Quote:
Originally posted by 1savvydiva
Okay, and this may sound stupid, but do you remember the movie "Sarafina"? Do the schools over there resemble that?
What about animals? Did you see a lot of exotic animals and wildlife?
How hot was it? Did your 'naps' just absolutely love it?
Did you bring back anything? Nice fabrics (killer headwraps), jewelry, artifacts?
What is one thing you wish you would have taken with you? What is one thing you wish you would have been able to do?
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I don't remember the movie Sarafina, because I've only seen it once and it was a while ago. I'll have to rent it and let you know.
No, they say you have to go to Kenya to see the wildlife. The most exciting thing I saw was the the monkeys, and we got to feed them!
Other than that, I saw oxen, cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, ostriches, and hippos. But the ostriches weren't just out, they were kinda in this farm like thing. Whatever, I wasn't excited about the animals. I want to go to Kenya next year so I can see the cool animals.
It's rainy season in Ethiopia right now, winter for them, so it' wasn't that hot. Mid 70s for the most part, but really cool at night. Girl, I was SO happy to be nappy over there! And I was also happy I didn't get my hair twisted or anything (I didn't have time before I left). When you are riding down those dirt roads with the window down, EVERYTHING gets covered in dust. So my hair got dirty a lot and it was refreshing to be able to rinse it or wash it and not have to worry about it. Loved the natural in Africa!!
Did I bring back anything??? Are you kidding?? I shopped my arse off, for real. I took a decent amount of money over there to buy stuff. I didn't get any material for head wraps, though. They don't sport head wraps like that. The women may cover their hair, but it's with a whole piece of material that acts as a shawl, too. Now, I did get a couple of these. But I didn't get any material for headwraps, and I looked for some. I bought wooden masks and carvings, jewlery, a dress, a purse to match the dress, a mancala game with pink and green stones (had to have this!!), little statues of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, coffee (huge export), and a lot of crosses. I got some people specific gifts
, but for most of the stuff, I don't know who I'm going to give what. No artifacts, though. And I took a ton of pictures!!
Because I am notorious for overpacking, lol, I don't think I needed anything that I didn't have. I would have liked to have a digital camera, though. The kids (and some adults) just loved looking at the pictures after you'd taken them. So part of me wished I'd had one of those. I DID FORGET SOMETHING!! SHOWER SHOES!!!! I was wearing my flip flops when I was packing and completely forgot to pack them. Oh, I did wish I had had those. But that's not something NORMAL people forget, lol.
One thing I wish I would have been able to do is be without the group for a while and have to fend for myself. Like, learn my way around a city and get to know people like that. It's different when you are with a group, no matter how small. You can't really develop personal relationships. I also wish I would have been able to communicate. We are planning on taking students back next year, and I want to learn Amharic by then. I could not STAND not being able to understand what people were talking about. I have got to be able to speak at least a little bit when I go back.
Hybrid Mode
