Take a Look at Me Now

I made a vow at the ice cream place in Addis Ababa - which plays Phil Collins and only Phil Collins music - that all of my blog posts for the next two years would have Phil Collins songs as titles. I haven't kept that promise, but here's a shot at slight redemption.

For the loyal blog readers out there who have sat through my previously lengthy posts without any photographic eye candy, here's a couple pics from my compound in Azena.

This is Kale (kah-lay).

So I have started to make some friends in town. It's not easy to form close relationships when you don't know what each other is saying. Thus, my best friend at the moment is probably Kale. Kale is the 3 year old girl pictured above that lives in my compound. She and I are at about the same Amharic speaking level, so we get along famously, given words are entirely unnecessary. 

Don't be fooled by the adorable creature you see in the photo, that little girl is a destructive little Tasmanian devil. She comes in and just starts grabbing things and handing them to me or relocating them to a spot of her liking. She and her brother Gion (gee-yon) come in pretty much the instant I open my door in the morning to play cards, bounce the basketball I recently acquired, and just sing improvised songs. It's quite the morning waking crew.

Former paint thinner cans, now dumbbells

On my birthday this year, I went to Kosober the zonal city with my friend Berhanu. Another volunteer, Deborah, lives there and welcomed us to tour the town with her. She is a G9 who finishes her service in September. We hung out and played games at an orphanage in town, and then I bought these weights from her Ethiopian friend who runs a small gym. I decided to support the business and bought these sweet dumb bells from him. I'm guessing the one on the right is about 12 kgs and the one on the left is about 11 kgs. Ha! Of course I wouldn't post in pounds, that would be too easy.

Currently it is rainy season, which means it rains every day without fail, multiple times. In my town, this means running is impossible. The mud is way too prevalent to get any traction. So instead, I'm lifting these dumbbells so I can beat Andrew Lepore in an arm wrestling match next summer. He has absolutely no chance at winning.

The Loot

Since he wrote me a scathing e-mail about what an ungrateful jerk I am for not thanking him for this package, I am doing so now PUBLICLY! The Loot pictured above was a care package intended to reach me on my birthday, but got there in early June. My grandmother had sent me two packages, which arrived the day after my birthday (pretty impressive given the post office was closed on my actual birthday), so I am quite grateful there was a delay in this one. 

While I was in Addis for training, I got a call from my post office lady telling me there was a package. On my way back to town, preparing myself for another month-ish without contact from the outside world, and this baby was waiting for me. Receiving letters from people, photographs, and packages has been incredibly uplifting for combating the inevitable loneliness of service. So thank you so much to everyone who has sent anything.

Pictured above is the loot I received thanks to my incredible friends: Nicholas Norman Demers (director, sender, Reese's'er, party blowers'er, Adrift'er, and wedding invitation'er), Colin Hart (Chicago Marathon registration lottery invitation), Joseph Edward "Jonathan Ridelight" VanGombos (Wave Rider's, size 11, just how I like 'em, with a nice pair of running socks to boot), and Andrew Lepore (letter, future loser of the Bahir Dar Arm Wrestling Championships 2016)

You guessed it

People from the church community celebrating Ginbot Ahnd (May 1st to them). Every once in a while it's the end of one fasting period and my compound throws a celebration. I have a very nice compound in the context of Azena, and the landlord will invite practically the whole community over to hang out, eat food, and drink t'ela. T'ela is locally made beer, which is really low in alcohol content, so people can and do basically drink it all day.

?

I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but if you're still my friend at this point you're probably way over needing explanations as to why I do things. Kale and I communicate mostly by making weird faces at each other. I've learned this is a great universal language.

"Doing my thang for much more than the fame"

This is a hiking pic from back in Butajira days. Much love to Andy Blunk rocking the yellow head band who was sent home due to a substantial igr kwas (soccer) injury in his home town. Getting yourself seriously injured in recreational sports is something I'm all about. We want you back brotha!

In conclusion, life is good, and difficult, and I'm learning a lot and experiencing all sorts of things I never thought I would be able to. I am very grateful for my friends and family at home, my opportunity to live in Ethiopia and meet the people I have so far, both habasha and forenj. Thanks for tuning in!