Dancing the Night Away with Two Catholic Priests and a Theology Student

Good morning! Yes, you read the title of this blog correctly. I'll get to that in a minute. But first, Josh has arrived safely! We met him at the airport last night at around 6:30 (after paying 3 burr- the equivalent of 30 cents- to get in). Josh just came on board at TOMS a couple of weeks ago and this was the first time we had actually physically met. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, what if I mentioned that thanks to twitter and a few networking gurus, Josh and I have know each other and have been chatting about international development and life since the beginning of April? Not so "normal" any more, huh? I think this is a classic example of the power of the Internet these days. Two like-minded people who are driven towards similar goals can be deep in conversation and never actually meet- but what cool thing it is when you actually do meet- and you're co-workers! Anyway, I thought that was pretty cool. Back to Ethiopia.

When Josh and I got back to the base, we were just in time for dinner. We sat down to a potluck style dinner of vegetables, Ethiopian taquitos, pasta and "avocado juice" (which is just pureed avocado and sugar). We also had this fruit that Father Sam made both Josh and I try. "It helps clear the ruffage", he said. I nearly fell over laughing. For those of who may not know...ruffage = poop. I love this man. 

Josh and I both agree that this whole thing is a bit surreal. Last night, after dinner at the base, we went to a restaurant that featured dancing from different parts of Africa. I sat next Father Stephen who is a man with a gentle spirit and love for God. He was the one that invited us. The invitation went something like this, "Do you have a program right now?" (Josh and I both responded no to this) "Maybe you would like to go for some bottles of beers and dance?" I wish I could have taken a snapshot of this moment. Father Mark, I know you're reading this, his down-to-earth approach to life reminded me so much of you!

The dancing involved ornate costumes and pretty incredible moves. During one of the dances, the girl moved her head so fast that I was sure she was going puke. The guys on the stage must have seen my reaction, because they both began to laugh. Josh tipped them a couple dollars out of courtesy, but to them, this meant that he wanted to dance, so they pulled him up on the stage and showed him a few moves. He picked it up pretty fast- being the good natured adventure man that he is.

This day holds church,  another real estate excursion and dinner with a public health nurse I met in the Frankfurt airport. I'll be sure to report back.

Until next time,

ACW