Maxwell's Party

Thursday and Friday were busy days for me, getting together supplies and the program for our big Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration for our compound.

The main excitement of the day was the procurement of the sheep, which I wrote about a bit on Friday evening.   I forgot to bring my camera along, but Dan got a few photos. He was looking at me from the back of the truck, and seemed like he was longing for a name.  And somehow, he just looked like a Maxwell to me.  So Maxwell he was Christened.  I think Clara thinks I'm absolutely nuts, but somehow, I thought he needed a name, I mean, he was going to sacrifice his life so that we might feast, so he at least deserved the dignity of a name!

Here's Maxwell being thrown into the back of the pick-up.  Notice our livestock expert - a cattle rancher from Montana who's visiting for a month to do some construction work with us!  Can you guess which one he is?

 

Once we got back to the compound, we got Maxwell out of the truck and tied him up to the laundry line post, so he could munch on some grass and enjoy a nice last supper.  He kicked over his water bucket a few times, but eventually got the hang of slurping up the water.  So I think he passed a fairly happy last evening.

I was going to get up early in the morning to, um, well, witness the demise of Maxwell.  I've never actually seen a four legged creature, um, well, "prepared" for consumption, so I was curious to see what it all entailed.  But when 6:30am rolled around, I literally could not open my eyes.  So I had to roll over and go back to sleep, and hope that Maxwell's last few moments were happy ones.

As soon as the deed was done, the women who work in our guesthouse got to work.  Chopping, slicing, boiling, frying, roasting... they cooked for hours.  I saw part of their work- much of which involved cleaning certain organs and intestines to prepare them for cooking. They all had a great chuckle at me, because I have such an aversion to some of the parts of the animal that they consider to be delicacies!  But we had a good laugh about it, and it was quite interesting to see how they cleaned out all the parts of Maxwell.

I couldn't stay too long in the kitchen, though, as I had to make sure the conference room was being set up and that the programs were printed and everyone was ready for the party!

And what a party it was!  We celebrated all the things that God has done for us and through us and with us over the past few years since we've all been back here after the war.  I put together a program, which included a show of a whole lot of photos of the development of our work and the physical compound, as well, which people seemed to enjoy.  We had speeches, and singing, and prayers... people really had a lot of wonderful and encouraging things to say to each other. 

It really felt like a real family celebration, and made me realize just how much I love the folks that I get to work with every day!  I've been working here for about 4 years now, and when I looked around the room at my colleagues, who have become my friends, it almost brought a tear or two to my eyes.  What a privilege it has been to be here during this time, especially at this time in history for this particular country.

Of course, afterwards, we took some photos with our friends.  And then we ate.  And we ate.  And we ate some more.  it was pretty incredible how much food there was, and how much everyone enjoyed it.  Even the women who worked so hard, for so many hours, had a great time serving us and even cleaning up after us.  I think they just loved the opportunity to go all out and show us all what they could do, given the resources and time to do something really special!  Of course, by the time we got to eating, I was busy handing out soda and making sure people were happy, so I forgot to take any photos!  

Anyway, it was a very successful party.  Even though I was busy and had put most of the program etc together, I even enjoyed myself and really just enjoyed the chance to be together with our little community here.  Celebration is a very good thing :)

Everything, including the kitchen sink

Two shopping trips today.

On resulted in about $200 worth of vegetables, fruit, rice and frozen chickens.

The second resulted in a live sheep, raisins, and a kitchen sink.

Mmmm... Crunchy

This post is not for the faint-hearted.  Just to remind you all that I still live in Africa...

I'm sitting here, sweating, munching on salted pumpkin seeds that I just salvaged from a pumpkin and toasted on my stove.  Their crunchiness reminded me of the squashed cockroach I found in my bedsheets this morning.  And I'm still munching on the pumpkin seeds.

Maybe it's time I went home :)

Creative Juices?

I have a few projects on the go (with some deadlines!) which require a bit of creativity.  Ok, not a LOT of creativity, I mean, I'm not an artist or anything, but I'm trying to think of interesting things to say, and interesting ways in which to say them, as I craft a newsletter.  I'm also responsible for putting together a slideshow/video of all that's been done here on this compound for our big Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration on Saturday.  Both of these projects require a bit of organization and creativity, and, at least the way I do things, some serious nitpicky fiddling. When it comes to making things look attractive and pleasing to the eye, I get a bit particular.  Page layout and design, and the written word are about the only things in the world that I can get detail oriented about (except for this blog - you'll probably have noticed one or two typos, 'cause, well, I don't actually EVER proofread what I write - I just type it as I think it...).

Anyway, these two projects both have deadlines.  But an artist can't rush perfection, can she?

Wedding Bells, Part 2

On Saturday morning, I put my fancies on, put my friend's beautiful heeled shoes in a plastic bag, strapped on my Chacos and hiked over to Hiwet's parent's compound.  Hiwet had told me to be there between 10 and 11am, so I got there about 10:45am.  There were just a few people milling around, and an empty big green canvas tent set up in the street in front of the house. Hiwet's brother greeted me at the door and ushered me into the room where Hiwet was awaiting the arrival of the photographers.

 

 I could not get over how amazing Hiwet looked!  I mean, she's gorgeous to begin with, even in her "regular" clothes, but seeing her all made up with make-up and her hair and dress... wow.  I couldn't take my eyes off her!  Of course, like any bride on her wedding day, she was beaming, and just couldn't seem to stop laughing!  I was glad to have a few minutes with her and her sisters before everything swung into high gear.  First thing to do, though, was to change out of my Chacos sandals and into my little heels.  I was really happy I borrowed some proper shoes for the occassion, as Ethiopians tend to really dress up, and shoes are a huge part of the outfit for them.  I would have felt so self-conscious in my sandals all day!
 
Of course, there was lots of laughing and giggling and touching up of makeup, while we waited a few minutes for the photographers to come.  When they came, I realized that the photography at an Ethiopian wedding is serious business.  We all got kicked out of the room, and Hiwet had a solo photo-shoot for the next hour!  I have no idea what they were all doing in there, but all we heard was Hiwet's laughter!  While she was in there for her photo-shoot, I was outside in the courtyard with various friends and relatives, watching the proceedings and the various preparations for the feasting.  I shook a lot of hands and used my handful of words in Tigrinya and Amharic and basically sat around and did a lot of smiling, since I really had no idea what was going on, or what was about to happen.  But I'm getting really good at the whole waiting-around-for-something-to-happen thing here in Africa.  And actually, Hiwet had assigned her friend, Tizitu, to be my care-taker for the day.  Tizitu is great, and speaks really good English, and we had a good time together, and I felt very much taken care of.  It was sweet of Hiwet to remember to make sure I was taken care of, even on her wedding day!

I did take several photos of people while I was sitting there and waiting, as well.  And man, there were SO many beautiful faces to take photos of!  I wish I could have taken more, but I also didn't want to be obtrusive while sitting on my little stool in the courtyard.  I was also trying to stay a little bit out of the way :)

  Hiwet's sisters were her bridesmaids, and they were gorgeous, as well!

 One of Hiwet's relatives seemed to be doing a lot of the food coordination etc., so she had been hanging around the courtyard with me.  I still can't get over their hair-dos!

 Such a classy smile on this relative.   And the hair!  Oh the hair!

This is not such a good picture of Hiwet's mother and her half-sister.  The immediate family were all wearing dresses made from matching fabric.  The groom's immediate family also had dresses made from a different, but matching fabric.

 I also wandered over to the tent to see what was going on inside.  Slowly by slowly, people started showing up - of course, the white folks were some of the first to arrive :)  It was great to see a couple of people that I knew from where we all used to live - in fact, they were the people who introduced me to Hiwet in the first place.  Who would have guessed we'd all be at her wedding 6 years later in Ethiopia?!

 Eventually, they started bringing the food out from the kitchen area.  I was astounded by the amount of food, and the beautiful presentation.  I really couldn't believe that all that food had been prepared in an outdoor kitchen, basically over fire and kerosene burners.  Amazing.  I wish now that I had gone into the area where they were doing all the prep - but I didn't want to get in the way.  But it sure looked amazing on the table!

Hiwet's brother and father were also somewhere in the compound getting their own suits on.  Wow, did they ever look sharp... except that they didn't know how to tie their ties.  Ethiopian men don't often wear ties, so they asked if I could help.  I tried... and failed.  I was excited to be asked to actually be useful... but in the end.  I admitted defeat and went back to being simply ornamental, instead of instrumental in the whole wedding celebration!

I was also able to wander into the room where Hiwet was having her photoshoot, as they eventually let in some of us friends and close family.  Seriously, this whole photography thing was amazing.  It seemed in a lot of ways that much of what was happening during the whole day was just for the sake of the "wedding video".  They had Hiwet do a little prayer montage, and during the other parts of the whole process, it was the two photographers and the videographer and the light guy who were front and centre.  No one else could actually see anything because of all the front-row photographers!  But it seemed to be the way they do things, as no one else was at all concerned about it.




Keep in mind, all of this was going on before the groom even arrived at the house!  Apparently, he was at his own parent's place, getting dressed.  I don't think he had a crew of photographers with him - I guess it's just the bride who gets her own photo-shoot!

But eventually (at around 12:30pm), we heard the whole ululating and cheering and singing starting up... and Tizitu rushed me into the room where Hiwet was quietly waiting for her groom.  Dereje came in with his two groomsmen, and greeted Hiwet.  Of course, the photographers were in my way, so I didn't get a good view, but I did catch a glimpse of her face when she saw Dereje come into the room.  And I almost burst into tears.  It was just so amazing to see Hiwet look so happy!  That moment of seeing her light up at her husband-to-be's arrival made the whole trip worth it.

 There was quite a ceremony made of Hiwet pinning on the boutonniere flower on Dereje's lapel, followed by the bridesmaids pinning roses on the lapels of the groomsmen.  Then there were more pictures.  And more pictures.  At that point, Tizitu ushered me out into the compound, as she said we would have a better view from outside.  So we went outside and waited with the gathered crowd.  Everyone was singing special wedding songs and clapping and having a great time, waiting for the couple to appear.

 Once they came out, they were seated with their wedding party inside the tent, on some pretty fancy gold chairs!  Everyone else filed in after them and tried to find a seat on the benches and plastic chairs.  It was packed, I tell you.  I think some of the distant relatives or friends were made to clear out so that Tizitu and I could have a little corner of the bench to sit on.  It was something, I tell you.  Thankfully, there weren't a whole lot of speeches or anything. Just a short speech and a prayer by someone (still not quite sure who he was or what his relationship to the wedding party was), then Hiwet, Dereje and her wedding party were escorted up to the buffet table for lunch.

Eventually, everyone in the tent got something to eat.  Tizitu and I pushed our way through the crowd to get our food before some of the others, since we were planning on going to the church.  Apparently, there are pretty strict rules on who goes to which part of the wedding.  Some folks go only to the tent/lunch part.  And that seemed like a LOT of people.  There were probably 250 or 300 people there!  Most of the groom's family was not there, though.  The lunch/tent section is mainly for the bride.  I was also informed that at this part, the bride is supposed to be sad and serious, mourning the fact that this man has come to take her away from her parent's home (of course, Hiwet has been living on her own, in her own apartment for several years already, and in fact, the new apartment where she will be living with her husband is closer to her parent's house than her old place!).  And everyone who knows Hiwet knew that she just couldn't keep from laughing and smiling the entire day :)

Eventually, it was time to pile into cars to get to the church. We all followed the wedding party out of the tent, singing and clapping.  By this time, I could at least join in the chorus of the wedding song, even though I still have no idea what it meant.  But I could sing and clap along to parts of it.

 This is the view of the tent as we were leaving for the church.

 The car with the happy couple.

I went along with Tizitu in the Landcruiser Hardtop which belongs to the NGO that Hiwet works with.  It was the party bus, let me tell you!  They had "The" wedding song on the iPod, which was hooked up to the speakers of the Landcruiser.  It was so much fun!  We were all dancing and clapping and singing, with the windows wide open and the music blaring.  Horns honking and hazard lights flashing, we drove in procession through the streets of Addis Ababa.  What a hoot!  I, too, was laughing out loud by this point! 

We made it to the church, and I felt like I was in some TV show or something, because the photographers were there, with their lights, following all the action up close.

 There was a worship band, which I didn't get pictures of, singing some really seriously catchy Amharic songs, which everyone in the congregation seemed to know.  Again, there were a TON of people at the church, most of whom were different from the ones who we left behind at the tent.  I believe there were two sort of sermons - one by a Pastor who is a good friend of Hiwet and one by the pastor of Dereje's church, which is where they have been attending together. 

There were vows - same style as we do, with the bride and groom repeating after the pastor.  Of course, everything was in Amharic, so I really haven't a clue what was actually said during any of the ceremony!

There was also this odd thing in that during the ceremony, it wasn't only the official photographers who went right up to the front to stand in front of everyone and take pictures - it was half the congregation!  There must have been 20 people crowded at the front with their cameras and cell phones, trying to get photos of the important bits of the wedding.  I didn't see any of the bit where they exchanged rings or lit the candles or anything.  Tizitu kept telling me to go up and stand in front, but I just couldn't bring myself to go up and stay up there!  It seemed so rude to stand right in front when there were so many people seated behind, wanting to see the ceremony.  That was definitely different than the way we do things at home, and yet no one seemed to mind!  I guess that's just the way they do things :)  But I was a bit sorry to miss seeing some of the action, especially since I couldn't understand any of the words that were being spoken.

Eventually, the ceremony was over, and we all filed out of the church.  We were given little "favours" - a little bit of fabric tied up with some candies, and a little memory card with the date and Hiwet and Dereje's name on it.  We also got little photo cards with a photo of Hiwet and Dereje, saying "Thank you" (in English!).  I have that little momento posted on my fridge at the moment :)  When they came out of the church, they were meant to get straight back into their car so we could all go to where the reception was going to be held.  However, their driver and car had disappeared somewhere!  I guess the driver thought the wedding would be longer?!  Dereje had to get on the phone to try to track him down.    But it turned out alright, I think, as it gave everyone a chance to congratulate the couple and take photos of all the folks who had gathered.

Once the car arrived, we all piled back into our vehicles and we made a smaller procession through the streets to the next venue - the cake reception.  But that will be a story for another day.

I'm getting to it...

... but there have been a lot of things to be getting to this week.  But I've had one of those weeks where my page of things to do is bigger than it was at the beginning of the week.  Not so good.  Especially when I'm travelling again in two weeks!  Yikes!  But I do still want to tell ya'll about the wedding I went to last weekend.  So I will try... tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Wedding Bells!

I made it back home after a quick trip to a completely different world!  I really feel like I was a whole world away from here, though it's really relatively close, distance wise!

On Thursday afternoon, I flew off to Addis Ababa, the cosmopolitan capital of Ethiopia.  I love that place, and I've been through the airport so many times in the last few years, that it's starting to feel rather a lot like home!  My dear friend, Hiwet, was getting married on Saturday, and I wasn't going to miss this wedding for anything.  I met Hiwet about 6 years ago, when we both lived in a different country.  Hiwet and I really hit it off, and we have been such good friends, ever since.  She's one of those kinds of friends that even if you don't see each other all that often, as soon as you're together, you pick up right where you left off.  Of course, I also know the rest of her family a bit, so it's always a bit of a party when I get a chance to visit.  Ever since I've known her, I've thought that whenever she gets married, I would be there.  I'm just glad that she ended up getting married while I'm living relative close by :)

Of course, she was pretty busy on Thursday, so she asked one of her friends (who I've also met before) to meet me at the airport and help me get a taxi to where I was staying.  I felt so honoured that Tizitu would take a few hours out of her day to come and meet me at the airport and make sure I was taken care of!  She's also just great, and it was nice to see her again.

Normally when I go to Ethiopia, I stay with Hiwet in her little apartment, but of course, since she was getting married, that wasn't going to happen, so I had the opportunity to stay with a Norwegian friend who I met while studying back in Canada.  She has since gotten married, too, so it was great to see her and meet her new husband, and hear more about their work and life in Ethiopia.  So Thursday evening, I had dinner with my Norwegian friends, then met Hiwet for a nice macchiato at the local cafe.  In fact, Hiwet's old and new apartments, her parent's place, my friend's house and our organization's offices are all within about 10 blocks of each other in one part of town, which centres around a major public transport hub and four cafes/restaurants, and a bunch of little shops.  So I know those cafes quite well, and it's SO convenient for grabbing a macchiato at pretty much any time of the day or night.  And considering at macchiato costs about $0.25, it's not breaking the bank if you drink, say, 4 of them, in one day :)

Anyway, Thursday evening was spent with Hiwet, which was SO nice!  I love that girl, and we had SO much to catch up on.  We made plans to meet the following day, as she had to go get her hair washed and curled, as well as getting her pedicure and manicure in preparation for the wedding.

So I went home, had a wonderfully peaceful sleep, under a cozy warm duvet, in a quiet, sealed house.  It went down to 4.5C outside that night!  I couldn't believe how cold it got, though I stayed cozy and warm in the house!

The next morning, I had a beautiful Scandinavian style breakfast with freshly squeezed orange juice, cheese, homemade strawberry jam and homemade whole wheat buns.  It was beautiful.  And the company was pretty good, as well :)

I then walked myself over to Hiwet's new apartment, where she is now living with her new husband!  What a cute little apartment they've got.  It's just one bedroom, with a sitting room, a little kitchen and a bathroom.  But it's all set up and organized, and I know they will be so happy there!  It's a lot bigger than her old apartment, which was just one room (which doubled as the bedroom and the living room), a kitchen and a bathroom.  It was so much fun to see all her new stuff and know where she is going to be living from now on.

From Hiwet's house, we took a taxi to the Bole area to the salon where she had arranged for all her beauty treatments.  Of course, we stopped for a macchiato on the way :)  But it didn't take us too long to get to the salon. I LOVE salons in Africa.  This one was quite a posh place, and full of women getting their beauty treatments.  Really, quite the place.  I just wish I knew more of the language so I could engage in the whole experience a bit more.  Everyone is always chatting and laughing in the salons, but without knowing the language, it's a bit difficult to join in!  But the universal language of beauty speaks louder than words :)

I felt bad for the poor woman who was scrubbing my feet.  Straight from the craziness that is Jb, they were pretty nasty.  She earned herself a pretty nice tip from all the scrubbing and buffing.  And I came away with beautifully soft feet and lovely decorated toes and fingers - all ready for a wedding!  I even got to enjoy a cup of Ethiopian coffee and a bit of traditional bread while I was being scrubbed and buffed.  And the grand total for over an hour of pampering - $3.17, including tip.  Have I mentioned how much I love Ethiopia?!

After we were beautified, we went for lunch at another pretty posh place.  Again, the total bill came to something like $3 for both of us for more injera and tibs than we could eat, along with some french fries, which was a bit of an odd addition to the meal, but tasty all the same!  Have I mentioned how much I love Ethiopia?! 

From there, we went over to the compound where her parents are now living, so Hiwet could show me where I was meant to be in the morning for the wedding festivities.  It was so nice to see her parents and her brother again, after being away for so long.  And the compound was a very, very busy place.  There must have been 20 women there, peeling, chopping, stirring... all in preparation for the wedding feast!

And as they worked, they were all singing and clapping and having a ball!  There were so many beautiful faces - those women have so much character in their faces, and they way they wrap themselves up in all their traditional scarves... I wish I had a better camera and a chance to really make some portraits of them!  They were all so impressed with my ability to greet them in a language that they knew, and were amazed that I had come from a different country just for Hiwet's wedding :)  It was great fun to meet them all for a few minutes.

Hiwet's dad was also hard at work, separating the meat from the bones of the cow that had been slaughtered that morning for the feast.  A whole cow!  Dad, how would you like that job the day before your daughter's wedding?

Once I'd seen where I was meant to be the next day, Hiwet deposited me near where I was staying and had to run off to get some last minute things done for the wedding with her pastor. 

The folks I was staying with had actually gone away to a cottage on a lake for the weekend, so I was home alone for the evening!  Of course, I was staying within a block of a cafe which serves really nice pizza, so I drank a macchiato while I waited for my takeaway pizza (didn't want to be out too late on my own, so thought it would be better to take the pizza home to enjoy at my leisure).  Again, the total bill for a huge chicken pizza (well, huge by African standards!) loaded with real mozzarella cheese and a macchiato was less than $3.

So I had the best evening.  Me, pizza, Coke and a movie, while wrapped in a blanket because it was so cold!  I slept really well- it was quiet and cool, and I snuggled under a duvet, looking forward to a hot shower in the morning!  And actually, I could really use a cold shower right about now, so I will leave the rest of the story until tomorrow :)

Ouch

I have a headache.  And there's a serious dance party going on right next door.  I must admit, though, I'm really glad it's an Arabic singer, playing his little heart on on his synthesizer, and not an East African pop artist.  I much, much prefer the Arabic style to the East African style.  Don't quite know why, though.  However, if this guy goes on all night, I might be singing a different tune by morning!  When I got up to get my cup of tea this evening, though, I found myself unconsciously dancing around my kitchen.  I really hope no one saw it through the open windows of my brick tent!  It could have been really embarrassing if any of my neighbours happened to be walking by at the wrong moment.

I think I need to practice my dancing, though, as I'm going to a wedding in Ethiopia this weekend!  Yup, I'm flying off to Ethiopia for a wedding :)  One of my dear friends from the country that I used to live in, is getting married.  And since it's such an easy (and relatively inexpensive!) flight from here, there's no way I could skip this wedding.  One of the horrible parts about being so far from home is missing out on all my friends' and cousins' weddings.  So when I finally get a chance to go and celebrate with a good friend who's so close by ... I'm not going to pass it up!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, though.  I'm meant to be at a workshop for most of the day.  But I have to run to the tailor to pick up my dress, too.  There was a craft fair on the weekend, and I found a beautiful piece of material, which I decided to get made into a new dress for the wedding.  People in Ethiopia dress to the nines for weddings.  Where I live... well, let's just say we don't dress to the nines for anything!  My wardrobe is sorely lacking in anything half-way decent enough to be seen in at a fancy schmancy wedding (except for one or two of my more African tailored outfits, which would almost pass muster, if not for their "exotic-ness"!).  But hopefully this dress that I'm getting made will be a bit more formal than some of the other outfits I have, as the fabric is a bit slate/silvery, and I'm getting just a long, straight dress (with a bit of a flair at the bottom) made up.  I sure hope the tailor comes through for me! 

I must admit, it will also just be nice to get away for a few days, whether or not I have a pretty new dress to wear :)

Turn off the tap, please!

Sorry, I can't post much tonight.  I'm too busy blowing my nose.  I've taken three doses of allergy medicine.  And still, there is a constant drip.  This is not cool.  So I'm going to go to sleep now and pray I don't drown in a puddle of my own snot.  Sorry if that was too much information or just too gross. But that's life. At least, that's my life today.  And misery loves company, does it not?

The Eyes Have It...

One of my friends wrote a blog the other day with the same title.  He had some actual deep and interesting thoughts on the subject. Me, on the other hand, was just reminded of the Nairobi Eyes which have been out in full force these past few days.

I've blogged about these nasty little creatures before.  But I've not seen quite as many of them as I have in the past few days.  They are mean little things... but righteously so, I guess, since they only hurt you once you've squashed them dead on your skin!  They emit a little acid burn when squashed.  Not so pleasant.  So far, three out of 10 of us on the compound have been burned in the past couple of days.  I've seen 6 of them in my house (half of those landing on my skin!) over the past three days.  They have definitely started to terrorize us.  But I guess if this little tiny fly is all we have to be afraid of, we're doing pretty good!

I went shopping today with my neighbors.  We went all over town, including to the nursery to pick up some new plants.  It's good fun going out and about with them!  The most exciting part of the day was going into the super fancy import "supermarket" (about the size of two 7-11s put together) and finding two whole shelves full of "buy one get one free"!  I loaded up on raman noodles (they're normally about $1.50 for a package, and today were half price!  They also had Mars bars, which are normally the same price as the noodles, and again, half price!  I also bought two huge bottles of ketchup, for a steal of a deal at $4.00!  Last time I bought some ketchup, R mentioned to me that his children LOVE ketchup.  But it's one of those things that's normally pretty expensive, so not an every day sort of thing here.  So I splurged on the "Buy one get one free" ketchup sale and R's kids will be happy for a few meals at Christmas time :)

Speaking of ketchup, the other day as I was trying to shake the ketchup out of the little glass ketchup bottle, I was thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a squeezy bottle of ketchup, like at home.  I mean, really, I never really appreciated the squeezy ketchup bottles until I had to do battle with these silly little glass things.  But I thought, there's no way I'd find a squeezy bottle of real ketchup here.  Lo and behold, today, in the "supermarket", I found a squeezy bottle of ketchup.  But there was absolutely no way I could justify the $17 price tag!  Yes, that's right.  $17 for a squeezy bottle of Heinz ketchup - and we're not talking the giant Costco size here, people.  Just a little one that would fit on the door in your fridge!  I can't imagine anyone paying that much for a bottle of ketchup.  It must be like "dijon ketchup" or something...

We also stopped at a craft fair today.  My nose is so good - I had very sketchy directions on how to get there, but somehow, I navigated through the side streets and found the Mother's Union building and we found a whole bunch of women sitting around with their handicrafts for sale!  The sign said that they were going to shut down at 3pm, and we arrived at 3:04pm.  But we went in anyway, and they didn't look to be anywhere near closing up shop!  Good thing, too, because in the 30 minutes that we were there, looking and buying, the place got packed out with other expats who had come to get some little trinkets.  I love those sorts of things - they're held once or twice a year by various women's groups.  It's just so nice to buy stuff from these women who are using what they know the make a bit of income. I bought a few little trinkets to bring to my friends in Ethiopia who I will see this weekend.  It's rare to find anything that's actually made in this country which are "gift-worthy", so this was perfect timing for me!

Melts in your mouth...

.... but not in your hand.  Whoever came up with that slogan for M&Ms certainly didn't live in Jb!  I'm sitting here, again at 10:20pm, in my humid 30C bedroom.  And my M&Ms are melting in the bowl... they're not even making it to my hand before they melt!  One of my colleagues, who grew up in this town, told me that the sure sign of the end of the rainy season is when the kites (those horrible big birds who used to scare Zane when he was a kitten!) start circling overhead.  Today, while we were batting the birdie around with our badminton racquets, I saw the kites circling.  However, the way we were sweating on the court, you would thought we were playing in a rain storm - seriously drenched.  At least, the Canadian side of the court was drenched!  Our Kenyan opponents didn't seem to be breaking much of a sweat.  And I'm sure it wasn't because the Canadian side of the court was out of shape and having to work a little harder than the Kenyan side ;)

I went to get my visa for Ethiopia today.  It was quick and painless.  While I was sitting in the room in the Embassy, waiting for the woman to come back with my passport, two local men wandered in, both dressed in very sharp suits and shiny shoes.  They introduced themselves and one of them struck up conversation.  "This is my friend," he says.  "Do you recognize him from TV?".  I was like, "Um, sorry, but actually, I don't have a TV... so... um...".  This chap says, "Well he's a famous singer.".  Turns out he worked on an anthem for this country, which is quite popular.  I'm still trying to lay my hands on a copy of it, though, so I can learn the words!  Anyway, these two guys are American citizens now, but have come back to help build up their birth place.  I really enjoy chatting with these guys - there are so many of these returnees, and I think they're all just sort of starving for some English conversation with someone who's been outside the country and who know a bit of what it's like over there.  In fact, one of the guys, though he's American, has been to my hometown a couple of times!  Small world! 

They must have a really hard time finding a place where they "belong".  They're still considered "refugees" or "immigrants" or "Africans" in the US or Canada.  And yet so many of them basically grew up there, or in a refugee camp while waiting to get there.  This one guy I talked to today had been in the US for the last 11 years, and he couldn't have been more than in his mid-late 20s.  So he's spent probably more of his life in the US than he has in his birth country.  And when he comes back to his "homeland", he doesn't quite fit in, either.  He's had different experiences, different education, and has different expectations put on him by his family who had remained here.  So it really can't be easy for these guys, and I do actually really respect and admire them for their willingness to come back here at this time to lend a hand, and put their education and experience to good use!

Errands

I love errands.  I think I should have been a personal assistant to someone, because I'm quite happy if someone just gives me a list and says, "go do it!".  So I gave myself a list today and went and did it!  I almost got most things done.  I didn't actually think that I would get everything done, because, well, that's just expecting a little too much from this place.  But I got a surprising number of things done, and even got a few little extra unexpected bits done, too!

I was surprised to find that there was very little produce in the market today.  There wasn't a tomato to be found.  Nor a pineapple.  Nor any decent bananas.  I found some potatoes.  Lots of eggplants.  A scrawny little cucumber, and a few green peppers, which have doubled in price!  There were several "stalls" in the market which weren't even open at all - I guess the sellers just didn't even have enough produce to sell to even bother showing up!  Really, a bit strange for this time of year.  I just hope it doesn't continue!  Or else I'm going to have to expand my repertoire of eggplant recipes. It's also making me very glad that we have a garden full of green leafy things, full of iron and other delicious vitamins!  Which reminds me that I forgot to finish my bowl of leaves at supper time - I stuck them in the fridge to eat later... I think later has come :)

Man, salad is GOOD.  I'm starting to feel a bit like a goat, though, as I've been eating a big bowl of leaves every evening for supper over the past week or so!  The bigger these leaves get, the more pepper they get.  I looked it up online, and in my dialect of English, we call it arugula.  Wowzers, that just might have been a bit too much of the peppery leaves tonight - the inside of my mouth and my lips feel a bit... well, zesty or something!

My phone has also been ringing all day.  Most exciting call was from the Acting Governor of this State!  He called me to personally thank me for a CD that I dropped off at his office with fonts so he can type his language on his computer!  Cool, eh?  A person phone call from a Governor.  He calls and says, "This is [first name]..." and it's just lucky that I remembered the guy's name, so I knew who I was talking to right away!  I sometimes shake my head and wonder how I get myself into these things.  Chatting on the phone with the Governor!  I love my life :)

A new dress.... again.

So yesterday I was feeling rather tired.  This morning I wrote up my monthly report of all that went on last month... and I realized WHY I might be feeling a bit on the tired side!  A whole lot of work went on, alongside all the craziness that went on last month, too.  I don't feel quite so bad for taking it a bit easier these past few days.

However, I have realized a pattern over the past few days.  From around 8:30pm - 9:30 pm, I'm exhausted!  I sit on my little verandah, thinking about how I should be doing something, accomplishing something - tidying the house or writing some meaningful emails to people that I love, or something.  But I just feel too tired to do anything!  So I do nothing and waste an hour or so reading other people's blogs, BBC News or looking at facebook.  Then 9:30 or 10 rolls around, and I feel like it might be late enough to go to bed... so I start puttering around to get the chores done before bed (making sure there are no dirty dishes on the counter, putting the food away so the rats or roaches don't feast, putting the ice bottles in the fridge (if the electricity is off) etc., not to mention brushing my teeth, washing my feet (or my whole self!) etc.  So by 10 or 10:30, I crawl into my bed... wide awake! 

So I don't end up sleeping until around midnight.  And then the morning comes soon again.

And last night, I was woken up in the middle of the night by a pretty crazy wind storm.  We had a touch of rain, but it was mostly just a lot of wind!  So I was awake for a while, laying on my bed and wondering if one of the trees was going to come crashing down on me in my bed, and if that happened, would my mosquito net be strong enough to save me? 

Needless to say, I was still a bit tired when the morning rolled around and it was time to roll myself out of bed.  Needless to say, as well, a tree did not fall on my house last night.  And needless to say again, a cute outfit will make any day brighter.  So I pulled out my newest creation:

I got the kikoy material in Kenya a couple of trips ago, but just haven't had a good enough tailor around to get anything made from it.  But now that I've found a decent tailor again, I've been enjoying getting a few things created.  And I love this one!  The tailor really has done a good job and the outfit fits well enough, without being snug (necessary in hot, sweaty weather like this!).  And he did a good job on putting the colours of the kikoy material in the right spots.  So the rest of the day was pretty good, because I had a very cute outfit on.  Fickle in the grand scheme of things, but hey, if all it takes to keep me going through the day is a nice outfit, then I think I'm doing pretty good :)

(And I mean that in the best possible sense - I mean, apart from the fact that my very being and breath, and in fact the entire universe and the whole concept of gravity and everything else is held together in and through Christ.  Other than that minor detail, it's also nice to have a cute outfit).

I'm beat

Don't know why, but at about 8:30 this evening, I just lost all my oomph.  I have no energy left to even get off my duff and get myself ready for bed!  So I've just been lounging here, listening to the BBC news and reading some random webpages.  But I need to get myself into my bed.  Maybe it's the weather.  The day started out with 38C in my office at 9:20am.  That's hot.  This is the first hot season in our new office, and it is not off to a good start.  It wasn't that hot outside, but somehow, the new building seems to store all the heat from the previous day, and soaks up every bit of sunshine in the morning.  By about mid-morning, after I had opened the windows and put the fan on full-blast and the sun moved a little bit up (instead of directly into the windows), it had cooled to a balmy 35C.  And it stayed there until the afternoon, when it started getting warmer again. 

So.  There you have it.  I'm hot.  But I know I need to get off my bum and drink some water so I don't wake up at 3am with a dehydration headache! 

Wow, what a barrel of laughs I am tonight, eh?!I'm sure I'll feel much better after a cold (well, it will probably be lukewarm) shower.  And then to bed in my nice clean sheets :)  Tomorrow is another day.  And hopefully it will start off a bit cooler!