A Trip Around the World

Last Friday our home school group had our first annual geography fair at a local church. I'll give you one good guess at which country we chose to learn about and present to the others. :) We had such a good time doing this project. It was so good to learn about this country that our newest addition will be born into. They have some very interesting things about their country. I'll give you my top 3 favorite facts that I learned about Ethiopia.


1. Ethiopia is seven years and eight months behind us. That's right. Right now, they consider the year to be around 2003. So my child will most likely be born in "Ethiopian" 2003 but in "American" 2010. Hard to wrap my mind around. Also, their new years is September 11th. Always has been...has nothing to do with "American" 9/11...pure coincidence. Their calendar starts with the day that they found out that Jesus had been born. Very interesting.


2. Ethiopia is the only African country that was never colonized by another country. However, Italians spent a lot of time there during WWII and they left a big impression on the Ethiopian people. So, if you eat at an authentic Ethiopian restaurant, you will find the common dishes of injera or wat, but will almost always find pizza and pasta. (Yippee!!!)


3. Ethiopia claims to be the home of the Queen of Sheba, the ark of the covenant and some say the home of Moses' wife (insert big controversy here). They have great pride for their country and their past. I hope to cherish and preserve that for our child as he/she grows up.


So there ya go...I could go on and on...in fact, the kids and I decided we could have done about 100 boards for all that we learned and all that we hope to learn in the upcoming days, months and years. :)

Our Ethiopian display

There was also Italy represented...

Japan...

Mexico...

Australia...

Norway...

Afghanistan...and France.

I don't know how I missed a picture of France. It was not intentional.

And the hard workers on their project. I love these kids!!

Hope you enjoyed your very quick trip around the world. :)


Oh! and...also on Friday, we received our home study signed and notarized, and then mailed it along with our immigration application to Austin. We wait for them to send our fingerprint appointment which we've been told could take about a month. :/ We also received our state police letters in the mail to be added to our dossier. Things are progressing! Baby steps are at least steps. :)