UNFORGETTABLE QUOTES

Every once in awhile we just have to write down a few of the funny phrases or quotes heard around our house. The first one to still make us laugh was said a few weeks ago by our cook and house-helper Aster. Apparently our injera (Ethiopian flat-bread...staple of our diet here) oven had shorted-out and melted the switch and she had already been to the shop to request help. We weren't sure exactly what she was saying, as it was in Amharic and mixed-English words but she managed to blurt out..."You....Go Bring Fat Boy!" We finally realized she was referring to someone at the shop and we hailed a taxi and headed over to look for a "fat boy" to bring to her in our kitchen. We found what we believed was the "fattest" man at the shop (incidentally, very few people are "fat" here in Ethiopia, but if they are healthy and well-fed, with maybe a little excess around their middle, they are called "fat", which is supposed to be a compliment in this culture!). He immediately told our English/Tigrinya-speaking taxi driver that he had already been to our house so we knew at once we had picked the right guy. We scooped him up and took him to our home and he was able to fix the problem once again, muttering something about "China Parts - bad quality!" We still bust up laughing at her words though...."You...go bring fat boy!" Even though it is cultural, I still cringe when anyone refers to someone as "fat". Another great quote happened along those lines while I was homeschooling the kids. Apparently one of Curtis' pencils had rolled under my behind when he announced, "I've found it...it was lost in mom's great vortex of doom!" Yep...that one didn't go by unnoticed by the kids or by me...I've started cutting down on the second servings and trying a few sit-ups to manage my new "fat" that Ethiopia has blessed me with! Sweet Lydia blessed us with another quotable quote this week as we prepared for Christmas and tried to make our home feel festive with a few decorations on the table. At dinner, which was of course injera and wats (traditional food here), she wrapped up a small bit of Shiro Wat with a small piece of injera and announced...."Look - it's just like baby jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes!" Bless her heart for trying to find JESUS in the midst of whatever life has for us! Then last but not least came little Nati, trying to share his wealth of knowledge with us as we laughed about Curtis adopting little cannibals during our board game of LIFE. Curtis was upset he hadn't landed on anything to allow him to have children and as he landed on "go on Carribean cruise for 25,000" he begged, "Can't I adopt a couple of orphans while I'm there?" We consented since his motives were so honorable...but then commented that he probably just adopted a couple of cannibals if it was the island Johnny Depp visited in PIrates of the Caribbean II - the last movie he saw with us before leaving America. We all laughed until Nati said, "I'm a cannibal". We said, "Nati - do you even know what a cannibal is?" and he remarked, "Yeah...it's a big ball!" (Evidently confusing it with cannonball!) We're thankful for kids and culture to keep us laughing this Christmas season - hope you're laughing as much as we are!