Two Months!!!!

My oh My!!! It has been 2 months of lovely life here, and I could not be more thankful for everything going on! My love for Ethiopia and its people has grown immensely and my work has brought me so much joy. Here is a recap of month 2…

• -       Rahel’s English has gotten a lot better, and she insists that the women in our office only speak in English. Her Amharic voice is sweet and tiny but her English voice sounds like a Russian-Italian (I know…) combo and almost all of her sentences end in “My Dear.” Her favorite phrases are “Hold on” and “Shut up”; she uses them on almost everyone…including the children. I am encouraging her to stay away from Shut Up :)
• -       I got very sick, twice. The first was food poisoning, which should be called Satan sickness. It was seriously the worst thing I’ve ever gone through. If you have had it, you can identify with the agony if you haven’t imagine 72 hours of straight puking. Rahel and Zewdu pleaded to take me to the hospital but I am stubborn and hate all things doctor related. The following weekend I was very sick again. I refused all attempts to take me to the hospital, until the 4^th day when I could barely see straight. The ride to the hospital felt like an eternity, I spent it imagining that the doctors would think the solution to my sickness was to cut my limbs off….I know, not dramatic at all. Well PTL they didn’t sever any arms or legs and they just sent me home with lots of drizugggs! (Medicine) A funny side effect of Tonsillitis is that your voice changes, so for a week people doubted it was me on the other end of the phone or they would look shocked when I opened my mouth and spoke.
• -       Rahel turned 25!!!!!! Birthdays are one of my most favorite things in the world so I insisted that we had a party. Rahel had never celebrated her birthday before. We decorated our cute little house, played the music loud, and had a good time! It was an honor and a joy to throw this special girl’s first birthday party!!
• -       Africa is known for being wild kingdom; our house lives up to this title—except not with cool animals… We have lizards, cats, a dog, giant pigeon weird birds, and the newest addition…I walked into the bathroom, took three steps to the light switch, flicked it on, and I heard a squeal and the patter of a RAT!!!! I screamed, and it ran away. I was convinced it had gone into my room so I had sweet Rahel scour every inch to make sure it was out. I am the biggest baby when it comes to creepy crawlies…I’m sure Rahel is not fond of making sure my room is rat free but she happily does it :) She’s the best!!!!
• -       My teaching, both of the women and children is wonderful. I especially love my 4-6 graders (I teach every grade from kindergarten up to 12^th); they are very smart and so curious. My lessons with the older kids are sometimes a struggle…one girl asked me the difference between ‘who’ and ‘whom’ and I almost passed out. Other than the tricky grammatical questions, teaching is a blast! My time teaching here has only encouraged and grown my desire to someday be an elementary teacher!!!
• -       The last week it rained everyday. It reminded me of home in the best sort of way. A few things/people I have missed and cannot wait to do/ see: Can’t wait to hug my Mamma, Dad and Matthew, that will be the greatest reunion of all time. Can’t wait wait to squeeeeze my best friend, Malorie sweet Mahler (and her amazing fam!) – another reunion that will be very teary!!! Can’t wait to wear mittens, and scarves, and sweaters. Can’t wait to eat Mexican food. Can’t wait to go to my home church. Can’t wait to sit in starbucks with friends, drinking peppermint mochas. Can’t wait to go downtown and see Christmas lights. Can’t wait to celebrate a NEW YEAR! You all have been so wonderful via facebook and email, encouraging me greatly. Can you believe it is only 26 more days until I see your dear faces!!!?! Eeeek, squealing with joy!!!
• -       Ways you can continue to pray: For my health, I seem to have the worst luck and keep getting sick. It prevents me from doing my work and I hate being unproductive and miserable:) Pray for the staff of WAR, that they would have abundant strength and joy to do their hard work! Pray for the kids I teach, that their curiosity would only grow! And lastly pray for the women going through WAR’s yearlong program!

I am a quarter way finished with my venture…it has been full of fun and growth, challenges and rewards, success and failure. Through everything I am learning to “consider it all joy” and thank Jesus that he chose me to bring to Ethiopia to do this work.

So much love,

Becca

Some pictures of month two!

Zewdu and a few other workers
built me a wonderful, new purple and yellow
classroom! I love my little room!

Class with my 4-6 graders.
 We have 2 tutoring rooms
and a library, our center has been
blessed with a lot of great recources-
the newest being a computer class room!

Breakfast with Zewdu and Rahel
Any guesses as to what they are eating???

True African...What is your vote: Sean Paul,
Snoop Dogg, or the rabbit from Trix yogurt?
Never doing this again :)

American Breakfast!

The baby is getting big.

Cutie friends at Rahel's party

I love Eden!

Happy Birthday roomie, You are the best!!

this babe is 25!!

Ethiopia played a big soccer
game against Nigeria. Rahel and
I won most spirited...but Ethiopia
still lost. A sad defeat.

Humbled and Thankful

It is Wednesday morning...I know what is coming in a couple of hours. I have butterflies, I am both ecstatic and nervous. Though teaching kids over the past couple of weeks has brought me more joy that I could ever imagine, a huge part of my heart is with the woman who are going through WAR's year long program...and today is the day I have my first class with them.

The women are finishing their tea break when I arrive. I have gotten used to feeling like an animal in a zoo, constantly being stared at, but these eyes pierce differently. I feel unequipped to be teaching such phenomenal women. I go in the room and say "Denanish" ...they all chuckle because it is hilarious to see a white girl trying to attack the beast that their language is. I sit down, smile, and take in a couple moments of sheer awe that this is really happening. These women are stunning, both on the inside and outside. They have been through hell and back, and they are sitting in front of me, eager to learn. I take a deep breath, recall all of the training I have had to prepare me for this moment and begin.

I have heard the gruesome stories, the stories that make your insides ache, the stories that keep you up at night. Today I was in a room full of women who's lives were those stories. They were. I was also sitting in a room of works in progress. Beautiful women were leaving the painful chapters of abuse, shame and hate to enter in to a new chapter, maybe even a new book of wonder, success, and love. I was undone. Humbled is the only word to describe what I felt as I walked out of that classroom. As I look forward to this year of growth, not only for the women but also for myself, I am grateful... Grateful that I have the privilege of walking alongside these women as they discover how beautiful and fulfilling life can be. I told them today that above all else, my desire is to be their friend and to hold their hand as they step into this new journey. I told them a month ago I was in similar shoes, as I began my own new journey. Like them, I left everything I knew to follow a calling that I knew in my heart was going to be good. (I know that everything I knew and everything they knew is COMPLETELY different, I don't want to sound like I think our lives were the same... my struggles and pain pale in comparison to theirs!) I shared with them that there have been moments that I have wanted to go home, but looking back I realize those were the moments that Jesus was working in the depths of my heart. I implored them to be strong this year, to not fall back into the lifestyle they once lived, to seek Jesus and to seek fellowship in the staff of WAR.

Friends and Family, please pray for these women. I think Isaiah 40:31 is a beautiful thing to pray over them. Pray that they would run this race and not grow weary, that they would walk through this year and not be faint.

Though I am overwhelmed with gratitude for everything that is happening here in Addis and in my life, I miss you all more than words can say.

So (sosososososo) much love,
Becca

Month One!!!

"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails"

I never would have guessed the amount of strength that I would need to move away from home and jump into a new country where I don't speak the language and I know no one. I got on the plane to Ethiopia very confident in myself, the work I would be doing and my own strength to get me through whatever came my way. The best word to describe my last month would be challenging, and the more I relied on myself to prevail and be successful, the more I grew weary, doubtful of my calling, and sad. I had a picture in my head of what life would be like here. I thought I would be holding babies and rescuing women 24/7. I soon was faced with the fact that that fantasy would never be my life. Instead, my reality is more challenging--but much more rewarding. It is a strange blessing to be in a country where no one knows who you are and where everyday there are countless unknowns. I have been learning each day to give up my own desires of what I want this year to look like, and to rely on Jesus' plan for this year. God's purpose for bringing me here may be, and probably is far different than what I ever thought it would be-- but I think that is true for most callings in life. The Lord is showing me daily what it looks like to give up what I want in order to experience what He wants.
I don't want my life in Africa to seem like it is always the perfect, adventure filled fairytale. I know it is better to be vulnerable and to share the hard parts rather than paint a picture of the perfect, gap-year experience.
With all of that said, here is a recap of month one in Africa!!!

I spent a lot of this month preparing lesson plans. The after school program didn't start until mid October (aka now). Because I do not have a college degree in teaching English I have had to read many books and articles on teaching English!! It has been fun to learn so much, and to do all this research. I have made countless powerpoints, lesson plans, and project ideas for the next year of teaching.
This month has also been filled with many hilarious moments, as Rahel and I both learn how to live on our own. The first night in our house I told her I would make dinner, which ended in rice that was like oatmeal. We have also had many other issues like the shower curtain breaking so our bathroom is always a pond, the sink broke, our power goes out everyday and neither of us really know how to fix any of it. Rahel is one of the kindest humans I have ever met, and thankfully is really easy going. None of our home-hiccups seem to phase her.
My days are filled with miles of walking, lots of stares (there are not a lot of 18 year old white girls walking around Africa:), lots of amazing people who love me, and lots of adorable, curious kids.
I am so excited to be finally starting my "official" work here, which includes teaching the women going through WAR's programs in the mornings and teaching the kid's at the after school program. My day starts at 7 AM and doesn't end until 6PM, it reminds me of high school a little bit:)

In the past month I have been welcomed, loved and accepted. I have learned about people, myself and the culture of Ethiopia. I have cried, laughed, and danced with some of the sweetest people on the planet. This country has captured my heart, though there have been moments of pain, there have been many more filled with joy.

If any string of words could best describe my first month (or my life), it would be these from Amazing Grace,

'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.  

 Thank you friends and family for your love and encouragement. Every time I get a message from a friend back home, my day is made! Cheers to one month, here's to seven more!

So much love, 

Becca

Here are some pictures of month one!

Torrential downpours for the first 2 weeks of life here.

My little kitchen.

Paulson puppy!!!!

Rahel and I get

lentil samosas after work almost everyday. 50 cents

for four of them! Nomnom.

Roommate Love!!!

We had Rahel's sister over for dinner one night.

Our big patio and plastic furniture :)

Job, cutie head.

Man and a random goat.

Our neighborhood pet. 

Rubble, Lesson Plans, and Reflections

My most embarrassing moment of the week (maybe of my life....)

Friday, October 4th, 2013 @ 11:00 AM:

Seble (she is essentially my boss) sent Rahel and I to town with our fearless driver to pick up school materials. Zewdu (driver) parallel parks our van like a mad man, Rahel and I exit the car. A note about Addis, there are no sidewalks just piles of rubble that the city expects you to somehow successfully walk on. I am in cute army green capris (specifically bought for this venture, because I thought they looked safari-ish) and my rainbow flip flops. Wearing flip flops while walking in rubble should have been a red flag but I confidently chose them to wear that morning and thought nothing of it. I have taken maybe 10 steps and I slip on a rock. The moment that you know you are falling is an awful one, your mind is sending you 10,000 warning messages-- none of them which you can process. I am down for the count. My first thought is "bleep. Ow. this really hurts. omg I just fell in Africa" Immediately I am surrounded by a crowd of African men asking if I am okay. I get up with the help of a stranger, shouting yep, I'm GOOD, thank YOU, I'm fine I try to look and sound fine but I look down and my beloved capris have a giant hole around my knee cap, and my knee is bleeding, not a trickle of blood, I was really bleeding. I keep walking with a crowd still behind me, my roommate is fighting back laughter because this is probably the funniest thing she's ever seen. I've taken three steps and I go to dust off my butt because every square inch of me was dusty (remember, rubble is what I fell into) and I feel skin. Skin?! Skin!!!!? I should be feeling fabric. Again, 10,000 warning messages come. This time I am able to process "Becca there is a hole in your pants, and your butt is showing and there are 27 people behind you." I look at Rahel, mortified, she notices what the fear in my eyes is referring to, she bursts into laughter. I grab her hand and we sprint back to the car.  This story sounds like it was an hour long ordeal, but all of this happened in a matter of minutes, so while it all happened Zewdu was still in the car and had seen none of it. Rahel, through her laughter explains quickly what happened. Zewdu let's out a huge gust of laughter, turns on the car and we head home.  

I considered keeping this story to myself, but I think it is too good not to share. 

After cleaning my knee, and reflecting
on the fall I thought it was necessary
to document. 

This week was craziness around WAR. Tuesday and Wednesday was an all staff meeting. Thankfully, I had a translator! Thursday and Friday were interviews for a new group of women looking to be a part of the year long rehabilitation program. I had the option of sitting in on them, but instead I stayed back and worked at the children's care center (where I will be for the majority of my 8 months.) The after school program doesn't start for a couple of weeks, so until then my time will be spent preparing lesson plans and slipping on rubble. The weather here has been wild too, the last couple of days have been torrential monsoons. As I walk in 8 inches of thick mud I regret not bringing rain boots. I would have never guessed the hardest rain I would experience would be in Africa...

A friend of mine asked me this week, Is it different than what you expected? I hadn't even really thought about that and when I did I realized my expectations of Africa were completely different that what I was living. I thought I would be roughing it to the max, living in a step above a shack.  I thought I would be going to church in some remote village, where everyone danced and shouted and wore tribal costumes. I thought I would be able to speak their language in a day.  My life is almost opposite. I live in a house, I have a big comfy bed, a kitchen, an amazing roommate and a puppy. I go to a church that looks like it is straight out of Southern California, where the majority of the congregation speaks english. I only know how to say the bare minimum in Amharic, Rosetta stone CD's are currently en route to me, so I can learn faster. All of the what-if's that I was terrified about before coming never happened. I have people who care about me, and I am safe (I live in a double gated house, with a human guard, and a K-9 guard :). I am constantly reminded, through almost everything I do here of the Lord's devoted faithfulness to my needs.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him" Lamentations 3:22-24

So much love,

Becca

Becoming tourists for a day...

Meet my new friends...

School is starting soon in Ethiopia so today all of the children receieved their  uniforms. I met most of the kids that will be at the afterschool program/the ones I will be teaching english to. They are sweet as can be, and their english is a lot better than I expected. I am still staying in a hotel, that is why I can go on the internet so easily. Once I move into my house I won't have wifi (we are working on it...). I am planning on moving in next week, so the posts will be less frequent but know that I am having the time of my life in this amazing country :)

These pictures are from today, when I met all of the kids. We danced, played soccer, and laughed a lot. These kids are so curious and eager to learn; today I saw just a glimpse of that when they took my camera and tried to figure out how to take pictures. I was worried that the language barrier would be a problem, but no language can truly be a barrier when two people are having fun...thankful for that...

So much love, Becca

(To see the pictures more clearly, click on them!)

Welcome to Addis Ababa.

Hello!!!!!
I am in Ethiopia!!!! I can't believe I am finally here, and it is finally happening. We left Seattle on September 16th at 5 AM and landed in Ethiopia on September 18th at 8 AM (Due to Layovers and time changes.) We hit the ground running yesterday. We found my house within the first hour of looking and toured 2/3 of the offices of WAR.
I love where I am staying, this house was completely an answer to many prayers. It is inside of a gated community that has one big house and 2 smaller houses within it. Rahel (my roommate) and I are living in one of the smaller houses. We have two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a garden and a giant patio. The woman renting us the house is amazing. She is this old, sweet Ethiopian woman with seven kids and many many many (according to her) grand children. She was so accommodating with us, mainly because we are two young girls and she is a mother herself. When we told her we were going to be going out and getting some more furniture for our house she said she would just do it for us! On top of all of this house perfection it is a 5 minute walk from where Rahel and I will be working. And....the cherry on top...there are three puppies living with us.
The Lord was so clearly at work yesterday, providing Rahel and I with a lot.

It is 7 AM here, I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel room. The sounds of car horns, the loud prayers from the Mosque, and the smell of incense are taking over my senses. I am still in shock that this is going to be my life for the next 8 months. Addis Ababa is a massive city full of crazy drivers, many little stores, and beautiful people. As we drove through the city, yesterday, I was reminded of all of the previous mission trips I have been on. Parts of the streets were identical to the DR, the neighborhoods were filled with kids playing which brought me back to Mexico, and seeing people sitting outside of coffee shops, talking about anything reminded me of Albania. Those trips hold the reasons that I am here in Africa and to see familiar things here, as I am driving in a car with the woman who started the ministry WAR brought it to full circle. I am overwhelmed, but more overwhelmingly thankful to be here!!!!

Thank you again, I can't say it enough, for your prayers, messages and love. To say "it means a lot" is the biggest understatement..

So much love,
Becca

The following pictures are: A panorama of my house/patio, my sweet guard dog, Paulson, Daddy and I right when we landed, Scarves that the women have made, and my wonderful friend and roommate, Rahel.