A week of firsts

Max organized an English club and today was the first day we planned to meet. We walked to school with our neighbor, Rivka, who is our 9^th grade student, she wants to be an astronaut, there’s never been an Ethiopian female in space and she plans to be the first. 12 o’clock at school and 12 kids showed up! They are eager to learn and suggested we do the class every week, they want to meet more than twice a month. Max found a poem by an Ethiopian writer and we tried to emphasize creative thinking and forming opinions. The head of the English department, Temesgen, came for a bit and he was very impressed. We are eager to try new things with these kids, we brainstormed the entire walk back home about ways to introduce different mediums into teaching, watching a movie, listening to music, Skyping with Dylan in Israel! (we thought maybe other 9^th graders but the time difference will be an obstacle) but we can offer these kids, who are willing to spend time on their weekend to learn, something different than what they would get in a classroom of 70 students. Anyway, I’m excited about the student’s enthusiasm and what we can offer them!

This past week was exams for the 9^th and 10^th graders at school. We taught on Monday and then the kids had their midterms the remainder of the week, so we didn’t have class. Manlio and Alemu were in town with the Ethiopian Ambassador to Israel, Belaynesh Zavadia. We met her and spent time with the Eye from Zion organization which was in town to perform and teach surgical operations to the Doctor’s of Gondar’s Eye Clinic. We joined them in the operating room (vastly different from Shady Grove hospital, I can assure you) and witnessed two cataract surgeries. It was neat, the Israeli doctor was instructing the head doctor from the eye clinic step by step in how to use the cataract replacement tools they were donating to the clinic. A very cool experience, don’t need to do that again.

Mark Gelfand was in town along with Dr. Ronen Mir, General Director and CEO, Israel National Museum of Sceince in Haifa. Very inspiring to speak with these individuals who are donating time and resources to facilitate the instruction of science and technology here. Mr. Gelfand, who donated the money for the new Science and Technology Center which is very near completion, said that his two requirements for investing in a country were that they were friends with Israel and America and that they showed a keen interest and could benefit from the development of sciences.

The weather continues to be amazing. The sun rises at 6:45 and it stays cool until about 10. It’s sweltering by noon but there’s a 20 degree difference in the shade of a tree (worka trees are indigenous here and are enormous, they’re really stunning looking trees that can provide shade for a big area, like a class of school children). Lately, in the later afternoon, big white puffy clouds roll through, sometimes leaving really dark and threatening clouds. You never know when it will actually rain though. It can be completely sunny out your window and pouring. The rains don’t last long anymore though so it’s easy to find cover under a tree or in a nearby building. The hills are beginning to turn brown but they’re still so beautiful in the distance, plenty of green remains.

Max and I are taking off for South Africa soon! We will celebrate Hanukah and my birthday there. We are going on Safari and have a wine tour planned in Cape Town. We extended our trip 10 days so that we are able to send and renew our visas in the US (not upset about that at all). Really excited, I hear the country is beautiful!  Please send any recommendations our way!