Sweet I got to do the truffle schuffle

Hello everyone,
Brian blogging for the first time, ever, not sure how this will go but I will do my best.

For those who have little time I will summarize the day.  the wall is coming along nicely, hope to post some more pictures tomorrow is what I am told.  All of the team is still healthy, very tired, but healthy.  Today we mixed 10 batches of cement, laid another 60-70 feet of wall and Brian L has became proficient at cutting rock with the rock hammer.  It really takes more skill then it looks to pound a rock with a hammer and get it to break in a certain spot.  We also had our first coffee ceremony, it was provided by the teachers at the school to show their appreciation.  Then after work we went to a cafe where we were told the sub-city leadership wanted to do a coffee ceremony as well, but that turned out much larger then expected.  It actually turned out to be a huge celebration which included fresh cooked lamb and traditional dancing, where we all danced, Patrick and Rachel got the honor of dancing in front of everyone the rest of us got to stay at our tables till the end of the celebration.  The thing I pulled away from today is, if hard work is a universal language then celebrations are the fruit of that labor, and today we saw fruit, and you at home need to be rejoicing with us, because we are making an eternal impact that we might never fully realize.

Now, the rest of the story.  Since Monday we have been doing our best to learn to make cement without the aid of mixer, in fact we are the mixer. Here's the process, you take about 1 yard of sand, 1 100lb bag of concrete, 2 shovels and water.  First you heap the sand, then spread the concrete on the top of the sand, then you turn the pile like your folding flour for bread, then you finally add water until it becomes a sand/concrete slurry.  Sound fun?? then add to that the language barrier, because the first day we did this we didn't have an interpreter.  the process was basically us watching then jumping in.  First day we did about 4 batches of concrete, yesterday we did 10 and today we managed to run 13 batches of concrete through what we now affectionately call the batch plant.  One big obstacle that we noticed today was Ethiopian's do not multitask, at all no matter what.  The contractors that are showing us the way of rock manipulation couldn't figure out why we wanted to get the concrete started this morning.  They were busy cutting the rock that they were going to use and we wanted to be ready with the concrete when they were done, but they just couldn't figure why we wanted to get concrete, their thinking was get rock done first then get concrete.  After we got it all straightened out, Clayton who we dubbed the mix master, fired up the batch plant and the concrete and rock started flying up the wall, when you see it in action it is a pretty cool sight. we had 9 of the batches of concrete done by lunch.  At lunch we were honored guests at a coffee ceremony the teacher's and staff of the school put on for us. The coffee ceremony is very interesting, they make coffee in a traditional pot over a smoldering fire, they also serve bread and pop corn, kind of strange but really cool.  After the ceremony we got back to work.  We broke at 4:45 and headed to another coffee ceremony, well that is what we were told anyway.  On the way the van I was riding in actually got pulled over, that is a weird thing to.  Ethiopia doesn't have traffic cops in cars, the cop stands by the side of the road and if you are breaking the law they give you a 2 finger wave, which consists of the first two fingers in the air and point to the side of the road.  we received a ticket for having a van with too many people in it sounds kind of trite, but I digress.  We finally made it to the sub city offices to find out the ceremony had been moved to the cafe at the end of the street.  When we arrived there were tables and chairs all set up and there was also a keyboardist and people setting up a PA system.  We thought that was kind of strange, but didn't think much of it until our interpreter, Sammy,  noticed they were getting a fire pit ready. Sammy got all excited and said they were making 'tips', and asked if I wanted to go see what they were preparing.  I said I did and we went around the cafe where the principal of Bright Hope school and about 10 other people were preparing fresh meat.  Turns out 'tips' as it is called is a huge celebratory meal reserved for holidays, weddings, or special occasions. The meat is fresh lamb that is seasoned like no other meat I have ever tasted and cooked over an open fire.  During the meal we were treated to 3 traditional dancers with music from the keyboardist.  the dance they preformed was called the Eskesta, which the closest I can describe is like doing the truffle shuffle from teh movie the Goonies.  Much to my surprise the dancers were working through the tables and picking people to dance with them, so in keeping with tradition, I got to do the truffle shuffle.  I was not the only one, Patrick and Rachel were taken in front of the group and danced with the 3 performers, while the rest of us got the security of dancing at our tables.  After the dance ended the sub city leadership was introduced, he read a prepared speach thanking us, C.H.I. and YOU for all the supplies and work being done at the school.  After the speach they called us all one at a time to the front to receive a gift, all of us was presented with a traditionally made pullover and a scarf, and here this whole time I thought we were coming to provide them with a gift, silly me. I, along with everyone else, was completely surprised and humbled by the outpouring of love and kindness from the community we are trying to help.  The best thing was the contractors,Ulubshet, Anmewu, Demle, and Yalew, that have been working along side us all week were invited by us to this event, they got to share in a meal that most don't have the money to prepare but once every couple of years if that often.  These men for the past 4 days have been all business, tonight we saw laughter, joy, and heartfelt thanks from not only the community but from these men as well. We ended the evening with all of us including Ulubshet, Anmewu, Demle, and Yalew, in a large group dancing hugging and laughing the entire time, what a great day.

The day is ending, it is now Midnight Addis time, I am very exhausted, but I wanted to share this before I turn in.  I will conclude with this, because of your support and our work on the ground, most families in the community of Bright Hope School don't go do bed with out talking about what we are doing.  In the speach tonight the gentleman stated what we have brought HOPE back to this community.  I stated earlier that Hardwork was the language used to bridge the gap, but the celebration that is going on over here should and needs to be felt at home as well, the fruit of our efforts will probably never be fully realized.  But know this, the people know we are Christ followers, they see the love we are pouring out on this community and asking for nothing in return, and most are asking the question, what kind of church builds a wall in an area that is still known as the leper colony.