Christmas Day

Yesterday was Christmas Day. The kids hopped out of bed, and we watched as Nathan, Jacob, Zach, and MacKensie openned their presents. Our kids were each given a very imposing Ethiopian spear, crafted by one of the night guards who can hit a lizard from a significant distance. Amy made an amazing brunch for us and it was wonderful to be with them on Christmas.

After we cleaned up, Tex and I took Anna, MacKensie, Zach, John, Meg and Heather down to a spot by the lake near this big field. It is a good place to go for a swim, if you can handle the cow droppings, as the field and beach is where a local man keeps his herd of cows. The first day we were here, his wife was washing his clothes and he was herding his cows naked...I was glad he was off in the distance. Yesterday, he was wearing a full suit, a little dusty, but a full black suit. As I wrote in an earlier post, dressing up is very important to them.

The kids spent a couple of hours there swimming in the reddish lake, among the reeds, with pelicans floating nearby. They spent some time building sand castles, which made me cringe at them sitting with cow dung around them. They didn't seem to care, and managed to stay in the sand. For the rest of the day, Heather cared for and played with some stray puppies with one of the missionary kids. All of the kids also spent some time up at the House of Hope playing with the babies and giving them bottles.

Sometime late in the evening, we heard an incredible amount of noise coming from the health clinic, apparently there was a tribal disagreement and a man was speared (yes, with the same sort of spear that my children now have) and brought to the clinic. Mike and Shane (another man who works here in Langano) drove the man to the nearest hospital which is 45 minutes away. As is the culture here, another man from the other tribe was clubbed in the face as retaliation some time last night. He arrived being carried by a crowd, with at least 40 people accompanying him. Meg and I saw them coming up the lane and I assumed it ws some sort of a funeral or something. Apparently, even with child birth, half the village comes with the women and wait around (sitting on the bed with you, children included).

The kids continue marvel at the calabis monkeys, warthogs, etc.

Love,
Susan, Tex, and the kids