Selam! Melcome Millennium!

(Peace, Happy Millennium!)

I am safe and loving Addis, Ethiopia. Thank you so much for being a part of my journey!

So, after we got off the 15+ hour plane trip and passed through customs, every single person was handed a pink rise and a card from the Prime Minister, welcoming guests to the nation wide celebration of 2000! As you may know, Ethiopia was never colonized, and thus, never changed calendars. So, with 13 months in each year, Ethiopia will celebrate Y2K on September 12, 2007. The entire city has been preparing for many months. Hotels, bridges and stadiums are under construction, children sing songs in the street and everyone is sporting a rubber celebration bracelet. The New Year will symbolize hope, change and a fresh beginning for this beautiful country.

Addis is very familiar many similarities with Amman, Jordan. We get called 'Forengie' (foreigner) on the street, but a simple greeting and handshake inspires strangers to share their million dollar smiles are all over the street. Most all Ethiopians are kind, helpful and very beautiful. Everyone wants to shake your hand and touch your skin.

I am living in Tor Highlouch, which is northwest-ish Addis (its hard to tell b/c every map I look at is different). There are 9 of us at the house right now. All but 2 are volunteers like myself, staying mostly until Christmas. I am living in a room with 2 other girls (Jessica Merriam and Kate Wilson). The Cherokee house is welcoming and protected ­ a "helper friend" guards the compound 24/7.

Like the maps, most things seem to be relative here. Take my Amharic tutor, Abraham, for example. Since his parents are illiterate, they never wrote down his birth year. He told me today that he THINKS he is 20, but not too sure. His parents said he is only 16, but I find that VERY hard to believe.

Needless to say, we will get not get official jobs until after the New Year, but we have wasted no time getting familiar with the poverty of Addis.

The first full day we were here we hung out at the YWAM orphanage and the Sister's of Charity orphanage. Both of these places BLEW my mind. One man is the Father of over 20 children at the YWAM orphanage, and each child adores him. They living on a small compound in the middle on now where, and playing Frisbee for a few hours brought joy to many of the precious children. The other orphanage in Asco is so wild. I do not have words. There are 450 hiv+ kids, with only 5 fulltime sisters working around the clock to care for these children. When we first arrived we visited was the 'sick room' where one of the sister¹s handed us each of us a baby who had recently been found on the street. I cannot begin to understand what it means to just leave a child on the street ­ but the orphanage is a safe and loving environment for them ­ even though every kid needs WAY more love and attention then they are getting. As soon as we walked down the stairs where the older kids play we were attacked by mobs of children wanting to play with our hair, sing Shakira and hold your hand. They start fighting over you. Its really strange. Its fun to see peace being instigated as you play with the children and teach them to take turns and be kind to each other. These children have the most beautiful smiles and their eyes are captivating. All of the kids are taking medicine for HIV, and are being taught to LIVE with HIV ­ there are schools and different vocational trainings for the older kids.

Well, there is so much more, but I will try to be short and sweet.