Tuesday, June 21

Early morning up, jet lag, excited, load bus, 401 kilometers to go, new smells, many smiles and looks and waves, traffic, sellers of everything, donkeys in road, curves, colors, goats in road, potholes, photos out the windows, swerves, people in road, sharing bags of trail mix, questions about people and customs and uses of things, round huts with thatched roofs, cows in road, bathroom breaks, baboons, people walking to and from who knows where, markets, camels in road, people carrying large bundles and long poles, churches and mosques, more questions, mothers with babies on back, carts in the road, comparisons, farmers plowing with oxen, hotter, dry, camel photos, 200 km to go, quiet in bus, wondering about our roles, learning some Amharic, praying for people we have only glimpsed out the window, sheep in the road, kids selling coal, smooth road, tired, timeless worlds, not enough words, rising up into the mountains, 5 km to go, small city, hectic, smiles, stares, waves, colors, tiny stores with bananas hanging in front, a tiny collage of colors and flavors, up the rocky road to the gate of Hope school, step off the bus with heads filled with God's big collage of people, mountains, valleys, dreams, animals, markets, rivers, and conversations; thankful for a safe trip to Dessie.

Jeff Zwiers
Middle School Resource Teacher and specialist in teaching Active Learning Strategies