Amharic

Today two lovely Ethiopian girls came over to our house, in what we hope will be a chance to learn each others languages. Daniel had met and been talking with some Ethiopians that work at the store around the corner. He approached the young woman about coming to our home and meeting me and possibly trading Amharic and English lessons. She called him several times about the opportunity and seemed very interested. This evening she came over with her cousin to meet us, and they spent about 2 hours at our place. We weren't sure what to expect, Ms. A, has been in the US for about a year and can speak enough English to survive, but not enough to make conversation easy. She is in her early 20's. Her cousin, Ms. B, is also in her early 20's and has been in the US for several months and seems to speak/understand English a little better. What brave women! We struggled through conversation and they understand that we want to learn some Amharic because we are adopting a child from Ethiopia. They are both hoping to learn English well enough to take a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) class, and begin the path to becoming nurses. After our time together, Ms. A, agreed to come back on Monday for our first round of language lessons.

Upon their departure, I immediately headed to the bookstore for an Amharic phrase book and dictionary. They both kept telling me their language was really easy, but I am not convinced.