Now for all of those of you who aren’t addicted that may seem unusual. But last night I couldn’t sleep trying to decide if I should drink it all at once or if I should only allow myself one inch per day so it will last longer. Then…. I started thinking about how I can get ice and I even figured a way to get straws. The pathetic part is that I spent some more waking time debating this issue.

So it’s funny that the things you take for granted one day can be your dream the next. What a good lesson for me to remember to appreciate all the little things that I usually don’t even stop to notice.

I had a wonderful day with a new volunteer today. She is from Greece but was raised in Addis. It was such an encouragement to hear how perfectly she speaks Amharic. Also, it is so fun to know that people from all over the world care enough about women who have suffered to help the best we can. So…. thank you also to you for believing that there is hope and that each one of us doing our little bit will make a great big impact.

I miss you bunches!

In the USA I write a six-most-important-things to do list for the next day, here it is a six-most-important-things to get done in the next six months. I started my list about three weeks ago and I am just now beginning to cross off a few. I have one good example: Due to the generosity of a private woman who is driven with her passion to help women, we have been trying to buy a new car for two years. First we didn’t have the right permission, next we had to renew our licence, then all the NGOs in Ethiopia had to renew their license. Finally, I got to put on my list “buy car”. We went in the car dealership that had already given us a pro forma invoice, and said we were ready to purchase the car. But…. the car is not allowed to be in stock here. We have to send to the port (no Ethiopian currency allowed) the money and then wait for one to two months. Grrrrrr…….

The other thing that has been high on my priority list is to stay out of prison. I had another near miss on Friday. The top inspector had called me to tell me the case is closed and the charges are declared to be false. So….. the logical thing it seemed for me to do was stop by the police station to say, “thank you”. Well, I guess gratitude may not always be the best policy. The top inspector was not in but the one who had already been punished because of the illegal way he had treated the employees of the Trampled Rose was the highest ranking police officer there. He told me that I am a wanted fugitive and that he was under duty to hold me. I knew I was in trouble when I saw my Ethiopian friend’s face. She was white and sweating. We spent about 15 minutes until she convinced him that he may get into even more personal trouble if he didn’t back off. So now…. the case has been formally closed. I am fine and free or I would never tell you this story

We have been having such exciting things happening. We have started our outreach in an area called Mirabeta. Thank you Gwadenia for your help!!!!! This week I am meeting with the head of a Fistula Hospital about 120km away. It is for the very poorest women. She is Norwegian but born in Ethiopia. I was so amazed how she is using her life to have such an impact on this problem. We meet on Wednesday so I will let you know how things go.

Personally, I have signed up for tennis drills four days per week and I am working out every morning with my Ethiopian house cleaner. I think that is helping the depression and loneliness that I sometimes experience here. I also found a card table to put on my front porch. AND a chimenea. My friend Carolyn (also our corporate CPA) is coming this week and she is bringing me a fountain to put outside too. The things one does for love. Thank you, Carolyn.

The women at the Trampled Rose are doing wonderful! This year is a very young class. I will get you the exact statistics soon but I bet the average age is under 19. They are quite dedicated. The staff is such a great team and our dog, Ishi, goes everywhere I go. She loves to ride in the front seat of the car and look out the window. She is especially happy in her dog clothes and dog barrettes.

Our three little girls are so cute and sweet. They are all doing well in their school. It’s hard to imagine how everyone’s life has so changed. Mine has changed as I’ve learned to live with flies and critters and meat that hangs outside and urinating in the streets. But they have just started to learn to live with hope. How lucky am I? And you?

I have a fun story about yesterday. The women told me the one thing more they need is dress making training and….. a volunteer, Margaret, met with me last night. She is here for three months to teach them dress making!!!! This is how I know I must be tired. Margaret and Deborah asked me to go with them to listen to some Jazz and I chose to go home to bed instead. Wow! Not like me at all!

The good news is that I’m not going to prison. I’ve had some trouble with a former employee that charged me with political crimes and I met with the head investigator today. They dropped the charges because of lack of evidence. Whew! But I have learned lots about the criminal procedure so I hope I never need that again.

I’ve spent my time organizing my house and office. I’m sure the little critters that scamper about are sad to have me back. I have a wonderful new young lady to help me clean and cook. She is so worried that I don’t eat enough. I think that’s the first time that has ever happened to me. I’ve also been able to connect with friends.

Things are the best yet at the Trampled Rose. We have 22 women in our program who are so eager to learn. I think they have seen that the results really are up to them. They have seen some graduate women be very successful and living the life they never even dreamed of. I think that has given them even greater hope than our first two classes. For those of you who remember Sinadu, she has come back to us from the county side with a new baby. She hasn’t told us yet the details of how she got pregnant but she has a little boy who is darling!!!!

Our three little girls are doing well in school. They are speaking more and more English and tomorrow we are going through their clothing to sort out the old to give to the poor and they get to wear the new things I brought from the states. It’s a work day for all of us as we (again) rearrange the clothing that you all have so generously donated so that we can easily find the things the women need.

I also had a fun morning with Stephane Gompertz at the French Embassy. He was in town for two days for work and we had a meeting about how we can better help the women who will never have the luck of making it to Addis. I’m going out myself to the north on Monday to meet with officials about how to educate the people to continue to help slow down the flood of women who are getting new Fistulas.

Please be grateful every time you turn on the light switch and the lights come on. Electricity has been a big problem here. It’s amazing how much we need it.

Avoided going to prison on Saturday morning (I’ll tell you more about that later. Don’t worry I really didn’t do anything), got home in time to pack, stopped at a BBQ at my friend, Irada’s house, hopped on an airplane to Spain at midnight. Elena, my wonderful friend who seems more like a sister, picked me up at the airport after a brief layover in London.

She took me to my favorite restaurant in Madrid where I ate enough for five days. The next morning we were up early and went with Elena and Alban to meet with a member of Madrid Parliament. She even took us in to see the room where the Parliament holds session. Then we spent the evening with friends.

We were up early the next day and I was on my way back home. I had a five hour stop off in London that was very dangerous for my shopping habit. And finally back to Denver.

I jumped in bed for a few hours, woke up and cleaned the house, shopped for groceries, cooked for Thanksgiving and headed back to Denver to pick up my son, James.

On Thursday I celebrated all the things we are so thankful for with my husband, children and parents. After lunch, I crashed……

As usual, Ethiopia seems like a dream that I just woke from. My house seems so big and clean and my bed feels like it could sleep a whole family. My first stop was Target to just look at all the colors and I still can’t believe that all the cars follow the traffic laws and stay in one lane or the other. It’s so nice to drink the water and take a hot shower. And I’m sure a clothes washing machine really was invented by God.

I expect to be in the states until the middle of February. I’d love to hear from you!

We took an employee field trip to Sodere. We rented a heavy duty bus because most the drivers here chew khat. Dangerous enough for one but most of the other drivers on the road are also buzzed. We were supposed to leave at 7:00 am but in Ethiopia one and half hours is considered late. So… we pulled off about 8:20. The trip took about four hours through the countryside. We had our own little girls and several children of the employees. About thirty of us in total. It was so wonderful to have all the different ages and levels of experience. For all but one, it was their first trip.

We had cookies for breakfast and the children all ate about one dozen each. Personally, I was just wishing for a Starbucks. We pulled into Sodere about lunch time and the first thing we saw were dozens of monkeys everywhere! There are hot springs of holy water and two swimming pools. It was very hot so most of us enjoyed a cold beer with lunch. I was shocked to see Nigistine (an employee who has been with us about four years who cannot be cured from Fistula and lived basically on the streets for twenty years until we found her; she is about 60 years old), drinking a cold beer along with the rest of us. I rushed to have someone translate that the beer has alcohol and that maybe she would prefer a coke. She just gave me a big smile and a nod as she finished the first and ordered a second. Hmmmmm….. I guess we can all surprise each other.

We swam, ate ice cream, had water fights and just a bunch of fun. On the way home we sang and danced the whole trip. Even I was able to relax that there were no seat belts and that I wasn’t sure it was safe that they were dancing on the bus while it was moving. Happy to say we all got home just in time for a good night’s sleep.

More good news! We got our final approval for three more years to work legally in Ethiopia. We are one of the very first International NGOs (non government office) to receive this permission. Although we were just approved recently to work through 2011, there is a new proclamation in Ethiopia that requires all NGOs to re-register. I felt confident as I took our application in on Tuesday, the first day the registration opened, but then I became afraid after an emergency meeting with other International NGOs telling me all their difficulties and realizing that no one there had been granted final permission. So I ran straight to the government office. The man working on our case told me that our application had been approved but that the stamp was not yet on our certificate. I smiled my biggest smile and told him I would wait quietly in his office until he could get someone to give us the stamp. I guess I was getting on his nerves enough that he left his office to find the right official to give us our stamp. Now the certificate is sitting on my table ready to go to work with me Monday! Yeah for us!

I’ve got one more week here to finish all my work and then I head to Spain for a few days and on home to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I can’t wait to see my family and you!

I went to a Birthday party last night and stayed out talking about business ideas way too late. At what point in life did that become as much fun as dancing the night away? So today I’ve taken the day easy. I’ve been organizing all the paperwork to file for our re-registration tomorrow. I think we have all that we need. But the process begins again. I was so excited when we were granted our legal status through 2012 but there is a new law that states that every NGO needs to submit again before February 12, 2010. Let’s hope that there will be so many and the office will be so organized that we can sail right through with no frustrations.

But…. before the re-registration, I get to experience some time in court. One of the women with Fistula we have been helping for more than four years was hired as an employee. However, she has the basic problem that she can’t seem to grasp the idea that coming to work on time, being kind to others, and not stealing are good ideas. One of our little girls caught her stealing things that were meant for the new women and stopped her. I was proud! She said she is the daughter of our home and she could not let anyone steal. (She earned a good citizenship award at her school for this).

I called the police on the advice of our lawyer so that the laws of Ethiopia could handle the outcome. Sounds simple enough??? Oh no, now she is taking me to court for six month salary plus permanent reinstatement of her job with permission to steal anytime she wishes. So I only hope that reason will be the winner.

I do have to say that our employee problem really has been so beautifully almost solved. Almost everyone is working with such diligence and kindness. Wishes really do come true! We are taking a “field trip” to Sodore to see the natural springs and monkeys next weekend. It will be so nice to just have fun together.

One of the strange things that happens to me here is food cravings. I have been so happy all week because I found a bag of corn chips for sale. They are actually from the middle east so they are not quite Mexican and they cost $12 for a small bag, but they have helped. So if any of you have a chance to go to Southside Johnny’s for sweet potato fries, please remember me.

We also have a bad situation in the Trampled Rose. Mimi, our supervisor, has some very bad condition. One side of her face is paralyzed and twice the size of the other. Her Doctors diagnosis is “the draft”. Every time I tell anyone they gasp and shake their heads. I have never seen this before so I keep asking what causes it. I have now learned that it is caused when someone opens a door and a cool draft gets on one side of their face and the other is still warm.

I started arguing with some good Ethiopian friends that this is impossible. We also have cold and hot air in the USA and I know of no one who has suffered the horrible case of “the draft”. Finally one said that the real cause is the evil eye but they didn’t want to tell me this or I might think they were backwards. The prevention is to keep your cross on around your neck at all times. So, believe me, my cross is on.

Next week my focus is on working again for our re-registration. I should be good at that by now because it is the activity that I have spent the most time in my adventures in Ethiopia.

I also have a new daughter. She has been with us for four years since she was a small baby. Her mother is a graduate and has never taken any interest in the little girl. She is always dirty and the mother never wanted her near. Yesterday she asked the translator for a meeting. In front of this precious little one she asked me to take her “burden”. You could not imagine the painful look on this little four year old’s face. It was the closest I have every come to slapping someone. I told her that I also was a single mother but that I still took care of my two children. I have seen her buy new things for herself but never for her daughter.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I know I can’t help every child in Ethiopia and that my focus has to be on Fistula but how could I put her out??????

So now she is mine and enrolled to start Monday in a private school, Covenant Academy. Our other girls have done so well there. In fact, Sarah just jumped another grade. So I’m off to buy uniforms and books and expand my heart just a little more.

Our great friend Cheru just opened a new hotel, Aman Hotel, and refused to let us pay for anything. The hotel was so nice and clean. I’m so proud of him and his wife, Yetenet. I first met Cheru when he was my tour guide on my first trip to Ethiopia in 2003. We kept laughing about how far we both had come since our first meeting that I thought would be my one and only time to enjoy Ethiopia for four days. Little did I know!

They now have two sweet children. Aman, his daughter, is five and I am sure that she had never walked in her life. She either skips or jumps wherever she floats. Their son is also a sweetie.

We were there for two nights. I am sure we climbed several mountains as we went up and down steps into, out of and around the entire village. Two of my personal highlights were a monastery that was built into a cave. I have never been in such a peaceful setting. I was almost ready to commit to becoming a nun so I could stay there forever until I remembered what I would have to give up.

My second favorite was a midnight celebration in one of the churches. The prayers were so ancient and the dance was so perfect. it lasted until 9:00 in the morning. We sat on a rock overlooking the church and the stars were so bright and the worship was so haunting. I wasn’t sure if I was still alive or in heaven. Melanie’s favorite was walking through a pitch dark tunnel “Hades” and coming out into the seventh heaven.

Of course, we also enjoyed home made honey wine, tej, and local dancing one night. We met up with two Trampled Rose volunteers, Nichole and Amber, who will be back to help us today.

Now I am busy working on an employee meeting for this afternoon. Our women had a bazaar by themselves this weekend. Our employees are so wonderful. Penny Kelly worked on employee training while she was here and it has made such a great difference in their understanding. Now we have other organizations asking for the same training because they have heard about how helpful and honest our employees are. We are taking an employee trip this week to Sodore. It is a natural spring and there are hundreds of monkeys there. It is so sad that most Ethiopians have not been able to see how beautiful their own country is.

We had a GREAT time in Bahir Dar. We stayed at a brand new luxury hotel that is not quite complete yet. It was beautiful! Our best view was from a big bed on a large veranda with a fireplace overlooking Lake Tana. We spent hours laughing at all the crazy things from our past. (By the way don’t believe her about anything that she says happened in Jr High School.) It was a good thing that we were the only guests or we might have been in trouble.

In eighth grade her mother and my mother met with the school principal. My mother was sure that Carolyn was a bad influence on me and her mother was sure it was me that was the bad influence on her. So….. we were not allowed to take any classes together, our lockers were separated, and the overnight stays were canceled. The funny thing is that now both of our mothers love us and think we are each wonderful. But, we did decide that it is truly me that is the bad influence (sorry mom).

We had a chance to visit the Blue Nile Falls. It was the prettiest I had ever seen it. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was getting ready to set. The mist from the falls reflected every sun beam. Then we had a chance to let Carolyn experience local music. She loved it!

The next day we went to the monasteries on the Islands. This is the place the Orthodox Church believes Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed on their way back to Israel from their exile in Egypt. We had a chance to participate in a prayer service and Carolyn even got her cross blessed by the priest.

We got home LATE last night. Poor Carolyn experienced the Ethiopian revenge. But she is better now.

Now we are back to work. I just finished a salary survey and a grant. Lots to do before Melanie gets here Thursday.

I saw one thing I had never seen before, it was a bridge built two hundred years ago by the Portuguese. It is still in perfect shape. I took lots of pictures. I’ll put them on the web site as soon as I get them downloaded.

Now I am on my way to the office to meet with the owner of our main building. We have rented from him for over four years and this will be my first time to meet him in person. He lives in the south of Ethiopia. He has been wonderful! He has never raised our rent even in this time of crazy inflation. I remember the first time I talked to him. We had gone through 17 contracts to find a place for the women to stay. As soon as the owner found out that the women we are helping had fistula, they backed out. I was sooooooo frustrated. Finally, this owner was number 18. He also backed out when he heard that it would be women with Fistula in his home.

I was so angry. He is a Muslim man and I called him early in the morning when I found out that he had also rejected us. I told him (in a not very sweet tone of voice) that I was here trying to help although I am not Ethiopian and that he also had some responsibility. I said ” you will give us this contract and you will give it to us at the Ethiopian lower price or you will get a curse from God. This is your responsibility” In a very calm tone he just said “okay”. He has been a great friend to us every since.

My friend Carolyn Solseth is flying in tonight. She is the CPA for Trampled Rose so we do have lots of work. But…. we have also been friends since the third grade (don’t believe any story she tells about me). I’m so excited to show her my life here that I am ready to pop.

We start our new year long class on Monday for women who either can’t be cured or who have violent situations in their villages that makes it impossible for them to return. I’m sure this class will do even better than before.