Things are coming along well with the house. It has been a joy to work alongside Ethiopian brothers who also love the Lord. Pray for the clinic staff that will live here, that the Lord will use them to further his kingdom in this area and throughout Ethiopia.

I know this may sound silly, but language learning is hard! I know there are some blessed people who pick up on languages super fast and sound like native speakers, but let me just say - we aren’t those people. Hey, we get it - not everyone can be an all-star. But thankfully most of the Ethiopians are very gracious as we stumble through communication. 

Recently, I have been informed by several Ethiopians that I say my “T” sound incorrectly. In English there is just one sound for the letter “T”. But in Amharic there are 6 and most of them sound the exact same to me!  I have a hard time when the word ends with the “T” sound. It is a normal “T” sound followed by a super silent “i” sound -  talk about tricky. 

I’ve been making mistakes since I got here. I am notorious for using the masculine for for women and vise versa. Sometimes I start to say a verb and then drift off at the end of the word because I don’t know how to conjugate it. For the longest times I would tell the campers to “go over there” when I really meant “come here.” One of my teammates is teaching me Afaan Oromo and at the last camp I wanted to ask the kids “Are you ready?” before we started a drill, but what I actually said was “Start!” Talk about commotion and confusion. 

Here are a few of my more humorous mistakes of late:
- I MEANT to say “Your shoes are very beautiful.” What I ACTUALLY said was “Your shoes are very tasty!”
- I MEANT to say “How is your son, Gunfa?” What I ACTUALLY said was “How is your son, Oatmeal (Gunfo)?” 
- I MEANT to say “Have a good night.” What I ACTUALLY said was “Happy Birthday!”

Bryan's biggest challenge is that he can never tell when he speaking in Afaan Oromo or Amharic...

Just over a year ago, Bryan and I packed up our house and said goodbye to our friends in Nashville, as we stepped out in faith that the Lord would provide for our every need. What a crazy, fun, sanctifying process it has been, and continues to be! We are so blessed to have a great team of people supporting us and working with us. Now we have been in Ethiopia for 10 months, and it feels like home! The other day we were discussing all of the similarities and differences between our life in the states and our new life here. I got a kick out of many of them, so I figured I would share.

Then: I use to buy 2 or 3 tomatoes at a time Now:  Now I buy at least 3 KILOS (6.6 lbs) of tomatoes at a time!

Then: When we didn’t feel like cooking, we went out for dinner. Now: we either skip dinner or invite ourselves over to someone’s house.

Then:  Once a week Bryan and I would haul all of our dirty laundry to the laundry mat so that we could have clean clothes. Now: I just walk into the bathroom and throw our dirty clothes in the washing machine! Talk about an upgrade :)

Then: Electricity was reliable/always on. Now: It comes and goes as it pleases.

Then: Bryan was working long hours and we didn’t see each other very much. Now: Although we still work long hours, he is always close enough to steal a kiss :)

Then: When our house was infested with bugs, we asked our landlord to fumigate. Now: When we see a bug (regardless of its size) scurry across the floor, don’t even bother to kill him and wish him safe travels.

Then: I didn’t have a dishwasher. Now: I still don’t have a dishwasher.

Then: I rarely bought organic food. Now: Nearly everything we eat is organic and we “splurge” on processed food.

Then: I used to send 2,000+ text messages a month. Now: Phone service is so hit or miss that I don't even bother carrying my phone with me.

Then: A quiet evening at home use to consist of a tv show or movie. Now: We are quite content to spend the evening reading a good book! My how things have changed :)