I'm back!

I'm back in Ethiopia! It was great to be in Denmark and catch up with friends and family. You don't realize how much you've missed them until you see their faces (and not just on a computer monitor!) I got to experience the first days of spring which was wonderful. I can't believe I am lucky enough to get to live in Ethiopia, and still get to experience spring! I know I've said all along that I would've rather had a full year here rather than traveling back and forth so much, and I still think that, but I can't say that I want to complain about experiencing the joy of the first day of spring. I am always surprised at how happy it makes me. I hadn't even lived through a dark winter this year, and yet I was but I was still really excited to feel the warmth of spring on my face. It's a different warmth than the one we have here. It feels lighter, and maybe a bit cleaner too (probably because there isn't so much dust!)

 

Not quite spring yet, but still a couple of wonderful siblings!

 

And now I'm back. I forgot how many sounds that are here constantly, especially how different they are from the ones in Denmark. Instead of cars, ambulances and church bells there are hyenas, birds, cicadas, grasshoppers and orthodox churches. I must admit it was hard to fall asleep the first night back in my own bed. It probably wasn't just the sounds that kept sleep away, I'm sure the heat, and time difference played into it as well. There are only two hours of time difference between Denmark and Ethiopia, and yet I always feel like it takes me a couple of days to fall back into the right rhythm. I'm so thankful that I don't live in Cambodia, or come from the States!


It was with mixed feelings that I returned to Hawassa, it wasn't that I didn't want to go back or that I didn't miss the people here. I just wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I guess I had forgotten a bit about why I love living here so much. Consequently there were many thoughts flying around in my head when it hit the pillow (probably another reason why I had a tough time sleeping). But this morning that changed, I planned the day's lessons, I saw the kids and I remembered.
I may love the country, I may think it is exciting to live someplace different than my home country, I may feel like I have Africa in my blood. But the real reason why leaving this place makes my ache is because I love, love, LOVE the kids that I teach. I love their quirky personalities and their funny questions and their honest ponderings. I love teaching them and spending every day with them. One of them said to me today: “I was starting to miss you,” and my heart melted. Another said when asked about how it was to be taught by her mother: “it was good, but you're good too.” It wasn't grand praises or long speeches but it came from their honest hearts and I cherish it more than any prize or grade or praise that I have ever received. I don't always think it is easy to live here, I don't think it is easy to travel between continents (at all), I don't always feel like I'm doing job teaching them. But seeing these kids every day (even on their (and my) bad days), through the grace of God, makes it all worth it. I don't always see it, and I'm thankful I have parents I can call when things get tough, but I belong to a great God and I am so thankful for every minute I get to spend with these incredible kids.

 

"My" kids!