Today was a very good day! I woke up early this morning to get ready for church. Tigist came to pick Hannah and I up at 7:45. She wasn't sure what the traffic would be like so we left quite early. We got there with plenty of time to spare! The church was actually quite beautiful and set up in a square formation. It wasn't only an evangelical church but it was also a Theological College. The full name is "International Theological Church". The service was held in the main auditorium and the square had classrooms. There were many diverse people in attendance of the service. They hold two english services on Sunday as well as a French, Korean, and an Amharic service.
They began with a group of singers and instrumentalists singing 4 short songs to begin. They said some announcements and then the pastor took his spot on the stage. I believe he was from America but Tigist told us he had been there for a long time. He spoke dramatically and made you want to listen. This morning, he spoke about temptation. Especially how Jesus faced Satan and surpassed that temptation while he was fasting for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. Jesus did not need to fall into that temptation because he was dependent on the lord. I loved that way the pastor spoke from the bible and then fully explained what it had meant. After his message, they began offering. Several people walked around with velvet bags collecting the offering. When the collectors went back up front, we sang the same song that my home church sings after offering. Next, we went into communion. There were bowls full of bread distributed to passed around and later there were bowls of juice passed around. The pastor talked about Jesus breaking the bread as the body of Christ and drinking the drink as the blood of Christ all in remembrance of him. When the service ended, the band sang another song and reminded us to leave and 'Shine for him'.
I actually cannot wait to go back next Sunday. It reminds me of a church service you would attend in the United States and I love having something like this to remind me of home. While there, we even met a lady who was originally from Alabama and her husband was working at one of the Ethiopian hospitals. Everyone was so nice and welcomed us both fully.
Once we got back to Tigist's car she insisted on coffee and breakfast. We went to a coffee shop called the Bole Mini. All three of us got Hot Chocolate and I chose the coconut bread. It was pretty good! We sat and just talked about our lives, the U.S. and Ethiopia comparisons, etc. When we went to leave, Tigist took us on a longer route back because she wanted us to see the other side of the city. It's very interesting to me how some of the buildings are so nice and some just look abandoned. When we got to the road back to ILRI it was actually blocked off. In Addis, there are many roundabouts but Tigist said the government was choosing to replace them with stoplights because the roundabouts were causing traffic jams. Which for their type of driving I can understand. There may only be for official lanes but the drivers are going to make four of their own! With the detour we ended up taking a pretty out of the way road but that was what was available. But, I'm glad we could see even more of the city.
After our morning out with Tigist, we spent the day relaxing. We went to the Sunday buffet which is always good and we topped off the day with a movie. While watching the movie, I heard this loud clunking on the roof of the hostel. It kept getting harder and harder. I looked out my window and to my disbelief it was nickel-sized hail! It hailed for about 15 minutes starting light and then getting really hard and then light again. I was honestly quite scared for the time being. It was so loud against the hostel. It was coming at an angle and I could hear it just pounding my door. When the hail finished, it started to rain like normal. Hannah and I just couldn't believe it.
Tomorrow we will go back to Debre Zeit (leaving at 7am!) so Hannah can begin to take her chicken data for her project. Dr. Olivier informed me today, when he stopped by at lunch, that he is in contact with another scientist working with cattle to get a project figured out. But as for tomorrow, I am going to help Hannah weigh the chicks and collect that data. That should be interesting! But, I'll be happy to be helping and doing something productive!
(The outside if the main auditorium, not a good pic (These are government bins storing grains in
but I will get one next Sunday!) case of national emergency)
(One of the abandoned-looking (Just a pretty statue in one of the roundabouts)
buildings)
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