“Christians NEVER Say Goodbye.”

That is something C.S. Lewis used to say when parting with a dear friend. We just said goodbye to Rachael and Matt. It is getting weird to watch people come and go knowing that I am here until November. But tonight I was thankful I wasn’t the one leaving, which is such a good feeling. My biggest fear was that I would get homesick seeing people go back home. I miss family and friends, but I have no desire to leave. However, I am aware that it has already been 6 weeks and time is flying by faster than I could imagine. Everything carries a much greater value here including time. And time is the thing I can give the most of – I don’t want to see it go to waste. My desire is to look back on this and know that I did everything I could to serve others every minute of every day. So far, I’ve made a good effort, but I can see areas where I’ve maintained a level of comfort. I need to be coming home exhausted. That’s my plan at least.

To get caught up I must mention our Sunday afternoon. We went to a coffee ceremony in Kori which is the leper colony in Addis. It was at the home of Lyston’s adopted son. He is studying in the states, but his mother and siblings still live in Addis. His mother does not speak English, but she has a grace and air about her that requires no words. It was an honor to be in her home and served coffee that she and her daughter made by hand. We even got to take turns grinding the coffee beans. It was some of the best coffee I had ever tasted. They put a kind of spice in it to make it especially sweet. Afterwards we went to a Mediterranean restaurant called Aladdin’s. There were seventeen of us with Jeremy and Reid and another American couple. We shared hummus and ordered kebabs. I haven’t had a bad restaurant experience yet. The food has been great – of course we choose carefully.

Monday, the quilt ladies and Jonathan joined us for lunch after class. We call them the quilt ladies because they are here to teach the orphans at Asco how to make quilts. June and Noreen are expert quilters and managed to bring more than 200 quilts with them. Their skill is such a wonderful gift to pass on to the orphans. Our lunch was their first taste of Habesha food. We took them to the restaurant next to Destiny. Having been there on Friday I was not eager to eat it again, plus it was the day before a fasting day so all they had to serve was injera and kitfo (minced meat). No vegetables. I was not able to stay anyway since I had to tutor. After lunch they toured Destiny. June is also a former librarian so she is going to try to help Destiny get more books. When we were finished we went to a silk factory that produces handmade Ethiopian silk. I was in heaven! This is definitely the place where I am going to buy my scarves. They showed us around the factory – everything is done by hand. Even the dye is organic. It was so fascinating to watch them weave the silk into spools. It was especially cool to have the quilt ladies with us, because June was able to explain the whole process starting with the silk worm. According to June a single worm can produce up to a mile of silk in its lifetime. We got to see some live ones in a basket. There were also some dead ones which had been boiled to separate the silk strands. Matt and Watt ate them. Apparently they are high in protein or something.

Tuesday was Jeremy and Reid’s last day at Destiny. It was so sad to see them off. I loved teaching with them. Since the walls are thin we could always hear each other yelling at our students. We don’t yell often, but the communication barrier does make managing the class more difficult. At one point I could hear Jeremy saying, “We are going back to America tomorrow. Do you want us to remember you being good or bad?” That was supposed to be a terrible threat. I thought it was so funny. The other funny thing is the way we reduce English to its most basic form in order to help the students comprehend. Talking like that all the time is tiring. I find myself doing it with Americans now too. One day when I was explaining to Watt how to get to our house I said something like, “turn when the road becomes no more road.” What is that??

For lunch, Rachael and I went with Hareg and Yunatin to Paradise Café. Delicious burgers and fries were the order of the day. Even Hareg was ready for a break from our usual Habesha restaurant. While we were there Yunatin pointed out the owner of the restaurant, the ambassador of Uganda, and the wife of the speaker of the house. He has connections with everyone! He jokes that he is humble to hang out with us. I love his sense of humor, and Hareg’s too. We get along so well. Now Yuni is in Nepal for a conference. He is always on the road speaking to groups. It’s amazing how they get it all done.

Yesterday, Jonathan went with me and Watt to Destiny. Determined not to settle for ordinary, Watt decided to assist the taxi driver in filling our van. Each mini-bus is run by two guys. One drives while the other sits in the back hollering the destination out the window, collecting people and money. Watt decided to help guy #2. Speaking in Amharic he said he wanted to try his job and began to stand on the sidewalk hollering, “Kera, Gofa, Kera, Gofa, Gofa Camp,” in his best Habesha voice. As if three forenjis didn’t stand out already – it was hilarious. He did a great job. Our van was full in minutes and we were on our way. The bad days are when the vans don’t fill up and the driver refuses to drive until it does. That gets so frustrating.

Following class Jonathan and I ate with Hareg and Yuni at their house. They are always insisting that we eat with them. I love it. It was also a good day in class. In an effort to building reading comprehension I have had my students working in reading groups. They are grouped based on their skill level with the advanced students helping the ones that are struggling. Yesterday, each group was able to give a summary about their book in their own words. I was thrilled – it was the first time they had demonstrated any sort of comprehension without copying from the book.

For our last night with Rachael and Matt we went to a restaurant called The Cottage. It looked just like its name and had an interesting menu of pasta, pizza, goulash, and veal. I played it safe with pasta and salad.

Today, I had the best day of teaching since starting summer school. It started earlier in the week when I attempted to speak Amharic to tell the class that we were switching our off day from Thursday to Friday. They got a kick out of my effort and quickly became the teacher and I the student. The rest of the week I practiced and reminded them that Thursday is test day and not Friday. This morning it got off to a rocky start as Hareg brought in another new student. I had to find two more chairs. As I’ve described before, my class is outside in the library. It has poor lighting and a leaky tarp between us and the roof. I have two large tables and fourteen chairs crammed around each. It is so difficult to get them to keep their hands to themselves and their eyes on their own paper when taking a test. Every test day I know that there are a couple of students that cannot comprehend any of the instructions and I make sure I guide them through the questions. Today I caught one of my accelerated students giving one of them an answer. I called her out on it and then lectured the class (once again) on why cheating is bad. I tried to explain that my only concern is improving English not test scores. I then reminded them that we had three more weeks left and lots to learn. I asked what we could do to help build their speaking skills and they asked to do class discussions. I jumped on it and we began a discussion about the new millennium. Soon I had everyone’s attention and they were eager to explain (some better than others) what the holiday means to them. Ermias, one of my ornery but adorable students, said he sings Hoyahoye. When I inquired what that was they said it is a traditional Ethiopian song sung by boys during the new year to offer blessings and well wishes (kind of like a Christmas carol I guess.) Soon they were singing it to me and banging beats on the tables. One of the boys would make up a verse and the whole class would erupt in screams and laughter and I’d have to get them to translate. It turns out they were singing blessings for me including that I’d get a limo, that I’m covered in gold, and my favorite: I cut the throat of a lion. When I asked what the last one meant Ermias said it meant that I am a hero and have lots of courage. It was incredibly touching. By the time for break we had students from other classes peering through our windows curious by all of the noise.

When class resumed they asked if they could ask me questions. I said yes and proceeded to answer questions about my best friends, family, my “village,” and what I thought of their country. It was the most fun and the best English-building exercise we’ve done yet. Why didn’t I think of it sooner?? Soon after, darkness filled the sky and it became almost impossible to see in the classroom. Then the rain came and it poured harder than I’d ever seen. With a tin roof the noise was impossible to talk over. Since reading was the only exercise that wouldn’t require talking I asked them to pick out a book from the shelves. But that is always total chaos and it was even worse as rain came dripping from the ceiling. When the rain slowed school was let out. I haven’t graded the tests yet, but I don’t care what they reveal. Today we made progress.

Now that Matt is gone I’m in charge until the next group arrives in September. I really have no responsibilities since it’s just me. Tomorrow I cleared the day to be able to help the quilt ladies and Jonathan get everything in that they want to accomplish before they leave. Thankfully Habtamu is the man and he can arrange all the transportation we need. I am going to be making trips to the airport Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and then I’m on my own. Things are going to get interesting…