-great morning coffee (thus the name of our
wonderful guesthouse)
-successful shopping for supplies with Senait... ... ... wait for it... ... ... at
The Merkato!!!!! It has been my dream for over five years to go to this place, but I've never had the chance. When we first had our Ethiopian friend, King Ezana, over for dinner and I told him that I wanted to go there, to be with the people, he said, "No. You don't want to go there. You don't need to go there. The people are everywhere." Well, he was wrong about the first part, but correct about the second: People are everywhere. But, when we couldn't find the material that Jessie wanted to use for her sewing classes, Senait kind of raised her eyebrows and said that we'd certainly be able to find it at Merkato. "Let's go!" I eagerly agreed. Unfortunately for him, our driver was the opposite of excited. And now having been, I understand why. Next time, I'll ask the driver to drop me off on the edge and I'll walk in to spare him... and of course to have a bit more excitement. :) Let's see... what did we see? Or, better, what did we not see?
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| Jessie, in the stall from which she eventually bought her fabric |
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| That guy, kneeling down in the middle, with the grey overcoat on and black framed glasses... he made it into my presentation here only for revenge. He spent quite a while, quite conspicuously, taking photos or videos of Kate and me. |
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| Go Toyota! |
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| Fresh chickpeas, anyone? |
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| a priest, taking care of business |
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| OK. So, from here it may not seem that amazing, but do you see those SEVEN yellow mattresses with the several filled burlap bags balancing precariously, although not as much as one would think, on top? |
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| Oh yes, while we were waiting for the next shot, we discovered that Pere Antoine had left his license in the giant wad of cash he had given to us. Oops! |
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| Yes. That is ONE guy, carrying the SEVEN mattresses and uncounted, but certainly heavy, burlap bags on top! |
So, the Merkato. I loved it. But, if you know me, I'm up for the next adventure. NOW, my goal is to be able to navigate the place myself. I can't imagine how long that would take to learn! In Simferopol, it took several months before I felt totally comfortable walking around the market where I bought my things. At first, I would just go in a bit, and not deviate from my path, so as not to get lost. Finally, after many careful learning trips, I was able to get around like the best of the bAbushki.
-delicious lunch of handmade pasta with oil, garlic and chilis Yum! I am so thankful for the fasting menus.
-ample time to set up our classrooms
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| "So, how should I cut this fabric? Which way? What?" Pobre Jessie. The poor girl was seriously sleep deprived. I don't look much more with it, unfortunately. |
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| One of the seven sweet machines God gave to Bethany. They work with or without electricity. |
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| an example of the kit each woman in Jessie's class received "What's up, Johnson Controls?" |
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| "Maybe the coffee will help." "Ah! How does this machine work?" "Oh. This isn't even the correct manual for this machine." Again, pobre Jessie. |
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| all set up for the first day of school: these are the picture recipe cards that Rob made for my ladies |
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| waiting... |
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| Ready! |
-Senait found a second, giant injera mitad for my ladies to use.
-KK and I were able to take a walk, freely, around the guest-house neighborhood. We were greeted nicely and even given a rose.
-another hot shower!
-a special talk and prayer with Joni (the daughter of a family there to adopt their awesome son Jackson)
