learning to talk

When Ron and I thought about living in a new country the hardest thing we imagined facing was communication.

In Tanzaina they speak Swahili so we were working through a computer program called Rosetta Stone, to get a head start on the language. But now that we are in Ethiopia we put that on hold. Here where they speak Amharic, there are no self taught tools and even though we don't know how long we will be here, I still want to talk to people.

So we are diving in . . .

We have a friend who comes over and helps us with language each week and we practice as much as we can.

I can ride the taxi (van full of 15 people) alone.

At the construction site a local was going to get supplies and Ron asked for "one large machiato" in Amheric. That drew alot of laughter. They understood him but here there is no place to get coffee to take out.

We can both greet people and buy groceries at the local suk's (shops) on the street.

Recently I approached a dozen women sitting in the shade busy stitching traditional Ethiopian crosses on linens at a local leprosy hospital. They are patients who get paid for this work. After using up all the greetings I knew they asked how much Amheric I could say. Little 'tenesh' I said, but I started counting. They giggled and we all began counting together. By the time we reached 20 laughter and clapping could be heard by the rest of the group I was with, way over in the gift shop. I parted with a thank you 'ameuseugenalo' and peace 'salem' and a quick bow of my head.

People here are delightful.