Sunday, April 10, 2016

Lists from Ethiopia

I have always loved to write. Along the way, I realized that I not only loved writing stories and letters but lists too. Smooney has always been someone that I write Top 10 Lists with so we were extra intentional about doing that together during our trip to Ethiopia. This is a compilation of those lists (some connected to this YL Expedition, some totally unrelated) and my favorite pictures from our 10 day adventure.


Top 10 Jobs I'd Like To Try For One Day Only:
1. Being a Disney character in Walt Disney World
2. The Host of Survivor or Amazing Race on the finale episode
3. Airplane Pilot
4. President of America
5. Being one of Ellen's writers when she talks in their ear and makes them do funny stuff
6. NYC Rockette
7. J Crew designer/photographer
8. Playground designer
9. Extra on Grey's Anatomy
10. YL Program character at camp



Top 10 Things All CILTs Should Learn:
1. Leadership does not equal being the loudest
2. Everyone is capable-- don't make presumptions about others abilities
3. Faith has to be personal to be sustainable
4. You can't be best friends with everyone, but you can be kind to everyone
5. Often how you say something is even more important than what you say
6. Friendship shouldn't be age restricted (counselors, adopted campers)
7. Every single day should and can have some adventure, silliness and fun
8. It's time to take on responsibilities-- you can make things happen now instead of just being a consumer
9. CILTs should be your starting line, not a finish line
10. There are 1,000 styles and ways of being a good leader
11. Listening to people has to be key to leading them well


Top 10 Things Schools Should Teach:
1. How to pay bills/taxes
2. How to do laundry
3. Social media etiquette/building a positive presence online for future job applications
4. Chapels/devotions
5. The power of forgiveness
6. The science of happiness
7. Provide mentor/mentee relationships
8. Being productive and focused
9. Discovering and pursuing your passions
10. How and when to tip people


Top 10 Places We Could Spend Our Next Spring Break:
1. Orlando- Disney World
2. London
3. Italy
4. Seattle, Washington
5. Santa Fe, New Mexico
6. Grand Canyon
7. Volunteer at YL Camps
8. NYC with Fitz
9. Cape Cod and Nantucket
10. Ireland


Top 10 Things All First Year Overnight Counselors Should Know:
1. Take the time and put in the effort to be friends with your partner right away-- it'll make the whole summer better
2. Read to your campers till they fall asleep and don't give them flashlight time
3. Make the campers keep wet stuff on the clothesline (because 11 towels and swimsuits get really smelly) but keep just your towel inside (so it dries)
4. If you have older kids each them to fill out the AM form and have them take turns-- it teaches them to share responsibility, they feel cool and you have time to eat breakfast
5. Devotions should be more campers talking than you-- it's a conversation not a sermon
6. The best Parent Letter is a giant DLP (Describe it, Label it, Praise it), not a summary of the schedule
7. The best counselors play and talk with kids during swim time, before lunch and while walking
8. Don't call your camp boyfriend/girlfriend your cousin or sibling (you're not fooling anybody)
9. Always try to finish your Parent Letters before campfire Friday or at least before Saturday so you're not stressed all weekend when you should be resting
10. Teach your cabin to hurry to pop so you can avoid the rush and hang out with your campers
11. Become friends with Full Time Staff


Top 10 Things Ethiopia Gave Me A New Appreciation For:
1. Water, water, water-- showering with your face under the water, drinking from a sink, washing in it
2. Wearing shorts and tank tops
3. Opportunities and choices in education, careers, travel, food, living
4. Building projects are finished and not left half done
5. FOOD-- how it's prepared, where it comes from, what it tastes like
6. Knowing I don't need wifi or my phone and that I can be off of social media for a week and it'll be ok
7. Trusting the health care system if I need it
8. FOOD-- fruit, salad, Chipotle, Diet Coke, meat
9. Clean laundry, bathroom, bed
10. Air conditioning



Top 10 Main Characters of Ethiopia:
1 and 2.  Hanna and Fre-- My fav gal pals. I wish we could live in the same place. They have such an intentional friendship.
3. G- Hot inside and out. We love this man.
4. Moges- The King of Ethiopia YL and making us feel at home
5. Becky- Her hugs, prayers and sweet heart
6. Izzy at Megabi Skate
7. Ebe playing guitar
8. The women of Sabahar
9. Mohammod- Security at the YL house in his purple shirt and purple pants
10. Watakay- for feeding us, taking care of us and making sure we felt at home



Top 10 Things People Should Value:
1. Being observant
2. Listening well
3. Intentional friends
4. Self awareness
5. Cleaning up your own stuff
6. Character and integrity
7. Whimsy and fun
8. Summer Camp
9. Young Life
10. Being practical



Top 10 Uncomfortable Moments In Ethiopia:
1. Waking up at 5am to Orthodox prayer and not knowing what it was
2. When Janelle took a squatting shower the first night because she didn't know there was a regular shower head
3. Alex's mucus cup and bowl
4. When kids threw boulders at each other at camp and we had no idea what was going on
5. The women cleaning the plates at camp ate the leftovers off of the plates as they worked
6. Mild diarrhea and wanting to vomit from being car sick
7. When Smoon's phone was taken by an orphan and there was no way to get it back
8. Wiping with an extra sock when there was no toilet paper
9. The bathroom floor at the YL house flooding from no shower curtain and a clogged drain and it smelled so badly and we would just put a towel over the puddle but it didn't really help
10. Getting yelled at by the old man when Kah-tee climbed into his bajaj without permission and then Rachel pulled her out and peed her pants laughing and then peed her pants a second time a couple hours later but had no clean clothes left and had to serve dinner in her pee pants
11. When we learned that mispronouncing empt (crazy) as empch was actually a bad word
12. Seeing raw meat getting up on a rock on the ground at YL camp and then serving that meat a little while later
13. Hool's ripped jean tan lines
14. Almost falling off the top of the bus when we ran into branches
15. Every time someone told an Ethiopian that they should come visit us in America
16. When Fre told us that two of her YL kids were killed by ISIS



Top 10 Things Kids Should Have To Do or Have Limits On:
1. Attend Summer Camp
2. Be part of an organized team
3. Have daily unstructured play time
4. Limited access to TV/phones/devices
5. Chores daily and weekly
6. Play a musical instrument
7. Have an intentional mentor/counselor/leader friendship
8. Taught to prioritize experiences over things
9. Consequences that are appropriate and followed through
10. Reading for fun



Top 10 Tasks I Wish We Got Rewarded For:
1. Being honest
2. Keeping my apartment clean (laundry and dishes too)
3. Being efficient at work
4. Working out
5. Not being vain
6. Not settling
7. Being a considerate roommate and coworker
8. Following through on what you say you'll do
9. Having good personal hygiene
10. Being passionate about your job



Top 10 Things I'd Put In An Ethiopia Time Capsule:
1. Yes brand water bottle
2. Bajaj
3. Injera
4. YL Expeditions t-shirt
5. Scarf from Sabahar
6. Cliff bar wrapper
7. Buna from Tamoca
8. Glass Sprite bottle
9. Dust covered sandals
10. A roll of toilet paper just in case




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