Hulet

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Today was nothing short of amazing and I'm reminded why I want to make this my life.

Liz performed 7 Denver II Assessments on the children today. I observed, as I am new to the field and not quite comfortable running this on my own. (Tomorrow, I'll start.) Luckily, I have an amazing partner who is both knowlegeable and patient. This little gentlemen, age 4 was the most adorable I've seen in a long time. When I said hello, he put one hand on my shoulder, looked me straight in the eyes, and extended his tiny hand. . How cute is that? The other children were just as wonderful with the ability to melt you to puddles with their warm smile. You'd never know their status. I know HIV/AIDS is stigmatized around the world and arcoss all cultures, but I guess I've never been around people who are positive. I've never heard their stories. Every child we come across with is positive..perhaps even the staff, but they are no different from anyone I've met. Maybe kinder, but just as curious as the next person with any new encounter.

After lunch, we had some down time before the next patient so our translator came in to sit with us. We started off talking about our childhood..a common ground for any individual..and go figure, we've all built forts and houses out of boxes and sheets too. One thing led to another and she began telling us about her hardships. Her life at age 20 has been incredible and she is on the way to becoming an electrical engineer. And then she said something that I'll never forget.."you guys made me feel normal." Whatever normal means...it's powerful to hear. People never forget how you make them feel...and how that made me feel, I'll definitely never forget.

By the end of the day, we were tired, but eager to see more of the city. We met with the other MPH student and went to Yod Abysnnia, a favorite with traditional food, live music, and dancing. The injera and shiro was delicious..so much better than what I had in NYC. As the night went on, we looked around to see a community of foreign families, presumably here to adopt Ethiopian children. It seems like there's a whole network of them, all very young, also soaking in the culture and getting acquainted to their little addition. On the way home, we drove through the dim streets of Addis still crowded with locals. Shoe shining and roasted corn on makeshift grills were still open for business. There's a vast difference between the restaurant and the street life...and nothing like disparity to open up your eyes. Enter culture shock.

We're planning on venturing on local transportation to the market on Saturday, which is a mini-bus with a driver and caller that shouts out each stop. Not sure how safe this is, but there's 3 of us, so I'm not too worried. In other exciting news - we can count to 10 in amharic. The pronunciation is so difficult, but we're on our way. Chao!

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