The day our friends moved

There was a lot of hustle and bustle around here yesterday. All of the Finland group are here now and are waiting for their rooms. Our Canadian friends were moving to their new home. About a 20 min walk for Ibssa and I. Probably 10 min for most people. Lol. Faith came up here while they were loading up their stuff. I attempted to have a shower in my little square shower but there was no hot water. Ugh! I managed to mostly wash and then did my hair in the kitchen sink. We decided to skip Ibssa's shower until it gets fixed. 11:00 came before we knew it. I decided to take Ibssa down and have Lee explain what was happening. He was very sad which in turn made me sad. Funny how your emotions are so sensitive here. We said our soy of goodbyes. Too funny because Ibssa and I are joining them for lunch. We lakes over and heather showed us their room. It is much smaller than GT but I am sure they will make it work. They had a few bumps but got through them. Their Internet has been down since they got there so if her family is reading my blog, I want you to know they are just fine. Upset about the Internet but fine otherwise. Lunch was good. Ibssa and I had French toast and eggs with goodies. It was very yummy. We walked back and Ibssa played hard with Ashu for a while. We returned upstairs for lunch and then a nap. I watched an episode of Joel osteen call peace in the storm. It was like God directed me here to feed my soul. It was wonderful. I have a fresh mind. Although no longer being sick and all of the sunshine sure helps as well. Ibssa woke and had wet the bed. That was a first. I wonder if it was because of all of the recent change. We played again downstairs and them I made leftover Indian food for him and pasta for me. Of course he wanted my pasta so I had noodles with butter and Parmesan. It was soon bed time again and another day under our belt. I had the best sleep I have had in a couple of nights. Ibssa and I are just getting closer and closer. He wanted me to put my arm around him while he fell asleep. Awwwww. Everyone here can't believe how much he has changed since he got here. You can hear his laugh all over the guesthouse. He is so happy here. I remember when we saw him at the orphanage he would just quietly walk around with a small toy in his hand. It seems like forever ago now. Now he is a social butterfly with Paul's sense of humor. I can't tell you how proud I am of him. He is such a blessing. Today we ventured to the bank and found out the wire transfer from Paul didn't go through for some reason. I guess Lee will have to be paid tomorrow till we figure this out. I think I will go back to doing debit. I have the control that way. Today I get my haircut. I am getting picked up by Marlo's at 2:15 and then dropping Ibssa off with Dave and picking up candy. She is going for a massage. Heather will have left earlier because she wants more spa treatments. Chow for now Karen

Just an overall good day

Today started out on a good note. When Ibssa woke up at six so I bring the tablet into the bed and let him watch a movie for a bit while I wake up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw on my phone that Paul was trying to Skype me. I told Ibssa no more movie, it was time to talk to dad. When the screen opened I noticed Pam and Mike were there too. Awesome. Except one thing, I WAS IN MY PYJAMAS! And also I had bed head. It was so good to see and talk to them. The were able to see Ibssa live for the first time. Pam is so awesome, she brought the blanket she had made to show Ibssa. When she emailed a picture of it earlier Ibssa had kissed the phone when I told her it was for him. He was pretty excited. Paul played the "hey is this my blanket game with him". She also showed me her first attempt at making injera. Paul said she did a pretty good job except that it was a little thick. What a great start to my day. We had our usual breakfast and then Thomas came up to play. They did the 100 piece car puzzle together. They also played marbles. I said to them that I think we should go outside and play. So away they went. The other kids came out to and they all played for a good hour. It was so nice that the sun is shining. No rain. Maybe the story about the cross ceremony is true. No more rain now for 6 months. I guess God just turns the tap off. We came up and I made pasta for lunch. I let him play for a bit and the HE said it was time for a nap. He is getting so independent these days. He is now staying in the living room while I do the dishes. He is blossoming like you would not believe. We never seem to have any communication problems. However, I must say we lead pretty simple days. Lol. While he napped I was able to Skype my sister Marg. I hadn't talked to her for so long it was so good to catch up. We must have talked for over an hour. We were interrupted by a Skype from Paul. Wow, two times in one day! Awesome. Ibssa has woke up by then and was able to talk to daddy again. It was getting close to 4pm and I told Heather I would give her some take out containers. She was hosting the boys that her friends Rebecca and Arnie take care of. They are street boys that they met here last spring and took action to find them a home of their own. Marko's brought them over. All the Canadians came together and had an Ethiopian meal together. I chose not to eat. My body is saying no more Ethiopian food. I had a big lunch. The whole point of of the evening was so the boys and Marko's could Skype with Rebecca and Arnie back in Canada. For some reason wires got crossed and they weren't able to make it happen. Heather is so awesome, she made a video message for them to watch later. Who knows, maybe they will be able to try again before they leave. It was now 6:30 an jammie time for Ibssa. He is watching toy story AGAIN! So I have a few minutes to write this blog. I met the film crew who are staying here for a week. They are from Finland. The are producing a documentary on teaching high school students here how to make solar cells. Some teens from Findland are coming tomorrow and are going to help teach the students here. What a great example of positive ministry. Teaching the young minds of Ethiopia to make their country a better place. Praise God. We can all learn from this. Well time to put Ibssa to bed. Chow for now Karen

The move

Well, it is Friday here now and when I woke up this morning I actually felt a lot better. I did not have such a heavy chest and I felt like I had some energy to give today. Hurray!!! This country is hard enough to deal with, you don't need sickness on top of it. We had no Internet yesterday and part of today. It was strange not talking to Paul for that long. He really gets me through every day here. I was supposed to Skype my son at 2pm. I missed that date :-( Yesterday Ibssa and I just played most of the morning. I let him have an hour long bath because I was certain there would be no tub for awhile. We went to Kaldis with the Reich's for lunch. It was nice to get out. We had to skip our haircuts because this is the day that the Holy Cross ceremony takes place and the city shuts down. Marlo's thought we should join the 4 million people in meskal square. I said are you crazy I can't even stand to be around 100 people. We moved our haircut plans to Monday. After Ibssa's nap I sent him down to play with the other boys while I started to pack up. We have to move upstairs to move up to a standard room on the third floor for a week. There is a film crew coming and are taking up most of the house. I packed up everything except the kitchen. It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate in two months. Candy and Rob invited us all for soup and sandwiches for supper. Yeah, I don't have to cook! We all gathered together. It was fun chat with everyone. Ibssa came home,we watched a movie and went to bed. Still no Internet. Bummer! We got up this morning and went through our routines. We had to be move by noon. Out of nowhere Rob and Dave came and moved all of our stuff. Praise God. I am feeling better but that is quite a job. We met Victoria who is from Great Britain. She is currently renting the large suite. I am afraid she is going to be a little overwhelmed by her new roommates. I guess we will have to keep everything clean now that we are sharing common spaces. Ibssa once again went down to play with the boys while I unpacked. I am going to miss them when they are gone. They are going to a new guesthouse on Sunday. Ibssa was very excited about our new home. We skyped Paul after lunch. It was good to hear from him after a day of not seeing him. It was time for Ibssa's nap. It started out ok but it took him a long time to fall asleep. Now we are in the same bed which is also new. I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce during his nap. I had to use up the ingredients before they went bad. I will just have to freeze it. We are ordering in Indian food for supper. Butter chicken and Naan. Mmmmmmmm. I hope bedtime goes a little easier than nap time. I know it is going to be a challenge when we have to have a shower. It is just a little square with a curtain around it. I can see us flooding the bathroom. Overall the third floor is actually nicer than the second floor. It has a bigger kitchen and bigger balconies. We are all trying very hard to fill our days now. We are all running out of things to do that doesn't cost money. It a holiday here today so everything is closed .....store wise. Oh well, chow for now Karen

More delays

We just don't seem to have much luck here in Ethiopia. Because of the shootings in Nairobi last week the High Commision is only open one day this week. That means our paperwork is pushed back another week and I will probably have to rebook my flight again. It is now looking pretty grim for October 9 for me. I guess I will be spending thanksgiving here as well. So much for seeing my other two kids :-( Well I am so thankful for my little Ibssa that I am sure I can take it for another week. My cold is getting better slowly and I am getting more energy. I think next week I will visit Shelley's mission in Korah. They make necklaces to sell in Canada. This year they are making earrings as well. Shelley is sending 200 pairs home with me for her to sell in Canada. That will break up the week somewhat. My friends are moving on the 29th but they found A place close by so we can still visit. I picked up the sandels that I ordered from the factory. She made me three pairs to pick from. They were all great and it was hard to choose. So of course I bought 2 pairs and will give a pair to Kate since we have the same shoe size. I have to stop shopping. I am not sure where I will put everything. It is just so cheap here and you just want to help as much as you can. Wish me luck tomorrow. I think I will take heather up on going for haircuts. She saw somewhat of a salon by the lime tree restaurant so I think we will try it. My hair is getting long and my blow dryer died the first day I was here. And do you believe they do not sell blow dryers in this city! At least I haven't found any. My grey hairs are really coming through now, but I don't think I will attempt a colour. Well chow for now. Have to think about supper. God bless Karen

Correction

I said epiglottis but I meant uvula

Recovering

I just want to thank all those people out there who are praying for mine and Ibssa's health. It has worked for Ibssa and now it is starting to work for me. Yesterday I decided to go with the Reich family for lunch and a movie. I thought how hard could it be it is just sitting. We went to a place called My Burger for lunch. This is where I have to give a shout out to my friend Teresa V. Over the years I have watched her communicate with Joshua, who is mostly deaf and has down syndrome. I find myself using alot of her techniqes with signing and talking. It is truly amazing how he picks up on this so quickly. I ordered him a hamburger and fries...he just wanted the fries. He pointed to the hamburger and to my bag and signed and said later. Too funny! God puts people in your path for a reason and I am sure Joshua gave us the gift of learning and communicating. We went to see the movie Turbo. This was Ibssa's first big screen experience. I am not sure if he liked it or not. He kept telling me to turn it off. I think it was too loud. But he made it through. It took everything I had to make it through this day. I was really short of breath. Should have stayed home. We had a pretty quiet evening. I have been letting him have a lot of video game time lately because I can't really do much with him. That will change. Today we went to the doctor. He wanted to see Ibssa's x-ray. He said he didn't have pneumonia and that the radiologist was wrong. He said Ibssa has asthma and he got a chest cold which makes it a whole lot worse. He said his lungs are clear now and that he can be taken off all of his medicines. Hallelujah!!! What a relief. He didn't have time to look at me because he was very busy. One of the good things about Ethiopia is that you can go to a pharmacy and tell them you want an antibiotic. You don't need a perscription. The one thing the doctor did say was that his eppiglotis...you know the thing that hangs at the back of your throat, had been cut out. WHAT!!!! He said this is a common practice. When they are babies and they are problem eaters they think that this part of your anatomy is the problem, so they cut it out. It is their traditonal way of solving things. He said it is a very painful procedure and that some babie die from it. He said it won't really affect him now and not to worry. He asked me how Ibssa was communicating so I told him my hamburger story. He was amazed how well he was doing. That's right, cute and smart! On our way back I picked up some groceries and met the rest of the gang for lunch at their new guesthouse....at least I think they are going to stay there. The restaurant is run by an Ethiopian who has lived in Canada. The food was really good. I wil definately be going back there. I was a little hesitant at first because it is on the 5th floor and right now I can barely make it 2 floors without coughing up a storm, but they had an elevator! God has been with us all day and I am sure it is because of all of all of your prayers. I skyped my mom and dad when Ibssa was having his nap. It was so great to see and speak to them. They are with Paul right now. My mom is making him some meals. They are also celebrating my nephews birthday. My sister is coming there tonight to. I hope they have a great time. Also, I just wanted to give a shout out to my Endo family. I haven't heard from any of you. Steve, I am having withdrawel from your "any news" questions. Here is my email once again so you can let me know if you are still alive and who is doing my job and what is happening with the roche!!!! pgresty@sympatico.ca Miss all you guys, Karen

God is taking care of me

Yesterday was a pretty dull day. Ibssa had a lot of play time in the morning. I made a pork roast with potatoes and corn for supper. I made a homemade bbq sauce and cooked it really slowly for 3 hours because the meat here is sometimes pretty tough. My chest cold has now turned into a full blown head cold. I have just about totally lost my voice and my nose is running non stop. I feel like crap. Ibssa on the other hand appears to be doing very well. He still has a rattley cough. We are going back to the doctor for him on Tuesday. Rob came up last night to see if we wanted to go to Yaya village today. This is where the Olympic atheletes go to train in the high altitudes. It is about a half hour drive from here. I said we were in but I knew that if I didn't feel much better then I may have to back out. I was hoping a good night sleep would be the trick. When I woke up this morning I was in the worst shape yet. Ibssa had us up at 5 so I made him lay in my bed until 6. My nose just would not stop running. I coughed up phlegmn again and again. I was even having a tough time breathing. I skyped Paul. He could barely hear me because my voice had pretty much disappeared. When we finished I had decided that there was no way I could go away today. I needed a day to sleep this thing off. I texted the other couples to see if they would still take Ibssa with them. I didn't get any replies right away so I called Candy. She said no problem. What a relief. Although this is something I said I wouldn't do. I didn't want Ibssa to think I was abandoning him, but I really had no choice. TG brought my coffee this morning and when she heard me speak she said she would bring me some ginger tea later. What a sweetheart she is. The troops left at 9am and I quickly returned to bed. I slept until 2pm. I got up and had a shower and came out to see if Paul was up yet for skyping. Just then TG came up with some ginger tea and some toaseted barely. She said she would be bringing up some hot soup for me for supper. I am telling you this has got to be the best guest house in Ethiopia. The gang returned from their outing and said Ibssa was ready for his nap. I let him play a couple of video games first to unwind and now he is sleeping. I hope for not too long or elese he wont go to bed easily tonight. Well, I am going to sit here and enjoy my tea, and relax until he gets up. My throat is already feeling better from the tea. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Keep us in your prayers, Karen