Lesson #6

Ok, I got up early to finally write about our Lesson #6 but instead I've spent the last 15 minutes checking out some of my friends' blogs and had so much fun...living vicariously through Holli and her friends living it up in England shopping & eating...reading about the hilarious things Jami and Megan's kids have said recently...finding out Abby just got her I-171H!...I could go on. I'm feeling kind of (ok, totally) boring!!! :) But here goes...

This past Friday was a crazy one. It was my sister's last day in town and we decided to move all of her wedding gifts that have been in our basement closet to our parent's house. (To make a long story short, they're building a house and we plan on buying theirs, so we are in the process of cleaning out and getting ready to sell, and now my sister's stuff will be packed by the movers and stored in my parent's new place.) Anyway - Lesson #6 was sandwiched sometime between lugging everything up out of our basement and onto our front porch (it was such a huge load, people thought we were already moving!) and then hauling it over in 4 car trips to my parent's. The kids worked like troopers and we were all incredibly beat. But, it was a good break to sit and listen and yet again, be crafty. :)

Our lesson was just a brief history and a little on the influence of Christianity in Ethiopia. Kind of heavy for kids, and to be completely honest, I lost them pretty early on. But they totally loved making cross necklaces - and it was kind of cool because we've been reading that American Girl book, Saba, and in places it talks about how important her cross necklace is to her. So, my kids were able to grasp some significance and meaning as to why they were making necklaces with big crosses. :)

Some cool things we learned:
1. Ethiopian history dates back to at least 1000 B.C., when people from Arabia sailed across the Red Sea into northern Ethiopia. (And it could even be 2000 B.C. when an Egyptian sailed to the "Land of Punt" which is possibly Ethiopia.)

2. Christianity became the official religion of the early Axumite kingdom in the fourth century and the church's influence became very intertwined with the Ethiopian monarchy (so much so that it remained the official church through the era of Haile Selassie - the mid-1970's.)

3. Ethiopia's Christians remained isolated in the highlands (while Muslims occupied much of the lowlands.) I guess historians feel that this isolation allowed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to adopt some different, unique practices - much that are rooted in really interesting legend. The story goes like this: When the Queen of Sheba went to honor King Solomon in the 10th century B.C., they fell in love, and after her return to Ethiopia she gave birth to Solomon's son, Menelik. When he was 22 yrs. old, he went to Jerusalem to meet this father. While there, he saw the Ark of the Covenant and dreamed God told him to take it back to Ethiopia. It's believed that the Ark has been in Aksum ever since. Although this has never been proven, and scholars are skeptical, Ethiopian Christians fully believe. It's safely guarded in a chapel by a special caretaker and can't be viewed by anyone else. Every church has a replica ark.

4. And then, the significance of the cross necklaces from:
http://www.authenticafrica.com/etcros.html

"African jewelry: Christianity was established in the Ethiopian highlands as early as the 4th century. For over 1600 years Christian Ethiopians have worn neck crosses as a symbol of faith. The cross was suspended around the neck by a cotton blue cord called a “mateb” which was received at baptism. Jewelry wise, the cross is the most prized personal possession and most valued to collectors of all highland selections.The crosses are usually named from the region that they originate. The crosses feature various design styling from the simplistic Greek or Latin crucifix to the more elaborate with flared arms, trefoils, decorative projections, complicated openwork designing and patterns of interwoven lines symbolizing eternity. "

So, here's our attempt at some unique Ethiopian cross necklaces:

Our week

We've had a great week with my sister Macy and our little nephew Moses. He's 3 1/2 mo. and is so incredibly sweet. I've tried all week to get him to smile, and I finally captured it this afternoon.



And another great capture by Josie today...Maggie dancing. And those who know Maggie well will especially love this...she hates attention and agonizes being in front of people, like for school programs (Matt and Katie - remember the Christmas program?!) And she told Aunt Macy yesterday that when she gets married, "it's just gonna be me, a man, on a beach, by ourselves." HA HA!!! Doesn't even want attention on her wedding day. Ok, that said, here's a rare Maggie moment: (And yes, she even gave me permission to post this...I think she's coming out of her shell....)

Oh, and a note about the music - it's one of those demo songs on our keyboard. It reminds me of an 80's sitcom. :)

Lesson #5

The weeks are seriously flying by! I can't believe we're already on Lesson #5 for Ethiopia 101. This week, our focus was on FOOD! - recipes, coffee ceremonies, traditions and etiquette. My main goal was to experience and share a traditional Ethiopian meal together. I commissioned my Grandma, Dad, Mom, sister, sister-in-law, and brothers to each make something, so we had a serious feast. Our adoption agency gave us a packet of lots of great recipes that they got online at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Cookbook/Ethiopia.html.

Here's what we made:
Ross & I: Injera (Ethiopian pancake-like bread), Iab (cottage-cheese/yogurt w/herbs), Doro Wat (chicken stew), and Tej (honey wine)
Grandma T.: Sega Wat (Ethiopian lamb)
Dad, Mom, and Bob: Vegetable Alecha (vegetable stew)
Macy: Dabo Kolo (little fried snacks)
Mike & Sarah: Chef Kurt Linsi's Queen of Sheba Salad (a great tomato/onion accompaniment - not a part of the traditional Ethiopian meal, but suggested as a great addition from this website.)
The only thing we weren't brave enough to try was the Kitfo, or raw ground beef mixed with salt, pepper, and butter...it's served raw, and is considered the dessert of the meal.) :)
And, although we didn't get to talk about the coffee ceremonies, we did enjoy a pot of Gobena!

Right before dinner I read the intro that came with all of these recipes and it talks about how a traditional meal is served and how it's eaten. We made some modifications - for example, instead of sitting on 8-in. stools and putting our Wat and Iab directly on the Injera, we all filled our plates with the stews, etc. and then ripped off the Injera and filled it from our plates. (And we used forks and spoons.)

We really, really enjoyed the food and had an absolute blast together. I think this worked out so well to include part of our extended family in this too because I could tell their interest and excitement grew by being able to contribute and share in the Ethiopian meal and lesson. We all agreed this was just the first of many Ethiopian feasts to come! But instead of writing more, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!


Clockwise, starting at the top: Iab, Sega Wat, Queen of Sheba Salad, Doro Wat, Dabo Kolo, and Vegetable Alecha


From left to right: my sis Macy (visiting with Moses for the week - more pics to come...), sis-in-law Sarah, bro Mike, bro Bob, Dad, Mom, Gram T., and Ross (my man)


Ellie, Miles, Maggie, and Josie totally digging the Injera - their favorite part.


Me and my Dad

Molly and Eric - we missed you guys!!!

Lesson #4

This Friday we tackled Lesson #4 for Ethiopia 101. I didn't realize this when I was planning our curriculum last month, but it worked out really well to talk about Ethiopia's calendar, festivals, music, art, and sports on one of America's biggest days of celebration - the 4th of July! I thought it would be fun to tie the two together just a little bit by doing an activity centered around the Ethiopian flag (because the American flag is so much a part of our 4th of July celebrations.) We discovered the meaning behind both the Ethiopian and American flags - which I found interesting. Here's what we found:

The Ethiopian flag: (found online at http://exodus2006.com/flag.htm)
Green represents the fertility of the country
Yellow represents the religious freedom
Red represents the lives sacrificed in the protection of national integrity
The star and it's rays represents the equality of all ethnic groups as well as creed and gender equity. Also, the rays point to Ethiopia's bright future and the blue background stands for peace and democracy.

The American flag:
The 50 stars represent the 50 states
The 13 stripes represent the 13 colonies
BUT, there's actually no official designation of the colors! (I never knew this)
In 1782, the gov't. chose the same red, white, and blue flag colors for the Great Seal of the US and they give meanings behind the colors then:
White represents purity and innocence
Red represents valor and hardiness
Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice
I read that there are lots of legends, theories, and traditions concerning the colors of the flag (such as red stands for the blood shed), but I guess that's never been official!

And then for a fun activity (being crafty is just one of our things...see my last post) :), the kids and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and bought some green, red, yellow, and blue fleece to make a giant flag blanket. I did a little sewing and then the kids (along with Ross' mom and bro and sis who were visiting for the holiday) tied the ends of the blanket to finish it up. (I know it's kind of weird to make a blanket in July, but amazingly, I wished we would've had it during fireworks - it was actually cold here!) I think it turned out pretty well! (And totally reminded us of a giant stop-light.)





To wrap this up, I did a little post-class student interview to get a taste for what they learned. :)

Ross: "I thought it was cool finding the traditional Ethiopian music and learning about some of the unique instruments like the washint which shepherds sometimes play to supposedly calm the animals."
(Ross was home too so he was in on this one. He actually found the Ethiopian national anthem on iTunes and some really cool traditional flute-ish washint music as well...good background blanket-making music.)

Ellie: "I learned that the day starts at 1 a.m., instead of 12 a.m. like it does here. And they make really cool leather-ish things like saddles and knife sheaths."
(We read a lot about different arts and crafts, and how most inspiration is from the country's religious traditions. They do a lot of metalwork, leatherwork, and basketry among other things. Also tapestry and weaving and stuff like that - which is kind of what got me thinking about the blanket idea. The kids and I want to make some silver cross necklaces - but we'll save that one for another lesson.) :)

Josie: "I learned that they play soccer, hockey, and track and field!"
(This was totally cool for my little soccer-girl/gymnast to find out.)

Maggie: "I think they have like 5 or 6 days in the week or something?!?!"
(ha ha...she's referring to the 13th month which has 5 or 6 days, depending on if it's a leap year. Instead of using the Gregorian calendar, like most of the Western world, Ethiopia uses the Julian calendar which has 13 months, instead of 12. Interestingly, the Ethiopian calendar is 7 yrs. and 8 mo. behind the Gregorian calendar.)

Miles: "I learned about music."
(Yep, buddy, you sure did. hee hee...He had lots of fun dancing and cracking us up.)

Me: My interest was especially piqued when studying the various religious festivals. I learned that Ethiopian holidays are very popular and a way for people to come together and feast, give gifts, sing, dance, play games, and just take a break from the daily grind. I even discovered that one of the most popular festivals honors a patron saint that has the same name we've been carrying in our minds and hearts for our future child for over a year! It's got lots of special meaning already, and this was kind of another cool connection...but I'm not gonna tell...yet! :)

Keeping it real

Ok, here's the deal. I've had fun getting together these Ethiopian class times, running around with summer activities, and getting new pets (and the kids have enjoyed it for the most part), but I feel somehow that by writing just to tell what we've done or learned or made, that reality is skewed a little. And thinking about this just really bugs me and got me thinking more about transparency, authenticity...all that good stuff. So, yes, I enjoy being "crafty," and I'm a total geeky bookworm, and it may APPEAR (ok, maybe this is a bit presumptuous) that I somehow have it together. Let me assure you all (and I'm sure this is so obvious - esp. to those who see me regularly!) - I DON'T! Yes - I am blessed beyond belief and have much joy in my life, but this past year has actually been one of the (if not THE) hardest years of my life.

There's been a whole lotta pain, a whole lotta crying out to God, and a whole lotta growing pains for both Ross and I - in our adoption, at church, and in our extended family, etc... So digging into books and keeping my mind and body busy the last month has been kinda therapeutic. :) But life is never as perfect as it appears in one picture - or one post. I guess that's all I want to say. As an example....in the last 24 hrs., our air conditioner, food processor, coffee maker, and vacuum cleaner all BROKE. Yep. And the week before that? 5 gallons of fishy salt water overflowed onto Ross' office carpet and the next day probably about 5 more gallons of sink water was discovered dripping into the hallway carpet and through the floorboards onto our kitchen island. :) Fun stuff.

One thing I've learned this year is that life is just too stinking short to focus on the crap - but at the same time, I think it's so important to be REAL! So, that's what this is - just checkin' in, making sure I'm keeping it real.