Melcome Meskal

What an action-packed day! On Thursday I had a half-day at work--but that does not mean it was lacking in adventure. In the mornings I teach in the "Montessori school," and on Thursday we mixed paint so the kids could practice their colors. WOW. What a different mentality these kids have. T'hi (the main teacher for the pre-kg kids) handed each student a used piece of computer paper and grouped the kids around single colors of paint. Within a couple minutes one of the cutest boys in class, Mentesaknow, was painting Yonas' head and face b/c he was jealous if his paint brush, then 3 of the 5 paint containers spilled all over the floor. It was such a sight to see. A total mad house. The kids continued to dip their brushes in the puddles on the ground, painting on their already written on paper. After we cleaned up the paint, one of the little girls in the younger group was awkwardly standing in the middle of the class, and without flinching she peed in the middle of the classroom. Ohh man! Never a dull moment.

All week Abraham and Rob, with the help of two kids, fixed up an old fooseball table at work. After a few trips to the Mercado and much manual labor, they put the finishing touches on the table before lunch. It was such a sweet and spiritual moment as the 4 of them screwed in the last few screws and flipped over the table to play the first game. They fixed the whole table up for under $30, and you could see on the kid¹s faces how thankful they were for the gift. Even the construction men were excited to play.

We ended up going out to lunch with a few folks from work. BTW! The volunteers at Asco are SO diverse. Most volunteers only stay a few weeks at a time, but they come from all over. I have co-workers from America, Ethiopia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, London, Israel and Lebanon.

We came home, I had some sweet worship time and then we ventured out to celebrate Meskal, which is an Ethiopian religious festivity. Tens of thousands if not a million people gathered at Meskal square, a central point in Addis. We stood out like a sore thumb with our bright skin and cameras, and we kept getting pushed to the front of the huge crowd. We were all trying to hold on to each other, to our belongings and stay in our feet with a smile on our face. At one point the police were blocking entry to the sections closest to the main stageŠbut they let us pass. It felt like we were participating in a huge civil rights event as the 5 of us crossed a picket line. It was so strange because everyone was cheering as we got closer to the opposite side of the crowd ­ like a game of red rover on steroids.

During the celebration there were fireworks and chants and they lit a huge Christmas tree on fire (I did not get to experience this part b/c I couldn¹t see over everyone). I am still a little shaking on the significance of the celebration, but this is what I have been told: The Queen of Sheba went looking for Jesus¹ cross, and she found out it was in 1 of 5 mountains. She prayed to find the actual location and was directed by a fire to the correct mountain. I think the story says that she brings the cross with her back to Ethiopia. The right side of the cross is supposed to have healing powers, which is also very significant. So each year they commemorate the events by lighting a tree on fire. There is significance in the direction in which the fire blows.

After the celebration concluded we trotted home with the crowds, ate dinner then decided to watch an episode of Friends after our full day. Joy, an American who works with a few folks from the house, was waiting for a ride back home. Her friends call in the middle of the Phoebe's bachelorette party, saying they are lost in our neighborhood and stuck in the mud. So we strap on our sneakers and go on a half hour search for their vehicle. When we finally found them, there were 5 Ethiopian men helping to push their mini-bus out of the bushes. Craziness. The tires were spinning and we are all screaming. Mind you, it is 10:30 pm, and the whole district of Tor Highloch is silent or asleep. After a few tries and some false alarms, we all pushed the car out of the ditch of bushes. We celebrated for a half a second, then it turned into an incredibly awkward situation because two of the men asked for payment. The mini-bus belongs to 3 girls, and they were trying to negotiate with the men, but since they did not arrange anything from the beginning Rob stepped in and tried to explain that we appreciated their generosity, but it is not ok to demand payment after an act of kindness for friends. I think the girls gave them a little money and we walked back home to finish Friends and go to bed.

What a day. Well, there is SO much more I'd like to share, but I need to get some rest before work. I will write more soon. Thanks for reading!