Abyssinia 3: Project Work

Every EP has their own unique experiences. I can only speak for myself in this regard. The rest of the experiences will have to be from the EPs themselves.

The trip to La Scholina, the school we were supposed to teach at wasn't very amazing. There is a hill I found out I will have to climb every weekday morning to get to the road leading to the turn off leading to the other turn off leading to the school several metres from that.

I suppose this is sort of an exaggeration brought on by the fact that I haven't had very good experiences with hills before. That and the fact that I am usually out of breath by the time I get to the top of said hill. It's all worth it to get to the school though. Right from the gate and even before it, the kids are there to welcome you excitedly.

I cannot explain the absolute cuteness of twenty little voices saying your name for the very first time. The teachers, the principal and the secretary were all there to welcome us and give us a tour. After that, we were led into the kitchen and welcomed to participate in the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony (a definite must for coffee lovers!) and fed.

Every day since then has been rewarding in its own way. Of course some of the kids are naughty, but which group of kids isn't really? It's the end of the classes that I look forward to the most though. After doing your best to get them to pronounce English words and teach them something new, to show their appreciation as they leave, the kids come to you one by one, take your hand and then reach up to kiss your cheek.

I later found out this was a common Ethiopian greeting, but it really is amazing to get so many kisses after a hard day's work. It really warms the heart.

I would like to take this moment now to thank all my teachers all the way through my first school years (especially then) to this very day for all their hard work.

There will be days when it's too cold to even want to drag yourself out of bed or when you feel too tired to go anywhere and wish honestly that you didn't have to go. I can honestly say though that the beaming smiles I get from the moment I step in through the gate and the little hands that take mine as they escort me to the classroom are a pretty good reason to wake up in the morning.