Trip Highlights, Part 2

Start with Part 1, below, if you're a die hard. This is part 2, in case you didn't read the title.

Tuesday, May 25

• In the morning, Sabine took me to check out an apartment that she thought would be a good possibility for me to rent if I come. The apartment itself was locked, but we looked around in the apartment below it and tried peeking in the window. It seemed nice.
• To get to the apartment, Sabine and I rode in a debab, a small bus. Debabs cost less than 20 cents each way. They run along set lines, but they will pull off wherever you say "a la jumb" ("to the side"), which is incredibly convenient for the rider, and a pain in the neck for the cars behind.
• On the way back, we sat next to a girl who must have heard us speaking English, because she asked Sabine if she were American, and if she knew the time difference between there and the US. Sabine referred her to me, and I figured out what part of the US she was referring to and told her. She needed to call a college about entrance requirements. Sabine and I exited the debab to stop at the meat shop, and as we walked away, I kicked myself for not getting more information from the girl so that I could follow up and make sure she got her questions answered. Sabine picked out her meat, and in 5-10 minutes we were back out on the street, looking for another debab. Lo, the one we found was the very debab we had just left! It must have been stuck in traffic the whole time! We found ourselves next to the same girl, much to her amusement and that of the others in the debab! This time I was able to collect more information from her, and to give her my information. (I also learned that it is not proper to ask a woman's name out loud. Sabine explained to me later that I shouldn't allow casual acquaintances--like taxi drivers--to ask my name, either!) She wanted me to call the school for her and figure something out, because it was hard for her to understand the automated phone system at the college. She ended up getting off where we were; she lived just a little ways from Sabine. We talked more as we walked. I did end up finding out the information for her, though Sabine relayed it to her, as I was never home when she called. I was really happy that we connected, though, for whatever God's purposes were!
• Later in the day Sabine took me with her to meet with a girl. I was able to pray while they met and exchange a few words in English with the girl.
• I returned to Ralph & Tara's around dinner time, and their oldest son greeted me with, "Toby is here visiting. He's from Ethiopia and he speaks Amharic!" I walked past the sitting room and thought, "Then who's the white dude in the sitting room?" Turns out that was Toby, who works in Ethiopia but is actually German, not Ethiopian. Ali and I went to dinner with Ralph and Toby, and it was wicked fun to watch the two of them together. Talk about high energy. I mean, Ralph is high energy on his own, but put him together with the likes of Toby and I think the energy increases exponentially. Ay yai yai. They were full of what God is doing and what He will do throughout this part of the world. I felt like I was sitting in a living Perspectives scene! We had dinner at a Greek restaurant. It tickled the Ethiopian  waitresses that Toby spoke Amharic to them. The four of us ordered several dishes to share, and the guys ate a lot. I had all I wanted to, though. I didn't seem to have as much appetite overseas as I do at home.
• On the way home, the guys stopped to meet someone, which left Ali and I in the car to have our own good talk. God is opening up some neat doors for her here in the nursing field, so she's definitely planning to come back next winter, after she finishes with language school in Jordan.
• The four of us finished up the evening at Baskin Robbins. Yes, they have Baskin Robbins and KFC here, and not much else that's western. Outside the restaurants, scads of families sat around on a square green, enjoying, I suppose, the green. Kind of rare in these parts.

Wednesday, May 26

• I went to school this morning to observe more of it while it was in session. I met the kids who would be in my classroom if I return next year. I helped out a little in the younger kids' classroom, too. And, because the day was quiet, I had a chance to ask Kathlee lots more questions about curriculum and procedure. She showed me the bookshelves and supply closets, and I browsed curriculum. It's really helpful to have an overview like this before taking the plunge of actually moving to teach.
• I went home from school with Ralph and his kids, and he, Tara, Ali, and I had one last talk before Ali left the country. Ali shared more developments on her nursing opportunity, too.
• The kids from the school were doing a play in conjunction with a youth group activity Ralph was involved with, so he, Ali, and I went to that. It was at Sabine's house, but it was primarily in the dark, because the electricity was out. Electricity goes out regularly, and you have to deal with it. I was ever so thankful that I packed the head lamp Dad gave me for Christmas! Besides producing darkness, the electricity outages didn't affect me as much as they could have, because there was always enough water in the tank at Alan & Sabine's for me to still shower. I'm sure there are some places where I wouldn't be able to shower if the electricity were out. Anyway, being part of the youth group was fun, especially when I gave a correct answer in the game "Family Feud." :-)
• It was sad to say goodbye to Ali when she left, but we exchanged contact info, and I hope to stay in touch.

Thursday, May 27

• Ailsa, the head teacher at the school, and Kathlee, the teacher I would be replacing, took me to breakfast in the old city. Wow. The architecture there is amazing, as you have probably seen from pictures below! The houses look like gingerbread houses! Yes, there is dirt and poverty, but there is beauty, too. Such interesting contrasts. Breakfast was nice, the weather was lovely, and the views were breathtaking. I love the mountains surrounding the city, too. It reminds me a little of Albuquerque and the Sandia mountains. The streets of the city were narrow, and cars still navigated them, so that was hairy at moments. Kathlee explained that you kind of get used to how people will behave behind the wheel and after that you can gauge your reaction (jump out of the way or amble out of the way, I guess).
• Ailsa and Kathlee also took me to the gate of the old city, and into the suq, and they were so patient with me as I shopped for souvenirs for my family. One guy told me he was giving me a good deal because Ailsa spoke such good Arabic, so that was a plus. Of course he might have been saying that to make me feel good, but it can't have hurt that she spoke the language!
• As we stood over the gate, Ailsa pointed out to me that the noise of voices was primarily men's voices, even though many women walked below us. This is because women are relatively silent in public--odd thought. There was so much local color around the gate and in the suq--different, somehow, from Jerusalem, which is my only standard of comparison. This would be a photographer's wonderland, and indeed, I was able to take more pictures than I had thought I would be able to. I just had to be very careful to not take obvious pictures of the women, because that is an offense.
• There are many beggars in the city, and the people I spent time with all gave coins to the beggars. This is different from how I conditioned myself to treat the panhandlers in Indianapolis . . . but the whole society is different. Panhandling is illegal in Indianapolis, and there are shelters and places that provide for people that are probably a better investment than giving to them directly. Not here, so it makes more sense to give, though maybe I should have given in Indianapolis as much . . .
• Ailsa returned me to Ralph & Tara's, where she had never been. It was an adventure for me to try to remember where they lived so that I could direct her, but between her knowing the general area and me recognizing specifics, we did it!
• I went out with Ralph & Tara one last time, dropping the kids off with a housekeeper and picking up Toby. R & T wanted to have a final touch-base time with me to make sure that I got all of my questions answered before I left, which was good. Before we dropped the kids off, we had good laughs over the craziness of living in this country . . . like when we were in the drive thru line at KFC and a man walked up to the window and cut us! . . . and the man Ralph saw earlier in the day who was walking his wheelbarrow of propane tanks toward a fire in the middle of the highway . . . and the beggar who would show passersby his urine bag . . . You might as well laugh as cry! One of my favorite moments of my whole time in that country was driving through the streets of the city while singing along to Hillsong's "Stronger" with Ralph, Tara, Toby, and the boys. I had never heard it before, but it was a perfect sentiment to express in the midst of the chaos.
• When we got back to the house, Toby helped Tara with the kids and made me laugh so hard by singing the "I live in [country]" song as baby Joey held a little guitar. Ah, good times. Later I sang the "Jesus loves [name]" song for each of the five boys, just like my dad used to sing for me.
• Tara asked me to share things that my parents did to raise my siblings and me, so I was able to share some of those with her while Toby and Ralph did computer stuff. I'm so grateful for good parents. I wish I could bottle their formula up and reproduce it, but since the biggest ingredient is reliance on the Holy Spirit, that's hard to do.
• When I returned to Alan & Sabine's, I packed and wrote in their guest book and prepared to say goodbye the following morning.