My very dear friend and colleague has been a blogging machine recently, and she has inspired me. She is a resolutionist and has been excitedly setting goals for the new year. I am not. I make an effort not to call any goals I set a resolution because I know I never follow through with my resolutions. I always fail miserably.
The new year does seem to be a time to take an accounting of your life, though, to figure out what has gone well in the past year and what you want to change. I've been reading what friends have been posting on Facebook. Some are happy with what they experienced in 2010 and some are thrilled to kick 2010 through the door at midnight. As I've been thinking over the past year, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I had some great experiences in 2010, but there are certainly things that I would rather not relive. I think every year has a bit of both, though, so I expect I'll feel the same way in a year when we are ushering 2011 out the door.
As I said before, I do not make resolutions. I do, however, try to set some goals. I know I may not meet all these goals, but I can always start over later. Maybe putting them in writing will make them more permanent. Goals for 2011 (for now):
1. Eat more fruits and vegetables. (I admit, this is my goal every year, and it never really takes. Maybe this year will be different.)
2. Write more. This will take the form of blogging at least once every two weeks and writing in a journal of thanksgivings almost daily. I say almost daily because I know myself, and I know every day probably won't happen. I'm trying to be realistic.
3. Take a daily vitamin.
4. Try a new recipe at least once a month. I need to expand my personal cookbook.
I'm sure there will be more later. This is enough for now. Maybe even more than enough. I will say, though, that I have ended 2010 in the way I want 2011 to continue. I tried a new recipe (it wasn't bad) and fixed green beans with dinner. I'm blogging and I'm on the way to take a vitamin right now.
Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
final post
Hi guys,
Well, two more sleeps and I'll be headed home! We had a great time on the trip in the south despite some pretty horrific hotels. The landscape is significantly different in the south than around Addis. Coming back "home" to the guest house was great - and not just because we came home to clean, dry towels. Everyone who works here greeted us with hugs and was so happy to see us! We were happy to see them, too. :)
However, we've had to start saying our good-byes. One of our favorite drivers of the guest-house vans is off for the rest of the week, so we had to say farewell to him. He always listens to old-time country music on the radio in the van, which is kind of a kick to be listening to that when you're riding down the road in Ethiopia! Our wonderful driver on our away-from-Addis trips, Tsourey, came by this evening to tell us good-bye. We had hoped he'd be at the farewell dinner tomorrow, but he is scheduled to drive for another group, so he can't be there. We all appreciate him so much, and it was sad to say good-bye to someone who has become a good friend.
Right now, my roomie, Jeanne, is packing up her things. We have to take her to the airport after our farewll dinner, because her flight leaves at 2 am (yuck). The rest of us leave around 11 pm, so we'll have a whole day to worry about packing. And I'll have a lot to pack! We did a little shopping at the textile market today, and tomorrow we'll go to the Piazza and Churchill Road for more shopping.
This will probably be my last email before I get home. Hope someone remembers to come get me on Sunday! :) Family, I'll try to borrow someone's phone to call from Newark to let you know about our flight status. See you all soon!
Love,
Alica
Well, two more sleeps and I'll be headed home! We had a great time on the trip in the south despite some pretty horrific hotels. The landscape is significantly different in the south than around Addis. Coming back "home" to the guest house was great - and not just because we came home to clean, dry towels. Everyone who works here greeted us with hugs and was so happy to see us! We were happy to see them, too. :)
However, we've had to start saying our good-byes. One of our favorite drivers of the guest-house vans is off for the rest of the week, so we had to say farewell to him. He always listens to old-time country music on the radio in the van, which is kind of a kick to be listening to that when you're riding down the road in Ethiopia! Our wonderful driver on our away-from-Addis trips, Tsourey, came by this evening to tell us good-bye. We had hoped he'd be at the farewell dinner tomorrow, but he is scheduled to drive for another group, so he can't be there. We all appreciate him so much, and it was sad to say good-bye to someone who has become a good friend.
Right now, my roomie, Jeanne, is packing up her things. We have to take her to the airport after our farewll dinner, because her flight leaves at 2 am (yuck). The rest of us leave around 11 pm, so we'll have a whole day to worry about packing. And I'll have a lot to pack! We did a little shopping at the textile market today, and tomorrow we'll go to the Piazza and Churchill Road for more shopping.
This will probably be my last email before I get home. Hope someone remembers to come get me on Sunday! :) Family, I'll try to borrow someone's phone to call from Newark to let you know about our flight status. See you all soon!
Love,
Alica
Sunday, July 25, 2010
july 25, 2010
Greetings! Hard to believe that this time next week I'll be on the way home (or maybe all the way home. I haven't taken the time to figure out which). Things have been much better since my last little rant and rave session on email. The hotel in Arba Minch was a pit, and we did have to stay there 2 nights (yuck), but the cool things we did sure helped make up for it! We started our day on the 22nd with breakfast on the veranda. Usually that is not too exciting, but we were joined by an olive baboon. That sure spiced up the morning meal! There were a whole family of them that came and hung out. The restaurant posted 2 guards - a woman with a broom and a man with a pocket full of rocks. We saw them later, eating out of the trash bin with the mangy cats that kept annoying us at every meal.
We followed up the baboons with a boat trip on Lake Chamo, one of the Rift Valley Lakes, where we saw lots of birds (pelicans, spoonbills, and others), crocodiles and hippos! Wow! I can hardly express how amazing that was! For the afternoon, we went to a village up the mountain from Arba Minch. The village was associated with a people group known as the Dorze. They have really cool homes (I got some good pictures), and they are big-time weavers. We went to a weaving cooperative, a market, and then to a family compound where they showed us how they live, and how they make a bread (kojo) from the false banana tree. Then, we had a chance to shop after we tried the bread and before the dancing.
The good thing was the next day, because we got to pack up and LEAVE Arba Minch. We knew we were headed on a long bus trip, but that we were staying at an eco-lodge/coffee plantation that was supposed to be much nicer than where we'd been staying. Let me tell you, it is REALLY NICE!!! We are in tukuls (round homes) made of bamboo in the traditional style of the Sidamo people, only the tukuls are updated with lovely things like water and electricity. And clean sheets. It is BEAUTIFUL! Then add to that the fabulous meals...nearly heaven! We took a tour of the coffee plantation yesterday and the grounds of the lodge. We hiked for probably 3-4 hours, all together. During the first part of the hike, through the coffee plantation, we went through a village area. We were, as always, a source of curiosity and discussion for the people in the village. The kids came and chatted with us or just smiled at us and walked with us. They talked with our guide and I had to laugh when I heard the discussion! Evidently, they wanted to know if a ferangi (foreigner) died and we were the funeral procession. :) Nope, just touring around!
A really good thing is that we've actually extended our stay here because everyone is SO happy here and it is SO wonderful! We'll only be staying in Awassa one night and at Lake Longano one night, then back to Addis to wrap up the trip. How did a month go so quickly? Guess when you're busy and learning, time flies!
Will write again as I have time. I'm due at a coffee ceremony in a few minutes (no, I have not started drinking coffee, but the cermony should be interesting). I was sad to hear that Elliot is allergic to Archie. Poor Elliot! I'm sure Archie feels bad about causing such a terrible reaction. :(
Be home soon!
Alica
We followed up the baboons with a boat trip on Lake Chamo, one of the Rift Valley Lakes, where we saw lots of birds (pelicans, spoonbills, and others), crocodiles and hippos! Wow! I can hardly express how amazing that was! For the afternoon, we went to a village up the mountain from Arba Minch. The village was associated with a people group known as the Dorze. They have really cool homes (I got some good pictures), and they are big-time weavers. We went to a weaving cooperative, a market, and then to a family compound where they showed us how they live, and how they make a bread (kojo) from the false banana tree. Then, we had a chance to shop after we tried the bread and before the dancing.
The good thing was the next day, because we got to pack up and LEAVE Arba Minch. We knew we were headed on a long bus trip, but that we were staying at an eco-lodge/coffee plantation that was supposed to be much nicer than where we'd been staying. Let me tell you, it is REALLY NICE!!! We are in tukuls (round homes) made of bamboo in the traditional style of the Sidamo people, only the tukuls are updated with lovely things like water and electricity. And clean sheets. It is BEAUTIFUL! Then add to that the fabulous meals...nearly heaven! We took a tour of the coffee plantation yesterday and the grounds of the lodge. We hiked for probably 3-4 hours, all together. During the first part of the hike, through the coffee plantation, we went through a village area. We were, as always, a source of curiosity and discussion for the people in the village. The kids came and chatted with us or just smiled at us and walked with us. They talked with our guide and I had to laugh when I heard the discussion! Evidently, they wanted to know if a ferangi (foreigner) died and we were the funeral procession. :) Nope, just touring around!
A really good thing is that we've actually extended our stay here because everyone is SO happy here and it is SO wonderful! We'll only be staying in Awassa one night and at Lake Longano one night, then back to Addis to wrap up the trip. How did a month go so quickly? Guess when you're busy and learning, time flies!
Will write again as I have time. I'm due at a coffee ceremony in a few minutes (no, I have not started drinking coffee, but the cermony should be interesting). I was sad to hear that Elliot is allergic to Archie. Poor Elliot! I'm sure Archie feels bad about causing such a terrible reaction. :(
Be home soon!
Alica
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