Arriving in Nekemte

We arrived in Nekempte late in the afternoon. The REAL mentor, Abebech, was waiting for us and treated us to a late lunch at Classic Café where I had, much to my amazement, pizza!  (A lot had changed in Ethiopia in 44 years but I would find out soon enough that a lot remained the same, too.)  A car from the Synod, where we would be staying at their guest house, took us to the Synod compound about three miles from town. Our accommodations looked good: a large room for me to spread out my teaching materials, a small bedroom for Beth and Sosi, a dining room in between. The toilet room was part of the building but we had to walk outside and around to another door to get to it.  That was all right. At least there was a flush toilet and sink with running water. Another room around another corner had a shower with a hot water tank! 

Meals turned out to be problematic. There was no place on the Synod compound to get food. We would have to walk the three miles to town, Abebech said. I knew I couldn’t do that twice a day and asked if there wasn’t someone living near-by who could cook for us. Finally, Abebech talked two women, who worked in tea house near-by, into cooking for us. We worked out the price per meal and signed a “contract” for Monday through Friday of our two-week stay.

Kathleen Moore, REAL teacher 

Kathleen Moore, Real teacher

Beth and Sosi went back to town to explore while I prepared my first lessons for the next day.  Everything was turning out just fine until the next morning.