Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate my husband? Brian is my friend, my anchor, my musical partner, my life partner.

Sometimes you just get a close-up and technicolor vision of how special someone is. I’m having that experience this weekend. I missed my man when I was gone. I can’t get enough time with him now that I’m back. He’s just the right one for me.

I am a lucky woman. I am a happy woman. That sort of story never makes the news, you know? You heard the good news here first, folks.

You know, the more I travel, the more I realize that the important part of a trip is about relationship. Whether I travel alone and meet new friends, or whether I visit old friends or family, it is the human connection that really makes a trip special.

My recent trip to Africa was no exception. In Ethiopia, we stayed with Altu’s parents and spent a lot of time with her family, friends, and in-laws. There were more cousins than I could count! I enjoyed meeting every single one, they welcomed me very warmly. I truly felt comfortable with everyone I met.

We spent a lot of time with Altu’s sister, Galane, and her family. I enjoyed many talks with her husband (whose name I don’t know how to spell, but it’s prounounced a lot like Teddy) and their two delightful children.

The oldest turned age 6 the day before we arrived. She is learning English at school, and she is doing extremely well with it. Only a few times did I notice that she chose a word different than one I would have chosen. She chattered on and on, and stuck herself to my side every chance she could.

I adored her company, we were definitely the mutual-admiration club! Sometimes she would ask me how to spell a word in English. Sometimes she would watch me knit. Sometimes I would let her braid my hair (it is longer than it has been in decades right now, and it’s so straight and long she said it looked like a Disney Princess… which sort of is a sad statement about ideal beauty, but I understand where she got that picture).

And sometimes, if she was lucky, I would get out my ukulele (I brought a pistachio Flea, very tiny and lightweight and very durable). I would sing the very few songs I know, and then she would want to play. I taught her how to play a “C” chord (it requires pushing down only one string, so is easy) and we sang “Shortnin’ Bread” which can be sung acceptably with only one chord. From that, she figured out that she could sing a song about monkeys jumping on the bed (since then an American friend told me about that song but I’d never heard it before) and she and her Mom would sing that over and over. It was fun, and she was very photogenic as she worked hard on playing that uke.

It was pretty chilly when we were in Addis Ababa (the Ethiopian capitol city, where Altu’s parents and sister/family live). Especially the last week we were there, it was warm when the sun shone but the moment that sun set, we were cold. We wrapped up in whatever warm clothing/blankets we had, and I wore my wristwarmers most of the time we were not eating. Eventually the kids wanted to try on my hat and my wristwarmers. The wristwarmers were especially a hit, and sometimes they both wanted to wear them at the same time.

So… the last few days we were there, I decided to knit the kids wristwarmers of their own. For the older girl, I held a strand of blue and a strand of white together (leftover sockyarn from my other projects that trip). For the younger girl, I used yellow and green. I forgot how chubby little toddler hands are, so the younger girl will grow out of hers quickly, but the older girl will be able to wear hers for a while. Here we three are, showing off our wristwarmers all together. Aren’t these children just beautiful?

By popular demand, I am putting up the only two photos I have of the monkey in Mombasa. One day when we were there, we went out to breakfast and right outside our room, in the courtyard, was a monkey. It pretty much ignored us so I was able to get two photographs before it scurried away. (It pretty much blends into the scenery in the first photo, but look on the sidewalk right in the center of the picture and you will see.)

I wrote a handful of postcards while I was in Mombasa, and I mentioned the monkey on the postcard. The children at Foster Center continue to ask me about it, so I’m posting my photos here today.

Just for geographical reference, Mombasa is in Kenya, the east coast of Africa on the Indian Ocean, very near the equator. We were there about a week before the Tsunami, for those who continue to ask that question, and the only person in Kenya who died from the Tsunami was about 75 miles north of where we had stayed. Life is short, but we were fortunate once more (life has been good to me in that way).

Another short comment: Mombasa was the only place on our five-week trip where we were genuinely hot. It was in the 90’s F the whole time we were there. Even I got too hot to do much, and I’m the one who loves hot weather more than anyone else I know! Fortunately, the whole 4 days we were there, it was about lazing around and having people bring us coffee, tea, whatever would make us happy. There was a lot of food available as well. It was totally relaxing, and we really enjoyed it.

The monkey is pretty cute, huh???

Well, my new term started very well Wednesday. I had the first day of CityKidz Knit! Two of my knitters were repeat kids, one from last term and one who I’ve had about a year now. Both brought me projects on the needles, both in rainbow sherbet colors.

And look what Anna brought! See this lovely thing she made? She did the cuff on her own last fall. The last time I saw her, in November, she had started a heel flap but she had the inside facing out. She decided she could not live with that, so she ripped it out and knit it again. When I was in Africa, she sent me an email with a question about turning the heel. And the next time I saw her, yesterday, she had finished her sock!

Mind you, I teach this program two hours a week. One hour is on Wednesday, one hour on Thursday. This is something I do for love, not for the financial rewards in it. And kids like Anna keep me running back for more. I’m proud of her, but I’m sure she is more proud of herself. You go, Grrrrrl!

Today I have a “day off” which means I am working in my home rather than onsite at a yarn shop or community center. I really enjoy these days. It is a delight to listen to the Flaming Ukulele Radio Hour (on the Internet, since the show is broadcast in New Jersey which is at least 10 hours’ drive from our house) and work on whatever fiber project is on the top of the list.

This week is particularly pleasurable. It snowed a little outside last night, so I am determined to stay inside. I just heard Brian sing “Everybody’s Doin’ It” from his CD of the same title, on the Internet/Radio. On top of that, I’m finally working on a project that I started planning for in November, before I left for Africa.

I’m doing a project inspired by Kim of Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan… she carries Noro Kureyon yarn, and sometimes has one or two skeins left in a colorway. I got inspired to use one skein of one colorway and two skeins of a related colorway (they share two colors but otherwise are different), with a bit of solid yarn. (The outside Kureyon skeins are colorway 52, lot P, and the center skein is colorway 90, Lot L. The solid yarn is Cascade 220, color 4009.)

I’m designing a felted (fulled) handbag with the three coordinating yarns. For me, more color is better than less. I am not a huge fan of standard stripes, but the Kureyon is lovely with its watercolor-type striping.

We’ll see how it shapes up… Although I’ve been thinking about possible designs for months, I just started it while listening to the ukulele show. I am destined to teach it at Yarn Garden and also at Little Red Schoolhouse. I think it is going to be a fun project.

This is the life.

P.S. You know what? The one thing I really realized in Africa that I have previously taken for granted, is central heat. It was chilly there once the sun went down (about 56-62 degrees F), and we just had to bundle up as best we could.

Here at home, when I get cold, I just go to the wall and turn a dial. In a few minutes, the room gets warmer. I will never take that for granted again. I am very happy to be warm right now, as the snow covers the ground.

I had my first business day today. I was in contact with four different clients. Nothing like a real jump start! It is good to get in a bit of a rhythm, though.

It’s overwhelming to think of all the people I care about and work for, and try to figure out how to schedule touching base with all of them again, now that I am home. I guess that is a high-class problem, having so many people to love.
I’m still waking up really early for me, but I feel good during the day. I am not happy with getting tired so early in the day, though!!!

Here are three photos from Bahar Dar, in historical northern Ethiopia. First is the view out of my hotel window. Lucky me, huh? Second is a local boy playing a sort of wooden or reed flute, under the same tree that I showed on January 6.
Third is the street across from a restaurant where we ate lunch. Actually, this photo is so colorful and shiny-clean looking, that it is deceiving. We did a lot of driving in this area, and the streets are very rocky. We did a lot of climbing rocky areas in this area as well, and most of what we saw was not this modern or this shiny. Africa is full of contrast, and this is just one example. I thought the colors were just beautiful, don’t you?

I’m doing well, adjusting to the new time zone (Michigan is eight hours earlier than Ethiopia). I am sleeping through the night, but I get tired early and then wake up early. I’ve always been a late-night person (to bed after 1am, awake 9am at the very earliest), but right now I’m asleep before 11pm and awake by 8am. It is strange, but it does give me a few more hours of that elusive winter daylight. I feel pretty good, so I am just going with the flow.

Sunday was a pleasant day. I found the energy to put away some items I had ignored since I got home, and I even cleaned the kitchen a bit. I made some pumpkin bread (which turned out very well) and my friend Marlene C. came over. She is so patient… we basically had a show-and-tell session for an hour and a half, and she stayed interested in my stories and my goodies the whole time. We drank tea and ate pumpkin bread and I talked about my trip. Marlene has traveled a lot, and she showed me her slides of Kenya before I left on this trip. It was fun to talk more about it now that I returned.

Marlene and I then went to the planning meeting of Working Women Artists. It is held at a coffee house, and six of us were there. It is a small guild but a large percentage of those involved in the fun meetings, also attend the planning meetings. These are good women who I am happy to have in my life.

When I got home, I finally took the time to show Brian my photographs from the trip. I’m quite overwhelmed by them all! My computer tells me I have 1482 photographs. That is so many, it is hard to comprehend what to do with them all. Some are multiples of the same location, from different angles, so I’m sure I can make sense of it all sometime. For now, Brian let me show him the photos out of order and he didn’t complain at all. After that, I did process about 16 of the photos in preparation for my travelogue web page, but it will just be slow going, I think.

Here are three photos for your viewing pleasure: Me, Nabil (our guide/driver in Egypt), and Altu at the great pyramids in Giza, Egypt; castle in Gondar, Ethiopia; sunset in Northern Ethiopia (either Gondar or Bahar Dar).

Well… it is odd to be back. I had not driven a car in 5 weeks, had not spent US dollars, had not seen snow, had not been able to understand much of the conversation around me. I did make new friends, was welcomed fully into Altu’s circle (for which I am very humbled and grateful) and experienced things that just can not be experienced anywhere else.

When we were out in public, I stood out in a crowd. Children who saw me would call out, “Hallo, hallo” until I would wave and smile, and say hello back to them. It was a good guess that someone who had skin the color of mine might speak English.

The day we came home, Altu’s sister asked me if I had missed American food. I told her that I don’t even eat American food! I have not had a hamburger or hot dog in about a dozen years, I don’t eat pizza (yes, we call that Italian but they don’t make it the same in Italy), and I don’t eat french fries. I do eat Ethiopian, Lebanese, Indian, Syrian, Egyptian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese… but I did not miss other foods while I was eating the good food in Ethiopia.

I thought I would miss the music I usually listen to (1920s American popular music, and South African music for the most part, with some 10-20 year old pop music thrown in at times). I didn’t miss it until the day we were coming home in the airplane (when we were stuck listening to elevator-type music over and over). I really enjoyed the music of the locations where we visited. Actually, I was amazed (and disappointed, to be honest) at how many places we heard American-style top 40 music. In particular, I think I heard Celine Dion singing in almost every possible city we visited on this trip!

I am finding it very hard to put words to my experience. I’m still pretty tired although I am sleeping approximately at the right times for my home town, only maybe 3 hours earlier than I normally sleep.

Thursday Tony came over and we had lunch and tea, and talked a lot. Friday I did go briefly to a gathering at Threadbear Fiberarts, and later to New Aladdin’s restaurant to see a few of the Habibi Dancers perform. Saturday I saw some friends I’ve known for 15 years, in Ann Arbor. Sunday I will see my fiber friend Marlene C. and go to Working Women Artists. This is a pretty light schedule but I’m getting back into my social life. Monday I have work scheduled for a computer client, so I’ll perhaps be getting back into the swing of things.

Here is a photo of me feeding Daisy, the giraffe. The photo was taken at the Giraffe Center in the Karen section of Nairobi, Kenya. This center is for breeding a type of Giraffe which was almost extinct. Daisy had a 6 week old baby hiding nearby behind a few trees, while I fed her.

Well, I’m home and happy and healthy in Michigan. We were on the road for more than 24 hours, and I’m not sure which way is up or down right now.

I’ll be sleeping as my first priority for a week, but I’ll do my best to put together a travelogue of my 38 days away from home, when I can.

Added photo after I posted the above comment: Me, Galane (Altu’s sister), and Altu, in Bahar Dar not far from the Blue Nile waterfall in historic northern Ethiopia. Notice the very old stone bridge in the background.