Day 14 - Learning Amharic

Today (Friday - 7/31/15) was a fun filled day at the farms. :) We had breakfast as usual (with coffee!) and headed out by 8:30am. One of the farms we went to had a bunch of chickens running around. As we were waiting for the farmer, we saw a cat come out of nowhere, eyeing a chick. It was hilarious how the cat would look at us, then at the chick, as if waiting for us to look away so it could go after the chick. This farm had a few other cats around. I think I'm missing my cat, because I took a ton of pictures of the farm cats lol.

cat stalking the chick

Cute lil' kitty napping in the sun

Sharon getting blood from a cow, aided by Mulugeta

 We we walking around, looking for more cows, when we came upon a school compound. I think it was for kindergarten through 6th grade? Regardless, it was quite something to see cows on a school playground. Not something I'd expect to see in the US. :) The owner of the school came to talk to us as we were getting the samples. He spoke fluent English and was asking us all kinds of questions about the research we were doing in Gondar. It was nice being able to understand the farmers/cow owners for a change. :)

Cows on a playground :)

The last farm we went to was a mini-compound with several families living in this walled in area. We had perfect timing, because one woman was just starting to make injera, the flat bread we eat with everything. It was really cool to see the process!! While at this farm, there were several older children hanging around. The were speaking rapid Amharic, which our Ethiopian friends translated for us. Apparently the kids liked my smile, liked Sharon's skin color, thought Sarah was very serious, and thought Dan didn't do any work and just smiled all the time lol. The kids also knew some English, so they started to teach us some Amharic. I now know how to count to 5, say hello, say "thank you," ask "What is your name?," say "I'm cold," and say "I kind of speak Amharic." It's a very difficult language lol.

We definitely seem to be a spectacle in every neighborhood, because once again a ton of kids were standing there watching us. Mustafa tried to "scare" the kids away, saying Sharon was going to give them a shot if they didn't leave (since Sharon was currently prepping PPD needles). One little girl asked (in all seriousness), "Will the shot turn my skin the color of her skin?" It was hilarious!!! Work progress halted for a bit as we all tried to stop laughing lol.  

Making injera!

Sharon with the little girl who asked about the shot changing her skin lol

All of us were exhausted when we finished work for the day, so we just headed back to the hotel to chill. We ended up walking all the way back from the farm, but poor Dan was having some stomach issues so he literally ran all the way back to get to a bathroom. We have all had our fair share of stomach issues (though I think I've been the luckiest of the bunch with the least number of issues to date), so while we were laughing at him running, we also totally understood. Dinner was hilarious, with the topic of conversation mostly revolving around stomach/intestine/GI tract issues. We've all become close enough friends that we can joke about diarrhea. It's quite something lol. :) And on that note...

Much love,

Joslyn :)

P.S. "You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are!" Max Lucado. Well that was a nice slip to read! Definitely made me smile. :)

P.S.S. I'm so sad I missed Baby Jacob's 1st birthday party today (Saturday)!! Can't wait to see the cake smash video! :)