I think I’m going to steal several children from here. I don’t know how I could leave without them. Tug, the boy who’s deaf that came a few weeks ago, is such a pal now. It has been an amazing experience working with him and watching him make progress and begin to trust us. He is such an awesome kid. All of us have such a soft spot for him now and get pissed if we see another kid messing with him. When he came, if anyone touched him, kids or us volunteers, he would swing his arms around and try to hit or slap. Now he is a little gentler and I even got a little hug on Saturday. Here’s a Classic Tug story, this Saturday I went to a soccer game Layla was playing in at a park down the street. Tug had somehow wiggled his way into going even though it’s only for the older kids. People seriously under estimate him. He came up to me and we started having a convo with a medley of bizarre signs that I have learned from him. He’s such a smart kid. Then he took this bracelet off and stretched it around my wrist. Even though I knew that he had probably stolen it from another kid, it was the sweetest thing ever. I reached out my arms to hug him and he touched my hands and looked confused, and then I hugged hum and he got this big smile. I have never seen him hug or get close to anyone without smacking them. Then as I was thinking to myself how sweet and great he was being, he walked up to an older girl and backhanded her in the face to get a pencil she had. I had to laugh, what a hilarious kid. He’s already come such a long way, he really is a great little guy.

Saturday, I organized another sibling visit so that the Ahope and Layla siblings could play together. This time I went to pick up the kids at little AHope (under 7years old) and big AHope and bring them to Layla. It’s easier to bring the Layla kids there because of medicine schedules etc., but I had been planning on picking up the baby bikes and getting them fixed by one of Nate’s friends. Ivy was nice enough to give up part of her Saturday to drive me so we could put the bikes in the van. All the bikes at little AHope are completely falling apart with flat tires and busted chains and training wheels, and the kids still love them. Anyways, we picked up the bikes and the kids and brought them to Layla. It took me awhile to realize that a few of the older AHope kids were milling around aimlessly without their siblings. Surprise, the older kids were at a soccer game that the director had neglected to tell me about despite the fact that she knew I was bringing the AHope kids over. So we drove those kids to the game and had a grand time watching Layla get worked against some neighborhood kids. I think they beat them by like 30. It’s the best to see the siblings play together, especially the older ones. You can tell some are very close to one another. Most of the siblings are very close in age and they make me think of my sister, and me and how sad I would be if one of us had to live somewhere else growing up. After the AHope sibling visit, we got the bikes fixed and had to wait for several hours while several drunk men made fun of us for being white. Whatever, I was so glad we got those fixed for them.

Sunday, what a great day. We ended up finding this AWSOME pool! It’s only like 2 bucks to get in and it’s this gigantic pool, like the size of several Olympic pools. The entire thing is at least 10 feet deep, no shallow end. And there are the highest high dives I have ever seen in my life. When we got there, there were tons of people there, nearly all Ethiopians and almost no ferenge (white people). It was so weird to see people in bathing suits when everyone (including myself) is so careful to cover up shoulders and knees here. As soon as we got in there, Alan was stoked on going off the high dive. I was concerned not only because it looked like a death trap, but also because there was not a soul around it and it had large signs covering the latter in Amharic. Hmmm, probably not the most safe. Well, Alan quickly found a guard that told him he could jump off of it. When he got to the top and everyone saw, all the people started whistling and clapping, like over a thousand people! It was hilarious. After he went off, two Ethiopian guys in Speedos tried diving in headfirst and may or may not have been injured. It was closed after that. We left the pool and wandered for about an hour, only to find the MOST random Chinese restaurant. It was clear that the guy there had been sleeping and when he finally answered the gate, he led us into this purple room where everything, and I mean everything was purple. We were the only one’s there and it was pretty funny. I have never had a more delicious Chinese meal in my life. I was sick the day after, totally worth it. It took us a couple minibuses to get back to walking distance of the volunteer house, by then it was the most dark. What a great day.

I’m getting very pumped for the trip south that Nicole, Alan and I are planning. Yes, it is going to be awesome. I knew I wanted to travel south as soon as I saw a map of Ethiopia before I came here. National parks and Lakes askew. Traveling South from Addis is not very typical of visitors. Most people go for the historical circuit North to Lalibella and such. I can’t believe that I convinced Nicole that south is where it’s at; she is a very good planner and level headed. This trip is going to be very fly by the seat of the pants, even though we are planning it well. It is definitely going to be difficult and complicated and amazing. I can’t wait. We have planned to leave Weds. The 22nd and head to lake Ziway via minibus. Were going to check out the scene there for a night and move on to Lake Langano the next day. Apparently it is safe to swim there and you can take a boat to see hippo pods. Awesome. We will hike around there and spend time in the nearby town. We have our hotels planned out and it sounds like we most definitely are going to need flea powder. Wondo Genet is the next stop where we will be able to check out some hot springs. Our final destination is Bale Mountain National Park, which has the most wildlife out of any National Park in Ethiopia. Many crazy species of birds are there and sometimes you can spot larger mammals such as wolves, lions, and monkeys. The best part of our stay near Bale Mountain Park is that we are taking a two-day trek through on horses! We can stay in Dinsho and hire a horse and guide for about 20 bucks a day for all of us. So this is the plan so far. I’m sure it will be crazy and turn out completely different than expected, but I can’t wait!