Adaptin

Get Past Jet lag, check
Figure out my schedule, check
Learn everyone's name, well not so fast but it's coming.
It is Saturday today. No school. In an hour I will head the Bethlehem cottage and watch Mama Tigest braid the girls hair and I will polish their fingernails.
I am going to have real hamburgers with on of the resident families today.
My great excitement here is to spend a couple of hours having conversation with people who have English as there first language.
The native Ethiopian's have Amharic as their first language and it has Arabic looking characters and is far beyond my understanding.
My experience with the children and the mamas is that very few are truly bilingual, they still think in Amharic. Basic questions they understand but if I speak to fast or ask something out of the ordinary they consult with each other in Amharic.
I greatly enjoy the spirit of cooperation among the children of each cottage. They treat each other like brothers or sisters but a bit nicer. The second graders esp. are very sharp on their English and readily help the 2 - 5 years olds to understand me.
I am finding I like the food here. Much of the Ethiopian food is spicy, even the vegetables. In the dining hall the pepper shakers are filled with red pepper.The thing I find the most unusual is the soups which are very sweet. Dessert is not the norm here at all. (yes I am in a bit of chocolate withdrawal) They serve soups that I am not sure what they are made of but are somewhat creamy and hot, most similar to very thing cream of wheat with lots of sugar. They are not bad tasting they just seem kind of odd.
Everything sounds and smell different here. As I learn more about the natural environment I will share it. I saw a bright cobalt colored bird fly over me last evening. It was very beautiful and definitly unfamiliar.