Broken Windows and Triple A

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Happy Halloween everyone! I heard you got a bit of snow this past week, hopefully everyone has power. Weather forecast here in Addis: Sunny and 70 degrees for the next 10 days(I had to rub it in a little). I know its been a while since I updated but its been hectic the past few weeks.
As for the title to this post...... The older boys have organized a football tournament on the small field we have and I was picked to play on one of the teams( we are 4-1 by the way, about to become the champions). However the first game they asked me to play striker or forward,whatever you want to call it. Late into the first game I took a shot that sailed over the goal and straight into a window at the boys dorm. Luckily nobody was around the window at the time and I quickly went to the sisters and told them I would replace the window. I had not scored that game so the children were quick to makes jokes that I had no goals but one window! Needless to say for every game since I have played as the last defender, as far away from the opposing goal as possible.
As for the triple A.....
Before I came I went to the AAA office nearest to Clinton and told them about my trip, where I was going and how long I would be staying. They gave me a travelers credit card saying that it would be cheaper and easier to use while abroad. I trusted that the information I was receiving was all correct, but of course once I try to use my card I was declined. I called the customer service hotline only to be told that I am in a country that they have banned transactions in. So here I am, two months into my trip and I am already borrowing money from other volunteers here! Since it is so expensive for me to call the hotline(spent 10 dollars to call them, only for the call to cut out in about 6 minutes) so I have put my parents to the task of figuring out why I was lied to and how they will resolve this. Luckily there are a lot of Western Unions around, so worse comes to worse I can just do that!
Even with all of these problems(as well as my phone being stolen by a 'leba'😉 I am still smiling and having a great time. I feel that I am really starting to make an impact with these kids and seeing their test scores improve is incredibly rewarding. Whenever I have had these issues it is nice to know that I can go own to the children and I will quickly forget about my troubles(as those of you who work with children know its impossible to worry about these problems when your with them). Not only that, but how can I worry about these kinds of problems when I see the day to day struggle of the local people here? Being here is a very grounding experience, and hopefully the government will grant me the visa extensions I need to stay till June, but that's a whole other story!

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