Feelling Settled

So I am finishing my second week here.
The names of the children are sounding familiar. I recognize all of the girls and almost all of the boys now. I am starting to know some of their characteristics.
I know what to expect the food that I read on the menu to look like.
I know the names of the mama's and the cottages.
I know the school schedule and what I need to do when.
I am feeling like I have the hang of things.

Today I went for a walk outside the village walls.
Not sure I liked this adventure.
I am a white woman so everyone pretty much stares at me and seems to wonder why I am walking.
You walk on or just off the shoulder of the road.
There is much truck traffic on the road and a lot of dirt and dust and honking of horns. To the best I can tell there are really no traffic laws or rules that are followed here. Also the whole situation is complicated by a large number of donkeys. I have no idea of their ownership or origin but there they are right on the edge of the road or in the middle hanging out near the center line.
The full time missionaries here say they stay by or on the road because the traffic stirs up the air and cuts down on flies. I think it is more like a death wish but . . .

Since I have been here I hear chanting in the near distance daily. I asked about it assuming it to be from a neighboring mosque. It is not. It is from an Ethiopian Orthodox Church. That is where I walked to today. It is quite an imposing building when you think of this being Ethiopia. I wanted to get a picture. An older man standing there made signs at me that led me to believe I should not take the picture. When I put my camera away he indicated I should take the picture. I finally figured out that he had wanted me to pay him to allow me to take a picture. To the best I could figure he lives in a nearby corrogated metal shack. When I started to walk away he figured he wasn't getting money. I showed him the picture which seemed to please him.
I am called a forengi here. They seem to expect us to behave oddly.

A note on dining customs. At the village here they are trying to train the students to be world citizns. So when they serve American food they eat with silver ware. When they have Ethiopian food they eat with their hands as is customary here. I got a lesson on how I should be eating from one of the mama's yesterday. I was not putting my salad (cooked vegetables) in with my wat on the injera. I ate the injera and wat with my hands though so that made her happy even if I used the fork for my salad and at it separately. I am trying to follow the customs here but those vegetables are one of my favorites. I wanted to enjoy them on their own.