I like to think I'm pretty low maintenance. For example, at the moment, I am sitting in a beautiful little house in Western Ethiopia, sipping a cup of tea, and finally being able to get online! And I'm happy. Really, it all comes down to communication for me - if I can get online, I'm happy. If I can't get online... well... That doesn't make me high maintenance, does it? I hope that I'm not too difficult for my hosts to take care of!
Our teacher training workshop started today. So far, so good! I couldn't believe it, but almost all of the participants were at the workshop hall, even before we were this morning! They have all come... and hopefully they will all stay, though we have heard that there might be a religious holiday at the end of this week... which means that they might all go back to their villages to celebrate the holiday... and then apparently, they sometimes don't come back :(
Anyway, things have started out well, so far. There are 4 guys in the workshop that I have met before, on various trips to this country, and so it's been really nice to see them again! They all gave me a warm welcome. It's also really great to be in this place, too, as there are so many people who speak Arabic here! I seem to have endeared myself to them with my little bit of Arabic - in fact, they even gave me a round of applause as I introduced myself today. Who would have thought all my experience with Arabic would help me here?! I have also been trying to pick up some Amharic over the past week, so I have a few more phrases and words on the tip of my tongue. However, my time in Axum brought back some of the Tigrinya language that I know... so really, it's all just a big muddle in my head. All three Semitic languages, and I keep forgetting which word belongs to which language!
Speaking of Axum, though, it was really an amazing place. I didn't really think that it would be all that great - I was thinking that it was probably just a bunch of tall rocks standing around to look at. But I was wrong - there is so much more there. Including the little chapel where they say they keep the actual real Ark of the Covenant! Another highlight was an ancient stone - sort of like a Rosetta stone with various languages on it, including Greek, Sabean and Ge'ez. And it just sits there in a little shack, for anyone to look at and touch. It's all crazy old stuff, just sitting around in fields to look at and touch. Really fascinating history in that area, and it was great to see it and hear all the stories.
At some point I will get fast enough internet to post a few photos of it all... enshallah.
Our teacher training workshop started today. So far, so good! I couldn't believe it, but almost all of the participants were at the workshop hall, even before we were this morning! They have all come... and hopefully they will all stay, though we have heard that there might be a religious holiday at the end of this week... which means that they might all go back to their villages to celebrate the holiday... and then apparently, they sometimes don't come back :(
Anyway, things have started out well, so far. There are 4 guys in the workshop that I have met before, on various trips to this country, and so it's been really nice to see them again! They all gave me a warm welcome. It's also really great to be in this place, too, as there are so many people who speak Arabic here! I seem to have endeared myself to them with my little bit of Arabic - in fact, they even gave me a round of applause as I introduced myself today. Who would have thought all my experience with Arabic would help me here?! I have also been trying to pick up some Amharic over the past week, so I have a few more phrases and words on the tip of my tongue. However, my time in Axum brought back some of the Tigrinya language that I know... so really, it's all just a big muddle in my head. All three Semitic languages, and I keep forgetting which word belongs to which language!
Speaking of Axum, though, it was really an amazing place. I didn't really think that it would be all that great - I was thinking that it was probably just a bunch of tall rocks standing around to look at. But I was wrong - there is so much more there. Including the little chapel where they say they keep the actual real Ark of the Covenant! Another highlight was an ancient stone - sort of like a Rosetta stone with various languages on it, including Greek, Sabean and Ge'ez. And it just sits there in a little shack, for anyone to look at and touch. It's all crazy old stuff, just sitting around in fields to look at and touch. Really fascinating history in that area, and it was great to see it and hear all the stories.
At some point I will get fast enough internet to post a few photos of it all... enshallah.
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