So I was at the orphanage last week and I started talking to a girl hadn't seen there before. She was older--about 17--and obviously not one of the orphans at AHOPE. Her English was hard to understand but we had a fairly long conversation during which she apparently invited me to visit her English class the next Friday. I didn't really make any commitment but yesterday at around 6:30 I was getting ready to leave Big AHOPE and go make dinner at the guest house when she suddenly showed up claiming that we had an "appointment" together and I had to come with her.

I was confused and hungry, but I had apparently agreed to this, so I followed her, not really sure where exactly we were going. We walked a few blocks and then entered a building and climbed to the third floor, where we stood around in an empty hallway, obviously waiting for something. People started showing up and waiting with us, and I got a lot of weird looks and a few scattered questions about who I was. Then at around 7:00 people started filing out of a door next to us, and the people in the hallway started filing in, my new friend and I included.

It was apparently an evening English class for adults. We sat in the very front row and I studied the notes on the board; apparently the previous class had had a "Free Speaking" session, and there was a list of assorted topics of conversation. I kept looking at my watch, not wanting to be rude but feeling guilty because I had been expected for dinner at around 7 by the other volunteers. I tried asking my friend if it would be rude to leave halfway through, but my question fell on deaf ears.

The teacher walked in at about 7:15 and announced that instead of the planned "Free Speaking" class, they had a special guest who was there to answer questions in English for an hour. He motioned me to the front of the classroom. I was totally unprepared and had not expected this at all, but I ended up standing in front of about 40 English students from the ages of around 15 to 45, and they asked me an assortment of questions for literally a whole hour.

Their questions were very interesting; they asked me everything from what I'm studying in school to what I'd look for in a future husband. They asked me about my family, about my religion and "life philosophies," my opinions on gays, how I find Ethiopia, and they asked me to sing an "American song" for them. They asked me if I'd had any "Hard or wonderful" times in my life, and what they had been like. They asked me "If God were to show up tonight and tell you that you're not going to be alive tomorrow, what question would you ask him and what would you do with your remaining time?"

I was exhausted by the end of it, but I ended up talking with a bunch of them afterwards and was amazed by their open, honest curiosity and their lack of expectations. Ethiopians in general are a very open, friendly group of people, and I felt if I am being welcomed into their culture with open arms.

Our daily schedule is so far pretty repetitive. We usually get up between 7:30 and 9, and go to Little AHOPE in the mornings. We two or three hours just playing and goofing off with the childre, before they have class from 11-12. At 12 the children have lunch and we usually stand around outside or play with the infants, before eating with the staff around 1. Lunch at Little AHOPE is always a traditional Ethiopian meal of njera, which is a flatbread rather like a thick crepe, except not at all sweet, together with some kind of meat or vegetable sauce. You're supposed to use the njera as a 'scooper' and you eat with your hands. There is always coffee served after. Ethiopian coffee rocks.

After lunch we usually go back to the Guest house for a few hours to rest. We stay there until about 4:30 before walking up to Big AHOPE, where we stay until it starts to get dark. After that we walk back to the guest house, cook some sort of dinner and watch a movie or two.

Tuesdays and Thursdays we go from Little AHOPE to the CDC, which is daycare center about a half-hour drive from the orphanage. There are lots and lots of children there, and they are always extremely full of energy and ecstatic to see us. Those days are usually the days when we actually take naps after lunch.

Again, sorry about the infrequent updates! Hope you find this interesting!

All my love!