It doesn't take me more than 24 hours in Addis to realize that I am a country woman. We spent the first 2 nights at the SIM guesthouse which is a great place to meet people. It is not a great place to live with 5 children. If I turned my back for 2 minutes, Sonia was gone. She found her way upstairs, down stairs, in the parking lot causing me several moments of panic.
We are now at the Press compound where about 10 families live (though some of them are on home assignment or have just left the field). There is a nice big area for the kids to play with a cement pad for biking on, a small soccer field, a swingset and a sandbox. There are kids to play with and other missionaries to talk to so we are actually experiencing some "culture shock". We are living in a 4 bedroom house with a living room, dining room and kitchen and though it is sparsely furnished, it is a large living space. We have hot water, electricity (most of the time) and internet access.
Presently I find living with so many other missionaries distracting. It would be easy to just live a "normal" western lifestyle in this environment. But I have a long list of things I hope to accomplish (that I am unable to accomplish in Gesses due to living in community with the Gumuz). A prayer letter, writing all our amazing supporters, planning out the school year, writing some reports for SIM and doing language study. Kalia, Joel and I will go to the language school one afternoon a week while Rolf watches the little ones. And of course I also have lots of Gumuz language recorded so if I am disciplined enough....I might even improve in that as well.....obviously I have great aspirations. On top of that, we hope to connect with our Addis friends, visit the Bingham library and eat out a couple of times!
We are now at the Press compound where about 10 families live (though some of them are on home assignment or have just left the field). There is a nice big area for the kids to play with a cement pad for biking on, a small soccer field, a swingset and a sandbox. There are kids to play with and other missionaries to talk to so we are actually experiencing some "culture shock". We are living in a 4 bedroom house with a living room, dining room and kitchen and though it is sparsely furnished, it is a large living space. We have hot water, electricity (most of the time) and internet access.
Presently I find living with so many other missionaries distracting. It would be easy to just live a "normal" western lifestyle in this environment. But I have a long list of things I hope to accomplish (that I am unable to accomplish in Gesses due to living in community with the Gumuz). A prayer letter, writing all our amazing supporters, planning out the school year, writing some reports for SIM and doing language study. Kalia, Joel and I will go to the language school one afternoon a week while Rolf watches the little ones. And of course I also have lots of Gumuz language recorded so if I am disciplined enough....I might even improve in that as well.....obviously I have great aspirations. On top of that, we hope to connect with our Addis friends, visit the Bingham library and eat out a couple of times!
Hi guys...thinking and praying for you..Krista
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