Today marks 6 weeks until I THINK that I will be leaving to pick up Sifan (if all goes as planned). So I have been buckling down to learn some Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia). I have been very intentional about it all week and I have so say....it is so frustrating!!! Amharic is soooooo much harder than French to learn...in fact when i am trying to think of the phrases in Amharic...they come out in French in my mind....ugggg. On one hand I know we can make it if i don't learn Amharic....we knew very very little when Wuby came home...basically just what we learned in ET.....so it isn't absolutley essential. But at the same time I see the value of learning as much as I can so perhaps the transistion will be easier 1) because I can more easily understand what Sifan is needing and teach the English equivalent 2) because it helps me better understand a tiny part of the frustration that Sifan will feel coming to a completely new environment and trying to learn a language that is so completely different.
I have felt so defeated by trying to learn Amharic....but it definatly gives me a new appreciation for the language growth Wubitu has attained in the last year....wow she is amazing!