Teaching Teachers, Americans, and Guitar

A few notable things have happened this week…

Monday:

Today a sister from the Daughters of Charity came to tell Paula and I that she spoke with Deacon regarding our schedules and times of availability for teaching English at their school for teachers (this is something that has been talked about since we got here, but we haven’t been sure whether or not it would actually be happening).  She said she would call us tomorrow to let us know when we what our schedules would be for teaching.

Tuesday:

The driver from the Daughters of Charity came to pick up Paula and I (we didn't know this was going to happen 1) today and 2) immediately after I finished teaching classes at Don Bosco). He took us back to their compound so we could meet with some people there regarding teaching English classes. We will be starting tomorrow!...For the remainder of the school year, we will be taken to the Daughters of Charity compound twice a week to teach an English class for 47 young women who are in a training program to become kindergarten teachers.  They are from all over Ethiopia and range in age from 18-30 years old.  Once they finish their training program, they will disperse throughout Ethiopia to begin teaching. 

Also, while in the car on the way to the other compound, there were a whole bunch of our kids walking along the road, waving at us, and shouting our names...I felt like saying, "Princess Jenna greets you this afternoon. Hello! (slight hand wave)" hahahaha!! oh geez :)

We had fried fish today at lunch and dinner, and it was delicious...I like fish :)

Wednesday:

Today, my classes went really well.  I am teaching my 3rd grade classes about the body parts, so we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"...I think they liked that :) 

Lunch was delicious!  The type of watt (thick soup) they made today was really good with the injera (thin sour pancake-like bread used to scoop the watt=eaten with hands).

Today was our first day of teaching at the Daughters of Charity.  The girls were really great, and I'm really excited for getting to be involved with that 'mission'...being that we are teaching young women from all over Ethiopia, who will become Kindergarten teachers all over Ethiopia...I think it's kind of cool to think about :)  Because of this, today was the second day in a row of missing Oratory, which meant I didn't get to play with my jotanee girls, and I missed them!

We don’t have school at Don Bosco Thursday and Friday this week, so that’s kind of a nice break.  This means the next time we have school (not including teaching at the Daughters of Charity) will be Monday, November 5!  Can you believe that?!...It will soon be November 5, already!

Thursday:

Today is All Saints Day (and my Baptism Day - well I guess technically, the reunion of said day - and I'm really excited about that fact)!  Our reflection preceding Evening prayer explained more of the reasons WHY/purpose we celebrate All Saints Day. It was so beautiful in the way that it explained the saints as "an army of holy soldiers interceding for us before the throne of grace." In that our asking for intercession from the saints (and the saints themselves) ultimately points toward the grace and greatness of God.

Today something REALLY exciting happened...We met other Americans!!!!!  They are the first we've seen in two months!  We walked over to the Christian Hospital (opened and operated by Americans), seeking to meet them.  They were great!  And it was definitely a God thing because we walked in there and just happened to encounter the field director's wife (exactly the person we needed to talk with).  We told her why we were there, and she was super welcoming.  We had tea with her and her husband, and then she showed us around the missionary community that lives there, introducing us to other missionaries (some of whom are Americans).  We exchanged phone numbers with a couple of the other women there, and they all said we could come back any time (may be a possibility to go there for Thanksgiving, even!).

Additionally, I realized this week that being here is more exhausting than I recognized. Everything is a process…speaking, for example…no matter who I speak to (except Paula), even if they speak English, I have to think really hard about just exactly what I’m saying and how I’m saying it.  When I need to say/ask something, I first think to myself, "Will they understand the concept (culture differences)?  Will they understand the words I use?...brain processes to modify my words and simplify sentence structure...speak...repeat process"…boy, this much energy spent on something that typically would be automatic really takes it out of a person!

Friday:

Today, we got up and went to Mass this morning.  Mass was, as usual, followed by breakfast (I am surprised and glad that I have not yet gotten tired of having the same thing for breakfast every day - we have French bread with cream cheese, bananas, bread with peanut butter and honey, tea, sometimes jam on the bread, sometimes eggs or every once in awhile some kind of meat...I still like this breakfast everyday)...Then I went back to bed, got up, checked my emails, went to lunch (it was nice to get some extra sleep).  Then we went to meet our new American friends (one of the girls invited us over to her house for dinner tomorrow night!), then we taught at the Daughters of Charity (the girls did so well, and I was really proud of them!...We taught greetings and introductions, and then they practiced and "presented").  After that, we made it back for a few minutes at Oratory back at Don Bosco and finished with saying our daily Rosary with the kids.

Also, today I learned from Paula that “Don” means “father” in Italian.  So when we say “Don Bosco” that means “Father Bosco,” which is fitting because he was a Catholic priest.

The night has come to a close, and concluded with my first ever guitar lesson, compliments of Paula – thanks, Paula!

Wow, A LOT of exciting things happened this week!...We began teaching at the Daughters of Charity, we met Americans, and I started learning how to play the guitar!