You Never Know When...

As we continue to charge full speed ahead in our language school, we are sometimes curious about the particular words we are taking time to learn. For example, for the first few weeks, we spent a lot of time learning the vocabulary for tools (hammer, saw, different types of wrenches, etc). Some Ethiopian friends asked us, “why are you learning words like that? Why not something more useful and everyday?” We too felt the same way at times, but nevertheless were happy to be learning something. Plus, you never know when these less common words may show up.

We were reminded of this Saturday morning when we were awakened around 4:45 am by a very loud noise. It sounded like a sudden downpour of hard rain (or hail) on a tin roof overhead. I quickly jumped out of our mosquito net and checked the bathroom only to hear the sound coming from just outside our open bathroom window (which is too high off the ground to see out. I then went to the door (our bed, bathroom and door are all only 2 steps from each other so it wasn’t a long trip). As I opened the door, I heard footsteps coming up the metal spiral stairs which lead to our balcony. A second later, our guard appeared and immediately said words I didn’t want to hear “Chigger ale!” (Eng: Problem there is!). We grabbed the ladder and quickly climbed up to the roof. There, the source of the sound (which was now dying down) was clear. You see on our roof, there is a solar water heater which had not worked properly for several months. However, our maintenance man had just installed a new thermostat last week which allowed for some nice hot showers! Praise God for that! Well, apparently, the temperature had been set too high and so the pressure had blown off one of the hoses. The sound we had heard was the sound of steam blowing out of the water heater while the unattached hose shot blazing hot water everywhere. In that moment, I was thankful that just two days earlier, we had learned the word for “hose” – ye wuha goma (Eng: the water rubber). Also, to tighten the clamps, I was able to ask for the particular tool I needed. I knew this tool’s name well because it was by far the hardest tool name for me to memorize – kutchabete ifelegalo (Eng: screwdriver I need).

We are learning as much vocabulary as we can, knowing that a particular word may be exactly what’s needed in a particular situation down the road. Let’s just hope that next time it’s not while standing on our roof at five in the morning sporting only my pajamas.