Day 10: Thursday (11/21): Bring your friend to work day!

Thursday, 11/21. Today was an exciting day! Nicole and I were going to have a day of adventure together! Nicole came with me to SLTSSA this morning. We both went to sign language class. They even wrote some of the words in English on the board for us (the foreigners). Then Wondimagagn sat next to us to translate the Amharic for us so we could learn more sign. We probably "learned" about 100 words!

I'm saying "hello!"

Nicole counting with some of our deaf friends.

My observations from today's class:
1. There were a lot of people who returned from yesterday. So I thought it was cool to see them again.
2. Some sociology students from Addis Ababa University came to visit class.
3. It still took 45 minutes to write on the board.
4. We actually finished with 15 minutes to spare.
5. The teacher is engaging and jokes with the class, but, I think the class could be more interactive. Maybe quiz them, or spend more time on each word.
6. I want to learn sign language.. really badly. I wish I knew more ASL before I came.
7. I want to come back to Ethiopia... #returntoEthiopia #summer2015

Then after class Wondiamagn wanted to "take tea" with us. So we walked down the street this little cafe. He taught us all about Amharic. How there are 32 letters, but each letter had 7 different sounds.. kinda like Chinese, but instead of 4 it's 7... (and the signs for each of the letters is crazy..) He also wrote our names in Amharic which was really exciting. He said multiple times that he doesn't want us to forget him! Which is precious and broke my heart a little.

"Taking Tea" (but we both got coffee)

Wondimagagn writing our names and teaching us Amharic

Finished product! Our names in Amharic!

After Nicole and I left, I realized that in a few days I will be gone... and I'm really going to miss a lot of people here and it's only been a week. I really do hope I get to come back and stay in touch.

Next, we went to an office supply store so we could buy supplies for our organizations. I bought some colored pencils for the kids at the school and some notepads and pencils for SLTSSA. I thought that people taking the class might need some notebooks. Then we had lunch, FASTING PIZZA again! After lunch we went to Misrach Center. It's a social enterprise that sells handmade items. All of the items are made by disabled people. It was one of the organizations that I was interested in originally, so it was great to visit it. Nicole bought all sorts of blocks, puzzles and toys for the preschool that her organization is starting. I was really impressed by the quality and price.

After we got back, we decided to go off again to exchange money and run some more errands. One thing we noticed was how people in Addis treat foreigners. Today, we actually went to two different banks. And both times they pulled us into the back of the bank behind the tellers to help us. They also demanded that we sit. Not in a mean way, but everyone always wants us to sit. At one bank we decided to share a chair and the guy grabbed another chair and basically made us sit in our own chair. Also, our awesome driver, Amanual, gave up his chair when he saw us and asked us to sit while we waited. And even though I told him I wanted to stand, and there was an empty chair, he still didn't sit. They are just really polite to foreigners.  Mindi told us later, that it's not just Americans, but it's really anyone that is not Ethiopian. It's like we are their guests. It's not a servant-like issue, it's that we are guests in their country. I hope this makes sense. But it was really interesting. I really don't see that happening in America, where people go out of their way to serve people who aren't from the area.

I also further discovered from talking to Mindi that people really do live in two extremes. Either they are very poor with tin roofs and mud huts (yes, this is in the city, not just in rural areas) with no running water or electricity or they live in huge houses which cost $5000-$6000 a month. Even a hotel room at the Radission during busy season cost $500 a night...It's so crazy to me when renting a taxi for the whole day cost $20 (and transportation is the most expensive part of living here) and buying lunch will cost less than $5, but then there are some things that are just out of this world expensive even more than the States. It's pretty shocking to see. It's just such a drastic difference.... it really makes me think.