My First Full day (outside of Airports :) )

I am sure this blogging thing will not be something exciting but I want to preserve all my experiences and first time activities for the future and I will try to keep blogging.

When I got the Admission to BYU-I, I also was asked to choose which track I want to start school. I wanted to be enrolled on the Fall/Winter track because of two basic reasons. My first reason was the fact that I will be able to go to the US and start school soon but the second one and what really made me decide was the weather on September in Idaho. I heard that its nice and warm in September so I thought it will make my transition easy. But, I was then assigned to the Winter/Spring track. I then started thinking I am going to die by the Idaho Cold. Even the Visa Officer joked about how cold it gets in Idaho when he gave me the visa. But I now think about it I am really glad that I came in December. Because I had a very nice first impression because I was able to see all the difference from Ethiopia.

My First full day in the US started on Monday December the 19^th 2011. We need to drive to Ashton today so I am very excited to see America in a day light. I want to see the scenery, the people, the buildings, the roads, everything.

When I go outside, everything was white. It was snowing at night so there is snow everywhere. It’s really beautiful. I feel like my hands are drying but again I feel like I am in the movies where they show the Christmas time and all the snow. I really can’t express how different this country feels for a person like me who came from Africa specially Ethiopia.

We hop on the car and started driving to Idaho. I just kept telling Shelley and Alan how everything looks so different and so beautiful and it really is.  For me right now ‘Different’ is ‘Beautiful’.  The plan is to drive to Rexburg and then meet the Haws family at 4:00 PM at their house. Morgan and Andrew also are coming there to meet us.

On our way we stopped to see some farming equipments. We also had a quick stop in Mc Donald’s to grab a burger. My First Mc Donald Burger!! Cool Right?? I know!!

We had a very nice burger and French fries. Yummy!! Here I can have as many drinks as I want but I will only pay one. Refill is FREE!! But Honestly I did not like most of the drinks they have. May be its because I never drank it before. So I just get my coke every time.

Next stop was Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is extra freakin big store.  It’s like a city by itself. They have literally everything for sale. They have many stores all over the United States and I will say it one more time Its
Very freakin Big. I know that it’s supposed to be big and nice because I have heard a lot about it but still when you are inside and see everything it just blows your mind. I kept thinking how all other little stores would be out of business if there was a Wal-Mart in Ethiopia. But I can’t help it but kept wishing if we had these kinds of stores in Ethiopia. These people here love to shop. Shopping is big part of their life. You can tell that by just looking how many cars are parked outside of the stores. Especially at this Holiday season I think this big stores get busy than usual. I wanted to see all part of the store but we needed to keep driving to make it in time to Rexburg. But I know that I will be shopping some other day and that’s great.

Finally, we made it to Rexburg and we got to see Alyssa, Demitu, Tofik and Gutema. It was a very happy moment to see them again. It was unreal but again very nice. I can tell they were excited to see me too. I missed these guys so much and I am now with them. They invited us to go inside and we did. The kids were happy to show me their house and room. They have a really nice house and I really admired Wes’s determination and energy. After what he has been through to build a house as nice as this is great. I missed Everett so much and I really was eager to see him talk and say my name. I missed his cute smile and his laugh. But He was not around so I asked where he was. Alyssa knows how much I love him so she told me he is with her sister Kate and they will be back soon. Wes and Mubarek were at work and Mesafint was not also at home at the time. But after some time Wes and Mubarek came. Morgan and Andrew also came over and Kate and Everett too. Its finally nice to see them all. Specially all the kids. Leah, Lily and Everett. They all are growing up and they all started to talk. I love kids and these are all adorable kids. I am sooo in love with them. Finally we needed to grab a dinner and go to Ashton where Alan, Shelley,Morgan, Andrew,Zack , Leah and Lilly live. To my US home. We had a pizza for dinner from Pizza hut. The Pizza was good but not the same pizza I know and not a thin crust. There are Christmas decorations everywhere and everything looks Christmassy. We finally drove to Ashton. It takes about 30 minutes to drive to Rexburg to Ashton. Since I will be staying in Rexburg, I might have to go back and forth this road for a while.  By this time, It was almost dark. Did I mention that it gets dark here at like 4:30 PM. It’s so weird. I know its Geography or Science or whatever but it’s weird. We finally reached to the house. I dreamed about this all year long and even use to count the days. But now it’s all there for me to see.  I had tons of pictures of the house on my computer. Pictures taken by Alan and left on the computer when he sold it to me. It’s a very big and beautiful house. Christmas decorations are everywhere and everything looks so elegant.

We got inside and I had a tour of the house by Morgan. I have a room with a bathroom and everything. I loved it. This is more than I hope for. We have Satelite TV, High Speed internet with a wireless network, a very big kitchen, nice bathrooms. Everything is great. Life is great.