10 Things that have happened Lately... :)

I apologize my friends, I've noticed that I have not updated this blog in quite a while! Things here are quite busy, and to be honest writing my blog has fallen by the way-side. Time to get back on the horse :)

Here are 10 things that have happened lately, or will happen in the near future that can summarize how life has been over here in Ethiopia!

1. I've been experimenting with Ethiopian recipes in my house lately. (I'm turning into an Ethiopian they say) I've successfully made Shiro Tagabiono (pounded chickpeas in a thick hummus consistency. Eaten with Injera) AND for breakfast Kinche- Ethiopian Oatmeal. Delicious and Nutritious ;)

2. Booked tickets Home! July 15th I'll be in Minnesota! Counting down the days until I can hug my mom, and have some serious cabin time with my lovely sister :) (Dad, Tim and best friends..I guess I'm excited to see them too;) )

3. Successfully created an Early Grade Reading training manual. My biggest project lately has been training 20 college students who then went and trained primary school teachers in Gondar. We trained over 100 teachers, which means the training affected over 6,000 primary school students. Pretty neat, huh!?

4. Met Sisay- a 12 year old boy who ran away from home because he was being abused. The police took him back to his family, but his father denied him and said he did not want him anymore. He is now living on the streets in Gondar. I am working as hard as possible to try to find a place for him to live because he has no one. It breaks my heart, and I've shed many tears over the situation. He's also been lost for the last week and I can't find him on the street- continually praying for his safety and his future. Trying to do the best I can.

5. Frenji Time- The other foreigners in town and myself have been getting together the past few Sundays to make brunch together and enjoy and it's been lovely. So blessed to have them here. Onee of them also has awesome music, so I've taken a bunch of African music and I'm in love with it :) New music always makes me happy.

6. No Water...Yup, it's true. Still no water. I've decided it's a problem with the piping because the other places on campus will have water, but my house won't. It's been frustrating, but no use in always being upset about it.. Just trying to deal the best I can. I've come to a realization that it will be bucket baths until I leave..at least I have electricity to heat up water most of the time!

7. New Classes! Started the 2nd semester of classes. Teaching 2 sections of Classroom English. Basically a Classroom Management type class. It's great so far- the students are clever and anxious to learn from a native speaker. So far so good.

8. New Door! They FINALLY built a door in my house so that the bathroom is more accessible and closer to use. Truly a luxury. It's quite exciting that it's finished. It's funny though, because I tried to open the door today, and it doesn't work. hahaha..Oh Ethiopia ;) I'm hoping it's just stuck, or I havn't learned the "trick" of how to open it yet!

9. European Adventure! My friend and I have booked tickets are are traveling to Italy together when I leave. I can't wait to spend 12 day with him in Italy- it will be fantastic. We are visiting Rome, Venice, Siena and Sardinia. So excited. Afterwards, he is traveling back to Ethiopia(he is a peace corp volunteer here in Gondar) and I will travel on to Belgium, and Amsterdam. Then I will finally take the flight to USA. Exciting things to come :)

10. Applying for jobs and updating my resume. Since I'm coming home, I've decided that it's probably best to stay home for a while and teach in the states before my next adventure abroad. So that means, job searching and applications :) Just trying to keep my head up, it's a tough market out there.


Soooo....There ya have it! 10 things of what I've been doing lately...more to come soon.

Have a fantastic Easter! (I am craving Easter candy like crazy today!!)

<3