my back (big wet-spot on the back of my shirt for a while). I guess there is just a raw-animal-magnetism about me.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #2
6-26-2009
Today was our first full day in Ethiopia. Yesterday we landed and it was a great relief to everyone, because it signified the end of our travels... for the time being, anyways. After we made our way through visas and customs, we made our way to baggage pick-up. However, half of the team was missing at least one bag (myself included). We then went through the whole routine with the airport staff. After said routine, we were then informed that that our bags were not lost, but that they had just not made it off of our last flight. Instead of leaving the flight like us, our bags continued on to Entebbe, Uganda (our bags have now seen more of Africa than us). Long story short, we were able to pick-up the rest of our luggage this morning, which was a great thing (in our missing bags were not only clothes, but also toothbrushes and the like).
After arriving yesterday and dropping our bags off at the guesthouse we are staying at, we stopped by the orphanage that we will be working with. We arrived at the orphanage after a grueling (90 ft.) walk, and were greeted with a lot of semi-shy children. We stayed for a few minutes and then made our trek into town to stop by the other orphanage that we will be working with. The orphanages are run by the same people, but cater to children of different ages. The second orphanage was for the younger children and they immediately took a shining to us. We played with them the entire time we were there (soccer turned into monkey-in-the-middle, which turned into catching them jumping off of a short wall, which turned into piggy-back rides, which finally ended in me carrying one child on my back and one child on each of my arms). We sadly left and made our way to a pizza place for dinner. After dinner we rested some and then a few of us once again went to the first orphanage (with the older children). Those that went were expecting shy kids again, but we got the exact opposite. Those kids were ready for fun and games; we played with them for about 2 hours non-stop. They were so much fun, and just couldn't stop laughing or smiling. The guys I played with really liked balancing games and arm-wrestling type games. These games started out fair until they discovered that they could beat me easier by making me play 2 of them at once or by attacking me with tickles. The latter is what really sparked the rest of the night. It soon became apparent that they really loved tickle fights (not everyone for themselves, but rather them vs. me)... quite the mismatch. Inbetween the tickling, I was responsible for throwing them onto Josh's or Zach's back (leaching, if you will). It was just an awesome time, some of the guys even helped me out by wiping my face off of sweat. It was truly a blessing to see them having so much fun... it's hard to put into words how great it really was, but it is something I'm sure will stay with me forever.
Today was our first full day in Ethiopia. Yesterday we landed and it was a great relief to everyone, because it signified the end of our travels... for the time being, anyways. After we made our way through visas and customs, we made our way to baggage pick-up. However, half of the team was missing at least one bag (myself included). We then went through the whole routine with the airport staff. After said routine, we were then informed that that our bags were not lost, but that they had just not made it off of our last flight. Instead of leaving the flight like us, our bags continued on to Entebbe, Uganda (our bags have now seen more of Africa than us). Long story short, we were able to pick-up the rest of our luggage this morning, which was a great thing (in our missing bags were not only clothes, but also toothbrushes and the like).
After arriving yesterday and dropping our bags off at the guesthouse we are staying at, we stopped by the orphanage that we will be working with. We arrived at the orphanage after a grueling (90 ft.) walk, and were greeted with a lot of semi-shy children. We stayed for a few minutes and then made our trek into town to stop by the other orphanage that we will be working with. The orphanages are run by the same people, but cater to children of different ages. The second orphanage was for the younger children and they immediately took a shining to us. We played with them the entire time we were there (soccer turned into monkey-in-the-middle, which turned into catching them jumping off of a short wall, which turned into piggy-back rides, which finally ended in me carrying one child on my back and one child on each of my arms). We sadly left and made our way to a pizza place for dinner. After dinner we rested some and then a few of us once again went to the first orphanage (with the older children). Those that went were expecting shy kids again, but we got the exact opposite. Those kids were ready for fun and games; we played with them for about 2 hours non-stop. They were so much fun, and just couldn't stop laughing or smiling. The guys I played with really liked balancing games and arm-wrestling type games. These games started out fair until they discovered that they could beat me easier by making me play 2 of them at once or by attacking me with tickles. The latter is what really sparked the rest of the night. It soon became apparent that they really loved tickle fights (not everyone for themselves, but rather them vs. me)... quite the mismatch. Inbetween the tickling, I was responsible for throwing them onto Josh's or Zach's back (leaching, if you will). It was just an awesome time, some of the guys even helped me out by wiping my face off of sweat. It was truly a blessing to see them having so much fun... it's hard to put into words how great it really was, but it is something I'm sure will stay with me forever.
Ethiopia Trip Journal Entry #1
6-24-2009
We just got off of an 8 1/2 hour flight from Charlotte, NC to Frankfurt, Germany. For an 8 1/2 hour flight, it wasn't all that bad; we were able to choose what in flight movies we wanted to watch via an in-demand option (I watched Gran Torino and some of Seven Pounds). The meal wasn't too shabby either (think a glorified TV dinner).
Despite the relative luxury (I use that word rather loosely) of the flight, it was definitely appreciated when we finally landed. Being able to stretch out after being human sardines for 8 1/2 hours was nice (major understatement). Although, my legs were pretty weak from the lack of use (almost fell multiple times down and up stairs).
Anywho, Frankfurt's airport is pretty spacious... and void of many people (at the time of writing anyways). After entering the airport (there is probably a fancy, technical term for "entering" but it is only my second time flying, so you'll have to forgive me) we "claimed" our baggage and all was well, or so we (really just me) thought. I proceeded to grab my big, heavy bag, but unbeknownst to me,one of the handle straps ripped during the flight over. Needless to say ( but I will, because it probably isn't "needless to say"), it was quite awkward to carry around. It would be impossible to describe in words how I had to carry my luggage, so if you really need to know I will panamime it for you later.
Random trip notes thus far:
- Woke up at 3 AM to catch our 7:30 AM flight from LAX to Charlotte, NC.
- Sat in the very last row of the first flight inbetween Elise and some spacially challenged lady (she crossed the arm-rest boundary repeatedly, often initiating elbow-to-elbow contact with me, but instead of moving har arm back to where it came from, she would leave it there so our arms would be awkwardly touching until I would relent and move my arm even though mine was there first).
- I finally met someone with a real, authentic southern accent.
- Sabrina said a contestant on the Bachelorette reminded her of me (he was kicked off literally 30 seconds after she said that... plus he seemed like a loser, he was cheated 4 different times, so I guess his luch with the ladies is close to mine... similarity?)
- Somewhat related-random note, several otherssaid they should nominate me as the next Bachelor... stop the nomination. Also, Mabel said I should go on the show, because "it's possible for someone like you (meaning me) to maybe find love." Thanks for the confidence boost.
I am finally done now. Write again later, probably when we finally reach Ethiopia, but maybe when we get to Dubai. Later gators.
We just got off of an 8 1/2 hour flight from Charlotte, NC to Frankfurt, Germany. For an 8 1/2 hour flight, it wasn't all that bad; we were able to choose what in flight movies we wanted to watch via an in-demand option (I watched Gran Torino and some of Seven Pounds). The meal wasn't too shabby either (think a glorified TV dinner).
Despite the relative luxury (I use that word rather loosely) of the flight, it was definitely appreciated when we finally landed. Being able to stretch out after being human sardines for 8 1/2 hours was nice (major understatement). Although, my legs were pretty weak from the lack of use (almost fell multiple times down and up stairs).
Anywho, Frankfurt's airport is pretty spacious... and void of many people (at the time of writing anyways). After entering the airport (there is probably a fancy, technical term for "entering" but it is only my second time flying, so you'll have to forgive me) we "claimed" our baggage and all was well, or so we (really just me) thought. I proceeded to grab my big, heavy bag, but unbeknownst to me,one of the handle straps ripped during the flight over. Needless to say ( but I will, because it probably isn't "needless to say"), it was quite awkward to carry around. It would be impossible to describe in words how I had to carry my luggage, so if you really need to know I will panamime it for you later.
Random trip notes thus far:
- Woke up at 3 AM to catch our 7:30 AM flight from LAX to Charlotte, NC.
- Sat in the very last row of the first flight inbetween Elise and some spacially challenged lady (she crossed the arm-rest boundary repeatedly, often initiating elbow-to-elbow contact with me, but instead of moving har arm back to where it came from, she would leave it there so our arms would be awkwardly touching until I would relent and move my arm even though mine was there first).
- I finally met someone with a real, authentic southern accent.
- Sabrina said a contestant on the Bachelorette reminded her of me (he was kicked off literally 30 seconds after she said that... plus he seemed like a loser, he was cheated 4 different times, so I guess his luch with the ladies is close to mine... similarity?)
- Somewhat related-random note, several otherssaid they should nominate me as the next Bachelor... stop the nomination. Also, Mabel said I should go on the show, because "it's possible for someone like you (meaning me) to maybe find love." Thanks for the confidence boost.
I am finally done now. Write again later, probably when we finally reach Ethiopia, but maybe when we get to Dubai. Later gators.
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