June 21,2010

Yesterday we moved into “our” house! Technically we moved in last

night, although the move started after church.

We left the gusthouse with gusto…it is a really great place, just not

that appealing for a family with two small children…so we were pumped

to move into our new house.

The house is on the opposite side of town from the guesthouse, so we

will have to learn new mini bus stops, among other new things.

So we drove down a bunch of confusing side-streets and finally

entered our gate and pulled into the drive. We quickly unloaded our

bazillion bags (between Tommy, Mary and us I think we had 10 or so)

and went to get the key from the “next door neighbor” (this is called

a neighborhood, but all houses are hidden behind big cinder block

walls topped with barbed wire and locked aluminum gates, so “next door

neighbor” seems a little too friendly).

That’s when the day got interesting …

The people we are renting from were somewhere in the air on their way

to Canada for 4 months, and the keys to the house were no where to be

found.

The daily rain had started and we found ourselves under awnings and

rationing fruit snacks for Josie to pass the time and stay dry.

After two hours of waiting and the guys all trying to track down the

keys (knocking on neighbors gates, calling the guards, the

houseworker, etc), we finally got a key.

But the key wasn’t our ticket inside. Vic and Jeremiah drove all the

way across town to meet the houseworker to borrow her key, and then

drove all the way back only to discover the keys wouldn’t open the

doors.

Whhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyy?????

Pouring Rain.

Locked Outside.

Darkness.

Our laughing gradually faded into frustration.

We were all thrilled and pretty tired when Tefsa, the head guard,

walked through the gate jingling a set of keys. Turns out, he was

expecting us on Saturday night, not Sunday afternoon…ah, how simple it

would have been if we would have had cell phones to text.

Solutions to problems in Ethiopia are a looooong process. This is not

your typical microwave-I-want-it-I-get-it America, that’s for sure.

We drug ourselves, our children (in our case at least) and our luggage

inside and with all of the excitement of having our own space, we

pretty much forgot about the hassle of just getting through the door.

Tesfa, the head guard, has two extra thumbs, and is very smart. He has

a business degree, but because of his extra thumbs, he cannot find

work. Isn’t that awful? Ugh, it is so frustrating to me the way people

with the most minute differences are shunned here. They are given a

limit.

I know too many people with differences and disabilities that are

making beautiful contributions to those around them and constantly

exceeding the limitations that their situations bring. Seeing that

Tesfa just has two extra thumbs, but no chance to succeed here is kind

of infuriating.

Not only that, but he is kind and really thoughtful.

Tonight was a long night. And about an hour after we finally got

inside, Tesfa knocked on the door offering to go get groceries for us.

He felt so badly that we were locked out of the house for so long. It

was so sweet of him to offer and I quickly wrote down a list so we

could have some bread for dinner and at least eggs for breakfast

tomorrow. Oh, and a couple Fantas…Josie’s Ethiopian beverage of choice

(she’s NEVER had this much soda…EVER!!! But when you can’t drink water

everywhere and the camelbak is empty, you drink Fanta. Then you brush

your teeth. A lot.)

So he walked to the store for me, and an hour later, we had bread,

bananas, water, eggs and Fanta! We were set!

Ah…it’s nice to be (in a) home.

I’m yawning though, that’s for sure. Ready to hit the sack fast.