Growing up

A is for-Africa that's where I'm from, well originally from ethiopia. I lived on a farm with my seven other siblings including my sister. Like in most parts of the world, men go out to work in the fields or do some other work that's not related to working in the fields. As most people know Africa is not a very clean place and so we have lots of diseases. While my mom was pregnant and giving birth with one of my siblings she passed away on her hospital bed. I didn't know what was happening that time, everything was a blur. I was two and a half and my closest sister was four and a half, my dad couldn't take care of us anymore because of our financial doings, so he had to put us in the orphanage with most of my siblings. We were there for a while, eating porridge and our cultural food.

B is for-Belt that they used on us when we didn't listen or did something wrong. We were in a small room, where we had our cribs and where we would play. I remember being there with our friends that were also from the orphanage. We took care of each other like a family. We obviously didn't know where we were going in the near future or how we were going to escape. We had to cut our hair because we had lice and so we would look like little boys from the orphanage. All the belt marks left scars. So now my sister has the scars on her legs. I'm so happy that we don't live there anymore.

C is for- Camera is what they had to take a picture for our adoption information. My adoptive parents came to adopt a child/baby, but we were already older so now I am 3 years old and my sister was. They told them that there were no babies and that they would either take some kid who was not a baby or adopt from somewhere else. But everyone knows that waiting to adopt a child takes months or even years. So they agreed to get a child which was me or my sister but they told us that there was both of us and that we had to go together, they separated us from our other siblings. Me and my sister stayed in a hotel with our two new parents. We had no idea what was happening around us, we bathed and dressed in our new clothes. We received gifts, like stuffed animals. We took a picture with our dad before we left into the new world. When we came out from the canadian airport, we took a car to our new home, while in the car i was asleep and my dad held me in his arms and took me to my new bedroom.

D is for- The Dog the one that stood in our bedroom, it was actually a bench but it was our favorite dog bench. It was fluffy and had big ears. I remember the first time I saw it I started to cry because it seemed to be bigger than me. Even now I am still scared of bigger dogs which is kind of surprising. My mom would make different kinds of food but we didn't eat it because we didn't know what it was. One time my mom made cabbage and potato stew and we gobbled all of it down. In our culture we have this dish which is made of cabbage and potatoes too. So my mom would literally make that for us everyday.

E is for- English was not our first language so we would speak amheric which is the language in Ethiopia. So my mom would teach us english with alphabets and small kid books that would have pictures of different animals. We also had our grandparents over but they didn't speak english they only spoke russian. So my grandparents would talk to us in russian and my grandpa would homeschool us but in russian. My mom is also from russia and my dad is french canadian. So when my grandparents are not around my parents would talk to us in english. Me and my sister were homeschooled until our high school years, so while we were homeschooled we would go traveling to russia and the ukraine and also moldova almost every year to see my grandparents in russia and my auntie in ukraine and our really close friends in moldova. Now we just skype them so we don't lose our russian.

F is for- Fishing was our fall thing. Every year we would go fishing with our friends and spend time together catching fish. The first time i went fishing was when i was like 8 or 9 and i was scared to hold fish because i thought they were going to attack me. So that one year we went I got so much fish and they were big when I said big they were big. Me being small I was disgusted by the huge fish. My dad wanted me to hold one but I freaked out when it started to move so my dad held the fish for me and we took a picture. Even though I go fishing I never liked eating fish or any kind of seafood. Sometimes we just go fishing for fun, I don't like the smell of the fish or the way it looks. Now I don't even get close to fish or even eat it.

G is for- Grandparents are amazing especially mine. They took care of me and my sister when we were small. Everyday they would take us to the park or somewhere we can hang out or for walks. We spent so much time with them even though they are old, they have something special that nobody in my family does. Some people don't even appreciate their grandparents because they are boring or old and can't do anything. But if there is one thing I can do or take care of is my grandparents. We would go skiing with my grandpa and we would bake and cook with my grandma. Five years ago we went to Russia to see my grandparents. We also went to school for 4 months there.

H is for- Halloween is the best time of year, where you practically get free candy. But also on that day I met my two best friends. They lived on our street ten houses down. Every day after school would hang out with them. Since their dad is the boss of a pizza shop we would get pizza every friday and spend time playing with the girls and their little brother. But now they moved away to the south side on pembina. So it was a while until we made more friends, we still visit them but they are really far away. Now that we are all in high school we help each other do school work. Since one of my friends is in grade nine and i'm in grade ten, her sister is in grade eleven and my sister is in grade twelve. So we just spend time helping each other with work and we also do volunteering with kids from eleven-fourteen.

I is for- Ice cream is one of my family's favorite treats. Even though Winnipeg is cold and is not a very warm city, we still have ice cream even in winter which sounds crazy. But as people say that apples are the best medicine for us, it's ice cream! We have it when we are sad, happy, mad, or even just to have it on our own. I remember when i was younger we would go on long walks with my grandparents or my parents and we would get ice cream. When we were at our grandparents' place we would go with them to the black sea where we would swim and just lay in the sun and appreciate the little moments, while doing that we would walk on the sidewalk which was wide where bikes and shops stood. So every time we would go to a small ice cream shop and get ice cream for all of us. Most people in the world like ice cream and it's nice because it cools you down and it's sweet. It is one of my favorite memories just eating icecream and spending time with your loved ones. I'm sure that everyone does too.

J is for- A Jar is what we used to put homemade jam or sauces. When we usually spend time with our grandparents, we make jam and different sauces. My grandparents have a garden and in their garden they have different fruits. They have grapes, apples, apricots, cherrys, and strawberries. That's what we used to make the jam or even juices. In the summer we would mash berries and put them in a juicer and use the leftover berries for the jam and the berry juice to drink. The first time i did it it was so much fun because mashing the berries was satisfying. We usually make a lot of homemade stuff. It's fun to come together and make something.

K is for- Kitten, around February my mom went out shopping and she had some errands to do. When she came back in the evening she brought with her a kitten. She was so small and we couldn't believe our eyes that she actually brought one in the house. We thought that she was joking with us because we know that our parents play jokes on us all the time. But my mom said that she was not joking and so we named our cat Kisa which means cat in kitten in russian. She is grey, orange, white and black. We spent a lot of time playing with her. Even though I like dogs more than cats, they are still entertaining.

L is for- Most summer we would go to our friends to help make Lemonade. We would sell it for 25 cents and we would buy cookies and sell it too. We would meet really nice people and they would give us a lot of money. One time there was a car that pulled over to our stand and the guy gave us 20 dollars and he didn't want change. Yes there are nice people in the world. We only rays money for a good cause. That would be selfish to keep the money for ourselves. We had so much fun just selling lemonade. We even made new friends by selling lemonade.

M is for - Motorcycle is one of the things I'm scared to ride. My brother has one which is mint green and he lives in california. So he would ride it around every summer. He would ask me if i ever wanted to ride a motorcycle but i would say “no”. But a couple years later my dad bought a motorcycle and i didnt have a choice but to ride the motorcycle because we only have 2 cars, and when my mom is using the vehicles or one of my family members we have to use the Motorcycle. So i just pray to god that i don't get in a motorcycle accident. Even though my dad already was in one. My dad has a red motorcycle and he only got this motorcycle because he was fascinated with my brother's motorcycle and he drives around like a cool person.

N is for-Nails is one of the things I like doing in my free time. I took courses in Moldova when i went there. I learnt how to do acrylic nails and gel nails. After I finished the course I got a nail design certificate for the job I did. I would go to the nail salon everyday and would do customers' nails. It was hard but i got used to it and it was fun to design nails for others. I knew that once I came back to Winnipeg I could do my friends' nails. I do spend a lot of my time doing my nails. It's one of the things that represents me.

O is for- Oven is what i usually use to bake cookies, cakes and other desserts. My sister and I used to make muffins almost everyday. We really enjoy baking stuff, if we feel like it sometimes we bake for others. Several times we made cakes for our friends' birthdays. We even hardly buy desserts or sweets because all we do is bake everyday. It's not just healthier but it's fun to bake with friends and family. Since my family is vegetarian/ vegan we try using non-dairy or meat in our cooking. My dad is the only one that eats meat but over all we eat the same thing.

P is for- Piano was one of the things i didn't like. I started when I was 5 and my mom made us do it even if we didn't like it. We had a music teacher that would teach us. We did piano for 7 years. It was not fun for us, and if we don't have fun we dont try. We would complain a lot because we disliked it so much. Know i forgot how to play piano but I know the notes and keys. In middle school I started to play the trumpet, but didnt like it either because you have to blow really hard to get the sound and it hurt my cheeks. So now I don't play anything and I am glad that I don't.

Q is for- Quotes are my favorite because they have some many meanings and they are very inspiring. When i'm sad or not in a good mood i always look at them and it makes me feel better. Sometimes it inspires me to do my own. Sometimes you just need a push in life to get through the bad and the good stuff. I feel like people need quotes in their lives. Without them people would be depressed or would feel like they don't belong. With the quotes can get inspired or can feel something good while they read it. When you have a hard time you can just read the positive quotes and it just changes you to be a better person.

R is for- Rain is the best feeling. When I was younger I would go out whenever it would rain. I love to go in the puddles when it rains and also the sound of rain makes me happy. Outside might be gloomy but it is the best time to play and get soaked. When i go to bed i can hear the rain beating on the window. It helps me sleep and it feels like you are in another world. When it would rain really hard and there would be big puddles on the road me and my sister when we were younger we would put on our bathing suits and play in them. Walking in the rain with my dog is the best part. He enjoys being out and even when it rains.

S is for- salad is very healthy for you. I always liked salad, my mom would make it everyday. Without salad or any vegetables there would be no nutrients. I’m a vegetarian so it's easy for me to say, I like vegetables. The first time i became a vegetarian it was so hard to cook anything without meat. I would complain to my mom that everything tasted bad without meat. So we slowly started making salads and we liked it. You really need to get used to vegetables to like them. I know a lot of people that don't like vegetables which is not healthy. So i try my best to put vegetables in my food every time i cook.

T is for- Tools because from time to time i would help my dad in his workshop and drill stuff or put things together. When I was younger me and my sister would go to Home Depot to build different stuff. We would build cars and small houses. Me and my dad would work together from time to time. After my dad I was the second strongest. So whenever my dad needed help he would call me to help him out. While working with him he would tell me what kind of tool we are using and what name it had. I helped my dad build our shed behind our house, it was fun.

U is for- Ukulele is one of the things i like to play when i have nothing to do. I spend time playing in my room when i have free time. I mentioned that I didn't like playing instruments. But for some reason ukulele is not as stressful as other instruments. I have not really found my talents yet. It's hard to do stuff when you're not really good at it. Since I played piano it is easy to know the notes. It's also light so it's easy to take around.

V is for-Viceroy is somewhat like a monarch butterfly. Four years ago our friend gave us a caterpillar that we had in a container. We brought it home and we put special leaves for our friend for the caterpillar because the caterpillar can't just eat normal leaves. We were really excited for the caterpillar so it turned into a butterfly. We waited for a couple of months until it turned into a cocoon. It was nice to see the caterpillar change its form into a cocoon. We had to wait a while until it came out from its cocoon. Once it did it was really pretty to see that it had orange and black wings and that it changed its form.

W is for- Wasps are the worst. Me and my sister and my mother went traveling to an island called vanuatu. We went for volunteering and to see our friends. They had so many insects and animals that I couldn't sleep at night. They had ants everywhere and so many lizards in the houses and you couldn't get rid of them. They also had many fruit trees which was nice. But with fruits everywhere, comes insects. So one time when I went to climb an orange tree I saw two wasps. They were flying around my head. I tried getting down but my shirt got stuck to a branch. While trying to get unstuck the one wasp stung me on the head and the other one on my back. They hurt so bad that I started balling with tears. Our friend had some cream, so she put some on my back and my head. That was not a good experience.

Y is for - With the Yarn my mom used to make clothes for us. She knits all the time. When she goes to a meeting or when she is watching a movie. She has made a lot of things like socks, house shoes, leg warmers, sweater etc. She started teaching us when we were small to knit scarfs and other things. It was hard at first but then it got easier. For knitting you need a lot of patience. We even had our knitting club where our friends would come over and learn how to knit.