Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Well on this thirtieth day of March, an Ethiopian miracle was witnessed!!! We all learned that, in fact, dreams do come true. But the miracle doesn’t happen until later so I’m just going to leave you with this cliff hanger for now. ;) So this morning, we all were up by 10 o’clock and looking forward to a great day ahead. Our lovely cook, Asni, made us some delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast along with the usual eggs, fruit, and yogurt. After our breakfast, we had some fun expanding our creativity and coloring in coloring book (thanks Ms. Wahlstrom!) while we waited for the dance instructor to come. We literally moved all of our furniture out of the living room to create a dance studio. Our dance instructor, Minte, was the real deal. He had been an acrobat in the circus before becoming a professional dancer and dance instructor for the past ten years. The dancing was super fun, but also very hard. There was a lot of foot movement and shoulder popping. We all did our best and had a lot of fun but I definitely appreciate the Ethiopian dancers that we saw on Sunday night. We were all breaking a sweat as it’s pretty exhausting!

After dance lessons, we hopped in the van and drove to get some lunch. We had our second traditional Ethiopian meal at a fun place called Kategna. We ordered three injera (the spongy bread) with various toppings and a new food called chechebsa. The chechebsa was the best thing I have eaten this trip. It has tortilla that is soaked in sugar, butter, and other things. There is an egg on top and you can drizzle honey on it. After eating our wonderful meal, we were all full and very content, especially at my end of the table. J As Ms. Davis said, she could die happy right there.  After lunch, we went back to Youth Impact, the organization that helps street boys develop mentally, physically, and spiritually. When we got to the house, we played a fun game of Davy Jones (monkey in the middle) with the soccer ball. We were having so much fun that we decided to go to the soccer field nearby and play for real! Of course the SMS gals were feeling good about this until we saw the Youth Impact boys bring out their soccer cleats—they were serious soccer studs. When we got to the field, we divided into four teams. Luckily the teams were evenly matched with both SMS girls and Youth Impact boys. I was very fortunate to have Jen on my team and we were able to get some good touches! Meanwhile, our other teammates were soccer ninjas and flying across the field. Despite the dusty field and the heat of midday, the Youth Impact boys were all extremely fast and talented soccer players. After more than 45 minutes of intense play and friendly competition ;) we said goodbye to our friends and moved on to our next adventure.

Now, I’m sure many of you have been anxiously waiting for the Ethiopian miracle. To give some background, on Monday afternoon, our dear friend Andy fell in love to a beautiful, glowing Ethiopian boy we drove by in the streets. Since their eye contact on Monday, the whole house has been abuzz. As many of you know, a love as powerful as this can not be ignored. So, Andy’s plan was to write a love note to this boy in the hopes that when we drove by the same place (the slaughter house…), we would spot him again, she could hop out of the car and give it to him! Although the chances of spotting him again were very slim, Andy was determined. Well, today our van happened to drive by the same slaughter house. Everyone’s eyes were peeled for a certain straw hat or a glowing face. Unfortunately, there was no sign of him at the slaughter house, however, we all kept an eye out. A few blocks after the slaughter house, Allie was taking some pictures of people in the street and noticed a beautiful boy selling papayas on the street who was looking at Andy. When Andy turned to look at the boy, she thought he might be the “golden boy.” Ms. Turlington was also looking at him and said, “Andy, that guy’s winking at you!” After a few moments of looking at him, Andy exclaimed, “That’s him!” Luckily our superhero van driver, Abi, was quick to slow down the van enough for Andy and Dougie to jump out and run to the boy. Andy went up to the boy and Dougie was able to translate for her. The boy said that he was wearing a straw hat on Monday and that he remembered Andy! His name was Tekley and he is only 20 years old! Andy gave him the letter and came back to the van. The rest of us were all feeling a combination of pure shock and true happiness. To put this miracle into perspective, only a handful of people saw this boy on the street for a few seconds on Monday afternoon. Although we were all sending good vibes between Monday afternoon and today, the chance that Andy would see this one boy again out of six million Ethiopians was extremely small. Not only did she see him again near the same spot, but she was able to jump out of a moving car and give him her letter!! It was truly amazing and all of us are filled with pure joy for Andy. This is what dreams are made of!!

Now, onto the rest of our day. After the Tekley experience, we went back to the orphanage, Sele Enat. It was so much fun to connect with the same kids that we played with on Sunday. We brought chalk, bubbles, and more balloons. Today we got very creative with our games.  The children mixed the chalk with water and began putting it on their faces, and thus the chalk wars started. Dougie used the balloons to make sounds and some of us joined in to create a balloon rap song! We also got to hold the beautiful babies. When we had to leave, everyone had a hard time because we knew that this would be the last time we got to see the kids. :( Although it was sad, I know that we all feel blessed to have met them and I hope that we were able to bring some joy into their lives. After leaving the orphanage, we came home and got ready for dinner. Tonight, we had breakfast for dinner and all enjoyed waffles, pancakes, hashbrowns, and fruit. Now we are coloring, journaling, and watching MK, Buffy, and Andy preform Legally Blonde songs for us!! What a great day here in Ethiopia! Everyday I think I have had the best day, but then the next day is always better than the one before! We are all loving each experience together, and learning new things about Ethiopia and ourselves. I am so happy to be surrounded by such fun people who are making the most of every opportunity.  

Highlights of the day include:

·      Jen the butterfly dancing
·      The Ethiopian scandal!! Dougie revealed the drama about a false prophet who we saw at the restaurant! Crazy stuff ;)  
·      Mrs. Floyd is converted to a vibe believer (good vibes everyone- never underestimate the power of a good vibe)
·      Abush, our car driver, is a very talented goalie
·      We got to see Solomon again at Youth Impact
·      Jen and Sam’s full head of braids
·      Abi, our van driver, is a secret gardener and can garden with the presidents of the SMS garden club, Carrot and Cabbage  
·      A special shout out to Mr. Davis, we all want to say hello :)

That’s all for today! Cant wait for tomorrow!

Love,
Caroline
-       Caroline Fountain, ‘16

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