See ya later!

Alrighty so here is another blog post that I wrote way back on our last part of the first leg in the trip. I think it was July 8th or 9th. I thought I'd be able to upload before a few days on the road without internet but as you can see, I wasn't able to upload it at all. I decided now would be a good time haha so here goes...

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie, John Q, starring Denzel Washington but if you haven't, then you definitely should. There's a scene where the father, John, is leaving for a while. His son says goodbye but John tells him that it's not goodbye, it's see ya later. Watch the first 15 seconds of this and you'll see what I mean...

That has always stuck with me. I don't like goodbyes. In a way, I kinda hate them. Yes, hate is a strong word as we learn from a very young age but I really really don't like goodbyes. Usually they are said to those who we don't want to part from. So me going to Ethiopia is simply, see ya later! Our team made it to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, at 7:10a.m. on July 7th. That would be 12:10a.m. back home. It was a long flight, but a good one. We are staying in a guesthouse at a compound before heading off to Jimma. The sights here are incredible. From the traffic, to the amounts of people walking around, to the honking noises, it is apparent that this is a hopping place. And in case you're wondering, I did get to see some goats! Anyways, my dream has come true of never sleeping. Y'all are gonna learn a lot about me on this trip and some of you will just be nodding your head because you already know a good bit about me. Either way, y'all should know that I don't like to sleep. I love to be around people and doing things. Sleep requires neither of these. I'm afraid I'll miss out on something great if I sleep. On the plane, I struggled to fall asleep and part of that might have been because I didn't wanna miss out on the great food they were giving us. Yes, I love to eat as most of you should know at this point. And golly day George was that food good or what! But yeah, sleeping is annoying to me. I know it's necessary and a good thing but I just don't like it haha. Well, I didn't have to sleep this go round. Except for a few moments of closing my eyes here or there, I really hadn't slept much at all until last night. And so a good eight hours is what I got! And now I'm updating my blog at a ridiculous 1a.m. here in Addis because we are leaving early to head off to Jimma and I wanted to update y'all while I could, before we have no internet for a while. We visited two museums today. The first one was the National Museum of Ethiopia, which had beautiful hand woven baskets, paintings, clothing, pottery, artifacts, history, and the bones of Lucy (the first person believed to walk upright). We also went up the mountain at 10,000 feet to visit St. Mary's Orthodox Church. There was a little museum filled with lots of history and then an emperor's palace. We were only able to see the outside of the church. It was really neat to see Addis from the top of the mountain, however it was a little bit cloudy.

Yesterday we were able to eat at Lucy's restaurant where I dove right in with trying some traditional Ethiopian food, by ordering tibbs wat. I'm warning y'all that my spelling could be off in these blog posts. Spelling can be irrelevant in Ethiopia anyway. Sometimes they spell the capital as Addis, Adis, or Attis. So I'll spell things however I want on here and ya'll will just have to keep up haha. Back to this dish...it is a spicy lamb stew served with injera, which is bread. You eat by tearing pieces of the spongy injera off and scooping up the stew. It was delicious y'all! If any of you Harrisonburg folks ever went to the Blue Nile to eat, then you may have had this food.

Speaking of Harrisonburg...shoutout to my church there, Massanutten Presbyterian and all the youth there! I was repping my youth Sunday shirt yesterday. And, shoutout to UKirk Harrisonburg because today I rocked that shirt!!! Y'all are always with me even if I am around the world. Wouldn't be where I am without each and every one of y'all who make up those communities. Back to food...today I had some great scrambled eggs and bread with homemade orange marmalade as well. Oh and I had two macchiatos today so lookout because I am not a coffee drinker! Woo that stuff is strongggg haha I had to put a good bit of sugar in it. And for lunch, well...I kinda sorta ate a whole pizza all by myself. It was a large too. Remember the days when I didn't even eat pizza??? Some of you can think back to that. But I really did eat that whole thing. Y'all probably don't believe me unless you've actually seen me eat. That restaurant had pretty much all American food on the menu.

I have so many things to say, but I fear y'all will stop reading. Just for clarification, I don't know yesterday from today because I feel as if we have only been gone for two days but it's really been three. Also, my next posts will probably have more of what has happened so far and of how Ethiopia has already impacted me. Because it has y'all. God is at work! So I will jump back to talking about Addis. But for now, I must sleeeeeeep. Thinking and praying for people back home who are traveling and going about their days. Enough ramblin' for one day. Peace out y'all!