"snap snap snap" (or, awesome things i've seen here)

1) 2 chefs walking in chef hats down the street.

this one was funny cause it wasn't like "oh, that's just something you'd see in africa." no, that isn't really something you would see anywhere. it was so random i laughed so hard!

2) the cutest pee ever.

so, sometimes when you are three and ya gotta go.... ya gotta go, right? so there are all these ditches for water all over the place, like they don't really have underground pipes here. and we were driving, and one of the dad's new son really needed to pee.... and he couldn't hold it, so the bus driver just stopped the bus on the side of the road and new dad hopped out and held his kid back as he peed into the ditch. then they hopped back in the bus and we drove off.

3) puppies eating a sheep head.

yeah. it was pretty gross. but the puppies were really small and cute. t.i.a...?

4) 7 am soccer game in the middle of the road.

i was running down my favorite morning run road the other day, when i happened upon a full out soccer match right in the center of the highway. it was early enough that cars only came by every ten minutes or so, so they just played in the road. legit.

5) t opening a coke bottle with his teeth.

self explanatory. actually, then i saw a girl do it, so she was even more awesome. sorry t.

6) a really really big hummingbird with a curvy beak.

7) break dancing and rapping at youth group at iec. honestly... you had to be there.

8) caleb, the four year old who speaks fluent english and amharic. man i'm jealous....

9) honey latte!!!!!!

10) lions at the lion zoo getting fed and then roaring at each other.

although.... right as i was leaving i realized that i was getting stared at more than the lions were. greeeaaaaat. we also saw monkeys getting fed cookies and then i really wanted a cookie then i got some so it's all good:)

11) cars driving through two feet of water on a washed out road like it was no big deal.

12) finally... and probably the most awesome thing i've seen here... and he will so kill me for writing this... t eating entire pizza slices in one bite.

that's all i can remember for now.... trust me. there's way more! hp7 was not one of the awesome things i've seen here though. book was way better.....

ANCHI FIRENCH!

that means , "hey you, white lady!" and i get that alot. it's easy to remember, cause firench means "white person," or "foreigner" and it sounds like French, and french people are foreigners to me, so there-ya-go. sorry brendan harris;) i still get stared at a lot, but i found a way to combat it... put on headphones and listen to music while walking alone. it works wonders, it really does. i still get stared at and called out at... but i can't hear it!

speaking of headphones... i wear them out when i run, which has been every morning this week. i am so proud of myself... cause the altitude, constant climate changes (hot to cold to hot to cold....), and stares and jeers, and that random guy who decided to race me two days ago, make it not as fun to run here as it is to run in comfort of my own neighborhood in suberbia, northern virginia, or the cool, air-conditioned, tv plastered gym at cnu. honestly, running has been working wonders... it has been expanding my lungs so i have less trouble with breathing and stuff, and i feel better starting the day with a quick run (endorphins hurray) and i think it's gonna make me not sick anymore. (oh, and to make people go away even more, yesterday i ran with that shirt timi gave me in sanibel... timi you know the one;)

speaking of shirt... i went shopping the other day and bought a white scarf and someone who's really cool bought me a yellow one which i totally love more than the white one (there, it's in writing;) i also bought a necklace, it's just a simple wooden cross on a black string that cost 15 birr, or less than a dollar for you americans reading this (which is pretty much all of you). the cross is significant because a) it's something all the orthodox christians wear pretty much, so that's like half the christians here cause the other half are evangelical. i am not orthodox... so why would i buy one? well, because b) every single kid at the transitional home is wearing one. understand? i am never taking this thing off, so i hope you guys like it!

as a side note.... i am gonna try to post some pics to facebook now so pray the internets hold up. also, tomorrow i am going to see harry potter 7p2, so nobody give me any hints!

Why Addis Doesn't Have Roller Coasters

i have had the rare privilege of driving with david when he wasn't driving adopting families. what does that mean? well, basically, david is a crazy driver when he DOES drive families. what i didn't realize was that he has actually been holding back. i almost screamed several times, and my grip may or may not have tightened on t's arm during the fifteen minute ride of terror. it's a good thing i love roller coasters....

i am writing this blog from the youth group gathering at IEC, the church i have been attending for the past three weeks. it's a great church, international hallelujah! reminds me a lot of my church at home, christian fellowship. last week's sermon was about practicing the presence of god when you are afraid, which was brilliantly timed because i was just getting over my hospital visit.

speaking of hospital visit, i returned to the hospital for a check up on tuesday. i waited 2 hours for a 2 minute doctor's appointment where all he did was poke me in the stomach and tell me i was fine and to finish my antibiotics. hurrah for doctors. (ok... i love doctors. but i didn't really love this one.) and i figured out what made me sick! it was the coffee i drank at abenezer orphanage. and how do i know it was the coffee and not the food? i was at abenezer today and i forgot my lunch so i had some food from there again... teehee. no worries, i feel fine! i guess that's one way to find out, right?

speaking of abenezer, i have painted... thinking... calculating... 6 murals there! and i have painted 6 murals at the transitional home so far, with plans to do many more. as soon as i can, i will post pictures. the kids here have a thing for spiderman... i did two spidermans. one for the TH, one for abenezer. dang. i guess internationally.... marvel really has beat out dc.

this week was pizza week. we ate pizza every day to make sure i was getting better or something. well, now i never want to see another pizza again. we rated the places we went, 10, 6, 5, 4, 2, 6, 8. and i so cannot wait to eat injera again.

youth group is about to start so i'm gonna scoot. love yall, thanks for your prayers. there's other stuff happening here too... but i'll blog about that later maybe. or maybe i'll just keep it a secret;)

T. I. A.

american hospitals are like hotels.

just so ya know.

once upon a time, there was a 20 year old american chick who visited ethiopia for an art internship with awaa. while she was there, she was sent to the ebenezer orphanage (last thursday) to paint for them too. she loved the orphanage more than anything else she had experienced in ET as of yet, because a) she could take pictures of the kids, b) the kids helped her paint the classroom mural (so so so fun and so cute! can't wait to show pictures), and c) the kids were amazing. while she was there, they offered her ethiopian food lunch, and because she loves injera so much, she said, "ok awesome!" she had a wonderful lunch, and then they offered her coffee. she loves ethiopian coffee too, she again she said, "why not?!" when they brought her the coffee, it didn't seem as hot as it should have been, but she didn't really think anything of it.

you see.... she thought she was invincible. superwoman. untouchable. the boss.

so at around 4:30, her buddy t came to the orphanage to pick her up. she gave final goodbyes to the kids, and promised to come back asap. three minutes later, her stomach started to hurt. twenty minutes later, it was getting worse. an hour later, she couldn't walk.

t asked her if she wanted to sit down, she said yes. he asked her if she needed to go to the clinic, she said, "oh hells to the no!" but as the minutes passed, she felt worse and worse. then she broke into a cold sweat and turned white as a sheet and said, "um, yeah, dude. take me to the hospital."

the next three hours were kinda a blur for her. she remembers moaning in pain in the back of the taxi, vaguely recalls entering the er and being dumped into a bed. ethiopian doctors asking, "what happened?" and her replying, "it just hurts! i don't know!" then they grabbed her wrist and sedated her oh joy. (i still have a bruise, and that was the most traumatic part of the whole experience.) from 6 till about 8, she couldn't walk. then the painkillers kicked in and they did a whole bunch of tests on her to find out what her deal was. she got: sedated, blood drawn, an IV antibiotic, and a painkiller shot (in the no shot zone... goodbye dignity.) she finally left the hospital at like midnight.

the next morning, she went back to the hospital at 8:30 to see the doctor. she waited 2 hours to see him for 8 minutes, all he did was poke her stomach and write her two prescriptions which she has been taking two times a day since then. she rested all day friday, and by saturday was back on her feet, a little tired but otherwise unscathed.

the end.

epilogue: this story is based on a real life experience by me last week. i missed my wonderful american hospitals a lot;) for everyone who knew what happened from my parents or facebook or a dream you had about me or whatever and prayed, thank you so much. t was with me the whole time, and his friend from church, marut, was there when he was not. he called like, everyone and their brother who lives around here and asked them to pray, which i'm convinced is the reason everything went so smoothly, and the reason why i wasn't scared.

god is sovereign, even in an african hospital. oh, and i know i'm not invincible now;)

the 2 year olds have adopted me

hey yall. the purpose of this extremely organized blog is to try my very hardest to describe the beautiful two year olds that i occasionally help with when i'm not doing art with the big kids or painting on the walls. these kids have adopted me, i kid you not. and i don't even know all their names cause a) the nannies don't speak english b) i would forget, and c) it's more fun to do nicknames! so here they are:

Meron - this little angel was one of the first kids to approach me when i went in, and coincidentally the only name that i actually know! she is the cutest little button i have ever met who loves it when i pick her up and swing her around, and loves to be tickled, and loves to sit in my lap and do absolutely nothing. can i say favorite?

Buddy - this little guy is probably the most friendly boy i have ever met (yes, he is a boy... i wasn't sure if he was a boy or girl for days and then one of the nurses changed him and, yes, i peeked) his laugh is infectious, and once i start picking him up and throwing him down, i really am not allowed to stop. can i say other favorite?

Handsome - oh my gosh this little gentleman is always wearing overalls and he loves to go bump bump bump on my legs/back/feet/arms.... his smile makes me weak in the knees.

Angel - this lovely little girl was a little shy at first, but she warmed up fast. she loves it when i put things on her head, and she shakes them off and gives them back and i put them back on her head....

Beautiful - this little girl is BEAUTIFUL nuff said. she has a small bald spot on the back of her head, and her eyelashes are so long!

Little G - what i imagine garrison fuller looked like as a baby. no joke. (if you don't know garrison, ask my bro timi.) btw, timi, seriously, you know that pick of you and g when you were like four? this kid.

Little One - the smallest kid in the room, he is so so so so so sweet, i just love holding him, and he looks up at me with his big eyes and toothy smile and.... sigh.....

The King - if you decide to devote a small amount of attention to his majesty.... you better be prepared to devote ALL your attention to his majesty. but he has the most beautiful eyes so it's totally ok that's he's a bit of an attention hog.

Charger - actually, the only reason this little guy has a nickname is because he is one of the only kids i've met here who actually annoys me! whenever he comes over to me, he like, charges me and gets all up in my business, he runs over other kids and almost pushes me over. it makes me laugh, but whenever i see him coming i'm like, AAAAGGGHHH!

Mister Extrovert - wants to be everyone's best friend. except for the other two year olds. he just wants their toys.... (wink)

there are a few others, but that's all the nicknames i have come up with so far. i stayed out of the 2 year old room for the past few days cause i've been a little sick, possibly their fault. but i'm doing better now, so i went in for a bit this morning, and i was completely drained of energy after one hour. they all saw me giving buddy lift-up-drop-down-rides.... and well...

love yall, will try to update again soon with interesting tales of the amazing adventures i am having such as shopping for more paint today in the piazza and smelling something that made me wish i hadn't been born.

~tori

as a quick unrelated side note, i started painting a superman mural next to the spidey mural, and t said supes looked better than spidey so TAKE IT MARVEL FANS. (wink)

borrowing t's computer (it's a pc so bear with me...)

hey guys!!!!!

i know it's been a while, but honestly, the wifi here is extremely unpredictable and stuff.... so i'm borrowing my very good friend t's computer. (if t reads this tho, he knows that i haven't decided if we're friends or not;)

so everyone. wow. i love ethiopia. i love the people here, the kids, (all the kids! the babies, two year olds, older kids... the travel crew...) i love the air here, the altitude, the city, the movement, the shops, the FOOD. the transitional home, aster's house (duni's mom), the swiss family that lives next door, the church i go to, the crazy thunder storms, the random donkeys and sheep everywhere, the stray dogs and cats, the really big doves that coo outside my window every morning (that was for you dad) and did i mention the food?

i started my art classes, thank you everyone who donated or still wants to donate art supplies! they are so helpful, cause shopping for supplies here is no fun at all. me and mule (the head supervisor guy here) went shopping two days straight and still didn't get everything we needed. big thing i have learned to do tho.... make due with what you have, and trust God, and everything will go swimmingly.

for all of you that prayed i would not be lonely, cool story. second night i got here i prayed a desperate cry of "please jesus, i need friends cause otherwise i am gonna be stuck in this house every night from five till bed time and i will be bored out of my mind!" the very next day i met t. t is awesome (don't tell him i said that), and has quite literally taken me out everywhere you can imagine in addis pretty much every day. so now i feel comfortable enough to go out by myself, like this morning i woke up at 6:30 and went for a run down the main road! (almost died... 2000 meters altitude is no joke on your lungs) so t and i play punch buggy all the time, and it's hardcore cause there are a lot of volkswagon bugs here, and we play no mercy style so i have two twin bruises on both my arms right in the sensitive spot. (btw, did i mention how much i love the food here?)

ok, so i started teaching. it's going well i think... i also started painting. i have painted a sun, two sesame street murals and a spiderman mural. the kids absolutely love the art, they love when i do art for them, and they love doing it themselves, so i actually feel like i am making a difference! praise God.

ooh! culture fact: people here love to help. like, the servants spirit here takes my breath away, i feel like a princess. well, i also get stared at a lot. like, a lot. another culture fact: i might be the only ginger in the entire city.

i have like a billion pictures but i can't post them until i get wifi for my own computer. which will hopefully be soon.

wow, this blog is a little scatterbrained.... i promise the next one will be more organized. maybe.

miss you guys!