Ethiopia

Dear readers, I apologize for not having to update my blog for a significant epoch. It has been a busy, but fruitful experience while it lasted in Ethiopia. I honestly feel as though the last two months had been  but a few days, a week at most. Tears have been shed, laughter spread, stomachs filled both with satisfying cuisine and those that have kept me up late or woken me up early. I've also picked up on some Amharic, like "Amasegnalo(?)"- thank you, and "Ggonzzo(again not so good with the spelling)"- good!. I can imitate minivans calling out different areas of Addis Ababa- "Bole, Bole!" or "Macarena, Macarena!"

I merely need to close my eyes and already I can see in my mind my shoe dashed in mud from the 20-year old minivan passing by. I can still taste that last piece of Njera. I can still hear the Hyenas' cheeky laughter in the night.  I can still see the crisp, pure, cold rain drops of Africa falling from the grey cloud beds and gently quenching the thirst of the dirt underneath me. I think I can draw a few rays of sunlights piercing through the clouds in there too. I had always imagined planting my feet back in African soil once more eventually, but I never imagined I'd have that chance to do so soon. Truly, I cannot shake the dust of Africa off my feet. And may God bless the rains down in Africa. 

(View from Mount Untoto, Addis Ababa)

I had been expecting to go to Yemen for the summer at first, but it turned out in the end that I was to go to Ethiopia instead. I was upset at first, considering the fact that I consider Yemen my second home and I had not visited the beloved country in a long while. Plus, I had never lived in Ethiopia before, so I was to set foot in unfamiliar territory. Despite all that, however, God provided me with many blessings and experiences that I never at first imagined would receive while staying in Ethiopia; for that, I am truly thankful and sorry for my lack of trust and contentment in Him. 

I want to share just a few of those experiences, but to do so in just one post would hardly do justice. I will be posting a couple more posts based on my experiences in Ethiopia for the next few days. For now, let us consider this the opening remarks. 

Blessings to you all,

Jinkun Bae