UP

Have you seen the movie UP? It is pretty cute and a little sad and it makes your heart feel all good inside... But I bring it up in the blog for a different reason. There is a dog in the movie named "Dug" and Dug has a collar that allows him to talk. Dug is a bit of a doofas, and one thing he says in the movie is "I have just met you and I LOVE YOU!"

I was Dug in Ethiopia. I had learned the word for thank you and for I love you and I tended to get them mixed up. Often. Daily, I would tell people, complete strangers, other professionals, store owners... that "I loved them". In the airport before we left I bumped my luggage into something and the attendant started laughing. Jill came up behind me and saw the laughter and said to the man: "Did she just tell you she loved you?" Which I did NOT, but of course this sparked lots of I love you's all around. Finally as we were walking in the "hallway" from the aiport to the airplane the attended passed us one more time and yelled "Oh-de sha-lu!" for the entire (Amharic speaking) plane to hear. Of course I had to yell "Oh-de-ha-lu" back.

So again back to Dug and UP. I found went to YouTube to find a clip of Dug saying "I have only just met you and I love you" and in finding this clip I realized there is a lot more of Dug in me that just that one line. If you are inlined click on the link and decide for yourself:

Dug the Dog