Day 13: The day we found out we were moving to Atlanta for residency, I started sobbing and didn’t stop for days. I had my heart set on being back in Tennessee, and Atlanta just wasn’t on my radar. I didn’t know people there, it is a HUGE city, and I just felt overwhelmed and lost. 

During our first few weeks in Atlanta, we found out that there was a surgery resident in his final year who wanted to serve in…ETHIOPIA. And that Emory had a host of global health connections in…ETHIOPIA. And I became friends with a lovely girl who worked at the grocery store near our house—she was from ETHIOPIA. 

During our first year we started looking for a house. I would search in a 25-mile radius from the center of Atlanta for a 3 bedroom house under $150,000. You would laugh if you could see the insanely short list of houses that fit those criteria. One of them was in good shape and in a good-looking neighborhood, so we bought it. Come to find out, it was settled in the midst of a very diverse community called Clarkston where numerous refugees had been resettled and beautiful ethnic diversity abounded. In fact, there were two Ethiopian families on our street and probably 10 places where you could get Ethiopian food within two miles from our house. Coincidences? I think not. 😊 #31daysofcalling #lovesinethiopia