Week 4.5

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So now that my computer at home is finally working, I can write entries and then post them on tha blog via thumb drives. Technology! Development!

A little more about my family…

So I said that I have really cool parents but I didn’t say anything else about who I’m staying with. My parents have at least 6 kids, one who lives in New Jersey, one who lives in “Arab countries”, 3 who live in Addis (the capital), and one daughter nicknamed “Mimi” that still lives in Ambo but with her husband. Mimi has two kids, 4 and 8, both girls who live at our house for some indiscernible reason. They are both phenomenal. The 8 year old, named Bertanya, speaks only a little English, and answers “yes” to every question. This pattern has led me to ask quite ridiculous questions, including “are we going sky diving today?” to which the answer predictably was “yes”. The 4 year old is also really fun and is named Jordonos. I gave the two of them a deck of cards and taught them how to play war. Jordonos cheats like crazy. Somehow she always ends up with the joker and doesn’t understand the concept of using cards one at a time. If she sees that she doesn’t have the highest card, she simply grabs the joker from the bottom of her pile and throws it down. She usually wins.

Aside from those two, there’s a maid/pseudo sister who’s 13 and named Mulu. I’m still having trouble understanding her role in the family because when I first asked her name, my dad replied, “it is no matter, she is from the country.” I think she is probably an orphan who is living in our house in exchange for housework, etc. Sometimes she isn’t allowed to play with the others because she has to cook. My dad did say that he tried to pay for her to go to school last year but that she didn’t like it. Most kids here don’t get past 5th grade, so I don’t blame her, but I’ve been dropping subtle hints including “learning is so much fun!” to try to change her mind. These are the people I come home to every day. It’s great.

Every once in a while Bertanya’s and Jordonos’s mother (Mimi) makes an appearance and laughs at my attempts to speak Amharic. Her husband is a baker who makes cakes (yes, with sugar) and the other day she took me to his restaurant, just the two of us, to give them a try. The entire experience was a bit awkward (almost aquard) because she speaks no English. Generally the convo consisted of me saying “I like cake” and “I like fanta” and her laughing. I definitely picked up that at one point she asked me if I was married, to which I answered in near perfect Amharic that I was not… nailed it!

So yeah, I have to say that I am quite pleased with the Ethiopians I’m surrounded with in Ambo. With any luck my Amharic will get better and I can understand what they are actually saying. I’m getting there. Yesterday I was talking with my dad, telling him that I would definitely visit for Easter if I could. He told Bertanya what I said in Amharic and she replied “Woo-sha-tah!” which means “liar!” and I totally called her out on it. She was so embarrassed that she wouldn’t look at me for an hour. She gave me a big hug before I went to bed though, so its water under the bridge.

That’s all for now, check back soon.

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