Ideal, several years ago my aunt (maternal) started to research our family’s history. She first started with oral interviews with every family member 75+ years. She made sure that they were of sound mind. By my maternal family being majority (if not all) Catholic it was not hard to search the church records on the dates for births, marriages, deaths, baptisms, etc. She’s still researching and has so far traced us all the way back to the West Indies. It takes a lot of time and money but she says it’s worth it. She lives by the quote of Joseph Lauvie “If you don’t know where you come from, its difficult to access where you are. Its even more difficult to plan where you are going.”

Welcome Back Soror!

We need to talk. :D ;) :p

*waving at Soror AKA2D '91* Hey girl! :) We shall talk, we shall talk!

Y'all, I have my pictures, but because I work in Alcatraz, I can't install the program to copy them to my computer. I have to have the company's computer guy do it for me. So as soon as that happens, I'll be posting pictures. I'll probably put them in a yahoo album or something like that. I'll be back.

They are on the way!!!!
 

Stay tuned... I'm about to put my pics in an album on Yahoo. You all will soon get a mini tour of Ethiopia!!!! :) I'm so excited to share it with you all, I had to come and tell you! I'll be back to post when I'm all done!!! :D

1) http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ide...tos.yahoo.com/

2) http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ide...tos.yahoo.com/


I can't believe no one told me my afro was "flat on one side" in some of these pictures. :o

Great Shots!
 

Great photos
 

I like your album, Soror, especially with the pictures of the kids. You know I'm a sucker for kids.
:cool:

Wow!
 

These are really great photos. The pics of Lake Awassa are really beautiful. And the monkeys look like they're enjoying themselves too with the treats! :p

I'll need to go back and reread some of your posts, but is there a particular history behind Crater Lake that you're aware of?

GREAT PICS!!! GIRL, Africa is beautiful. I know you loved those mountains. :D

CRATER LAKE is AAAAAAAAAAAWESOME!!!



**pick yo afro daddy, cuz it's flat on one side.** :p

Crater Lake... it used to be a volcano. I have no idea how it became a lake. I've been wondering about that. We didn't have a tour guide for that part, so we didn't have anyone to ask.

I'm STILL adding photos. The links are correct now. Enjoy! And I have a ton more to add!!! Stay tuned, stay tuned!!! I'll try to add stories to go with the pics after I'm all done. But feel free to ask about any picture you want! :)

Ideal, your photos are awesome. Thank you so much for sharing them with us. I am truly in awe....

:D

Ideal,

Your pics were BEAUTIFUL!!! :D Thansk so much for sharing.

links for information
 

I figured I'd also give you all links to some interesting sites that may answer some questions.

Rock Hewn Churches: http://www.ethiotreasures.plus.com/pages/lalibela.htm

Holy city of Axum: http://www.ethiotreasures.plus.com/pages/aksum.htm (The history as it is given here is very similar to the history given to us by our tour guide. I'm still not sure I believe that the Ark of the Covenant is there, but that's another post entirely.)

http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/um/umn.html

Stele to be returned by Italians: http://www.ethiopiaonline.net/obelis.../15-05-97.html

Lonely Planet Guide for Ethiopia: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinat.../printable.htm

Ok, that should hold y'all over. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Ideal, your pictures are soooo awesome!!!!! :)

Truly beautiful pics, Ideal!!!

P.S. You got a pretty Kool- Aid smile!!!

*blushing* Thank you! :D

I'm glad y'all like my pictures. I've decided to go through my journal to share stuff with you all so you have stories to go with the pics. I'll do it little by little, so I don't overwhelm you and you don't get sick of hearing about it.

I am wearing jewelery today that I bought over there. I'd sort of forgotten about it. I feel so beautiful with it on. African Princess. :D

Y'all know I haven't unpacked, right? Nope, suitcases still on the floor in the bedroom, lol. Gifts still need to be mailed and handed out. I'm a mess, lol.

Looking at and posting the pictures (I still have a few more, but I have to use up the film and get it developed), was an emotional experience. I can close my eyes and feel like I'm still there. I miss the group of people that I travelled with. It was such a bonding experience. Similar to another experience that I'm fond of. ;) I will never lose touch with them. They are the only people who can truly understand my experience in Ethiopia as well as understand the trouble I'm having adapting to being back home emotionally and mentally. And you shouldn't have issues adapting to being home, y'know? I didn't have that problem when I came back from Spain, but this is completely different. When people told me that it would change my life and how I look at things, I didn't really understand how. But it has, and I can't quite explain how, but I can feel it.

I have finally gotten back into the swing of things at work and have been in meetings all day. I am going to make a PowerPoint presentation with some of my pictures to present to the entire staff, boarding and academic. I'm VERY excited!!! :) I also get to do a bulletin board!! And I at least spoke to my director about my curriculum. She understands that I have a ton of thoughts in my head and is being patient with me. I also set up meetings for preparing my after-school program as well as my community service partner. I am about to do some internet searches on the 'net to see what organizations I can work with that focus on hunger here in DC.

So that's where I'm at post-Ethiopia. More later, more later. :)

Awesome pictures!!!

Haaa--You look good Soror!!! Just like I had imagined you!!! Did I tell yah, we's psychic!!!

I so glad you enjoyed yourself in Ethiopia!!! One day I will go...

Go on, Girl! I'm so proud of You! :D


:cool:

Wow, I read this thread from start to finish, and it sounds like you had a wonderfully life changing experience in Ethiopia. This may sound like an elementary sort of question, but here goes anyhow, what did you bring back (culturally, mentally) that you are going to try and integrate into your daily life? Were there any special things that the people of Ethiopia did daily that you would like to add to your daily life?:)

My attitude has completely changed. I used to be a chronic complainer, but now, I watch what I complain about. I felt so lazy while I was over there, so I think that my work ethic has changed. I mean, I'm still a procrastinator, but I will not complain about my work load. I used to say things like, "I'm poor." I definitely won't say that anymore. When I'm REALLY hungry, I say, "I'm starving." I'm trying to work that out of my vocabulary as well. Mentally, a lot has changed for me. I pay attention to the amount of food I waste now. I used to go to restaurants, eat half of my food, get a doggie bag, and end up throwing it away or leaving it in the restaurant. I try my hardest to eat all of my food now. Like the other day, I ate my ENTIRE burrito from Chipotle. I have NEVER done that before, cuz they're huge, but I ate the whole thing. If I bring something home in a doggie bag, I eat it. I definitely watch what I waste, and that includes resources. I run less water.

One of the things that I'm sure is getting on people's nerves is my outlook on money. There is so much stuff that is just not so important anymore to me. A picked a soror up from the airport the other day, and they had lost her luggage. She was so upset. I was like, whatever, you still have clothes at home in your closet. Who cares about what you just bought and lost, be thankful you STILL have clothes in your closet. Some people own ONE outfit and NO shoes. I can't complain anymore about crap like that. This dude told me about how his church is building a new church (as always, lol). He said the new church will have this spectacular baptismal pool. Get this, it will have a waterfall that pours out over a cross, down into a glass globe, then into the pool. It's going to cost the church $80,000. Do you know how ridiculous it is to spend that kind of money on a BAPTISMAL POOL when there are people who can't eat??? That's just crazy. I'm so sure that Jesus would rather you SERVE by feeding people than building some spectacular mega-church. I didn't like excess before (3 and 4 cars per family, 2 and 3 houses around the country, clothes for dogs, million dollar necklaces, etc.), but I really hate it now. For America to be the richest country, we do absolutely nothing constructive with our wealth.

So I guess I am trying not to be wasteful, and I'm trying to let people around me know how they are being wasteful. And you have no idea how hard that is, because we are a wasteful society. I mean, think about it. Homeless people can eat out of the trash. There is no food in the trash in Ethiopia. Throw away food????? It just sounds insane to me, now.

Things Ethiopians did daily that I would like to do as well? Work hard. And also try not to stress over little stuff, especially when it comes to work. Now, let's be clear; I still will not be pimped by an employer. However, I won't complain about my workload anymore. Ethiopians have a work ethic like no other I've ever seen. And I want to incorporate their work ethic into my daily life. They wake up at the crack of dawn everyday to plow a farm that probably won't yeild any crops (because of the drought). That would never happen over here. Our attitude would be like, "What a waste of time." But they do it, every day, with the HOPE of a good outcome. I want to work like that. They walk HOURS just to get WATER. I don't complain about traffic anymore, cuz I could be walking, barefoot. And I used to be be a chronic complainer about traffic. Not anymore. I just have to check myself sometimes. Like yesterday, I hit about 4 potholes. I had to bite my tongue each time. Then I said something about how I wish they would pave this one part of the GW Parkway. I immediately said, "D@MN! I'm not supposed to complain about the roads!" It was the first time I'd complained about them since my return, and that's a big accomplishment for me. So I'm not perfect, but I do check myself on the regular.

I guess to sum it up, I'm taking nothing for granted and I count my blessings everyday. I make sure I realize my responsibility to serve. That's why God put me here, and I will serve all the days of my life. I have a responsibility to my community, and I will uphold that responsibility. I'm trying to be selfless and encourage those around me to do the same. The challenge will be trying to instill this same attitude in our kids here at school.

I know that was longwinded, but I hope I answered your question.

I finally got a chance to look uninterrupted at the pics (it wouldn't work from the job for some reason), and I am in awe! Some of those shots are sooo beautiful, and you just did a PERFECT job in capturing the beauty/glory of Ethiopia. Some of those look like perfect postcards!!!!!

Ok, I have to admit, I didn't take ALL of the pictures. Some of them are from my friend Liza. We all captured different things with our camera. I was all about scenery and was uncomfortable taking pictures of the people. But others got shots of the people, so I wanted to include those, too. My favorite picture though, I DID take, and it's of the little kids playing and the little boy jumping down into the water. Loved that shot!

But thank you! :cool:

WHAT A BLESSING!!!!
 

Ideal,

I have only looked at some of the pictures. They are so beautiful. Since I am a nature lover, I appreciated the pictures with the monkeys and some of the landscapes.

Fantastic!!!!!

Thank you for sharing!!

Wow! I just fund this thread and it is incredible. thank you for sharing stories and photos from your trip. I'm glad you had such an amazing experience.

To answer your question about Crater Lake try this link:

http://www.educeth.ch/stromboli/perm/cl/geo-en.html
This thread and the pics were awesome. Hey, I wear my hair like that! ;)

Ethiopia 2004
 

As y'all already know, I will be returning to Ethiopia this summer. This year will be the follow up to our trip last year to study the effects of famine and drought. This year we are taking students from our schools. We will partner with two NGO's while we are there: Project Mercy and Save the Children-US. I told y'all about PM, but I don't know if I told y'all about STC. STC basically works on building new schools; there is a picture of one of the schools in my photos, the Bob Marley Community School.

Anyway, we are raising money to donate to both organizations. Each school is charged with raising a certain amount. I am in the process of writing a proposal to have a Spaghetti dinner here at the school the week before we leave for our trip. However, I also want to try to raise money online for people who would like to donate, but are far away. Here is my issue. Paypal's user agreement is just convoluted, I already had a headache when I started, and now my head is KILLING me. I have been to the paypal hater sites and everything. Now, I'm paranoid about even using the internet. So what do y'all think? Should we raise money online or not? And if so, what site do you think is best?

Also, if you would like to donate to our cause :), please send me an email ( ideal08@hotmail.com ) with your name and address and I will send you a letter explaining more in detail who we are (LearnServeEthiopia), what we are doing and why, and how you can help.

Like last year, I will keep this thread updated until I leave. This year, I will only be there for 2 weeks as opposed to three last year (CT4 will be happy :)). I'm excited, but not as much as I was last year. This year, I am overwhelmed with trying to find a job and other stuff, so this is not as much of a priority as I would like it to be. But I am excited. :D

Good Luck!
 

What about establishing something with the paypal thingy?

When is the trip Ideal?

We decided against paypal. I can't take the chance of the funds getting phrozen. Not to mention, I don't like the fact that we'd have to pay fees on money donated. No thanks.

Savvy, we leave on June 26th and return on July 10th, I believe.

from da mudaland...
 

Can I get a rock, twig, bug, leaf, air or summin?
:rolleyes:

:p

Re: from da mudaland...
 

Now, WHY must you bust me out?? LOL Yes, I still have your (and Carla's) gift from last year. I never remember to mail them because I hardly ever go to the post office. I was talking about that today... the director of my program is leaving and I need to make sure I give her HER gift before she leaves!!!

Yes, I am ashamed of myself. :o And yes, you will get something different this year.

Where's the pistol?
 

Dayum!?!!?!?! Carla too?

:o

You ain't gotta mail it. I'll be out there in September! What's another few months? (Thinking: no anger management classes for me, no anger management classes for me) :p

Re: Where's the pistol?
 

Girl, I had forgotten ALL about September!!!:o :D Dang, time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were discussing this in a PM.