New Blog

I started a new blog and will be making all future posts there...check it out at http://emilytalcott.wordpress.com

-Emily

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

don't know when I'll be back again. And that's true. So I'm just sitting here in Heathrow while I soak up the last minutes of high-speed internet. I have truly enjoyed my time back home. I loved spending time with the family and watching how Israel and Alemu interact with everyone. I am going back with mixed feelings. I am excited to go back and I know once I get there I will remember why I love it so much. And then there's another feeling...one of sorrow. Well, not really sorrow but sadness cause by leaving the ones I love. I wish I could just take them all with me. Then it would be perfect. Alemu said that he wished I would go to Ethiopia for 5 days so I could give people gifts and then come home. He's so sweet. Thanks again for everyones support. 

Smart Scrubs

I owe a huge thanks to Grandma, Aunt Cindy and Christa for donating money to buy scrubs for the nannies. And I also owe a huge thanks to Terri at Smart Scrubs for helping me out. Here's the whole story:

When I first came home I went into the store called Smart Scrubs and talked to a woman named Terri. She is about the sweetest most compassionate woman in San Diego. She told me that she would do her best to try and find me some deals and that she would like to donate scrubs out of her own personal stash. Since I am a slacker I didn't go back to the store until today (the day before I leave). I told her how much money I had and she pointed me in the direction of the sales rack...everything was $4.99! This was half the cost of what they were when I first went to look into scrubs. She helped me pick out 15 sets of scrubs and when she totaled it up it ended up being $1.50 less than my budget. We both felt that it was an affirmation from God. 

So thank you again ladies. I'll take pictures of the nannies in their new scrubs.

Orange Marker and Baby Bird

On our way back from Nevada we stopped for slurpees since it was 110 degrees out. And since Elias can't sit there and watch us enjoy our treats without throwing a temper tantrum his nice auntie shared hers with him. I had a mango cherry slurpee which was divine. And soon Elias had finished nearly half of it...woops! His lips were stained a dark orange which made it look like he had been sucking on an orange marker.
Once the slurpee was finished Elias noticed that his Uncle Jake was eating something so of course Elias had to eat it too. Jake was picking on him and holding it above his head...this did not stop Elias from trying to eat the sour gummie worms - he looked just like a baby bird.

Holy Smokes!

Last Friday (July 10th) was a day I don't think I will forget for a long long time. We (Autumn, Brian, Elias, Jake and I) were leaving that late morning to head to Nevada for our cousin's going away party. I threw a load of clothes in the washer that morning and then started in on the quilt that I'm making. About 30 minutes before we were suppose to leave I threw jeans, shorts and two shirts in the dryer. Once those were dry I went to change and when I came back Elias had escaped to the top floor by himself. So I ran up to get him before he tried to climb back down. While up there I smelled smoke...almost a burning plastic smell. So I yelled to my mom and aunt who were sewing and we all searched the house. We frantically searched everywhere but couldn't find anything burning. Jake had grabbed the fire extinguisher but still we found nothing. We did figure out that it smelled like smoke the most in the garage. Aunt Tammy then went into the laundry room and there was smoke in there. We unplugged the dryer and pulled the lint tray out and just as we were leaving to go turn the propane tank off I noticed that there were flames underneath it. So I grabbed the sleeping bag that was right next to it and Jake sprayed the dryer with the fire extinguisher. Jake then ran and turned off the propane while my mom called 911. We waited outside while Jake went back in to make sure the walls weren't on fire. He also grabbed the keys to the cars that were in the garage so my mom could move them. Finally after it seemed like forever the fire trucks arrived. They got their jackets, masks, and hoses and went inside. Soon after we saw them bring out the charred dryer to the driveway and put the fire out there. They soon told us that it was contained to the dryer and there was only a little scorch mark on the wall. They set up fans to blow all the smoke out of the house and they ended up blowing all the fire extinguisher powder all over the house too. They told Jake he was a hero for using a fire extinguisher and turning the propane off. They even gave him a sticker. While they were still assessing the laundry room I snuck in and grabbed my camera. Here are some of the pictures I was able to snap.

Since the dryer is propane there is an open flame underneath. Even though there is a lint tray some lint falls down and over the years it has collected - that is what caught fire. My mom has vowed never to turn the dryer on right before bed or right before she leaves the house.

**We did get permission to take the picture in the truck.

Top Ten:

These are my top ten things I love about being home for a visit - in no particular order:
1. Flushing toilets and hot showers - I definitely took those for granted.
2. Wearing shorts & tank-tops
3. Eating meat
4. Speaking the same language as everyone else
5. Talking to my family & friends in person
6. Spending time with my family
7. Catching up with the families & children from Ethiopia who are now in the U.S.
8. Experiencing some of the "firsts" with Alemu, Israel & Elias
9. Rest
10. Talking to people and opening up their eyes to the needs in Ethiopia. On Sunday I am doing a presentation at my church about my time in Ethiopia - I'm nervous already and it's only Tuesday. Yikes!

Come Out and Say It

I'll just come out and say it...does anyone want to donate money toward new scrubs for a bunch (35) of nannies? When I go back in July I will be volunteering at two new orphanages in Addis. All of the nannies wear old scrubs that were donated a couple years ago. Since they are becoming all tattered and torn I would like to get them new ones. I went to a store today and inquired about possible donations or discounts. The lady happened to be a Christian and very compassionate towards missions she seemed to really want to help - it may have been the fact that Elias snuggled with her and made her tear up or that she felt something from God...we will never know. So needless to say the most expensive (with no discount) price would be $8.75(tax included) for one piece of the set. If you would be interested please let me know ASAP. Thank you so much.

Home

I know what a boring title. I have been home for four days now. It has been so peaceful already. I have missed my family so much that it is a joy to be home. My brothers are doing so well and seem to be adjusting wonderfully. My nephew is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. Today is my dad's day to watch him but since he had to take Israel to the dentist (in Mexico) I get to watch Elias today. We have been hanging out and making a movie and sent it to Autumn. I never really understood the desire to be a stay at home mom - I always thought it would be boring. After only one day with Elias I think I can understand a little bit. I love spending time with my family - it is good for my soul.

Cracked Pot
The sermon at church yesterday was written directly for me I believe. The pastor talked about heroes having clay feet and how Elijah’s life fell apart for a little while. He used the illustration of a clay pot. Right now my pot is cracking right down the middle – my life here in Ethiopia is falling apart.

Same
I thought he was different but it turns out that he is the same as her. He warned the nannies to watch me pack incase I stole anything. He told them that when the auditor comes if anything is missing from the house that it will come out of their paychecks. When I found out about this I was so angry. So angry in fact that I took everything that I bought. I was going to leave some stuff that the house needs but out of anger I took everything. I feel bad because I did buy that stuff for the nannies and children but he can replace everything. I have cried more these last two months then I have in all my life combined.

Projects
I moved to the projects. I rented an apartment near Tesfanesh’s brother. It is actually considered ‘the projects’ but it is a really nice apartment. Most of the people living here are families with lots of children. There is no middle class in Ethiopia – you are either poor or rich. Most of the people who live here would be considered mid-lower class.

Mesmore
This means music in Amharic. All of the Christian music sounds the same to me. You could interchange the musicians and their words but never change the melody and music and no one would ever know the difference. Tesfanesh told me that another white person had told her the same thing.

10…9…8…7…
I am counting down the days until I am home – 6 days until I leave and 7 until I am in San Diego. I am looking forward to a time of rest.

One Man’s Trash…
Is another’s treasures. I was invited to visit a neighbor’s house yesterday. When I went inside the mom was sowing (on an ancient machine) strips of fabric together making a shirt for her youngest child. I looked around and noticed that they have 7 people living in a one-bedroom apartment. It reminded me of my childhood. Then I had a brilliant idea. I got all of my clothes that I don’t wear and the twin sheets that I brought that don’t fit and I let them go through and pick stuff out that they wanted. I also went through the clothes that are Elias’ (sorry Autumn) and gave some of them to the little boy. He had been wearing clothes that were too small and for little girls. One of the daughters took a pair of jeans and two shirts as well as two of the sheets. I told her to make a shirt for her dad because he only has one dress shirt. The housemaid took the rest of the clothes. Oh man did it make their day. I had her try everything on and do a fashion show. She was giddy with happiness. It made my day too – now I don’t have to worry about what to do with all the clothes I don’t wear.

Packed
Today I went through all of my stuff and decided what I want to take home and what I want to keep here in Ethiopia. It took me longer than I thought but I rearranged everything how I want it. Now all I have to do is wash my clothes and buy souvenirs.

Conjoe Bet – Beautiful House
I bought a small sofa set today for the living room. After much searching and driving around we found one that wasn’t a fortune and that was actually a decent color. The couches here are very different from in America. They are huge over-stuffed things that are usually an ugly color. I will post pictures of our apartment soon.

Genesis Farms
Today Tesfanesh, her brother’s wife, Mesfin, Hiwot #2 and I went to Debre Zyet and visited this amazing farm. An American and an Ethiopian run the farm and it employs many local people. It has cows, chickens, different vegetables and flowers. I bought a ficus tree for two dollars and other plants for about the same price. We joined a school on the tour around the place and when it was finished I asked the tour guide if he would take us to visit the place where they make cheese. He was hesitant at first but Tesfanesh talked him into it. I learned a lot about how to run a farm – it takes a lot of manpower and hard work. When we got home Tesfanesh’s brother had bought his wife and myself some roses. Since roses are Ethiopia’s third largest export they are everywhere, but most Ethiopians don’t buy them. This family has been so nice to me and treated me so well this is just icing on the cake.

Rules
For having no rules while driving there are rules but only when the police are round. Today I got a ticket. I was nearing one of the few intersections that has traffic lights and none of them were lit – so of course I went through. There was a policeman right there, I didn’t see him until he whistled for me to stop. So I pulled over and I told him in Amharic that I didn’t see any lights on. He told me that the far one on the other side of the street was on. You’ve got to be kidding me. So the two lights that were right in front of me are off but the one all the way to left on the other side of traffic was on. How could anyone see that? Anyways he took my driver’s license and now I have to go tomorrow and pay a $114 birr fine to get it back. I was in a very busy area and everyone was giving me sympathetic looks. One guy yelled to me, “Izosh,” which means, “It will be ok.” I just laughed and drove away.

Things I will Miss
Kenasa – I will miss him coming up and hugging my leg right when I come to the house.
Melkamu – I will miss the way he jokes around and says that his rather fat tummy is because of pasta.
Sentayhu – I will miss the way she loves to help everyone.
Habtamu – I will miss the way he makes funny faces all the time.
Eyob – I will miss the way he preaches to the other kids.
Ebowa – I will miss the way she grabs my face and kisses my cheek for as long as I will allow at bedtime.
Sitota – I will miss the way he smiles whenever I kiss him goodnight.
Halle – I will miss the way she pretends to give you her nose and when you pretend to give her yours she eats it.
Lily – I will miss her laugh when she is tickled.
Yeabsira – I will miss her smile.
Ammanuel – I will miss the way he loves to be held and talked to.
Melaku – I will miss the way he smiles and laughs when I talk to him.
Damenu – I will miss the way she jumps up and down when I talk to her.
Henok – I will miss the way he laughs when tickled.
Ruth – I will miss her laugh when Hiwot talks to her.
Missaye – I will miss her so much. She was my movie buddy. We would stay up late every night and watch either a movie or The Office.
Bellatu – I will miss her gentleness and wisdom.
Tesfanesh – I will miss her friendship.
Hiwot – I will miss her willingness to learn and improve.
Senaidt – I will miss her and her desire to serve everyone.
Meseret – I will miss the way she dances.
Selam – I will miss the way she says my name “Elme.” (L-me)
Reading to the kids at night before bed.
Listening to the kids pray and sing.

Saying Goodbye
I said goodbye to everyone the other day. It was so hard to say goodbye to the kids because I know that many of them will be in America when I get back. They didn't really understand what was going on but I knew exactly what saying goodbye meant. Missaye cried so hard when I hugged her goodbye. Although I will see her when I get back two months seems like a long time to be away from them. My friend G-me (he is a driver that lives in Bethel - same area that I live) said that Addis without Emily is not good. That warmed my heart. My new neighbors had this beautiful coffee ceremony for my at their house. I also threw myself a going away party and there were so many people there. It was hard saying goodbye to my Ethiopia family but I am so excited to see my family that I can't be sad too long.

Blogs 5-18-09

Laugh so Hard

I have never in all my time here seen all of the nannies laugh so hard while watching a movie. Tonight for the first time we watched Dumb & Dumber. They laughed at all the right places but they went hysterical over the bathroom scene. Oh man Tesfanesh was laughing so hard I though she was going to pee her pants. I was laughing so hard watching them laugh – it reminded me of watching it with my dad and doing the same thing with him.

Finally

Today I got my Ethiopian drivers license. It took me all day but I finally got it. First I had to go to the U.S. Embassy and get my Californian drivers license validated. Once I got that I went to the Ministry of Transport and a nice gentleman helped me fill out all the forms and I had to get my picture taken so he took me to a photo house where I was ripped off but since I had to have them I had to pay it. I found out that I had to get the paper from the U.S. Embassy authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And since the Ministry of Transportation was closed for lunch we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but they were closed for lunch too. So I went to a new restaurant called The Cottage. It was my first time eating a meal by myself and when the waiter said, “Solo?” I was embarrassed. I was the only woman in the restaurant and I swear the white man sitting kitty-corner to me was talking about the fact that I had a St. George. After finishing my meal I went back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and stood in line for 20 minutes. Then I stood in another line to give them my paper.. They gave me a number and told me to sit so I could pay. So the girl next to me and I watched part of Across the Universe on my iPOD. Once I paid I had to wait in another line to get my receipt. Then I left and we went to use the ATM. I saw a ticket from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then it dawned on me that I left my camera with security. So we had to go back (luckily it was on the way). They asked me to fill out a survey – I was honest about the fact that it was a waste of time standing in three lines when only one was required. Who knows if they will change their system - probably not because all of Ethiopia is like this. Then we headed back to the Ministry of Transportation and finally after standing in a very short line I received my drivers license. It is just laminated cardstock with a photo of me on it and a couple stamps. Then the nice gentleman who helped me at the beginning asked me for money. I told him no. He was very angry but I told him that I didn’t ask for his help but that I was very grateful for it. He said that that wasn’t fair. I told him that I thought he was helping me out of the kindness of his heart and not doing it for money.. Then he walked away. Typical. They prey on the white people all over Addis. They come up to you and ask you if you need help when in reality this is their job – they are like vultures and always expect something in return.

Alive

I am still alive after my first day of driving in the city. It took me two days but I found a car to rent. I picked it up this afternoon and drove down Bole Ave. during rush hour. The minibuses scare me as well as Meskel Sq. (the largest intersection I have ever seen – 10 lanes on each side). Mexico Sq. roundabout was difficult to navigate because there were four cars trying to go at one time into one lane. But I made it home without hitting a goat, donkey, person or other car. All of the kids were so excited that there is a car at the house. They all asked to go for a drive but I told them that we would go tomorrow. So tomorrow we are going to go for ice cream. Most of them have never had ice cream so it will be fun for everyone.

Reassurance

Yesterday Mesfin (the man from the new orphanage) called and asked me to come on Saturday and teach them how to care for children. He asked me to teach them proper sanitation, nutrition and health care for the nannies and children. Oh to have someone open minded who is willing to be taught by someone younger. It is very rare here to have someone (especially a man) who wants to be taught the western way. Ethiopians pride themselves on tradition and the fact that they have been a country for so long. It is so refreshing because it is so hard here at the house to try and teach them something new – like putting the boiled milk in the fridge. It just reassures me as to why I am here - I am here serving the Lord by serving the children. And that reassurance makes up for what happened last month.

Road that Never Ends

Last Friday Tesfanesh and I took a road trip to Jimma to visit her family. Even though I was super sick I really wanted to go. Jimma is approximately 350km from Addis and it took 6 hours to get there. It was super easy to find because there is just one road all the way from Addis to Jimma. The first 180km were nice and straight. I only had to slow down for towns, people and cattle. The second half of the trip was a different story. For 60km or so the road was switchbacks up and down mountain sides. We had to go so slow. For the rest of the trip the road wound around gradually. I was getting tired from avoiding the numerous cattle, donkeys, and goats – not to mention all the people. When dusk came around I started imagining that the stacks of wood on the side of the road were people. It was much easier to see when it was fully dark. Finally we made it. I was so excited to get out of the car but there wasn’t anywhere to park at Tesfanesh’s uncle’s house. So we had to park a couple doors down at the Catholic school. The next day there was a different guard who was refusing to let us out - after 20 minutes he did.

Hurricane Jimma

While I was in Jimma it rained every night. Let me correct myself. It didn’t rain – it poured. It poured so hard I had never in my life seen that much rain. It made me think of a hurricane – but without the wind.

Sacrifice

After rescuing the car from the Catholic compound we visited the Jimma Museum, which consisted of old artifacts from the king. Then, we went up to the palace.. The view from the palace was absolutely gorgeous. They were going to charge me money if I took any pictures so I didn’t take any. We toured the empty palace and drove back down the worst road in Jimma. By this time it was around lunchtime so we stopped by Tesfanesh’s Uncle Teka’s house. I didn’t know we were going for lunch or I would have brought some food with me but they knew I was going to be joining them because they had slaughtered a sheep on my behalf. I asked Tesfanesh what I should do and she said that she told them that I don’t eat meat. I felt so bad but they made me macaroni instead. My voice was so deep and it hurt so bad to talk that I just sat there most of the time. I was probably the rudest guest they had ever had in their home before because 1) they killed one of their sheep for me and I didn’t even eat it and 2) I didn’t talk to anyone because I was sick.

First Time For Everything

On our way back from Jimma Teka asked us to stop by his shop - which is around 22km from Jimma. It was market day in that small town so everyone was out and about getting ready to sell and purchase things. The next thing I am about to tell you is neither a lie nor a joke. I was the first white person to walk through town. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around to watch me. It was a sight to see. I almost took a picture but thought that they wouldn’t appreciate that too much. That was a first for me.

Culture

For the most part I really love the Ethiopian culture. There is one factor of it that I can’t stand. I hate the way they treat their employees. There is a huge social divide between the employers and the employees. Housemaids are treated more like servants. They are at the beck and call of their employer. They work 16 or 17 hours a day for pennies cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and sometimes watching children. Coming from a Western culture this is so foreign to me.

Braggin'

It's Autumn...a guest writer for the day. I just need to brag on Emily a bit. She's been having a tough time. Although she is 100% a volunteer where she works she has hit a bit of a rough patch as of late. Basically even though she has been working her buns off for free her independence is being taken away by her superiors. Certainly everyone whether paid or unpaid should have rules that they must abide by but things have gone a little far. Emily called very upset a couple days ago. A woman who is the director at an orphanage (unrelated to the place she is currently working for) that shall remain nameless called her and asked Emily to come over and teach her and her staff how to care for babies. There are already many children there so obviously it is hugely important that this woman wants to be trained on how to best take care of children. Emily readily agreed and made plans to head over there.


Em called a driver (they use the same 2-3 drivers all the time) and was told a certain someone (who we shall call "D") told the drivers that they are not allowed to take Emily to any other orphanage without first getting D's permission. First of all, this other orphanage is a completely unrelated entity. Secondly, the only reason "D" told the drivers this was to maintain complete control...Emily has done nothing that would in any way harm a relationship between orphanages and the place she works for. Thirdly (is that a word?) Emily has an awesome reputation at these orphanages which shines a positive light on the place she is working for...so awesome in fact that of all the people they could call to ask for help this orphanage called Emily to ask her to train everyone in the basics of childcare.

Emily called home really upset and discouraged. "D" who set these things into place is not returning any of her calls and is refusing to speak to her except via text message. Emily just wants things explained in person or at least over the phone as a lot can get lost in translation 1) because she is in Ethiopia and doesn't speak Amharic and 2) because that's what can happen over text messages.

So...here's where the bragging comes in. Today my Mom got a message from Emily. She got her driver's license, rented a car, and has now officially driven herself on the streets of Addis Ababa. Way to beat them at their own game, Em! I am really proud of Emily for a lot of reasons. She is living a very rough life. She is creatively problem solving. She is incredibly adventurous and brave to get a license in Ethiopia. She is remaining respectful in her communication to the people she is having conflict with despite everything that she must be feeling. Although she is probably discouraged she is still doing what she went to Ethiopia to do... love on the kids and help make their lives better. Now she has been given the opportunity to positively touch additional lives by being invited to train an entire orphanage how to care for their children.

Keep up the good work, Emily! We love you!

Late April Blogs

Happy Fasika (Easter)
So my Easter was very low-key because Ethiopians don’t celebrate
Easter until the following week. The following day (Monday) we started
planning our Easter celebration. Some money was donated to me and I
wasn’t sure how to use it but when I found out we weren’t going to get
any extra money for special food I knew exactly how to use it. So we
bought two chickens (the price of meat increased over night because
Easter is their big holiday) and a medium sized sheep. Senaidt, the
cook, didn’t take a day off that week because she was preparing for
the feast of the century. Church was cancelled because they had been
up all night praying and singing, so we had church at home. The kids
sang and danced and then Bellatu read the story of Christ’s
crucifixion and resurrection. We took a group photo everyone but the
babies were in it – and me because I had to take the pictures. For
lunch there was duro wat (chicken) and three different kinds of beg
wats (sheep). We invited Senaidt’s family and Philipa and her family
over. Everyone really enjoyed everything. I didn’t eat the meat…I just
couldn’t after watching be killed. There were 19 kids, 12 babies (they
didn’t feast per-say but they were at the house) and 11 adults who
feasted on Easter afternoon. Coffee was served four times that day – I
only had it twice. My sister sent me Mamba’s and so I opened a pack
and shared it with a select few – well really only those that were in
the room. I was shocked when the Easter bunny didn’t show up in
Ethiopia…I guess I’ll live through one Easter without an Easter basket
and an Easter egg hunt.

Hyena
Although I haven’t seen a hyena I know they are in Addis. The dog that
lives outside our gate had puppies a couple weeks ago. They live in
the storm drain under our driveway – right now there is re-bar on top
so it makes it pretty hard to get in and out. Tonight all seven of
them are barking for some reason and Tesfanesh said that maybe a hyena
was outside trying to get them. I told her that I think the mom would
put up a pretty good fight. But now every time they bark I want to get
up and look out my window just to make sure. I did shine my flashlight
out there and didn’t see anything except the puppies and the mamma
dog.
*Update – they are all still alive.

She Has Struck Yet Again
The tooth fairy has come to Ethiopia twice now since I have been here.
Yesterday Kenasa came upstairs half way through eating his snack of
roasted then boiled chickpeas and showed me that his tooth was loose.
I was once again picking lice out of Sentayhu’s hair so I put on some
latex gloves and wiggled it. Sure enough it was really loose. So I
pulled it out. It only bled for a minute or so and he didn’t cry which
surprised me. I showed him his tooth and he just grinned, then I took
his picture and he loved staring at it. I think he forgot about his
tooth until this morning when he found 1 birr under his pillow. I then
tried to explain to everyone who the tooth fairy was. When Keyase saw
that Kenasa got 1 birr for his tooth she showed me that two of her
bottom teeth are loose.

Phone Bill
So we paid the phone bill yesterday. My part was $1980 birr plus tax,
which equals roughly $200 USD. Yikes! Since we are completely out of
formula I am just going to buy some with the money that I owe.

Blogs from April

Lucky
The more I get to know about each nanny the more I have come to appreciate my family and the opportunities that the U.S. offers. I don’t know how Tesfanesh and I got talking about her education but what I learned astounded me. When she was eight or nine, she can’t remember exactly, her father died. Her eldest brother was then in charge of supporting his eight siblings and his mother. Since he couldn’t afford to take care of everybody, and her mom couldn’t either, they sent Tesfanesh to live with her uncle on her mother’s side. She was then their servant and was in charge of the kitchen. She went to school for a couple hours every day and then went straight home to cook dinner and would be finished with everything around midnight. Her cousins who were the same age were in school all day and did not have to work. Her aunt did not care about her education and did not treat her fairly. It continued like this for a couple years until she was shipped off to live with a different uncle. Unfortunately the situation didn’t get any better for her. She was their servant as well, always working in the kitchen. Her education was never a priority to the people she was living with. At the end of 10th grade she went to live with her eldest brother who was back from the war. She was still his servant and she raised his oldest son. She did finish her schooling at the age of 23, although she didn’t do as well as she could of.

Still Lookin’
Tonight at dinner I asked Missaye where she was going to go on her day off tomorrow. She said she was going to church. I teased her about having a boyfriend and secretly going to see him instead of going to church. So Tesfanesh chimes in that Missaye was going to see Alazar or Yafet. Missaye then said that she thought one of my brother’s was cute. Hmmm…interesting. So I go and get my photo album and I show her Chuck’s photo…no not him. Then I show her Jake’s photo…not him either. Then I show her Alex’s…yep that’s him. I told her that he is 15 almost 16 and too young for her. She just giggled while everyone else laughed at her for thinking a 15 year old is cute…not that you aren’t Alex.

Round Two
A couple days ago we noticed that some of the kids have lice again. So we took all the boys to the barber and had their heads shaved. We put clean sheets and blankets on all of the boy’s beds that night. Then we looked in the girl’s hair. Helina, Hannah and the new girls are fine but Sentayhu has lice again. So today Tesfanesh washed her hair and picked through it. Then I spent three hours picking through it as well. I hope I got all of them. We gave her new sheets and a new blanket. I am a really good lice-picker-outer by the way. I hope it does not go to round three.

Nope Still Not
Today I hung out with the older girls in my room…just to give them a break from the boys. We looked at everyone’s photos. Sentayhu kept asking me if the picture of her mom was me. Every single picture she would ask me and I would say, ‘nope still not me’…finally I had to tell her that I wasn’t in any of the photos.

Inspection
Every night I have to do a room inspection and check for mosquitoes. Last night I missed one. I have bites all over. Luckily they are non-malaria mosquitoes.

Sandlot
Ever since we have put up the laundry line the grass has been slowly dying. When the laundry would drip it would make everything really muddy so Selam would put cardboard or whatever she could find down to try and reduce the muddiness. To be honest it was really tacky looking. So finally I asked Tesfanesh if we could put a small layer of sand and then a layer of gravel since it had been raining and everything was really muddy. She agreed wholeheartedly. So we asked Seniadt (the new cook) if her husband could help us out since he works in construction. I asked her to ask him if he could find out how much it would cost and that kind of stuff. So the next morning while I am out running an errand I get a call from Hiwot. I had no idea what she was talking about so I handed the phone to Dereje and she told him in Amharic. Senaidt’s husband came and then left to go buy sand and gravel. Oh great. I told her to tell him to just wait until I get back before he does anything. When I got home the project was finished. I was frustrated beyond belief. I asked Hiwot what had happened and she said that she told him to wait but obviously he didn’t. It wasn’t done very good either. There was too much sand and it wasn’t level or packed down and there weren’t enough rocks to cover all the sand. I asked Senaidt if her husband was coming back and she said that he was. Good maybe he could fix it. Nope that wasn’t the case. He just went and bought more gravel. After he spread it all out he poured a little water over everything. Yesterday I noticed that Selam still put a reed mat over the rocks. What a waste of money.

Manna From Heaven
I’m not much for being extremely vocal about my faith but this week God has provided in extraordinary ways. I took the Stirling’s yesterday to visit an orphanage so they could drop off their donations and visit with some children. The director of this small orphanage told me that she was out of formula. So we said that we would find her some and bring it to her the next day. I was really worried as to where we would get this formula. We were out of the stuff that Sue had brought over a month before and getting money for the formula we had was very hard. Later on that night Mindy called me and said that the lady that was staying in her guesthouse would like to donate some formula and some money. Praise God. Today I met up with Maria who is adopting from my sister’s agency. She had brought diapers and wipes that my sister sent. We had been completely out of disposable diapers for a while which if fine usually but some of the babies have diarrhea so it is a huge mess. These diapers are a lifesaver and could not have come at a more crucial time. They are wonderful people (and I love their daughter). Thank you to those of you whom God provided through.

Circle of Life
I have ring worm again, but this time it is in three spots: my face, my leg and my shoulder. Some of the kids have it and it is super contagious so I’m not surprised I got it again. I just wish it wasn’t on my face. But since I know what it is I got some more medicine and I am treating it.

Mexico the Country - not the Square
There is a roundabout in Addis called Mexico Square. The fountain in the middle reminds me of Mexico. Anyways, today Senaidt (the cook) had the day off. She prepared in advance incase Meseret didn’t want to pitch in and help in the kitchen – she even offered to come in if Meseret refused. But Tesfanesh made her help serve the meals. Needless to say there wasn’t enough food for the nannies. Actually there wasn’t any left. So I decided that I would make dinner. I was going to make pancakes since it is easy but Tesfanesh asked me to make refried beans and chicken. So we then decided to make tortillas as well. The only thing is we didn’t have any cornmeal so we improvised and used chickpeas. We quickly sorted through them and picked out the rocks and Tesfanesh was kind enough to pound them using an old mortar shell and rebar. It wasn’t quite the consistency as cornmeal but it was close enough. I cooked one to see if the larger pieces of chickpeas were soft enough…nope. It didn’t taste like tortillas but it wasn’t too bad. So I added some sugar and let the chickpeas soak a little while longer. Much better this time around. So Tesfa continued cooking those while I made the chicken, refried beans, rice and canned peaches. When everything was ready I showed the ladies how to make a burrito, how to hold it and how to eat it. Surprisingly enough it tasted really good. It might be because I haven’t had Mexican food in 6 months, but I think it is because we are awesome cooks.

Punishment
I am being punished – although it really punishes other than me. On Wednesday night Dereje called Tesfanesh and said that she had to take 6 kids to the U.S. Embassy for their blood tests. She told him that Thursday was her day off – his response was “I don’t care, you have to do it no one else.” So she did it. I knew exactly what was happening. So I tried to call him all day Thursday and his phone just rang. So I tried again on Friday – it just rang and rang and rang - same at the office too. So finally I texted him Friday afternoon and asked him to call me back because I wanted to know about the families that were coming in two days. I got a text message at 8:50pm from Dereje saying, “Parents could not tell the history of their child at the embassy. I creats problem on CCI. We decided Yafet to take care of parents in their staying now on wards. We don’t want families to go embassy with out our recognition like Strilings. They creat problem on me and CCI at the Embassy. The coming parents will be assisted by YAFET and me. Thank u.” So then I replied, “And how is that my fault? What time is Yafet coming? We want to have the kids ready.” He didn’t respond. At first I was angry now I just feel bad – not for what I did because I would do it again – but because now it puts a lot of extra work on Tesfanesh and Yafet. Last night when he texted me I called him a coward. Tesfanesh was in the room so then I had to explain what a coward was. It just confirms my suspicions and it also confirms that it is time to move on.

Donating Directly to Emily

Hey Everyone, a few of you have asked if there is anyway to send Emily money to help make a difference in Ethiopia. The answer is yes! I have set up a paypal account that goes directly to her bank account. If you would like a tax deductible receipt then you can send money to her via the church and just put "for Emily" in the lower left hand corner of your check. The church address is: First Baptist Church of the Willows 3510 Alpine Blvd. Alpine, CA 91901. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them on the comments section. Thanks, Ann

A Long Post

Five Months
I can’t believe I have been here five months already. It has gone by so fast and so slow at the same time. Don’t ask me how that happens. I have really enjoyed my time here for the most part. It’s not without its frustrations and problems but I really feel that God is using me here. I love living with a bunch of kids all around me – and for the most part I love living with five other women. I don’t know how long I will be at this orphanage but I am grateful to have been here this long especially since my brothers were here for four out of the five months. I am so thankful to everyone who has supported me in prayer and donations.

Lookin’ For Love
Tonight at dinner one of the nannies asked me to find her an American boyfriend. This has inspired me to write about each of them…and attach a photo – it can’t hurt.
Tesfanesh is 38 years old and has been working in a couple different orphanages for about 6 years now. She is a very sweet lady who always puts others before her. She is about 5’4” and super petite (She can fit into a child’s size 10 pants).

Zoudie is 28 and has been working in this orphanage for about 6 months now. She loves the babies that she is looking after so much and they love her. She is a super hard worker too. She is about 5’ and is very tiny.

Meseret is 26 and she has been working here at the orphanage for about 6 months as the cook. She is a really good cook too. She really loves the children and takes really good care of them meal wise. She cooks something special for a couple of the kids who need extra high protein diets. She is about 5’6” and average weight.

Hiwot is 25 and has been working here for over a year now. She went to school to become an electrician but couldn’t find a job because she is a woman. She works constantly and loves her kids so much. She is a very persistent woman. She is about 5’7” and is very thin.

Missaye is 23 and has only been working here for 3 ½ months. She loves to laugh and joke around with everyone. Although she is the youngest she works very hard. I had to show her how to use Desitin when she first got here…she thought it was lotion. She is about 5’7” and average.

So there are the five women I live with.

Out To Dry
Today I had to do my own laundry. I know that that sounds very spoiled. The washing machine is about as unpredictable as the water. I was using it when it worked but as of now it won’t drain so it is out of commission since I don’t know how to fix it. The last couple of times I have tried to do laundry Selam (the laundry lady) has physically removed me from doing it. They say that I don’t know how to do it since I am white or that I don’t have the right skin. So I have just paid her to do it. Today I ran out of clean clothes and Selam didn’t come to work today…I think she is sick. So after Tesfanesh left to buy groceries I took my clothes downstairs and started. Missaye tried to help but I told her not to touch my clothes since she had a load to do of herself. When Tesfanesh came back and saw that I was doing my own laundry she told me to stop and that she would do it. Of course I didn’t listen to her. It took me about 3 hours but I did two loads of laundry. My hands hurt so badly from scrubbing and wringing but I’m glad that I showed them that I could do it. My knuckles are rubbed raw and sting. I wore shorts today and got a small sunburn on my legs which freaks everyone out. The kids like to push on it and watch it turn from red to white and back to red again. Luckily I have enough clothes to last me a couple weeks so I won’t have to do this anytime soon.

10:52pm
I was just about to turn the light off when my phone rang. I thought it was someone from home but when I looked at the caller ID I saw that it was Sue. She was calling to tell us that a five-day-old baby was being dropped off in 45 minutes. He was found on the side of the road and had nowhere else. So I rushed to find Tesfanesh before she fell asleep. I found her in the kitchen cleaning the stove. Alazar and his friend showed up a little more than a half hour later with a completely naked baby only wrapped in a blanket. He had peed on Alazar’s friend too. Tesfa took him upstairs while I locked the gate for the night. When I went upstairs he was screaming so loud. Tesfa had put him down to go heat up water for a bath. I uncovered him and was immediately taken aback by his smell. He stunk so badly. Whoa I was not expecting that. It looked and smelled like he hadn’t had a bath in all his five days of life. His umbilical cord was so long which means he probably wasn’t born in a hospital. He had black poop all over his back so I quickly went to Hiwot’s room and grabbed two bottles from her and made one. He hated it when I uncovered him and cleaned him up but he loved the bottle that I gave him after it was finished. I didn’t want to dirty a blanket by just him being wrapped in it so I grabbed a cloth diaper and sort of wrapped him in it until Tesfa came back with warm water. He did not like the bath at all but he soon settled down when we got him dry and clothed. Tonight was probably his first time in a bath and in clothes. I told Tesfa that we would have to clean his umbilical cord for a while until it fell off. She had no idea what it was – I didn’t want to explain. So he is sleeping in Tesfa’s room with Muna and Little Eyob. It is 12:30 am and I am really tired. Good night.

Here Comes The Sun…
The water came on from the street last night around 7pm so I told the ladies that if we still have water tomorrow that I would like to have a water fight with the kids. Only Tesfanesh knew what I was talking about. Hiwot, Zoudie and Missaye have never been in a water fight so then we explained to them what we were going to do. Zoudie really liked the idea and so did Hiwot but Missaye didn’t want to participate. So today while we were eating our bread and drinking our tea it got dark all of the sudden. Of course a huge dark cloud would come right before I wanted to start the fight. So I waited a little while and enjoyed my breakfast and then the sun came back. We all hurried and got ready then we found out that the water was slowly going because there wasn’t enough pressure to push it through the hose. So we grabbed buckets and water pitchers and had the kids undress all the way to their undies. As soon as Matthewos and Helina got wet they started screaming so they were out right away. Zoudie soon came out and she started to get me. The water was cold but surprisingly refreshing. Of course I had to retaliate. After we were both soaked we started getting the kids again. The sun disappeared again and it was cold. Hiwot then came outside with out a bucket or anything so Zoudie and I drenched her. She put up a pretty good fight though. After ten minutes of ganging up on Hiwot I called time out and we got the kids again. They were visibly shaking so we called it quits after two minutes. I grabbed a towel and started drying them one at a time but the wind was so cold it didn’t matter. Finally the sun came out for good… of course after we had finished our fight.

Dance Dance Revolution
Today thirty minutes before lunch it got really cold outside so I brought all the kids inside and told them that we were going to watch a movie. I brought down my computer - which had music on. Once they heard the music they all got up and started dancing. I turned it up and had Big Eyob get my camera and Sentayhu get Missaye and Hiwot. I looked over and Hannah was dancing her traditional dance. Her hands were on her hips and she was shakin’ it. Then I noticed the most surprising thing. Kanesa, the shyest kids here, is dancing some sort of traditional dance. He is bobbing his head and shaking his shoulders. It was so funny to watch Hannah and Kanesa dance. I got tons of video of them and the other kids dancing.

Names Names Names
Here are two of the names I answer too:
Zoudie calls me Eminy (Em-in-knee).
Selam calls me Elmy (L-me).
The other ladies make fun of them all the time but I think it’s kind of cute.

Happy Birthday
Happy 18th birthday Jake! I am sorry I am not there celebrating with you. I love you.

Fit Right In
I have converted the nannies to become The Office lovers. They don’t understand all of the humor but they enjoy watching it. I know they would fit right in with most Americans if they came to the U.S.

Oprah
Oprah has the biggest book club in America…I think. I am going to start a smaller one. Here is a list of book that I have read while I have been here. I was fortunately able to borrow some from SIM headquarters.
‘The Hospital by the River’ by Dr. Catherine Hamlin. This is about the fistula hospital in Addis and the life story of the husband and wife team who started it.
‘English Ivy’ by Something Palmer (I can’t remember). This is a Christian romance novel.
‘Remember Me?’ by Sophie Kinsella. This is a secular romance novel about a woman who looses her memory after a car accident and her struggle to remember. (It was good but not great).
‘The Invisible Wall’ by Harry Bernstein. This is about the childhood of an English Jew and his struggle living next to discriminate Christians and being very very poor.
‘Slinky Malinki’ by Lynley Dodd. This is my favorite book to read to the kids. They love it so much that they ask for it at nap and bedtime. I have read it so much that I have memorized it. At various times each day you can hear a child quoting it.

Change of Heart
After lunch some of the ladies and I moved some bunk beds from downstairs to the new kids room because we were told that more kids from Kamashi were coming today. So as we were moving the beds Missaye changed from jeans and a sweater to a skirt and nice dress shirt. I didn’t realize it at the time but she changed because Yafet was going to be coming to the house to drop the kids off. It suddenly dawned on me around 7pm as to why she changed. I asked her through Tesfanesh and she just smiled and laughed and said that was the reason why she had changed and she thinks he is ‘ba-tom con-joe’ or very beautiful. We told the ladies at dinner and everyone had a really long laugh over this. So then I asked each of the ladies who they thought was cute. As soon as Missaye found out that Yafet is Orthodox she switched to Alazar (a driver we use all the time). He didn’t end up coming today because there was a problem with the van I think…but he is coming tomorrow!
So around five o’clock today Missaye came in and I asked her what she was going to wear tonight since Yafet was coming. She didn’t know. So I went and got all my clothes for her to try on and pick through. She found a very nice black dress/tunic to wear with jeans. When the van pulled up Tesfa went downstairs and I called Missaye to hurry. Tesfa opened the gate but there was no Yafet. Apparently they dropped him off on the way. Poor Missaye.

Seven New Faces
There are five new kids. They have been here for a couple days now and seem to be adjusting well. The two older girls are shy around me but they are slowly opening up. The younger girl and the two boys are much more interactive. I painted all the girls fingers today and I think they really enjoyed that (thank you Laura and Lindsey for the awesome finger nail polish).
We got a new cook! Well kind of. She cooks every other day. Her name is Senait (pronounced Sin-ide). She and Meseret take turns cooking and washing the baby’s clothes. She is a super hard worker and goes the extra mile to take care of me.
Zoudie took the week off so Dereje hired another nanny to take care of her kids while she is gone. Her name is Bellatu and she is super quiet…which is fine because the kids she is watching are super loud.

Homesick…I’ll just call it what it is
Today Hiwot and I took Hannah to her parents. My mom had sent her mom some stuff for me letters, clothes (thank you…I am getting sick of my clothes), photos, a copy of my sister’s blog, movies, cookies…that kind of stuff. After getting back to the house and eating lunch I have locked myself in my room to read everything. I loved getting a copy of my sister’s blog. I have missed it so much (blogspot doesn’t work here for some reason). I read through the entire thing and loved it. Then I looked at the photo album. There was a sticky note from my mom on there. It said, “Autumn & I put this together for you so you don’t feel like you’re missing out.” At that I started crying. How did she know? I missed the “firsts” of Elias, Alemu and Israel being home. It hit me that I am alone here. I don’t have the boys with me. I’ve only been to church twice since they left…it’s just not the same. I haven’t gotten homesick often since I’ve been here (only around Christmas), but I really miss my family. Then I read the letters from my sister and dad. I came undone at this point. Most of the time I forget that I am in Africa and I just go about my day like nothing’s different. But today I realize that I am two continents and an ocean away from my family. I can’t jump on an airplane or call them whenever (they are 10 hours behind me). Today I have a headache. Tomorrow I will be fine.

Small Rains
So in Ethiopia there are two times when it rains. They call them the ‘small’ (it will only last for a couple weeks) and the ‘big’ (it will last for two to three months) rains. Today we are experiencing the small rains…it started to pour around 6pm. So I hiked up my pants and took my flip-flops off and ran outside to put the toys away. I don’t know how we did it this week but we were out of water within 4 days – which is terrifying because we won’t have water from the streets for another 4-7 days…you just never know here. So I took all the buckets that were outside and laid them out to collect water. Tesfanesh thought I was crazy but I really enjoyed it. There was thunder and lighting and huge black clouds…it reminds me of Hood River. The only problem is that our doorbell – which sounds like birds chirping – is on the fritz and will just go at anytime. The craftsmanship of everything here is very poor. I just hope that the chirping doorbell won’t keep anyone awake tonight.
It chirped every four seconds…I could barely hear it in my room so I slept just fine.

Waste Management
I mean time management. I’m not the most organized person on earth I will give you that but I am much more organized than most people here. It’s probably a good thing that my sister and mom don’t live here at the house…they are organized on a whole new level. With the new change in policy it has thrown a kink in the operation of adoptions. Last week was one of the most frustrating weeks I have ever had. I had to take Hannah and Bruke every day but one out to get them all cleared before their parent’s came/come. I had to explain to Dereje countless time what the next step was and what we needed in order to get it right the first time. On Thursday I told him that he needed to go to the special clinic and get the paperwork for seven children ready and the money because I was going to take them on Monday to IOM. So Monday rolls around and we get there and the social worker is there. He hands me a stack of papers and says he has to leave. I ask about the money and he says he doesn’t have any. Great. So we get inside and I call Dereje and tell him that he forgot the money. After I hang up I go to the receptionist and I tell her why we are there and she says that they have enforced a new policy (in five days) and that we have to have the passports before we can start the process. So then I look at the paperwork that the social worker gave me and we are missing two children and have three different ones. I call Dereje hoping to catch him before he leaves and I told him that he needed to bring the money and the right papers. So then seven children and I sit and wait for 45 minutes for him to show up. He talks to the director and the whole passport thing is confirmed. That’s just wonderful. So then Dereje totes us around town to the clinic to talk to them and then back to his office. After we dropped him off I stopped at a shop and bought uniforms for the cooks and cleaner. You would have thought that they won the visa lottery and were on their way to America. I had looked for a long time trying to find uniforms but I couldn’t ever find a shop that made them. Other than finding the uniforms it was a complete waste of time.

One Month and Twelve Days
In mid-January I went to see a carpenter about having a bookcase made for Zoudie. She had been keeping all of her clothes and the babies’ clothes in plastic bags. So I have him a deposit of $300 birr and he said it would be ready in a week. Well a week passes and I can’t get a hold of him. Then two weeks pass and someone else answers his phone and says to call another man. So we try to get a hold of him for another week. Then Tesfanesh, Alazar and I go to his shop but no one is there. So we tell the people who own the shop next door to tell the man that we no longer want to have the shelves anymore and that we would like the $300 birr deposit back. That same day we go see another carpenter who says he can do it in two weeks. So I say ok and he started the project four days later when I gave him a deposit. Then the first carpenter calls back and says that they are ready to pick up. Tesfa told him that we didn’t want them anymore but that we wanted the money back. He says to come to his shop. She took Buze with her for back up but when they arrived no one was there. She was livid. So he called again a couple days later and told her that she could come pick up the money that day. When she arrived he tried to talk her into giving him the rest of the money and taking the bookshelf. And that was the last that we heard of him. But the second one prevailed! Zoudie finally got her long awaited bookshelf one month and twelve days later! She was so happy that she stayed up until mid-night filling the shelves.

Burdened Soul

A couple nights ago I asked where the laundry lady’s daughter went to during the day while she worked. Tesfanesh said that she played in the street and that she went home for lunch to her neighbor’s house who fed her. This whole time I thought that she was married and that her daughter was in preschool. I felt so bad and had this huge burden to do something. I don’t know how she concentrates on doing anything. If I were she I would be worried about my child the whole time. I know that she doesn’t make enough money to send her to school. So the next day I asked her to find out how much it cost to sent her to school for one month. She came back the next day and I was pleased and horrified at the same time. I was pleased because it only costs $8 a month and horrified that I hadn’t done this sooner. So I gave her money for the registration fee, her first month and a backpack (every little kid needs a backpack). Today was her first day of school. She came by after to show me her backpack – which was empty – so I got some crayons, paper, coloring book, pencils and a pencil sharpener. I also gave her new shoes, a My Little Pony and a stuffed animal. She was so excited. Her mom told me that she slept with her backpack the night before. The backpack was so stuffed with awesome stuff that it wouldn’t close and it was really heavy. Her mom tried to carry it for her but she refused and wouldn’t let anyone take it from her.
So everyone who gave me money to come over here, know that you are sending a little girl to school and giving her mom some piece of mind. I think I am going to set up a small fund for her so she can continue her education. If you would like to help financially please email me. Thank you.

Cha-Ma (Shoes)

I decided that all the kids needed new shoes. So today Hiwot and I went to the merkato and went shopping for shoes. Now the merkato is the largest open-air market in Africa so we went to the shoe district. There were rows and rows of shops selling shoes. Most of them were sold the shoes at wholesale price if you bought 6 of them. So I ended up buying 18 even though there are only 10 big kids here right now. I figured that we would be getting more kids soon anyways. Here is a picture of the kids and their shoes.

Achy Breaky Heart

So it’s not my heart but it was a good title. Zoudie is sick. I made her go to the hospital today to see a doctor. She didn’t want to go but I insisted and pulled the “what about your kids, you don’t want to get them sick,” card. I spent a little over $5 for her to see a doctor and get medicine. She has swollen tonsils. I asked her if he swabbed her throat and she said no. They do things really different here apparently. Now my throat hurts too and my body aches. Boo. Luckily I don’t have any tonsils. I feel much better today (the next morning). I found some antibiotics in the cupboard.

LOTS OF UPDATES!!!!!!!

Well we have lots of updates from Emily. I posted them all...all 48 of them! Woah. There are blogs labeled numbers 1 thru 30 which are from a c.d. that was mailed to me while we were in Ethiopia. Those postings are about 2 months old but I thought it would be fun for us to read these updates anyway. The ones that are not numbered are all recent and were received today. So once you get to the bottom of the page you can click on the small link that says "Older Posts" and that will give you a whole new page of older posts. Or at the very bottom there is a section that says March 2009 with links to all of the postings in March. Everything in March is new. Have fun reading and don't forgot to write comments so I can send them to Emily. She loves to know that people are still reading her blog!

-Autumn

Spring Is Here

Since we got so many new babies we needed Missaye to have her own room. She has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the babies’ room. So we rearranged the whole house. We moved the kids into the living room, we moved Missaye and four babies into the kid’s room and we moved the living room furniture into where the babies were. This will also keep the little kids from going up and down the stairs. Missaye was so excited to have her own room and a bed that I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. We cleaned all of the rooms so well before we put any of the new furniture in it. I explained to Tesfanesh and Missaye that since it is spring we are ‘Spring Cleaning.’ Then I had to explain what that meant.

By Any Other Name

Today Sue came back from Kamashi with the cutest little girl ever. She couldn’t remember her name so she called her China because she might be half Chinese - but that is pure speculation. I don’t like that name because I do not think it is appropriate. After she left I asked Tesfanesh and Missaye not to call her that…they totally agreed. So then I asked Missaye to think of a very beautiful name to fit this very beautiful little girl. She came up with Halle (pronounced Hall-lay), which is short for Hallelujah. Some how it fits her very well. We were told that she was being fed sugar water so we tried regular formula and she vomited almost instantly when she had finished her bottle. So after 20 minutes we got out the soy formula and she has kept down 4 oz. without any problems. She is probably lactose intolerant and so she couldn’t keep cows milk down so they fed her sugar water. (This is just my opinion though). I hope this soy formula will work.

Just Like Home

I took Autumn & Brian as well as the Baileys to church with me. All of their responses to church were the same, “It is just like home. If I lived here I would rather go to something more Ethiopian.” I was a little taken aback. To me having church be the only thing that resembles home is something I really like and crave. I am surrounded by a different language, food, smells, culture and people- to be able to go to church and have it be similar to home where everyone speaks English, similar songs and styles of preaching is nice and comforting. I think they would change their minds if they lived here.

Stories From Home

I talked to my mom the other day and I asked how the boys were doing. She told me some really funny stories about Alemu.
Alemu can’t understand how the cordless phone works. He thinks it is used like a walkie-talkie and so he runs throughout the house looking for the other person.

I talked to Alemu last week and I asked him how church was. I asked if dad preached, he said yes. I asked him if it was good or bad, and he said bad. Poor dad.

Alemu asked my mom if there were fish in the pool.

Roll Call

SNL anyone? Since we have lost and gained so many children I will give you an update on who is at the house from youngest to oldest.
Melaku- He is between 3 and 4 weeks but we aren’t 100% sure. He has the cutest hair.
Ammanuel- He is 2 maybe 3 months and so beautiful.
Lily- She is now 5 months and a good size too. When she sneezes she sounds like Donald duck.
Yeabsera- She is also 5 months and has the best smile.
Enqutatash- She is 7 months and is going to be a heartbreaker.
Ruth- She is also 7 months old and is a “pudding” according to Phillipa.
Muna- She is 7 months as well and becoming very active.
Halle (Hallelujah)- She is 9 months maybe. Sue didn’t remember her name so Missaye named her Halle which is short for Hallelujah.
Henok- He is 9 months and has 6 teeth now.
Damenu- She is one year old and just learned how to walk by herself.
Meskerem- She is 15 months- maybe- and is starting to talk and responds to Hiwot.
Habtamu- He is almost 2 and makes funny faces all the time.
Helina- She is two and has 6 teeth now! She is talking more and more all the time. She even knows “Don’t do that,” and uses it correctly.
Melkamu- He is two and is just adorable. I wish I could take him home. Actually I would take any of them home.
Bruke- He is three and has an adorable smile.
Matthewos- He is three and has been having trouble listening lately – but still he is a wonderful little boy.
Juju- She is three and is the twin of Jurie. I can only tell them apart because Juju has a tuft of hair in the front and Jurie doesn’t.
Jurie- She is three and cries herself to sleep almost every night while Juju comforts her.
Hannah- She is four and likes to laugh…a lot.
Little Eyob- He is four- maybe. He likes to preach to the other kids.
Sena- He is four and has such a big smile he often drools…it is super cute.
Kanesa- He is four and brothers with Melkamu. He is a super sweet boy.
Big Eyob- He is five maybe. He is the brother of Helina. He is a big helper now that all the big kids are gone.
Sentayhu- She is six and very beautiful She is the sister of Habtamu. I really like her…she is a very very sweet girl. She asked me if I was her mom and I said no that I was her aunt. She now calls me auntie in Amharic sometimes.
So that’s all twenty-four kids now that Temesgen went home today. Within the next two days Sena, Juju and Jurie are going home.

Slippery Slope

This morning after giving Temesgen a bath- because his mom was picking him up- I decided that I needed a shower too. So I took a bucket and the electric kettle downstairs. When I was on the second step I slipped a little because there was water on the top of the stairs. Tesfanesh saw and said, “By Yay-sus.” (In the name of Jesus) I told her I was fine and continued down the stairs. When I was about three steps from the bottom I slipped really bad on water and actually fell. I hit my butt on the edge of the stair, which hurt really bad. There were about five kids watching me. I dropped everything when I slipped and Meseret came from the kitchen and saw what had happened and she said, “By Yay-sus!” as well. She actually picked me up (against my will) and put me on the bottom step. I limped into the living room and sat down to catch my breath. Tesfanesh came running in and asked what had happened and if I was alright. I told her there was water on the steps and whoever spilled it needs to clean it up right away. I also said that we were really lucky it was me and not a little kid. Zoudie then came downstairs and mopped up her water. I just checked and I have a huge black and blue bruise on my butt, which freaks all the nannies out. Since they are so dark you can’t really see bruises very well and since my butt is so white the color stands out. Oh to be a ferenge (white person).

Boo-Skit

Yesterday I did a second lice treatment on the new little girl. The whole process took about two and a half hours. I spent two hours picking lice out of her hair. Both of our backs hurt from sitting so still for that long that I treated her to a Fanta. We walked three doors down to a little store and while the lady was getting our sodas she said, “Emily, booskit.” She was asking for cookies. I was a little shocked, but I spent the twelve cents and bought her a packet of cookies as well as a soda. She then saved one for her little brother – which I thought was very sweet of her.

Barber Shop

Today I did the lice treatment on the new little boy for the second time. There were so many that I decided that it would have to be cut to prevent it from spreading to anyone else. After dinner and pajamas I put all the kids to bed but this little boy who had such cute hair. I came back with a comb and scissors and he was almost asleep on the floor. I had him sit on a little stool so I could cut his hair. He fell asleep within two minutes so I cut his hair as he slept. I feel bad but I just don’t have enough lice shampoo to treat everyone. I am so glad that his sister, who had lice really bad when she first came here, only needed two shampoo treatments so far. I woke him up when I finished and took him to look in the mirror…he just laughed and pointed to his hair. Maybe I should be a barber.

Future Plans

People ask me what my future plans are and I really don’t have an answer for them, which usually frustrates them. I now have an answer for them…
A couple weeks ago I started noticing a cockroach here and a cockroach there but it wasn’t that big a deal…I was busy with my sister and brother-in-law in town. Then I started to notice more and more as the weeks went on. When my parents were here they helped me find spray that would kill them. Since they have left we have all noticed them. It has gotten so bad that I want to gag. Yesterday I couldn’t stand it anymore so I started the huge task getting rid of them, and first washed all the dishes in hot water and then put them away from the cupboards and drawers. After everyone, but Tesfanesh, had gone to bed we started spraying. We lifted up the little mats that all the dishes sit on and there were hundreds. The spray was so potent that after seconds we were coughing and trying to breath. After they would drop on the ground we would hurry and step on them before they could run for safety. Both of us were totally grossed out. I finally made it to bed around mid-night – which is really late for me here. Today after breakfast Meseret, Missaye and I started to clean the kitchen. We moved everything that wasn’t attached to the wall…which included the bottom cabinetry. We used diluted antiseptic as cleaner after we sprayed more. After cleaning all the walls and cabinets we started in on the stove. I knew that they lived in the stove so we started to take it apart, and the more we unscrewed the more we were grossed out. We had to take apart some wires to get a large piece off and so I took a photo of which wires went were…it was a good thing too. We lifted a small corner of the fiberglass and I actually let out a little scream. I decided right then and there that it was coming off. I grabbed wire cutters and a razor blade and it came off with out a hitch. They wanted to just throw it away so I had to explain why we had to keep it. After explaining it twice they finally got it…well at least I think so. I sprayed the oven/stove so much that we moved it outside. Then came the fun part of squishing the ones that dropped to the ground. Meseret then had to make lunch on the little charcoal stove. Missaye and I finished up with the stove and them moved on to the other appliances. I cleaned the fridge while she cleaned the injera maker. After we finished with those we moved on to the floor. Instead of using mops we cleaned the floor Talcott style….we used our rags and got on our hands and knees and started scrubbing. We had just started when Mesert called us for lunch at 2:30pm. After lunch Missaye went back to the floor while I put the stove back together before either of us forgot how to do it. I had to refer to my pictures a couple time to get the wiring correctly. We both finished right around the same time. I have never in 5 months of being here seen the kitchen look so good. I was tempted to put everything back into the cupboards but I want to make sure they are dead. If they’re not I don’t know where else they could be. My hands are so dry from the antiseptic, but I feel like I accomplished a lot today.
…I should either be an electrician or an exterminator.

Hypochondriac

I am usually not worried about catching anything from the kids besides a cold once and a while, but for the last four days I have become really paranoid that I have caught something. It all started when we brought two kids to the transition house. Two days later Phillipa tells me and says that they have lice. Oh great! Of course the kids that are sleeping in my room have lice. I had her check my hair the next day and her response was, “well you don’t have it yet.” Now all I do it scratch my head and wonder if I got it yet. It wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen to me but I really, really don’t want lice.

Love At First Sight

I met my nephew for the first time in early January right after Autumn and Brian passed court. I was only able to spend 30 minutes with him but I fell in love with him the first time I saw him. I loved taking care of him while they were here for a week. I was really surprised – and secretly thrilled- when Autumn left him with me for a couple hours while they went out shopping. I cannot wait to see him again in a couple months!

Over Already?

The month of February is over. It has gone by so fast. It started with my sister and brother-in-law arriving on the first to pick up their son. They stayed for a week, which I really enjoyed. Then I had a week back at the house. Then my mom and dad came to pick up my two brothers. It was so good to see them. At the same time Dinknesh’s parents came and took her to America. (The nannies really enjoy meeting the families that the kids are going to.) A week after my parent’s arrived Mastewal and Tamirat’s parents came and picked them up. I loved having my parents and the Baileys here in town. Two days ago Sue arrived in Ethiopia. I have visited two orphanages with her in two days and have brought back two kids each time. Today we brought a two month old to the house and I carried him the whole time…my arm hurt so bad from being in the same position for two hours.

Bang For Your Buck

A missionary, who has lived in Ethiopia for the last 16 years, told me that dried papaya seeds kill giardia and any other kind of bad bacteria in your stomach. This is wonderful news. The only catch is that we have to take this nasty stuff twice a day for seven days. Since the kids have been sick recently I have felt that we were giving them so much medication. Their little bodies need a break from medicine. Since most of them have had some form of malnutrition they are more susceptible to getting sick – which they have been. So three days ago I bought some papayas and bananas and dried the seeds over night. The next morning I crushed them and mixed them with banana, cinnamon and honey. It was barely tolerable but everyone choked it down. Actually the kids really enjoyed it and asked for more. The only side effect is that their poop changed color.
It doesn’t matter that we have revamped the drinking water situation the little kids still drink from the tank or put something in their mouths. If I turn my back for one second something naughty is going on. If one kid gets something then it passes through all of them so quickly.
We only took it twice a day for three days because we could hardly stand to take it anymore.

Birthday Bash

Yesterday Tamirat turned 3 years old. I figured that we should celebrate more than one child’s birthday so we did. We celebrated Tamirat’s 3rd birthday, Matthewos’ 3rd birthday, Helina’s 2nd birthday, Meskerem’s 1st birthday and Missaye’s 23rd (pronounced Miss-eye-eh) birthday. Each of them had their own cake with different colored frosting and unique decoration. We definitely surprised Missaye. Since they don’t know the actual date of their birthdays I figured that we could celebrate when ever. We sang Happy Birthday 5 times and they all got to blow out birthday candles (thank you Laura and Lindsey). Well, Meskerem didn’t know how so Hiwot helped her. We had blown up balloons - which the kids really liked – especially when they popped. It was the first time that Temesgen, Juju, Jurie, and Sena had ever had cake. The four birthday kids got little presents - which they really liked. I think we should do this once a month…there are plenty of people. So far we have celebrated at least one birthday for the last three months now.

He Never Did It Again

Buze stopped breastfeeding today (she is going back to Wolisso tomorrow) and her breasts were sore. Phillipa had once said that if you put raw cabbage on your breast it will stop the milk faster. So she went out with Alemu after dinner and got cabbage – only she got lettuce. It was getting dark really fast so she hurried back out to get the right one. When she got back she told Tesfanesh that Israel had given her one birr (dollar) for bread. Luckily there hadn’t been any available. Tesfanesh’s answer was (which surprised me) that if she had given him bread then she wouldn’t get dinner. Whoa…all right! Finally I’m not the only bad guy in town.

Stick To My Guns

What my parents have taught me about being around/raising kids is that you have to be consistent. If you threaten them with a punishment or to take something away then you have to actually do it. If you don’t then you lose respect instantly. Tonight Tesfanesh told me that Israel keeps dumping his food on the ground and refusing to eat. Meseret had told her right before dinner and she asked me what we should do. Hmmm…what to do? This kid knows how to push buttons. I told her that he obviously doesn’t want to eat so let’s not give him the opportunity to waste food. If he dumps his food at lunch then he doesn’t get dinner….if he dumps his dinner then no breakfast. I know not feeding kids is horrible but I think he can miss a meal or two and not have any problems. So I told her to explain to him that since he dumped his food on the ground at lunch he doesn’t get dinner and to stay in his room. She then explained that if he does it again the punishment will be the same.

Hard Knock Life

Today Hiwot called me up to the kid’s room. When I got upstairs there was toilet paper and the extra cups all over the place. (The extra cups are stored under Israel’s bed in a huge duffle bag.) Four kids were awake from their nap and playing in the toilet paper. This is the third day straight that the same four kids have been playing in toilet paper. Toilet paper is expensive here. So I brought Tesfanesh into the room to tell Little Eyob, Tamirat, Matthewos and Helina (who was completely naked - she kept taking off her clothes today for some reason) that soft ‘toilet paper’ is expensive and not a toy. I took them downstairs for their punishment. We gathered around a laundry tub and washed a load of clothes. They actually enjoyed it because they got to play in water. Matthewos was the best at washing. After we were done washing I gave them each $1 birr. They then had to give it to Tesfanesh who was holding a roll of toilet paper. They really didn’t want to give it to her at all. They never get money and so it was torture to have to give it up. Matthewos then took the roll up to their room. I’m pretty sure they didn’t understand completely, but it was the best I could think of. Saying “no don’t do that” doesn’t work most of the time here.

Daily Vitamins

On Sunday late afternoon a woman and her two kids knocked on the gate and asked for food. I told them to wait a minute while I went and asked Tesfanesh. She said of course and I ran to get three plates ready for them. We only had a little injera and wot left but I grabbed some and three cups and water and went back outside. When I opened it there were two women, one pregnant, and five kids (two sleeping) between them. I ran back inside and made up one more plate, we ran out of injera and wot, and got some more water. The kids were so excited about the water that we filled up their one bottle and gave them three more full ones. I ran upstairs and grabbed some children’s multi-vitamins (after asking Tesfanesh) and then I went into my room and grabbed a bottle of women’s vitamins and ripped the note off my mom had stuck on there, “Emily please start taking these.” I made sure that a pregnant lady could take them and then I explained to them through Buze that the kids get one a day and they get one a day. Then they left. I told my sister Autumn to tell my mom that they were going to a good cause - and I prefer Flintstones anyways.

#30 Thank You

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog. I know it would probably be more interesting with pictures but I can’t…it takes too long to download. Thank you to Christa for being so wonderful and thinking of me. Thank you Daniel for calling me the other day…it made my day. Thank you Laura for stalking me through this blog. Thank you Autumn for posting for me and emailing me often about what is going on in the family. Thank you mom for being so loving and supportive. Thank you dad for emailing me the other day…I started to tear up in the internet café. Thank you Ian and Ta for reading this…I feel connected to you even though you are in Michigan. Thank you Lisa for being wonderful…I read your note everyday. Thank you all of the AGCI families that read this…I have enjoyed reading your blog and following your story before I left - I hope you enjoy this blog. Please let me know when you are in Addis I would love to meet you face to face.

#29 And They're Gone

Today I had to say goodbye to Derartu. It was very sad…I almost started crying but I held it together. I said goodbye to Ayana on Tuesday. That wasn’t so hard because I know I will see him again (I found out that they live in San Diego as well). It is a bitter sweet feeling. I am happy that they are with their families but I am going to miss them so much. I found out that there are more kids coming to the house soon…I know I will like them but it will never be the same.

#28 Full Time Nanny

Tonight marks my first night as a full time nanny. Hiwot’s cousin died yesterday so she left this morning to go to Jima (8 hours away) for one week. Since Tesfanesh is still gone I am in charge of her three babies and Hannah as well as the 11 other children. I am sitting in her bed right now and it is much more comfortable than mine. So far it hasn’t been too bad…ask me again tomorrow morning…I’m not looking forward to waking up three times to feed three babies.

#27 Princess Bride

You know the part of the movie where Buttercup is marrying Prince Humperdink and the minister says marriage funny? Today reminded me of that movie. It went to check my email after going to the U.S. Embassy with the Judd and Mellace (pronounced Ma-la-chi). I spent way too long there…I did have over 60 emails to read and respond to. It was getting dark fast so instead of taking the mini-bus and having to walk from downtown Alembank to the house I took a contract taxi. After I got into the taxi I asked how much it would be…he said 100 birr. Yeah right…it was just because I am white. I talked him down to 60 birr and that was only because he thought I am beautiful. Please. He was quiet chatty…and by chatty I mean flirty. He asked me to marry him about 15 times…no joke. I told him that the only reason he wanted to marry me was so that he could go to the U.S. – he acted insulted. Hahahahaha. Like there would be any other reason to propose marriage to a complete stranger. He told me about him wanting to go to a mediation class so find peace and joy. I was then able to talk to him about Jesus. He is Orthodox so he seemed to just brush what I was saying off because he thought Christian is Christian. Wrong. Although I don’t know much about the Orthodox faith I know they are different. I was kind of nervous talking to him about it…but it didn’t last long. He asked me if he could call his mother (whom he still lives with and he was around 30). I said sure. Then he said to tell her I am staying in Alembank tonight. What?!? Oh no you aren’t. Then he tried to tell me that he was going to stay at the house with me to talk about religion. I almost had him drop me off right then and there but it was almost dark. I am dreading the fact that he now knows where the house is. Ewwww. I don’t ever want to take a contract taxi – it’s not worth the risk of having him as a driver again. I should have said I was married.

#26 Two Months In

Today marks two months for me. It has gone by fast so far. When I think of all that has happened I can’t believe that I am actually here in Ethiopia. I am so thankful for this opportunity. Although I feel very disconnected from the rest of the world I wouldn’t trade these last two months for anything.

#25 More Soft (Toilet Paper) Please

There is a really bad virus going around….or maybe it is food poisoning…I’m not sure. Most of the older kids have diarrhea and by most I mean all but four. Sunday Matthewos, Melkamu and Helina stayed home from church because they had such bad diarrhea. Hiwot was going to take them but when I told her they were sick she changed her mind. Sunday night Tamirat had extremely bad diarrhea…I mean really bad. Within the span of 10 minutes he probably went 10 – 12 times. He would say to me, “Emily caca.” We would go to the bathroom he would poop and then we would go back and he would have one sip of Lem Lem (oral rehydration salts) and then it was, “Emily caca,” all over again. He was getting so tired that he actually dozed off while sitting on the toilet. He was so miserable…he said he had to go but when he got to the toilet there was nothing left. I knelt down and was hugging him because he was tired and in pain…I heard him gag…that’s when I knew he was going to vomit. I quickly reached for the trash can and he vomited in it. I called for Messiyay (the new nanny that is here while Tesfanesh is gone) to help me. She held the trash can while I wiped him…although there wasn’t a need to because he couldn’t go anymore. He slept in my room that night.
Last night Mastewal came in at 5:30am. She was just creeping in to get some soft (toilet paper) but I woke up. You know the feeling of someone watching you…I think that’s what woke me up. She said, “Emily soft.” I gave her some and told her to go in Zoudie’s bathroom. Then I noticed that she woke Temeskgen up so she wouldn’t be alone. I went in to check on her and she had really really bad diarrhea. I sent Temeskgen back to bed and told her that I would get her medicine – unfortunately the door was locked. I helped her wipe (I probably didn’t need to help her but she was tired and not feeling well) and put her back to bed. She climbed in my bed this morning and stayed there for a couple hours while Lily’s mom and I folded the new clothes.

#24 Calendar

I have made myself a calendar with February 1st as the end date. Not only is it my grandma’s birthday but it is the day that my sister and brother-in-law arrive in Ethiopia. I have taped it up above my dresser and I am slowly crossing the days off. 24 to go!

#23 Worried

I heard that some of you are worried about me since I haven’t posted in a while. Please know that I am in good health and enjoying my time here. I have tried to go to the internet café a couple times but the internet here is so unreliable I wasn’t able to use it. I did go to Philipa’s house once to use the internet but I didn’t have my computer so I didn’t have the posts. Please pray for me as I am in need of more patients. I feel that I am constantly putting someone in time out for hitting or throwing toys at someone else.

#22 What About Bob (Ethiopian Christmas)

Seven thirty came too fast but Derartu and Eyob were awake and making a lot of noise. We tried to dress everyone nicely but Israel had a hard time finding close that he actually wanted to wear. After everyone (kids and adults) had breakfast they were allowed to open up their stockings. We went youngest to oldest and made them come up to the front of the living room for pictures. One at a time took a while but I think they enjoyed it. As each person came up front everyone else was clapping and cheering their name. Some of the kids didn’t know what to do and looked scared and lost but then some of them loved the attention and getting the little trinkets. Kanesa was the most terrified out of all of them. He wouldn’t put his hand inside the stocking to get any of this toys or candy out. Temeskgen loved the attention as well as Tamirat. Philipa and her husband and two sons came soon after and they brought balloons and sticks to put them on. After about 10 minutes of all the kids hitting each other with them we wanted to pop the balloons…instead we sent them outside (they had a greater chance of popping outside than inside). Philipa made a rule that if they hit someone with the stick part of the balloon the stick is taken away – Dinkinesh and Israel were the first to have their sticks taken away.
Lunch was soon after that and we were all pleased and thankful that Philipa brought sodas for everyone. After the kids ate they went down to take a nap while the older kids watched a movie (typical routine) and we had our lunch. I actually tried it but I couldn’t eat much of it. It tasted good but I just couldn’t do it knowing what it had been the day before. Meseret understood. After lunch while we were waiting for coffee the babies opened up their Christmas stockings. After coffee Philipa left and so did Tesfanesh and Eyob. Tesfanesh’s brother is getting married to Hiwot’s cousin and she decided to take Eyob with her. She will be gone for a week. I think we will be able to cope…at least I hope so.