Last night was another burger night! Sani was at her sister's home when we got back, but she had left instructions with Hani and Kuku to request my services in preparing burgers. It was a treat to me to connect with the girls in the kitchen. Hani took over when my eyes began to water while grating an onion. We hummed a little while waiting for a good time to flip each pan-full. It was fun! (I think I miss cooking with Erica...) When Sani came home, she stated again that she was so grateful for a chance to work on her English. I apologized that, in just 6 weeks here, we probably would only learn a little Amharic, and she decided that we should probably come back sometime! :)
Sani prepared a delicious large salad, seasoned with vinegar and salt, to go with the burgers and we discussed other foods to help lose weight. She was also interested in what times we usually eat at home and what we do to exercise (that we like to walk and need to ride our bikes more).
Morning traffic has been really heavy and slow this week. Combined with diesel fumes, many taxis and people walking and roads with very inconsistent surfaces, it's an experience! We also wonder why the women street sweepers start so early, pushing wheel barrows and using their brooms, in their large red or orange or neon green cover-alls with huge straw hats. The accounting office was busy today with extra people in and out and lots of conversations. The language is sprinkled with English words like "expense" and "income tax" since there's no need to create new words for terms used worldwide. Dan has been called in to help with reporting that he can help design in Excel, from reports in Peachtree, so we're both useful there.
It's Paul's last full day in Ethiopia; he'll fly home early tomorrow. We made plans for dinner and picked him up at the hotel. Driving around Addis is getting easier and more familiar, especially after taking another look at Google Earth and finding the District Center, Anbessu's home, and the FAYYAA office... So we drove to the Family Restaurant the familiar way; it's near the boys' school (and, afterward, drove back another way that we thought would work - and it did!). Our dinner was seasoned with good conversation about God's will and direction, about seeing each other at General Assembly this summer and about missions work in the future.
If you saw these words on a sign, it might appear to represent an established street or pathway. Our desire, however, is to share the path of our lives as we respond to God’s direction in these days, to present a work-in-progress to our family and friends (known and yet unknown). Our lives have been shaped and molded separately and then together by God’s hand. Here, however, we will specifically address our steps through this time of life called “retirement.”
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