Guten tag!

dear friends,

I have arrived back in Germany, as I have been in Ethiopia for 2.5 months now.

It was full of crazy awesome times with the group of 16 we were, and all the Ethiopians we met along the way.

What I am most shocked about coming back here, is that it is HOTTER here in Herrnhut, than it was in Addis Ababa(the city we were in for most of the time).

Here are some things I like about Ethiopia:

1. it's the year 2002 right now, they have 13 months in their year, and it's like a week behind ours...not quite sure what that 13th month is called, it's hard for us foreigners to say.

2. a donkey cost about 400 - 500 birr, which is like 40 bucks! This I found out when I asked our driver what happens if he were to hit a donkey on the road...Donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, and horses just roam freely everywhere. I would have thought that if we were to hit one with a vehicle, the owner would just have to deal, nope, you hit it, you pay for it :)

3. The chai tea is great, super super super sweet. Sad thing is they only serve it in like a one ounce little tiny cup. the amount of sugar in it, I could have a cup the size of like 2 venti Starbucks cups(no joke, this stuff is sweet)

4. There is this great coffee shop called Kaldi's. It's basically an imitation of Starbucks. green aprons, similar sign, frapps are like 17 birr, which is one euro. So we enjoyed quite a few of those :)

5. Ferengi....is like foreigner in their amaric language. we heard it every single day, hundreds of times a day.

6. Mango's are excellent in Ethiopia. I didn't like em at home, but loved them there.

7. the van taxi's should fit 11 people, but they can cram 20 into one.

8. there are no road rules, or if there is, no one follows them...i saw 2 sets of street lights in 2.5 months. Huge, and I mean HUGE intersections, you go through, and hope you come out alive...and we did come out alive :) praise the Lord.

9. The countryside is AMAZING! beautiful African tree's.

10. The people are so friendly.

11. We are sitting in a restaurant, which is really just a tiny house, and all of a sudden these cows are trying to get through the door. As people are trying to hold the doors closed, I think oh they must be trying to keep the cows out. Nope. Well ok they were keeping them out so they could move the tables and get us out of the way for the 3 cows who have come home. They were done roaming the streets of Jinka and had to come home for the night. COWS coming through a home during supper. So weird. I am so glad I experienced this.

thats all I got for now folks. As I have just arrived home, I will now try and cure all my beautiful African bug bites, and relax.

adios.

-katie-

heart.

Alice in Wonderland...3D. I was awake for 10 minutes :) I am told it was good.

Budapest.

And again...

Love.

Hello...

Motion pictures...

Budapest at night

Somewhere in Berlin

Champagne icecream cake for Lakens 21 birthday.

80's day... :)

here I am writing an actual blog...YAY!

Life is good. Germany is great. And we have a 4 day weekend...how great is that!

Two friends and I went to Prague for one night...how lovely it was! Totally redeemed the first time we went....which I hated. Here's why I hated it....it took 13 hours round trip in the van, and we walked around the city for a total of 3 hours. And you wanna know how long it should take to get there! 2.5 hours. one way. And from what I learned 2.5 x 2 does NOT equal 13. so we took the bus this time, stayed in the city for more than 24 hours, shopped, watched 2 movies in the theatre, and ate Asian food...stuff that you just can't do in a town so small as Herrnhut, Germany....the weekend has been wonderful so far :)

Last week we all went on a mini outreach to 4 different places...my team went to Budapest, and it was an absolutely AMAZING city! My team was super duper great, and on the last night we went to the YWAM base in Budapest...where they have a coffee house ministry! This brought much joy to my life...as one of my most favorite things in life are chatting with people while drinking delicious cup(s) of coffee! good times. Met so many cool people.

AND THE EXCITING NEWS......4 weeks from now I am going to ETHIOPIA!!!!! woot woot. I am soooo very excited! there are 17 of us heading over there for 2.5 months on our outreach. what are we doing??? We are not quite sure yet...but it will be an awesome time of serving! I CANNOT WAIT!

I am alive...

just have not blogged for a long...long time. But a real one is coming soon to a computer near you!

ok, have a super duper fabulously fantastic day ya'll!

Are you Katie, Katie Suderman?...

This, a question asked to me at a little shop in a random city here in Germany. Yes I was with 9 other people who I knew, but this girl I was not travelling with. Who was she you might ask???? well you don't know her....but I do :) it was a girl I met at a bible school I went to in New Zealand, 5 YEARS AGO! and I randomly ran into here. WOAH. This still blows my mind!

It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all....

katie and Irish go skating...

and it was fun.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO...

I'm not quite sure...but I'm still looking. Maybe she's in Budapest??? perhaps.

Guess I'll go find out.

Yup :) GOING TO BUDAPEST!

mini outreach, this is something I was not aware of before I came here. I thought 3 months in Germany and then 3 months in other countries for that outreach. So when I found out we are having a one week mini outreach, I became super excited!

The options: 4 different countries.

The question: Where do you feel called to go?

My thoughts: How am I supposed to know where I should go?

A week later: Budapest. I'm supposed to go to Budapest.

COOL. So middle of March, we divide into 4 groups and head out to our different countries. What we will be doing...we students are not quite sure yet, but great things will be done, good fun will be had, and God is gonna work in amazing ways. This I do know.

Photography stuff...it's going good. I am learning the darkroom, slowly, but learning nonetheless. It took 6 tries for my first print to look....good...ish. so can't get worse than that :) well it could, but here's to hoping it won't!

ok....gute nacht? good night.