Arstraz

Selamnachu! This week, I want to tell you a little about what typically goes on daily at Onesimus. Everyday is truly an adventure, even though we do have a schedule, you never know what is going to happen. The majority of my time at Onesimus is spent with the drop-in center boys, the boys who are still sleeping on the streets at nighttime but come to the center Monday through Friday from about 8am to 3pm. I think of these boys, Amanuel, Befekadu, Besufekad, Endaweke, Abebe, Adonias, Yidenacachew and Esrael as my boys because I’ve spent so much time with them and have gotten to know them so well. Before Onesimus had any foreign volunteers, which is pretty much up until this January, the staff each had their own scheduled activities with the drop-in center kids; ... read more

Selamnachu y’all, I have a new name to add to the list of alternatives the boys at the drop-in center call me; Alyska! I think this one might be the most creative yet. The boy who solely refers to me by this name, finally corrected my pronunciation of his name this week, just a little one letter difference. I found it wholly entertaining as it would be futile for me to even attempt to correct the boys after they’ve become so creative with the various manifestations of my name since I arrived. I feel like in the time I have been working with Onesimus there is now a regularly attending group of about 10 boys and most of them have really started to adapt and behave. To these boys who I see almost everyday, I am ... read more

Selam! Greetings from Addis Ababa! Its been six years since my year in Italy and now I'm back again with another blog! For those of you who followed my blog before, a lot has happened since then, so here’s a brief update: After finishing high school, I started college at UNC-Asheville. I studied abroad for a semester in Brazil, and another semester in France. I still managed to graduate in 4 years with a BA in International Economics. I am here now in Addis with Cherokee Gives Back, a great opportunity that I learned about from a good family friend. I am really looking forward to the next few months here. I arrived in Addis Ababa almost two weeks ago and every day since my arrival has been an adventure. I’m here to volunteer, but even ... read more

Hey! Last week was exchange week for me. Exchange week is exchange between cities and gives exchange students a chance to see cities they probably wouldn’t have seen were it not for this wonderful idea. For my week I went to Venice! On Saturday I arrived and my host family came to pick me up from the train station. Before even going to the house, the two sisters, Silvia and Elisa, and I went to get some gelato, this family knows what I like! Silvia worked at the gelato place last summer and the owner was really nice, he explained the difference between ice cream and gelato to me, gelato has significantly less fat and is tastier. At night I went out for pizza with Elisa and her friends in Mestre which has a piazza that ... read more

Skiing in Alta Badia(Southern Alps!!) January 29, 2006 Hey! Last week I went skiing in the alps! The mountains are so beautiful, a whole different kind of beautiful than the Colorado mountains. It was six entire days of skiing for me, didn’t do much other than that. The car trip was only about 12 hours, not bad. I’m not feeling inspired to write right now, I felt like saying the trip was great and posting some pictures. Have a great week! Alyssa ... read more