A snapshot from Ethiopia

Here are some of the children.  The first day we got to the school they ran at us like a stampede of zebras and I yelled "RUN! FIND COVER!" My cautions were not vanity.  

This is my class and their REAL teacher on the right 

Going to Ethiopia the second time was even better than the first.  With the first trip being so memorable I honestly didn't think this was possible.  This year I got to teach my own classroom of 30 second grade students.  When I say "I got to" I really mean "I had to."  If only the children in the US were as well behaved as the Ethiopian children then the US would climb back up to the top of the educational chain.  

In other news we got to all pile on a rinky-dink, multi-color boat (Africans love bright colors and big patterns) and go look for hippopotamuses.  Since I have educated myself with way too much I Shouldn't Be Alive and saw the episode of a hippo flipping over a families pontoon boat, I was terrified of this adventure.  Hypos are one of the leading causes of death and injury in Africa behind disease.  Oh and just in case you were wondering, Hippopotamus comes from two Greek words that mean river horse. That was free.
      Luckily we had two "tour guides" on our adventure because one was driving the boat while the other guide was soaking up the incoming water with a sponge, squeezing it into a pale, and tossing the water into the lake.  Comforting.  I was about to asking if he had another sponge and I would get on my hands and knees and help him so we didn't sink and get attacked by hippos.

 The boat. Doesn't it look majestic? 

THis is Desta, the self appointed captain.

This is Jake so elated at our find of a pod of hippos 

I was having a minor panic attack at our close proximity to the angry hippos. While I was panicking our driver stopped and turned off the engine.  I was relieved until he pulled out PADDLES so that we could stealthily get CLOSER to the hippos.  NOT okay.   

Alas I survived and now I feel more African than ever.  

An Update from Dyrtle

Hello to my many, many followers,

As most of you know I have been living at Myrtle Beach all summer doing something called Leadership Project with Campus Outreach.  Not only do I live within a stone's throw of the ever so classy Myrtle Beach strip, but I also work at Wal-Mart.  Oh, and I am also living in a Motel.  Please note, there is a difference between a Motel and a Hotel.  As you can imagine this is the perfect storm for some great stories.

Through this discipleship project this summer I have learned so many things.

#1 How to successfully thrift shop.  We here at LP like to dress up for well...pretty much everything.

Tacky Tourist.  Believe it or not my outfit (complete with Tevas) cost me under $7.

 80's of course

Chick-fil-a cows.  Of course we had other incentives for dressing up as cows...a free MEAL maybe.  Chick-fil-a, you bring so much joy into my life.

#2 That there is such a thing called "pudding liver" that is sold at Wal-Mart.  Shame.

#3 That you can get away with wearing anything (or nothing) at the beach and that here in Dyrtle it is socially acceptable for ANYONE to wear a bikini.

#4 How cool my family is and how much I miss them not just because we share blood, but because we share an inheritance in heaven through Jesus.  I honestly do "yearn for them with the affections of Jesus Christ." (Phil 1:8)



There are many more lessons learned and many more to come I am sure of it.