This and That

School started this week. Well, I had faculty development last week, but the students came back this week. So far, so good. I only had to shepherd two lost freshman and my classes seem to have some life to them this semester.

Brynly is at day care everyday. She is a people person. She loves to have other kids to play with. It is so fun to watch her with her cousins. She can hold her own among all those boys. :)

Lots o' people have been asking me about Diann's referral. Nothing yet. I won't elaborate but I sure don't like people who tell tall tales.

Brynly is talking more and more. Some new words are "yellow" and "up." She starts dance class a week from Saturday. I will try to get some video for your viewing pleasure.

Beautiful Ethiopia

I have come to a realization. People don't know much about Ethiopia. One of my fav bloggers, Valerie over at Eyes Like Mine, wrote recently of how it can be damaging for so much focus to be on the challenges Ethiopia is facing. She is right. Yes, Ethiopia is facing some major challenges right now. It is important to understand what others in the world deal with; to understand that people are truly suffering. It is also important to understand that Ethiopia is rich in many ways. I have written about this before in reference to how I do not like people to say that I "rescued" Brynly from Ethiopia. I hate that notion. I don't want anyone, especially Brynly, to think of Ethiopia only as a country of poverty and suffering. A country is not its problems. Ethiopia was her home and there are many wonderful things about it. I want her to love Ethiopia as much as she does America. So, I am going to sprinkle in some posts about some of the wonderful things about Ethiopia.

To do this, admittedly, I have some learning to do myself. But I will start with what I know and speak of some of my impressions of Addis Ababa. One of the classes I teach is Intercultural Communication. In it, I instruct my students that two barriers to intercultural comm are Assuming Differences and Assuming Similarites. I think many go the way of Assuming Differences when they think of comparing our culture to that of Ethiopia. There are some things that are very much the same. Not all of Ethiopia is remote and desolate. Addis Ababa is a bustling, busy city, not terribly unlike cities here. Okay, so we don't often see a donkey walking around on the streets of Pittsburgh, but stick with me here. I was struck by the energy of Addis. There were people all about going about their lives-students and business people, salesman, etc. There were restaurants and shops and schools and buses and taxis. The picture is aof a building we passed quite often. Could be anywhere, eh?

At some point, I will highlight some of the stark differences but for now, let's start with what makes us all the same.

Nine Month Anniversary

Today marks 9 months since I met Birhan in person for the first time. Now I just can't imagine life without her. Enjoy a little montage of the last 9 months. FYI-the song is by a fellow Theatre major from the Bethany days.

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Brynly and Barack

I don't mean for this to be a blog about my political views, but, let it be said, GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!!! I so hope Brynly (and I and everyone else)doesn't have to spend the next four years in this country as it has been for the last eight. Anyhoo, some friends of my parents brought up a lifesize cut out thing of Barack to cheer up my dad as he continues his recuperation. Of course, seeing Barack Obama looking out my parents' dining room window was a bit startling for me and Rudi, the dog. :)

So, for the moment, it's still a free country and ya'll can support whomever you choose but over in Aimee and Brynly's little corner of the world, we're all about Barack.

Wee Artiste

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Brynly created her first watercolor last night. I considered finger painting, but she still puts everything in her mouth, especially her fingers, so brushes it was.

I love that we are starting to be able to do little art project, crafty things. A lot of people are so sad when their kids grow out of the baby stage. Not me. I love that I am experiencing some of Brynly's babyhood, but I welcome the day when we can do more of these projects together. I look forward to going to soccer games and dance class and having a conversation with this funny, spirited little being.

Weekend Fun

Brynly had some fun this weekend. Friday we finally brought my dad (aka Pappaw) home from the hospital after three weeks-ugh. Brynly has assumed her position of sitting on his lap in the recliner once again.

On Saturday, Brynly and I and Laurie and the boys headed to an animal exhibit where we saw and fed some goats, lamas, camels, tigers and a babboon. We attempted a picutre of the four kids with a baby lion, but it didn't work out. :)

We also went to the park and did some swinging and spent some time enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather. A week form today, I will be abck to school, so we are trying to eek out every little bit of summer while we have it.

My Best Bud, Diann

My BFF, Diann recently had an "Aimee" post about our very cool friendship. We are not really sappy people but, sometimes it is important to say things that may usually go unsaid. So, in turn, here is my "Diann" post.

Diann and and I are best friends. We met on our very first day of school at Bethany College in (gulp), August of 1989. We lived on the same hall and later found out we were from towns only 20 or so miles apart. When we first met, I thought Diann looked to be very frightened about starting school away from home. Truth be told, I probably was too. Those early days are a bit of a blur (it was 19 years ago:)) What I remember is how our friendship grew over those four years. Although we were in the same sorority, we had different majors and even different sets of friends. Somehow though, we always gravitated back to each other.

I have long since lost touch with most of those other friends from Bethany. But my friendship with Diann has grown into something much bigger than a former schoolmate. We have grown up together since those Bethany days.

There is so much I love and admire about my best bud. She has such an open spirit. She makes friends so easily. It is as if people can sense the goodness of her heart. She is also open to new experiences. Many times, we have traveled to far off places in a situation where I knew everyone and she knew no one. By about an hour into the trip you would never know who knew who first. That is a gift.

Diann has a very close relationship with God. She always has, but she doesn't have a hypocritical nature or closed mindedness that I have sometimes observed in people who consider themselves religious. Diann is religious in the truest sense. She has a faith that is above hypocrisy and judgement. My own faith has been made stronger by her. When we visitied Atlanta recently, we went to church and the pastor said that everyone should have people in their lives who are more educated or wise than they are regarding religion and faith that can help to guide them and have those that are less so so that they can be a guide. Diann is my more wise person.

What I love most about our friendship is that it is effortless...and the laughing. We laugh a lot. We laugh at times when, if we were alone we may well cry.

God willing, I will travel to Ethiopia when Diann meets her daughter face to face for the first time. I am so looking forward to the day when we can share that experience too.

Gettin' Hold of the Hair

I am getting better at this hair thing. After being set on the right path by my Team Ethiopia mates, Brynly has enjoyed way cuter hair. We now have a good conditioning regime in place and, as her hair gets longer, I am able to try some different things. Above is an illustration of before and after. I am so looking forward to twisties, braids and candy curls and all that fun stuff. What I am working on now is, how do you do the hair of a child who never stops moving?