Mr. Crabby Britches and Our First Day Here

Uncertain whether it was my newly adjusted internal clock or my bladder (for they are equally annoying), I woke and removed my eye mask to see that it was exactly 7 AM. Ugh! The kids were still fast asleep so I returned to bed but couldn’t sleep for Keith’s badgering me about the banging he heard. However, I could hear neither the banging nor Keith’s question to me because of my ear plugs. All I could make out was, “Mumble, mumble, mumble,” followed by a muffled, “What is it?!” I half thought he was talking in his sleep and half that he’d just give up and let me return to sweet slumber, so I let him go on for a while before finally removing one ear plug. “I hear the banging but it’s nothing I have any control over, and we are lucky it’s not accompanied by a barking dog and music from the Mosque,” I lovingly replied. He ignorantly refused ear plugs, so I put mine back in and slid into the covers just as an angry elbow met my backside. (No bruises were incurred.) Ah, it’s Mr. Crabby Britches no matter how gentle I greet him in the morning. I love him dearly, but I should know by now to keep a safe distance. He never remembers these incidents though, no matter how loud he gets or where he accidentally flails his arms. Hopefully we will have a larger bed once we move into our own home.

Keith told me to "not make him sound like a wife beater." Okay, he's not a wife beater. Really. We all have our flaws. He's sometimes a wee bit grumpy in the mornings. I occasionally have gas when I get in bed. Neither is good timing.

We all slept till nearly noon, then pasta with Keith’s favorite sauce for lunch and I went back to sleep until dinner. I blame the altitude. Always the altitude. Dinner: what looked to be fried zucchini and fried squash. My excitement quickly waned when the first few bites of squash were disappointing because they was actually potatoes, which are severely lacking in flavor compared to my favorite vegetable. The squash. Fried.



Besides sleeping and carb loading, the day was filled with power outages. Sometimes we’d have it for less than a minute at a time. We were told that because it’s Easter weekend here to expect outages…as well as more animals in the street than the usual. Alive and dead. Welcome to Ethiopia.


A goat head in the street. Evidence of the Resurrection celebration.

The kids discovered their favorite toy here in the guest home, those giant foam pop-out alphabet inter-locking floor squares. They had a hay day. We used to own a set but gave them away mainly because I got tired of them. Every day it was someone else’s turn to use them to build something ridiculous that I had to pretend excitement over: a car, bed, trash can, Buzz Lightyear costume, etc. I know. I’m the worst for giving away their favorite play thing. They don’t call me “Mommie Dearest” for nothing.



I’d been wearing the same clothes for 3 days straight, so I took a shower even though it was only my first day in Ethiopia. Perhaps I needed the shower because I found toe jam behind my ears. Both of them. Gross. How does toe jam get up there anyway? Then in the bathroom, I kept getting a whiff of someone’s awful foot odor. But I checked my feet and shoes but neither emitted such a smell. I am still perplexed over it.

We saw our house by the light of day. Haven’t signed on it yet. But I’ll include pictures next time. We have two bathrooms. And, both are inside the house. I am just giddy.