A look-see.

Hidden Pictures: Find the injured leg. The swelling is almost completely gone; the ankle is still getting there. This was our first visit to the hospital. We sat in what we thought was round one, the waiting room, for 25 minutes, before we realized the others who were waiting held pieces of paper. So we went to get our own piece of paper (i.e. register), and they saw us in no time.

My very first X-ray. I was ecstatic upon seeing my insides for the first time, and even moreso when the price came to one dollar. If it weren't so sketchy, we could make return trips and hang our assembled skeletons in our living room. But when I sat on the X-ray table, and the two techs ushered themselves and Daniel out of the room, with no word of instruction to me, and I looked up at the machine, alone and thinking: "Should they cover me? Should I close my eyes?", I immediately squinted hard and assumed I was probably becoming cancerous by the second. (But isn't that a beautiful tibia? I displayed it to the neighbors like a trophy, saying, "Sinus! Sinus!"--how they pronounce Science.)

Hidden Pictures II: Can you find the places where the Ethiopians normally eat/lean? I am tempted to break in one night and scrub their walls for them. Though Degna Cafe is one of our favorite weekly restaurants and milk supplier, we never sit against the wall.

We borrowed this letting-household-decorations-teach-English-to-neighbors idea from another volunteer. Once it's been hanging for a month, we'll rearrange them, test the kids, and give them candy once they get them all right.

Daniel trusted me with scissors. This is the Before picture. I giggled and gasped and "Sorry!"-ed my way through it, making him quite nervous. (Note the background: remember when our grass was green and flowing? This is what happens when rain checks out with no goodbye.)

After! Here is proof that it's in the blood. I come from barbers and hair dressers on both sides of my parents' family: all told, six. Though upon close examination, you'd find I'm not quite a worthy seventh.

 Last Saturday we hosted a Les Mis birthday party for Daniel (he's blowing out the candles on his brownies at this moment on camera). We made delicious French Onion soup with the works in honor of the French story, along with pizza and deviled eggs. We borrowed a projector from the college and watched the glorious new film on our wall. Pictured from left: Todd (PC volunteer, Axum), Christine (PC, Axum), Tirsit (Ethiopian friend, Axum), Lauren (PC, Adwa), Richelle (VSO volunteer from Philippines, Adwa), Sid (VSO volunteer from India/fiance of Adwa VSO volunteer Uziel, Addis Ababa).

Meron in her glory. This photo was taken this morning, as we shared breakfast and coffee with the Girimkils in honor of St. George's holiday. Meron--assumably warm--removed all her clothes and wrapped herself in this scarf of her mother's (later worn as a toga). At one point, she kept pulling the scarf off, revealing her naked self, to sing melodically, "Kidan aybilain, kidan aybilain": I have no clothes, I have no clothes. 

Tomorrow is Daniel's birthday! After my third small cup of locally-made Ethiopian beer today (they really don't take no for an answer; you should visit us and then try to refuse food or drink from our neighbors. Your stomach grows uncomfortable, and you begin to think your voice doesn't work--no one listens to your ardent protests), I thought, "This water isn't purified. If I get sick on his birthday, this would complete an awful tradition," thinking back to my birthday last year, Daniel sleeping off a horrible case of hives in a hotel room while I sat through an awful all-day training. But tomorrow is bound to be better. Daniel shares a birthday with our smallest neighbor Rhodas; she will turn one, but she is smaller than our 5-month-old nephew Samuel. We will host a combined birthday party for them. It's quite the eventful week: St. George's today, birthdays tomorrow, Easter on Sunday!

Want to see a photo of a six-year-old drinking the locally-made beer too? We think it weird that mothers give their babies breast milk and coffee in the same breath here (and that it's a for-everyone's-eyes affair). This is far stranger. You can see the cups of beer at their feet.

See Daniel's blog below, in case you mistake this one for the only new one. A twofer!

(Congratulations to Cameron & Wendy Moore of Waco, for winning our Peace Corps challenge! We'll be sending them half a pound of coffee for their various sacrifices of solidarity. Well done!)