Getting settled

"Dad I like school, but sometimes it is hard because there are so many kids and they distract me from talking"  -Eli

"Mom at school they make me write my name and my name is longer than Eli's and it is not fair so I asked a teacher to help me and he would only help me for the first day.  The next day he wouldn't help me so I asked another teacher and she wrote it for me.  There are lots of teachers at camp".
-Caleb

I thought these quotes that the boys shared after their first week of summer camp at the international school, sum up their personalities pretty well.  Eli's worst punishment is to not talk and Caleb is in constant competition with everyone.  They have one more week of camp in the mornings which is nice as I get settled into our new home.  Luke is often enjoying playing outside in the mornings with the guard and the owner's worker Salam who has not yet moved out of the back of the house.  

There are students from 61 countries at the boys' school and we are close enough to walk from our house.  They love passing by chickens, donkeys and goats on the way.  There are fruit and vegetable stands and little stores that sell drinks along the way too so we pick those up on the way home if needed.  It will be easier once my double bob comes but from now I travel the same way as everyone else, Luke is making the walk and Kezie's on by back (the Ethiopians love my ergo, they say we got the idea of carrying babies on our backs from them).  

We have also hired a lovely lady, Mestewt to help us keep up our house, mostly doing dishes and laundry and cleaning the bathrooms.  I love her.  She is a wonderful Christian lady and works very hard.  She says we are an answer to her prayer and she is so happy that we know the Lord.  We also made an offer on a car and our things from Arlington are on the ship somewhere in the Atlantic so things continue to progress.  

Prayer requests: 

-Pray for friendships and that I don't get too isolated here without a car.  We can only afford one car here and Sean will need it to get to work.

-Everyone has been a bit sick, I think mostly just getting use to the new foods and bacteria but poor Mestewt  may have more laundry than she bargained for as the kids are having a hard time getting to the bathroom in time...

-Luke's things still haven't arrived. Trying to let this go but there are several things that make me a bit sick that we may have lost...Not just of Luke's but things that are in that box.

-Things take a lot longer, the electricity and water come and go, people say what you want to hear more than what is actually going to happen...pray for patience for us!

A little bit of Texas in Ethiopia (thanks Aunt Gail for the boots)! Kezie in our new house.

The boys helping staff at the hotel sweep up the grass