An Around the World Adventure
I am "touring" countries around the world, tasting their food, learning more about them, but most importantly, praying for the missionaries working there. Won't you join me?
I can't say enough about my time in Ethiopia. I have spent the last two weeks immersed in photos and memories in preparation for a presentation. My heart is filled with longing to return to the people I learned to love so much and to complete work that I feel I left undone. But, alas, that is not in God's plans for me right now. What I can do is share the stories and the list of needs with others. I can pray for those I left behind and invite you to pray with me.
Their needs are many and great. Berhane Yesus Elementary School where I taught, still needs a native English teacher. BESS, Bethel Evangelical Secondary School, the feeder school for Berhane Yesus, where many of my students are attending now, has many needs.
Both schools are mandated by the government to purchase new text books for next year. The cost is over $15,000 USD per school. God only knows where the money will come from. In the mean time, they will purchase a few books for the teachers who will painstakingly copy word for word on the blackboard and the students will painstakingly copy into their exercise books.
My friend Leta, is still working to carry out the dreams of Dr. Mamo, a man with great dreams who died way too soon, to build schools and churches in 37 remote villages. At last count, he has completed 22. Fifteen remain. The schools he has built are only kindergarten, some through 2nd grade. Either the children walk many kilometers, sometimes up to two hours each way, to continue their education. Often they don't. Especially the girls whose families believe it is too dangerous for them to travel that far. Of those who don't, their education is over until teachers can be found and schools can be built.
Elders in Tanbarbar
My friends Samson and Dorothy continue to struggle to build elder care in Ethiopia through their organization Noble Cause Elder Care and Support Services. They are building the first geriatric care in Ethiopia. You can learn more about my time with them by clicking this link We're Going North!.
Grinding teff
Everyone I met introduced me to a glimpse of daily life and struggles and for that I will be forever grateful. You can learn more about my time there by visiting my photo album Adventures in Mission - Ethiopia. You have a couple of options if you are visiting. You can click on next at the bottom and be able to read the stories and captions with each picture, or, you can simply view the photos by clicking the slide show button. On the right, you have the option of selecting the speed you want to view it in.
Each day there was a blessing from God. Some days were hard, especially those with no water, electricity or internet to keep me connected to home. Those were so minor compared to the joys I experienced in being there. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me next!! I know it will be truly amazing!
I am iced in. No water, limited cooking, and a book I am having a hard time getting into, so this week I thought I would explore romantic places. It is February and the month of Valentine's Day and romance isn't it?
So, what is a decidely single girl who is traveling the world via the internet supposed to do? Well, for one, work the Valentine's Dance instead of getting all girlied up and having a hot date. But that's ok. Not many people get to have a radio station sponsor a party for their birthday and then let her work too. But that's quite all right.
I get to go to the 50 most romantic places on earth, at least according to travel and leisure.com. So let's start with the list and go from there. Just in case any of you with unlimited time and budgets are in the market for a change from the traditional, dinner, chocolates and roses...
1. Moroccan Moyen Âge 2. Garden over the Big Apple 3. Rule India 4. Enchanted Evening in Italy 5. Petite Promenade in Montreal 6. Baroque Belgium 7. Illuminated Vieques 8. La Source Shiraz 9. Sedona by Firelight 10. Spanish Idyll
And, look, Paris didn't even make the top ten! But I am adding one...New Zealand. Here's what I read on BBC this morning...."New Zealand: a microcosm of ecosystems". I just had to go there! So, it is number eleven!
I think I will stop here. It will take a while to check out all of these places and we only have a little over a week until Valentine's Day. So let's start at the top...
Morocco...ahhh...one of my favorite places - Africa, and NO, I didn't put it first on the list - they did! It's the home of Casablanca and Marrakesh.
Who can forget one of the best all time movies "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart and Ingirid Bergman? Who can forget "Play it again Sam" and the words to "As Time Goes By"?
Let's have a look around Morrocco...I couldn't resist after reading this on Travel and Leisure: "The sounds, scents, and colors of the cobbled alleyways and mosques, the figures cloaked in djellabas—all create an intoxication that teeters on the overwhelming.Moroccan National Tourist Office, 212-37/681-541; www.tourism-in-morocco.com."
Starting of course, in Casablanca...
photo courtesy of www.photozones.net
I love the caption for Casablanca on Travel Zone. net ...'Casablanca, Morocco: Entertain your wildest fantesies". Now isn't that what Valentine's Day and romance are all about?
And of course, we have to move on to Marakesh. How could I resist after reading this list of reasons to go on fodors.com
Top Reasons to Go
Wander amid the sizzle and smoke of the Djemâa el Fna—the world's most exuberant marketplace.
Lose yourself (literally) in the alluring lanes of the bizarre bazaars of the souk and the city.
"The sandstone fort in the town of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, rises from the eastern desert like a volcano emerging from the sea. ... Government of India Tourist Office, 213/380-8855; www.tourisminindia.com."
Those words were all it took for me to take a look around...
Eat - Recipe: How could I pass up a recipe for Gnocchi when it read like this, " Both Luca and SImone, my cousins, promised me the experience I would have as each delicate bite of the fluffy gnocchi hit my tongue would be like consuming a piece of a fluffy cloud in the sky."
5. Petite Promenade in Montreal
When I first started looking for pictures of Montreal, I only saw pictures that reminded me of any large city - towering skycrapers and typical street scenes. I was wondering "Why Montreal?" A little tenacity paid off and I found this photo and a link to a site called "Design Sponge" and a wonderful guide to visitng Montreal. Now, I understand.
Belgium has always been on my list of places I would like to visit. After looking at this picture I wonder....hmmm...what kind of mission work could I do there??
7. Illuminated Vieques
I had absolutely no idea where Vieques was when I fist saw this list. Now I know it is in Puerto Rico. I am quite certain they need mission work there ...
What could be more romantic than a table for two and the end of a candlelit walk on the edge of the ocean?
All About Luxury News describes it as "Vieques has all the classic elements for a romantic escape: superb beaches, balmy weather, a languid pace. But the highlight is the bioluminescent bay on the southern shore of the island, filled with microscopic organisms that flash bright blue and light up the water with what looks like a million stars."
I'm packing my bags...how about you?
8. La Source Shiraz
And I thought Shiraz was just a wine! Little did I know that it is a place of such great beauty in Iran. Persia.org describes it as "the city of roses and poets". How much more romantic than that can you get?
Now that I have "visited" all these places, I thought I would try a few recipes. A girl has to eat after all doesn't she? Check out the Recipe Page for the recipes. Try as many as you like and let me know which are your favorites.
First stop of course is Morroccoo and Kefta Meatballs in Butter Sauce. It's a quick and easy recipe I found on About.Com
It's an Indian snack and the one thing you need when you've been iced in for three days is a snack! I don't know about you guys, but I get kind of tired of eating the same old chips.
Skipped over a few others and headed straight for Shiraz. How could I not, when I found this ""Sharing poetry on a Persian Plate"! - Yea it makes sense because Persians are very romantic about their food. During a regular meal or otherwise, people can hardly restrain themselves from singing the praise of the food laid before them. Every food has a tale to tell and the eaters take turns to extol the virtues of the food through a poem, or a story. The Persian food culture is valued for the richness of the taste and honored for the abundance of literature. The quotes sang in the praise of food are drawn from ancient Persian literature." (http://www.ifood.tv/blog/sharing-poetry-on-a-persian-plate)
So, I needed a salad to go with my dinner and I tried the Tomato Cucumber Salad. Nothing could be easier and you can never go wrong with tomatoes, cucumbers and onions...I wonder what kinds of poetry you can come up with while eating this?
And last, but certainly not least, a meal is just not a meal without desert, so it is off to Belgium we go for some incredible Crepes with Salted Butter Carmel. It just sounds decadent, doesn't it?
My problem, I can tell with cooking all these meals is, I haven't found anything I don't like so far. The other problem is, that with only two pans, I sometimes have to adapt. Tonight it was having to reheat the gnocci. I dumped it in the pan with the Kefta and it toasted a little and soaked up some of the lemon butter sauce. I don't think I will ever make it differently again! MMMM!
Pray
This week, I am praying your lives are full of love, laughter and romance!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Click on the links below to learn more about PCUSA's work in these countries and I hope you will take a moment to pray for the work and the workers...
I love this new website I found supporting women survivors of war rebuild their lives...Women for Women International Check it out and learn more about what they are doing...
