So I have been back in America for a little over a week now. It has been good and hard all at the same time. I email some one in africa every day, and I have already called there once! I know that I will go back to that place some day, if not to live forever, at least to visit the great friend I made.
Now that I am back I have been trying to upload the pictures I have been promising, but apartently blogger hates me just as much in America as in Africa. I will keep trying becuase I want you to get to see them. But if not you can always call me and we can go get coffee and I can show you all and tell you all... or at least until you tell me to stop. I am in lubbock until the begining of next week and then back to the real world in Dallas!
thanks for all of your support and prayers this summer! It was amazing....
Friday, August 11, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Snapshot from another world
I wrote this in my journal while we spent our weekend at the country side.... it doesnt seem like the picture are going to upload, so i have to describe my picture in words.
Where the heck am I? I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the village and the lake, and that is my only question I can ask. This place takes me back in time. The bells around the necks fo the horse drawn carriages ring as some cute little boys play futbol in the mud road. I look off into the distance and see a small ch with a little cross and steple and behind it the huge lake that sustains the life of the village. The clouds are low and heavy, yet nothing falls. Off to my left I see the grand mosque, its minarets cast a shadow on the small ch. I am reminded of how the two religions have co-existed in this country for hundreds of years. Two little come down the street standing on donkey drawn flatbed carts. They stand tall with there whips in hand beating the donkeys to make the speed up. I feel like I could be watching the chariot races in ancient times. There is more live stock here than people and more horse drawn carriages than cars and bikes combined. Oops, I have been spotted on my balcony. Seven little children have lines up across the street and are staring at me. They yell “you, you” and start waving, they giggle when I wave back. They continue on there way after a few minuets of staring, there dirty dusty feet have to get back to work.
Where the heck am I? I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the village and the lake, and that is my only question I can ask. This place takes me back in time. The bells around the necks fo the horse drawn carriages ring as some cute little boys play futbol in the mud road. I look off into the distance and see a small ch with a little cross and steple and behind it the huge lake that sustains the life of the village. The clouds are low and heavy, yet nothing falls. Off to my left I see the grand mosque, its minarets cast a shadow on the small ch. I am reminded of how the two religions have co-existed in this country for hundreds of years. Two little come down the street standing on donkey drawn flatbed carts. They stand tall with there whips in hand beating the donkeys to make the speed up. I feel like I could be watching the chariot races in ancient times. There is more live stock here than people and more horse drawn carriages than cars and bikes combined. Oops, I have been spotted on my balcony. Seven little children have lines up across the street and are staring at me. They yell “you, you” and start waving, they giggle when I wave back. They continue on there way after a few minuets of staring, there dirty dusty feet have to get back to work.
Snapshot from another world
I wrote this in my journal while we spent our weekend at the country side.... it doesnt seem like the picture are going to upload, so i have to describe my picture in words.
Where the heck am I? I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the village and the lake, and that is my only question I can ask. This place takes me back in time. The bells around the necks fo the horse drawn carriages ring as some cute little boys play futbol in the mud road. I look off into the distance and see a small ch with a little cross and steple and behind it the huge lake that sustains the life of the village. The clouds are low and heavy, yet nothing falls. Off to my left I see the grand mosque, its minarets cast a shadow on the small ch. I am reminded of how the two religions have co-existed in this country for hundreds of years. Two little come down the street standing on donkey drawn flatbed carts. They stand tall with there whips in hand beating the donkeys to make the speed up. I feel like I could be watching the chariot races in ancient times. There is more live stock here than people and more horse drawn carriages than cars and bikes combined. Oops, I have been spotted on my balcony. Seven little children have lines up across the street and are staring at me. They yell “you, you” and start waving, they giggle when I wave back. They continue on there way after a few minuets of staring, there dirty dusty feet have to get back to work.
Where the heck am I? I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the village and the lake, and that is my only question I can ask. This place takes me back in time. The bells around the necks fo the horse drawn carriages ring as some cute little boys play futbol in the mud road. I look off into the distance and see a small ch with a little cross and steple and behind it the huge lake that sustains the life of the village. The clouds are low and heavy, yet nothing falls. Off to my left I see the grand mosque, its minarets cast a shadow on the small ch. I am reminded of how the two religions have co-existed in this country for hundreds of years. Two little come down the street standing on donkey drawn flatbed carts. They stand tall with there whips in hand beating the donkeys to make the speed up. I feel like I could be watching the chariot races in ancient times. There is more live stock here than people and more horse drawn carriages than cars and bikes combined. Oops, I have been spotted on my balcony. Seven little children have lines up across the street and are staring at me. They yell “you, you” and start waving, they giggle when I wave back. They continue on there way after a few minuets of staring, there dirty dusty feet have to get back to work.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Texas Culture Food
Our students asked us to cook them TRADITIONAL TEXAS FOOD, so tonight (Wednesday, June 21st) they got what they asked for! As traditional as we could make it in Africa.
Me, Esete, Mekda, Ginger, Marta, Lemlem, Bete, Yemisrah, Ashley, Selam, Frey, Hiwot, Nesria
- The back row of girls and Selam and Hiwot are in me and Ginger's class
- The other three girls on the front row are Ashley's best friends
TEXAS TRADITIONAL FOOD includes: Chicken Fried Steaks, Black Beans, Corn, Mashed Potatos, Gravy, Sweet Tea, and Dump Cake for dessert. The Chicken Fried Steak was almost as good as Grammies and the sweet tea didn't come anywhere close - Ashley says her mom's is way better too, but it was good enough :)
Me, Esete, Mekda, Ginger, Marta, Lemlem, Bete, Yemisrah, Ashley, Selam, Frey, Hiwot, Nesria- The back row of girls and Selam and Hiwot are in me and Ginger's class
- The other three girls on the front row are Ashley's best friends
TEXAS TRADITIONAL FOOD includes: Chicken Fried Steaks, Black Beans, Corn, Mashed Potatos, Gravy, Sweet Tea, and Dump Cake for dessert. The Chicken Fried Steak was almost as good as Grammies and the sweet tea didn't come anywhere close - Ashley says her mom's is way better too, but it was good enough :)
We ran out of room at the table so we spread out in the livingroom. For most of you mommies, you know that this is the way we college students "traditionally" eat in America.
We feed fourteen girls "traditional texas food"... you can see their reactions are mixed, but they liked pretty much everything (minus the gravy and sweet tea)
Ashley and I love Nesria... she is Ashley's favorite, but I cannot pick a favorite yet ;)
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Sait Bait
This is the Sait Bait (girl house) Mustard yellow, looks like something out of the 70's to me.
This is our top of the line security system. I dont know about you, but I would be scared to jump this thing. Notice the cool african tree in the neighbors yard.
We have a cute little guaden, our guard cuts us fresh flowers out of it to put on our kitchen table, he is actually pretty good at making flower arrangements. 
We have a nice view of AA from our front pourch. We really are in a beautiful place up here in the mountains. The vegitation is crazy, there are so many green things and flowers all over the place.
This is our top of the line security system. I dont know about you, but I would be scared to jump this thing. Notice the cool african tree in the neighbors yard.
We have a cute little guaden, our guard cuts us fresh flowers out of it to put on our kitchen table, he is actually pretty good at making flower arrangements. 
We have a nice view of AA from our front pourch. We really are in a beautiful place up here in the mountains. The vegitation is crazy, there are so many green things and flowers all over the place.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Are you as overwhelmed as we are? This is our city of around 7 million! It's beautiful, despite the fact that you can't see it clearly due to pollution.
Mark loves lil kids (insert sarcasm here). But when the stick their hand out for money, he sticks his hand right back. This lil boy held on for a good 5 minutes.
This is our Africa Beza College football team! They're stickin good!
The epidemy of "snotty nose lil kids" but Ashley huged and touched and loved each one of them, then ate 30 min. later without washing her hands. Two weeks till that ameba starts taking over.
Mark and Ashley went to Yasen's (left) house for lunch and ended up dancing, talking, eatting, drinkin coffee, and playing dress up for SEVEN hours. They loved it! Does anyone else think this resembles the manger scene?
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Home sweet home
Fun Culture here in E
The eyebrow lift- so part of the culture here active listening; but instead of nodding or saying uh-hu the lift their eyebrows. If a male is doing it, it feels like he is hitting on you. The guy pinching my cheek is Dave. Our first day in country we had a meeting at the college to introduce ourselves to all of the students. He did the eyebrow thing to us the whole time. We were all freaked out. When he walked into my class Monday morning, I thought I was going to have a problem with one of my students hitting on me. He later explained to me what it meant. He is one of my favorite students. We had show-and-tell on Friday and he brought me a cool beaded bracelet with the country flag on it. Maybe he was sucking up for a good grade, but it worked.
Last week was so cool! We all went to my friend Yetanite’s house! It was a blast. We had lots of good food at lunch(and the best lemonade I have ever drank), got to have the traditional coffee ceremony, but Yetanite made me do it. I roasted the bean, crushed them, and then boiled the water and made coffee for everyone. It was really cool. After coffee we had a dance party. They taught us the “iskista” which is a dance in which you mainly just move your shoulders. I was good at it when I was sitting down, but when I stood up, my bottom half felt the need to move too. Hahaha. I also learned an Arabic dance from another friend of mine Amenia, she is studying a lot about arab culture. She know I am interested so she teaches me a lot. My friends laughed at me because I have no rhythm. 
Pouring the coffee is a delicate art, you have to make sure to not get any coffee grounds in the cup. My friend Amenia was watching closely making sure i did it right.
This is the beautiful Yetanite and I having coffee on morning.
Having discuessions in class is fun, except they put me in the mush pot!
These are 7 of my girls who i am getting really close to. They had us over last week for Esets house for a coffee ceremony, it was my first. Today they are takeing me shopping for one of there dresses i am wereing.
Other random things about AA
We have noticed while driving that the lines painted on the road are purely for decoration, no on actually uses them. People drive in two lanes, and at some times I have seen three cars with at least some part of them in the same lane.
The air pollution here is crazy. We all have black boggers, and every time a car or bus passes I feel like we may have lung cancer because of all the junk in the air.
The eyebrow lift- so part of the culture here active listening; but instead of nodding or saying uh-hu the lift their eyebrows. If a male is doing it, it feels like he is hitting on you. The guy pinching my cheek is Dave. Our first day in country we had a meeting at the college to introduce ourselves to all of the students. He did the eyebrow thing to us the whole time. We were all freaked out. When he walked into my class Monday morning, I thought I was going to have a problem with one of my students hitting on me. He later explained to me what it meant. He is one of my favorite students. We had show-and-tell on Friday and he brought me a cool beaded bracelet with the country flag on it. Maybe he was sucking up for a good grade, but it worked.
Last week was so cool! We all went to my friend Yetanite’s house! It was a blast. We had lots of good food at lunch(and the best lemonade I have ever drank), got to have the traditional coffee ceremony, but Yetanite made me do it. I roasted the bean, crushed them, and then boiled the water and made coffee for everyone. It was really cool. After coffee we had a dance party. They taught us the “iskista” which is a dance in which you mainly just move your shoulders. I was good at it when I was sitting down, but when I stood up, my bottom half felt the need to move too. Hahaha. I also learned an Arabic dance from another friend of mine Amenia, she is studying a lot about arab culture. She know I am interested so she teaches me a lot. My friends laughed at me because I have no rhythm. 
Pouring the coffee is a delicate art, you have to make sure to not get any coffee grounds in the cup. My friend Amenia was watching closely making sure i did it right.
This is the beautiful Yetanite and I having coffee on morning.
Having discuessions in class is fun, except they put me in the mush pot!
These are 7 of my girls who i am getting really close to. They had us over last week for Esets house for a coffee ceremony, it was my first. Today they are takeing me shopping for one of there dresses i am wereing.
Other random things about AA
We have noticed while driving that the lines painted on the road are purely for decoration, no on actually uses them. People drive in two lanes, and at some times I have seen three cars with at least some part of them in the same lane.
The air pollution here is crazy. We all have black boggers, and every time a car or bus passes I feel like we may have lung cancer because of all the junk in the air.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Welcome to the Third World
“Welcome to the third world,” an American friend of mine who lives here said as I lay next to her in a cab vomiting into a plastic bag. So I have been sick for the past few days. PTL I am better now, I am about sick of lying in bed. We think it was something I ate, so now worries, I feel great and are very rested. I got a funny and encouraging note from two of my students:
Dear Teacher Crista,
I’m so sorry, Ginger told us you are sick today. I think you guys are not comfort in E, I know, it is difficult to handle a pain. We have a Japanese friend in AA who are basket ball coach of Solomon, and he was also sick when he came in E, but he adopte it. I think you guys will be familiar with E foods. We pr for your pains.
Dave and Solomon
PS We know you sick because American’s were defeated by Chec (Czech) on Monday.
For those of you who are American’s, you probably don’t know what the rest of the world is doing right now. The World Cup (it’s like the Super Bowl of soccer, except everyone in the World, except America watches) is being played in Germany. On Monday America played the Czech Republic and got slaughtered 0-3, which in soccer terms is bad. Our students have been giving us a hard time about it; we just ask them who the E. team is doing. That gets them quite real fast, because E does not have a team playing in the World Cup
Dear Teacher Crista,
I’m so sorry, Ginger told us you are sick today. I think you guys are not comfort in E, I know, it is difficult to handle a pain. We have a Japanese friend in AA who are basket ball coach of Solomon, and he was also sick when he came in E, but he adopte it. I think you guys will be familiar with E foods. We pr for your pains.
Dave and Solomon
PS We know you sick because American’s were defeated by Chec (Czech) on Monday.
For those of you who are American’s, you probably don’t know what the rest of the world is doing right now. The World Cup (it’s like the Super Bowl of soccer, except everyone in the World, except America watches) is being played in Germany. On Monday America played the Czech Republic and got slaughtered 0-3, which in soccer terms is bad. Our students have been giving us a hard time about it; we just ask them who the E. team is doing. That gets them quite real fast, because E does not have a team playing in the World Cup
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