SPA farewells 14-16 and a little video

So, in the past week and a half, three of my friends have left ATA. Friday, December 13 was the last day for my roommate Fabio Spalding. I knew all that Friday the 13th stuff was true! Fabio is one of those people everyone likes, and it's not hard to see why. He's a very jolly Brazilian, and the last of my original roommates in my apartment. While at ATA, Fabio worked on the team constructing fertilizer blending plants. This is an effort that combines with our soil mapping work to make customized blended fertilizer (based on soil deficiencies) available in each village. He came from Bain Sao Paulo and is going back after traveling around South America for three months. We've already planned a trip for me to visit and watch the 2016 Rio Olympics with him: It's better when you're closer to the event and still watching it on TV :)

Clearly I was distraught at our farewell lunch. This is not actually the most ridiculous picture we took, but I don't have the rest of them.

Then, just one week later (on Friday, December 20), Sarah Hewitt left. Sarah had been at ATA since ~October 2012 and worked tirelessly to get the Gender Team up and running. She's very fun and is one of the people who came out with me on my very first night in Addis. Sarah is going to spend the next several months traveling before getting some super awesome job based on an African beach...well, at least a city in Africa with a beach...basically, spending so long in a landlocked country has gotten to Sarah.

Then just yesterday, Noah McColl left as well. Noah came to ATA just a bit after me and is also a super fun guy (I know I keep saying this about everyone, but it's fairly universally true at the ATA). He's Canadian...but we like him anyway...just kidding, everyone likes Canadians...not like the French...oh, sorry Henri :)

Before ATA, Noah was living in Mekelle (capital of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia) working on biofuel. He worked with the Seed and Tef Teams at ATA and is currently in the process of interviewing for his next job. Noah is part of our "tango group," which is what we call the group that goes to Golden Gym together.

Enjoy this really bad picture where we all have red eyes and where the picture "idea" was not very good either. From left to right, Matt, Tony, Rohan (holding a poster that I kid you not is titled "The Superhighway to Great Guns"...man I love this gym), Noah, and me.

It was also Noah's birthday last week, so we celebrated during our usual after gym dinner.

We'll miss you, buddy.

I was so distraught about these three leaving that I ran away to Abu Dhabi for Christmas. Given my recent track record, you'll hear more about that in...two months or so. On that note, enjoy this video from my October visit to Abu Dhabi.

This video has everything: Bottle time AND homework time AND Rosemary displaying her ability to say “hi” time AND Emma/Evelyn discussion on whether or not the family should have another child AND mommy loving time AND playing with bottle time AND watering the couch with milk time.

FYI, I know I cut the video abruptly, but if you pay attention, you can tell Emma was about to compliment Evelyn on her homework. I had to cut it in order to help clean off the milk Rosie decided to decorate the couch with while Emma was distracted...she's sneaky.

Blast from the past: Abu Dhabi October - Birthdays

So most of October I spent in Abu Dhabi with my sister Emma, her husband John, and their three children - Evelyn (6), Hyrum (3), and Rosemary (1).

There were a lot of friends' birthday parties. I mean seriously, either they have too many friends or everyone's having babies at the exact same time of year.

Friend's birthday party #1: This was Peter Pan themed and included quite a few themed activities including bombing the pirate boat with water balloons. Evelyn had to leave part-way through for friend's birthday party #2 (so hard when you're double booked with important meetings).

Friends' birthday party #3: This was held at an indoor amusement park-type place, which was (1) in a mall (because everything's in a mall in the UAE, duh) and (2) I think was designed by a five-year-old on crack. Seriously, between the outrageous colors, the slightly off famous children's characters, the omnipresent flashing lights, the candy, the cake, the roller coasters, and all the other screaming children, I think the goal is to give kids seizures...and I'm not sure you'd be able to tell in there if a kid was having one.

The party room in back was clearly "under the sea" themed, which is why you can see Winnie the Poo by the yellow fish on the left side of this picture?

One-armed sorta looks like SpongeBob. Pokemon?

Ariel's got some problems: (1) Doesn't really look like Ariel, (2) I assume the artist couldn't draw hands which is why both are hidden (unless...did Ariel recently lose her hands in a freak accident and she's hiding them behind her fin and in her hair so as not to scare the children? That's what I like about Ariel: always looking out for the kids), and (3) she's so heavy they were afraid she'd fall off the wall unless they propped her up with a fish and some shells.

Ah yes, the obligatory underwater candy and baked goods.

This is what you get when someone designs an amusement park by copying other parks without understanding the purpose for everything. "Why do you have this ruler?" "Well the ride manufacturer just threw one in for free, so I was like 'cool, free ruler.'" "Do you have a height restriction on this ride?" "A what?"

That's right, an honest to goodness yellow submarine.

Hey look, it's Evelyn!

Hey! I know her!

Look! There she is again!

I don't know what this bear did, but it must have been bad.

Really, the rides are forbidden to "children being visibly upset?" Between the candy/cake and the execution of Winnie the Pooh up there, I'm pretty sure all the children are going to be "upset."

After the five-year-old rave, I blacked out and didn't get any pictures of birthday parties 4-56 (all numbers approximate).

Eventually, we reached Evelyn's birthday party. Hurray for turning six! Yeah, they look sweet, don't they? Do not be fooled! You'll notice in the picture that Rosie is running for the hills...fine, crawling for the hills.

Six-year old boys I understand; I used to be one. Six-year old girls? I mean, Evelyn is great, but random, other six-year old girls? I'm lost.

Also, you want to have an uncomfortable experience - try being a twenty-something guy hanging out for an afternoon with 8 six-year old girls and their mothers. At some point, you realize all the mothers are looking at you like "who's this creepy guy hanging out at a little girl's birthday party? I know that's not her father. Who is that guy?" That point? About 10 minutes in, which is as long as I lasted before following Rosie's lead.

Evelyn's family birthday party (Hitler mustache alert...I mean, Charlie Chaplain mustache alert).

Rosie's first birthday!

Aren't I cute in the outfit I'm only wearing for these pictures because I'll get cake all over it otherwise?

Hey look, presents!

Some assembly required? Seriously? Fine, let me pull out my toolbox.

Make a what?

Hey look, cake (well, actually cupcakes)!

I made a mess...

That's better.

My favorite part of the day was actually when everyone left...and I got some bottle and Mommy time.

Reminder: Ethiopia = amazing

Every once in a while, I feel the need to remind you why Ethiopia is amazing:

Wenchi Crater

Wenchi Crater lake is about 3-4 hours west of Addis and is (as the name implies) a lake in a giant crater that used to be the Mount Wenchi volcano.

The surrounding area is beautiful.

And then there's the actual lake...

Blue Nile Gorge

About 4-5 hours north of Addis the road to Bahir Dar passes the Blue Nile Gorge, where the elevation goes from over 2,000 meters at the top to about 500 meters at the bottom (where the Nile runs).

Or in video form:

I know it looks like the gorge runs vertical in the pictures/video, but there is actually a network of gorges and the Nile runs through one that goes horizontal in these pictures (just harder to make out).

And at the bottom...the Blue Nile.

One final note this week. I spent the last couple days in Amhara spending time with a smallholder farming family (working with them, sleeping in their home, talking with them). While I'm not supposed to share specifics or pictures, I can say that the experience was incredibly humbling. The challenges facing this family were vast, out of their control, and in many ways seem insurmountable (not just for the family but for the country overall). The level of despair I felt simply on their behalf was amazing. Clearly, there is much work to be done, and I don't think we'll ever fully solve all these problems until Christ comes to the earth again.

However, I also witnessed the indomitable spirit of the human will. I was inspired to see this family get up each morning and work hard all day despite the many, many obstacles because the alternative is literally starvation and death (as opposed to simply consistent hunger). Beyond that, I'm not sure I've ever seen a family enjoy each other as much (though mine comes close). The feeling of love in that home was pervasive and strong. At the end of the day who is poorer: the smallholder farmer on the brink of starvation each year who is loved completely by his family and spends quality time with them every day or the family in the US who are strangers from each other because there's not enough time in the day to make money for all the world's "nice things," buy and use those nice things, and spend time together. This life may be more difficult for the smallholder farmer, but the eternities will be lonelier and more difficult for the other. Thanks be to my mother and father for giving me the best of both worlds, and I only feel bad that so many others are not as lucky as I..