Tonight while we were praying at bedtime:
Mama: God, help Matt and I to teach Charlotte about you and how to love you.
Charlotte: But Mama, I love Him already! (with a huge smile on her face)
Mama: You do, Charlotte? Well God, help Matt and I to teach Charlotte how to love you even more.
Charlotte: I already love Him more and more and more!
Mama: Why do you love Him, Charlotte?
Charlotte: Because He saved us!
Mama: Saved us from what?
Charlotte: From our sins!
Mama: God, help Matt and I to continue teaching Charlotte how to love you more and more and more. And help us listen to her when she teaches us about you.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Ethiopia, Part One
Ethiopia.
Day 1 and part of Day 2 we flew from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Khartoum to Addis Ababa. The other part of Day 2 was lost in the time change (Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of CST). Day 3 we went to church with some of the SIM (Serving in Mission) missionaries we just met, then went out for traditional Ethiopian food at a restaurant (no tourists, just locals!). Day 4 we had a little orientation and tried to figure out what we were going to do the rest of our trip. As some of you know, the doctor we were supposed to work with over there had to return to the US on short notice but we decided to proceed with our trip anyway. This made our arrangements somewhat difficult at times, but we managed. Over the next week and a half we alternated between watching Charlotte and doing some kind of medical work. Between the two of us we worked in a few different clinics where we saw all kinds of different things, went on home visits with both the HIV and TB projects through SIM, toured an SIM school for missionary kids (where Charlotte may attend some day?), toured the Hamlin Fistula Hospital, and visited the Gladney care centers where our niece lived for 6 months before joining our family.
Now for some pictures.
A little sleep while we waited for our plane in Amsterdam.
Our room at the SIM guesthouse in Addis Ababa, home for one and a half weeks. We had shared bathrooms, a big living room, and a dining room also.
Oh, and a playroom, where Charlotte spent a lot of time.
Traffic. This is pretty orderly compared to what it usually looks like. Everyone is actually staying in the lines here!
There were lots of beautiful flowers around the SIM guesthouse.
An alley near some of the homes from the HIV home visits.
One night we went out for an Ethiopian meal with a show of singing and dancing. This big plate of food is very traditional Ethiopian food. The bottom is injera, a sour pancake made from teff flour and water which is fermented for a few days. Then a variety of different kinds of wat (stew) are arranged on the injera. They can be made with beans, lentils, meat, potatoes, cabbage, spinach, and some other things. To eat this you tear off a piece of injera and scoop up some wat, then put it all in your mouth. No utensils allowed.
Charlotte liked it. She now likes to "eat like an Ethiopian" at home...with her hands.
At the restaurant. Charlotte is holding her tiny kitties, which came with us almost everywhere on the trip. Poor tiny Peppermint got lost somewhere along the way.
Here is some of the dancing. Maybe I will put up a video of this in my next post. They do a shimmy shaky shoulder dance that is incredible.
Day 1 and part of Day 2 we flew from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Khartoum to Addis Ababa. The other part of Day 2 was lost in the time change (Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of CST). Day 3 we went to church with some of the SIM (Serving in Mission) missionaries we just met, then went out for traditional Ethiopian food at a restaurant (no tourists, just locals!). Day 4 we had a little orientation and tried to figure out what we were going to do the rest of our trip. As some of you know, the doctor we were supposed to work with over there had to return to the US on short notice but we decided to proceed with our trip anyway. This made our arrangements somewhat difficult at times, but we managed. Over the next week and a half we alternated between watching Charlotte and doing some kind of medical work. Between the two of us we worked in a few different clinics where we saw all kinds of different things, went on home visits with both the HIV and TB projects through SIM, toured an SIM school for missionary kids (where Charlotte may attend some day?), toured the Hamlin Fistula Hospital, and visited the Gladney care centers where our niece lived for 6 months before joining our family.
Now for some pictures.
A little chai while we waited for our plane in Minneapolis.
A little sleep while we waited for our plane in Amsterdam.
Our room at the SIM guesthouse in Addis Ababa, home for one and a half weeks. We had shared bathrooms, a big living room, and a dining room also.
Oh, and a playroom, where Charlotte spent a lot of time.
Traffic. This is pretty orderly compared to what it usually looks like. Everyone is actually staying in the lines here!
There were lots of beautiful flowers around the SIM guesthouse.
An alley near some of the homes from the HIV home visits. One night we went out for an Ethiopian meal with a show of singing and dancing. This big plate of food is very traditional Ethiopian food. The bottom is injera, a sour pancake made from teff flour and water which is fermented for a few days. Then a variety of different kinds of wat (stew) are arranged on the injera. They can be made with beans, lentils, meat, potatoes, cabbage, spinach, and some other things. To eat this you tear off a piece of injera and scoop up some wat, then put it all in your mouth. No utensils allowed.
Charlotte liked it. She now likes to "eat like an Ethiopian" at home...with her hands.
At the restaurant. Charlotte is holding her tiny kitties, which came with us almost everywhere on the trip. Poor tiny Peppermint got lost somewhere along the way.
Here is some of the dancing. Maybe I will put up a video of this in my next post. They do a shimmy shaky shoulder dance that is incredible.Stay tuned for the next installment of pictures from Ethiopia...
Happy Chicken Day!
Yep, the Florek Family Farm is officially up and running. We have been tenatively planning on trying our hand at raising chickens for a couple years now, but are only now finally in the action phase. Its also a family project as they are for the time being in a box in our kitchen, but our yard isn't up to code for chickens so they will move on to a home-made coop on Kristi's parent's "farm," when they outgrow their box. Charlotte couldn't be happier and has already named her favorite chick Daisy. Another is named Killer. We're working on names for the other 4 still. We got 6 chicks (the State minimum to purchase) but only want to keep 3 of them so there are 3 chicks that are FREE to a good home if anyone wants to start their own kitchen barnyard!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Old McCharlotte had a farm....
And on that farm she had a chick.... 
I can't stop laughing every time I see the little chick feet sticking straight out in this video.
We're planning to get our chicks on Wednesday! Charlotte is planning to name her chick Daisy. Other names in the running include Hoppy and Cheepy or Chippy ("Because she cheeps a lot!"). Kristi is planning to name her chick something really great but hasn't come up with the perfect name yet. Perhaps Lucy or Lucille and then the third one can be named Ethel (I Love Lucy)... Or maybe Agatha, except pronounce it Egg-atha. Or Matilda, Beatrice, or Phoebe. I do like names that begin with Miss _____ ever since I read a story about a family with a chicken named Miss Friendly. And I do like my dad's suggestion to name a chicken Killer. I could say to her "Easy there, Killer." Any other suggestions out there?
We're Baaa--aack!
We're home, healthy, and happy to be able to drink the tap water again. Stay tuned (later today?) for pictures and a few stories!
One of only two family photos we took the entire trip. I guess we need to be better about remembering to document all three of us together.
One of only two family photos we took the entire trip. I guess we need to be better about remembering to document all three of us together.Seriously? This is our welcome home weather in Minneapolis.... Sheesh!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Cat hospital
Poor poor Ginger kitty. She's sick and needs a doctor. Good thing we have one in the house. Here she is in action.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
What are we up to?
Any guesses what the Floreks are up to? Those of you who already know, it's not fair for you to guess. So I suppose we'll just have to tell you all now.
We're going to Ethiopia! Well, we are 90% sure we're going to Ethiopia anyway! We're packed and ready to go, just waiting for our visas to be processed and then we'll buy plane tickets and we'll be off! We've had more than a few speed bumps in the process, so we won't be certain we're actually going until we step foot off the plane onto Ethiopia soil (or cement?).
As part of our residency program we have the opportunity to do a one month international rotation during both our second and third years. Since we want to work in Africa long-term, what better place to go during one of these elective months than Africa?! We are going with an organization that we are interested in partnering with for our long-term plans called SIM (Serving in Mission). You can check them out at http://www.sim.org/.
We will be spending most of our time in the capital city, Addis Ababa. We will work at an HIV clinic and do home visits with them, spend a few days at a CURE Hospital (http://cure.org/hospitals/ethiopia/), visit the Addis Ababa fistula hospital (http://www.fistulafoundation.org/), hopefully visit some of the orphanages nearby, and work at the SIM clinic. We are also going to be in a smaller, rural village called Langano, near Lake Langano (google it for some pictures). There we are going to be participating in a medical course focused on low-resource settings and then working in the clinic seeing a wide variety of patients. We've been told we'll see malaria, malnutrition, worms, infections of all types, deliveries, and a whole host of other things. There is also a baby home there that takes care of orphaned babies where Charlotte and Kristi hope to spend some time.
Yep, we're bringing Charlotte with us! She hasn't been on a trip like this before, and we're so excited to experience it all with her. Stay tuned for lots of good stories when we get back!
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