Back in America!

I am back after a week of amazing experiences in Ethiopia.

The trip back was an experience. I tried to get on an earlier flight to Seattle from D.C. with no luck. United was actually bumping people off. Of course I didn't know for sure until the plane actually left - after waiting for hours hoping to see my family sooner than planned. Then my flight last night was postponed because of problems with the plane. NOT something I want to hear before I get on it!! So they got us a new plane, which meant they had to re-issue seat assignments. So the whole plane load of people moved down to another gate to live through hours of waiting and quite a bit of chaos. Then our new plane needed service work. Again - NOT what I wanted to hear after a 15 hour flight from Ethiopia, and spending all day in D.C. trying to get a flight home! We finally boarded at 8:00pm and landed in Seattle at 10:15. It was so good to see Chris and the boys at the end of such a long journey home!

I will write more about my trip as soon as I can, but I'm supposed to be resting since I barely slept last night. :)

For now - I spent lots of time at Layla House, painted a grass-walled orphanage in Mukatore, and helped paint murals in AHOPE's community outreach program/school for HIV+ kids. I met a woman named Hannah that has been transforming the plight of Ethiopia's street kids for about 12 years, and visited an orphanage/elder care/mentally ill center somewhere past Oromo that was almost too much to bear. I got really sick along with some of my friends at the same time we lost running water in our guest house!

I am still trying to process all that I experienced, but one thing I know for sure is that I can't wait to go back. Ethiopia and her people have become part of me, and it is a little hard to be back. Chris had a great time with G.J. and M.C. He surprised me with fixing up our bedroom which had become a casualty to housing so any kids in such a small space upstairs. All of the extra "stuff" had made its way to our room. It looks amazing and was the best gift possible after a long journey.

More to come...