Paradoxes

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:38:30 -0500

I have lived in Ethiopia for almost two years and I love it here, but there are a lot of hard things too. Before we moved here, our family went to MTI training in Colorado where we learned about paradoxes. A paradox is something that is good and bad at the same time. I experience a lot of paradoxes here.

Let me give you some examples of the incongruities I experience here. Langano is a very busy place that a lot of short term teams like to visit because there is a clinic, a school and a sports camp. Since there are so many ministries a variety of people can use their skills to serve here. When teams come to visit, most of them make a very big effort to include me and do stuff with me. When they do this it means a lot to me and I love to learn what they teach me. Many of the clinical teams include me in their teaching times. In fact, I even got to take a CPR class and get certified with one team that came to visit. The hard part is that having all the teams come through, it makes it very challenging for us to get into a schedule. Living without a routine for a long period of time often makes me feel very exhausted.

Being an introvert, I appreciate having time to myself. Here at Langano I have plenty of time to just be alone, but I also feel awfully lonely some days. All the kids around here that are my age are working in their houses and cooking for their families. Some of them are even preparing for marriage! It is also very tough to make new friends due to the language barrier. I am trying to learn more Oromifa by going to the local school this year. It will likely be helpful, but I anticipate it being difficult. Having limited friendships is challenging, but the upside is that I have lots of opportunities to work on crafts, and do other things by myself.

My family has a house worker named Dita that helps cook and clean the house. Dita is likable and we almost always have a clean bedroom, but it gets uncomfortable having him in the house all the time. Sometimes I just want to read and not have someone looking over my shoulder to see what I’m doing. I love to sleep in since it’s summertime, but Dita comes in at 8:00. I feel like I need to be up and ready by then. My mom has taught Dita how to make many things including soup, tortillas, pizza and even doughnuts! Honestly, Dita is very good at making food and cleaning but sometimes I would rather not have a house worker at all.

I feel like I am living very differently from kids in America. For instance, I enjoy going down to the clinic to help my mom, and kids in America like to listen to music and go to the mall. With all of us having different interests it is hard to get on the same page. When our family went back to visit Dallas, that is how it felt. It also seems like my friends are making new friends while I am way over here.

As you can tell I have many paradoxes in my life here at Langano. Many of you have asked how I feel about living here and I’m glad to let you have a glimpse into my world. Hope you liked it!

Joy Hits the Sky, by Mia Smith

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 07:19:29 -0500

Joy is a small spider that lives on a ranch. She is black and has the most beautiful brown eyes. She has the tiniest little spinneret that you can barely see when you look at her. If you would ever come across her you would think to yourself, “What a beautiful little spider”.
When Joy first moved to the ranch she made her web on the gate of the horse corral. She perched herself in the middle of the spiral web she had made just days before. Joy loved her web and how it sparkled in mid-day when the sun was at the right angle. She had just perched there because the riders were mounting their horses. She loved to watch them gallop around the barrels that were placed in the middle of the corral.

Life in Addis

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:51:32 -0600

I have been in Addis for about a month now. I go to a school called Bingham Academy while my parents are in language school. The second week I was there we had field day. It was two days long and we played all kinds of sports. I won a lot of the races I entered. I was really surprised! I am putting pictures from field day in my blog so you can see what it was like. It was on a Friday and Saturday and everyone’s parents came to the whole thing. There were even grown up races!

Manna Abdii

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:06:10 -0600

Manna Abdii ‘‘House of Hope’’ is a place were when babies are sick and go to the clinic and their moms die when they are born, so their dads or aunts bring them in to the clinic, then they go to Manna Abdii there they get fattened up and then when they are nine months old they go home. My favorite baby there is named Sadia. She is sooooo cute! I love to hold her. So that is Manna Abdii.

Tour My Dollhouse...

Wed, 21 May 2008 17:16:33 -0500

I love my dollhouse and I love to play in it too! I thought you might want to see what is in it. So come on in and check it out. Hope you like it! 

This is the mom and dad they have two kids and lots of pets that you are going to meet later. So that’s the mom and dad.