Sunday, September 16, 2007

5 Differences from Africa

In the last 24 hours we've taken note of several things that have to be completely new to our girls compared to what they experienced in Africa. Here are five.

Difference #1
In America we pose with food

Difference #2
The American solution to being lost

Difference #3
In America we pay to feed other people's animals


Difference #4
In Africa corn is food!

Difference #5
51 degrees is insanely cold in Africa!

8 comments:

  1. Poor girls...wait 'til they experience a nice January morning. Every memory of a hot sun-baked Africa day will come back :)

    Bethany! Can't believe you're already in 7th grade...we're so proud of you and excited about what God has in store for you.

    We love all of you - thanks for sharing your lives and your journey with us.

    Joel and Pam

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  2. Love the pics of your happy family! Thanks for continually keeping us up to date. I always look forward to the new posts.

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  3. Anonymous11:35 PM

    please save us from your ethnocentric views, you may have adopted Ethiopian children, which is commendable, but you stil need to work to better understand Africa. "Difference #1, in America we pose with food" so what is that suppose to mean! I have a lot of pictures it took in a farm in Ethiopia. "Difference #4, in Africa corn is food" what we don't eat corn here? "Difference #5, 51 degrees is insanely cold in Africa" not necessary it gets that cold in Ethiopia all the time!

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  4. Sorry to offend, Anonymous. This post is about the new things we watched our girls experience. In hindsight, a little context might help those who read this post. There's a story behind every photo you've referred to:

    Photo #1 - When we arrived at the pumpkin farm Meke went and grabbed a pumpkin and said, "Mommy, eat?" to which my wife replied, "No eat." A few minutes later we were taking a picture with the very pumpkin Meke had picked out.

    Photo #4 - Once again, early in the trip to the pumpkin farm Meke grabbed the Indian corn and asked to eat it. We had to try to describe to the girls that "we don't eat THAT corn, it's only for decoration." (Yes, we eat corn in America. We were both born in Iowa.)

    Photo #5 - We were in Ethiopia for a week during their "winter" and the coldest it got was around 60. It was uncommon for anyone but we Americans to be wearing short sleeves. The picture in question was taken at Neti's soccer game. At Meke's request we kept adding layers. We stopped at 5 simply because we ran out of things to cover up with!

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  5. It amazes me that people who want to leave such hateful comments (oh, I'm sorry, were they meant to be helpful? I don't think so.) are too lily-livered (oh no! Another ethnocentric comment!) to leave their names and identifying information.

    Cowards! If you've got something to say, please say it, but if it's worthwhile, identify yourself.

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  6. I for one thought it was HILARIOUS! Thanks so much for sharing your children with us. We are still in the paper pregnancy, and also with AWAA, so it is is great to see what is happening with a family that is already home.

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  7. Thanks again for keep us updated on your family's process of growth. We love seeing the pics, and reading the blogs. How sad that anonymous, does not know how great your heart's are toward your family and your God. If they did, they would not have to wonder your intentions regarding your pics. I did love hearing more explainations on the photos, and remember explaining those same things to my american born kid when he was there age. It is odd that we decorate with food, but the fun oh the fun we can have doing it. Hang in there you and Rhonda are doing a great job. I would encourage those who prefer to remain nameless to get to know the heart of the people displayed here, you'll be truly blessed.

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  8. I have been reading since almost the beginning of your blog, and I never once questioned your views in this post. I saw it as a sweet expression of all the new things your girls had experienced here that they had not experienced there - or at least that they were enjoying experiencing for the first time on this continent, regardless whether they had experienced it there. There's not one frown in these pics; that says a lot!

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