All posts by Trey

I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and soon to be Master of Social Work. My passion is working with international communities in development and social justice systems.
Ethiopia

Another update


9/18
Well it is that time again…to get back into a rut.  I cannot even begin to describe how much I have read in my time in Ethiopia.  I am not just talking about books either.  Let’s see how much I can remember: about thirty papers on beekeeping, everything from teaching it in Africa, to The Beekeeping Guide for Dummies (not being sarcastic), each one being between 80-300 pages long; fuel efficient cook stoves and ovens, about a dozen similar length documents on that; poultry raising, only one document on that; fuel briquette making, about 4-5 documents; every GAD document at least skimmed, probably about 200 documents; documents about the banana disease I am working on, about 20 scientific papers; and documents and manuals about starting various school clubs; and a ton of small stuff about gardening, tree nurseries, etc.  Then when I add on the thirty something books finished, and the dozen or so started that I am still working on.  Well let’s just say you begin to get an idea of where my last five months at site have gone.  But hey, there are worse things I could be doing than increasing my knowledge I guess.  But that seems to be more or less where this week is going too.  So Monday I read (shocker I know) about school clubs, I also got the money supplied by my office to go into my hub town and get supplies for the training I am going to be doing on Beekeeping.  Tuesday I actually went into town and bought the supplies plus did a few errands.  Today the power finally came back and I worked on some tech crap at the office, but that didn’t take that long and I READ.  But this week the power has been more off than on so I have read a lot, trouble is I tried to put some more books on my kindle and for some reason it is now saying there are NO books on it.  I have done everything I can think of and I can’t seem to get it to recognize a thing I put on it.  Needless to say I am a bit upset.  Thankfully before Jill and Devin left I got a bunch of paper books from them so I am not dying of boredom.  I was even supposed to have a class about the banana disease in Balo Habebe (the gorge) today, but since there was a political meeting also today they pushed the date back.  So my first class has still not happened, but they are talking about me doing the first beekeeping class next week so I am keeping my fingers crossed.  School starts next week though, and assuming I can get these clubs set up I will soon be able to depend on recurring meetings every week with a set schedule!  Looking forward to it.
So the theme for today is: Read a Book!   I know in America we have busy lives, with work, and school, and watching American Idol!  But this week find a good book to sit down and read.  It can be one of your favorites, or one a friend has been nagging you to read, but find something and make a little time every day to read some of it.  Even if it is just a chapter a day, you will be surprised at how quickly you can finish it done, and maybe it will lead to a reading habit.  Now I challenge any of you to out read me!!!
Ethiopia

Working

9/6
I have to say I am pretty happy with myself right now.  I have never been much of a cook, but I can whip something up if I really have to.  However, as far as I can remember I have only three times in my life made bread from scratch, and one of those times I used my blender to do the kneading for me.  The other two times have been in Ethiopia using a “dutch oven” style of baking since I lack anything like an oven.  The first time I didn’t activate the yeast (did you know you have to do that with non-instant yeast?), and I cooked it a bit too hot and burned the bottom a little.  It was still edible and reasonably good.  This time though I did it perfectly, the bread turned out great, it was well cooked, tasted good, rose well, I even gave an extra loaf to my landlord who at least said it was really good.  Considering my first ever bread was a focacia bread I think I did really well.  On top of that I am considering trying to work with local people to start a bakery, and since the electricity here is completely unreliable it will be a brick oven style thing so at least having some small experience in making bread I think will come in handy. 
When I gave the bread to my landlord she invited me to dinner as well.  Even though I had already eaten I didn’t want to be rude by turning her down.  It was pretty good, and I think I am starting to get used to the style of enjera made in this area.  It is weird because I almost never eat it, but it hasn’t been so bad recently.  Don’t get me wrong, I do actually like enjera for the most part, but the kind made in my area is cut with a lot of barley and it usually takes on a more sour taste than other enjera, so it has been a while getting used to it.  But it was nice to have dinner with her, her little baby, and her maid who was cooking for us. 
On a more general note, I found out today that a date has been set for my first training I will perform.  I am to do training on the banana disease in the gorge (Balo Habebe) on September 8, since I still have not figured out the Ethiopian calendar I really don’t know when that is, but it should be soon.  I think the new year, Ethiopian new year is September 1st, is in just a few days so it will be eight days after that happens.  I am a little confused about what exactly is going to happen on New Years, but I think I have been invited to spend it with one of my counterparts, and there may or may not be a camp fire at my office so I guess I will just wait and see.  I am going into town on Monday to do some beekeeping with Devin and James is coming up to get some practice.  This will probably be the last time I see Devin in Ethiopia though as he is finishing his service.  Along with him Bre, Emily, and Laressa, are all leaving the area so it is going to get interesting not having any forenji less than two bus rides away.  When I come back though it will be hard core getting ready for projects, I will be bringing back an almost completed hive that we created during IST, I have to finish that, get the bees to put in it, and get the place I am going to be keeping them ready, then I have to get final approval to do my training so I can get started with the date planning, etc.  Plus school is about to start and I will be starting my clubs shortly after that.  Stuff is finally getting started and it is exciting. 
So here is my thing to consider: I ate some of my bread with the apple butter mom sent me (it is amazing thank you!), and I thought about it.  Really the only sweets we get here are coffee and tea, because they really do put that much sugar in it, and “biscuits” which are basically crackers/cookies with a bit of icing in the middle.  Otherwise the candy here isn’t really worth speaking of, there is no ice cream except in the big cities, and even that “cakes” have basically no sugar in them so it is basically just bread.  So while it is probably good for our health, I would really love to just have a bag of darkside skittles, or a cup of fro-yo now and then.  So the next time you are chowing down on a cupcake, or munching on a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, just think about us poor people in Ethiopia without the basic un-necessities.  That is all.  
Ethiopia

Long update

8/29
This week has without a doubt been my most productive week here.  Typing that I feel a little bad because I still have not done that much for US standards.  Like I said in my last entry, it is hard to get any major things done here because of all the red tape, but I have been working on that and actually making some head way.  I have finished my proposals for the banana disease project (doesn’t look like I actually needed that one), and the beekeeping proposal is all but done, one more field needs to be filled out and I can submit it.   I was in the office writting the 8/27 blog post and right after I finished it two white guys walked by my office door.  I feel bad because of all the complaining we do a lot of us volunteers have realized that when we see a forenji we stare right along with the habesha.  It is weird because we go weeks or months without seeing anyone other than Ethiopians, so to see someone else is just weird to us.  So I admit it, I stared…for a while.  Then when one of them looked over all I could do was wave.  I missed them when they left their meeting and went to to gorge.  The next day they came back and I got permission to go with them; I found out they were with an NGO from Holland.  They were a documentary film crew checking on the sustainability of the project.  The NGO had distributed goats during the big drought (you know, the one that whenever a volunteer told you they were going to Ethiopia, you asked isn’t that the place with all the starving kids, ya that drought) and they wanted to know if the people were still keeping goats.  They allowed me to go into the gorge with them, so while they were filming my counterpart and I went to the kabele leaders and discussed the beekeeping and banana disease projects.  They were interested in both, but in particular the banana disease.  They said they were going to pick a date for me to come and do the training.  They also said they were going to invite all the banana farmers in the kabele.  That means that if every farmer comes to the training I will have about 150 people learning from me at one time.  These people are coming to listen to me try and help them prevent a huge loss of income, income that they can’t afford to lose.  So no pressure or anything!  Today I met with some of the staff at my office to discuss the beekeeping project so we could determine budget, scheduling, persons to invite, etc.  They are all for it and have all but handed me the money for the program.  They were even trying to get me to do the training next week, which I am totally happy to do, but I still have to create an apiary (the place where you keep bees), get bee suits made for the practical part of the training, get supplies to teach people how to make transitional hives, find bees to do the transfer part of the training, and besides, it isn’t the right time of the year to actually start moving the bees.  So I have talked them down from the next week idea, but they still want to do a two part training so I can do most of the training very soon, and finish the practical aspects in a few months.  They have me planning on an eighty person training, with help from my two counterparts to translate, a two day course with equal parts technical and practical training.  So between now and the actual training I have to: firm up my budget, turn in a proposal, get the materials to create my apiary, (hopefully) find bees I can buy and move to my apiary, (hopefully) have my powerpoint translated into the local language, get at least one local material bee suit made as an example, buy the supplies I can not get here in my hub town and have them transported here, meet with the people who will attend the training, meet with the local beekeeper cooperative, find out how many people from my office want to have the training, and train my counterparts who are going to help me so they are better prepared for the material we will present.  Needless to say I am really happy I am not training next week!  But I have to say, I am a lot happier with this than with not having enough to do.  Getting things going has been a long wait, but now it seems like things are coming together. 
Anyway I said I got a lot of stuff done this week so I should explain.  Along with meeting with the kabele leaders about the banana disease, and the Ag office about the beekeeping, I: had a local material hive tool made, got the first half of a beekeepers suit made, got both of my proposals written, sorted and went through the documents for the GAD comittee, sorted and went through all the documents I got about the banana disease during IST, planted seeds to use at my apiary, found an alloe plant during my trip to balo habebe and planted that in a container at my house, weeded my garden, and almost cut my finger off…
Well I guess that part isn’t really an accomplishment.  It really isn’t a very fun story I am afraid, while in the gorge with the NGO the people we had the meeting with took us to get some sugarcane.  After we got back I was in my room using my pocket knife to cut and eat it.  I was trying to split a piece and went all the way through it and into my finger.  I went to the clinic to have some stitches but the doctors had gone home.  Thankfully it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been so I bandaged it well, and started taking antibiotics.  After a little though I have decided it will be less risky to just let it heal on it’s own and get a nice scar from it rather than risk the sanitation here. 
Anyway, I once again feel the need to appologize for my rambling and am going to quit typing at this point.  For those of you still reading this you have the patients of a saint.  I do feel obliged to keep up with the moral of the story thing I have going so I will add this.
For those of you who have gotten this far I want you to think of this.  To often we complain about having too much to do in the States.  We never feel like we have enough time for all the things we have to do.  But why is that necessarily a bad thing?  The other day I was at work and my coworker was asleep at his desk, I know that isn’t unheard of in the US, but it wasn’t like he had something to do and was just tired from a night out.  There are no nights out in this town because there isn’t anything to do at night.  He really had nothing to do, no work that he was really responsible for at that point that needed to be done, he really just had nothing better to do.  So sometimes you really will need to just slow down and breathe, but when you do also decide to be thankful that you have something to give you purpose.
8/27
Sorry mom, I will never get into politics (like you ever thought I would).  My opinion changes day to day, but for the last week or so my least favorite thing is dealing with the beurocricy.  I swear, every project I want to do I have to type this up, ask these people, propose to this group, and get stamps (no less than three) on every document I create.  It is even more difficult, because with a lack of power or internet I can not email anything or even call someone to get approval.  It is all one on one with people who are rarely in the office.  But, I am finally on the right path.  I have gotten my counterparts sufficiently involved and they are starting to really help me get the wheels rolling.  We are in the process of getting the community groups together that we are going to work with, and then getting approval for the projects from the staff.  I have my proposals typed up, and my beekeeping manual (that I will probably not get to use because of the lack of power) created.  I have plans for how I am going to proceed, and have even started getting some local material equipment created.  It is almost the new year here.  In September Ethiopia will celebrate and then the schools start back up.  I still have to get a letter written up from the Agriculture office so I can work with the Education office, but the schools seem very excited for me to work with them.  At this point it is possible that I will have EIGHT clubs.  If nothing else that should keep me more than busy.  Soon I will start working on the process of getting my horse as well.  Still more letters and papers, and approvals I have to get for that.  Mainly just from the property owner though, I apparently have to have a signed contract with the people saying who will have what responsibility, etc.  Then I have to get hay delivered, then I have to get grain, then I have to get a saddle, then I have to find where I can get vaccines for it, on and on.  The thing I have for you all to think on today is this.  Don’t take for granted the fact that with a few phone calls, some emails, and one supermarket later you can have for many things a program started.  For me it has been three and a half months of talking to people about what I want to do, of designing, etc, and I am just now on the verge of actually having something started.  So take a second, and think about all the modern conveniences you have right there at your finger tips.  The computers, wifi, cars, email, and supermarkets that we complain so much about the five minute drive, or how slow our one generation old iphones are going. 
8/23
IST is over, we all are back to site at this point (with the exception of those who went on vacation after training), since I was elected to the GAD comittee I stayed in Addis till Monday morning.  I arrived back to site around lunch time on Tuesday, for some reason I was in a particularly good mood going back.  I am not sure why, but I am trying to make it stick.  I am doing pretty well in that area, since I have been back I have had things to do.  For those of you who know me I don’t do well if there is nothing to keep me busy, so being able to at least plan things is good for me.  Since I have been back I have nearly completed the plan development for working on the banana diseas, read about a dozen manuals, anything from scientific papers about the banana disease, to lesson plans for the GAD comittee.  I have planted cuttings of flowers I took from Holeta, some rosmary my coworker gave me, and some seeds to plant at the FTC when I get approval to do the beekeeping trainings.  I have weeded one of the beds of my garden (two more to go), and attempted my first re-batching of soap (it didn’t go so well).  Today I went to the market with my counterpart and bought some stuff for beekeeping, plus had a blacksmith make a hive tool for me.  All of this, plus watching a couple movies and playing some frisbee with the neighbor kids.  I am just worried now that I am going so fast that I am going to run out of stuff to do.  For now though I am going to focus on getting stuff started because like all beuraucratic work I have to go through all the “proper” channels, cross all my t’s and dot all my i’s so I am trying to make sure I don’t step on anyone’s toes, or offend anyone.  Hopefully soon I will have some stuff actually going, have a horse (oh did I mention I am getting a horse) and that will give me something fun to do on the weekends!
I hope all of you guys back in the states are doing well.  I think about you all every day.  I wish just for a day you all could come see this place, it is so different from being there, yet the similarities are there too.  Just as something to leave you with.  Before IST I had to do a community needs assessment, it was a lot of boring questions and answers and wasn’t worth much since I already knew the projects I was going to work on.  But the thing that really impressed me was that one of the questions I asked was what are you most proud of living here in Gassera.  Every-single-time the answer was the sense of community.  If there was one thing I could bring back from Ethiopia, it would be how everyone here knows each other, how they all know about each others children, about their lives, and are willing to help each other.  So let me give you a task, a challenge if you will.  Try this week to go up to one person in your neighborhood that you don’t know.  Find out about them and their lives.  I am sure most of you won’t but even here I am going to try to, and if I can do it in a country where I can’t speak the language how hard is it really for you to?
8/9
So today is the second and final day of our beekeeping training.  It has been interesting so far, despite the fact that the expert who is teaching the class is not good at lecturing.  Devin came in for the training and taught one of the lectures before lunch so that was interesting.  We are all tired though, a week of classes, and going out every night will wear you down.  On top of that we have class till 8:30pm so we can do a bee transfer from a traditional hive to a transitional.  It will be fun, but we won’t get back to Addis till some time tomorrow.  They did say they are giving us the bee suits after we finish the training.  I have also been collecting seeds and cuttings from the plants they have planted here in Holeta, so hopefully when I get back I will be able to start my apiary preperaions as soon as I finish training.  Then our counterparts are getting into town tomorrow so we will get no rest.  On the plus side I will get to stay in Addis for a few days extra because of the GAD committee.  There will be a bunch of people I know in Addis still so I am sure we will only be minimally productive. 
Another week and I will be heading back to site.  I am in some ways anxious to get back, and in other ways I am dreading it.  It is going to be rough getting to spend time with all these guys, then go back to only having a few people I talk to. 
8/8
So we are almost half done with training.  Today we are at Holeta Bee reserch center learning about beekeeping in Ethiopia.  I have been explaining a lot of the things that the master keeper has left out or not explained well.  Today we are learning basics and going to do some bee product processing.  Tomorrow we will be transfering bees from a traditional hive to a transitional hive.  I am excited to be able to ask my questions that I haven’t had answered yet, and even more excited to get back to site and get them started.  We have been hanging out a lot and saying goodbyes to G7s.  We also had elections for the different groups.  I was elected to GAD (gender and development) comittee!  I am excited to get to working on promoting equality in Ethiopia and to help show other volunteers how to make a difference for women rights, and rights of all people.
On Ebola: So far there is nothing to worry about.  There have been no instances where any PC volunteers in Ethiopia have come into contact with Ebola, and at this point, the PC staff is monitoring the situation, but does not feel it is a threat for us.  As IST comes to a close next week please keep all the volunteers in mind.  Going back to site is one of the most difficult time for volunteers service.  Leaving our friends and the comforts of Addis is hard, and it is a very common time for volunteers to have difficulties. 
Ethiopia

Training

1 Comment

8/13
So this week has been up and down.  It is great seeing the other volunteers, and some G7s have been here for their final flights out, some G8s are here for trainings they are facilitating, and some G9s have been in and out.  So we have been seeing and being able to spend time with a lot of people.  But, on the down side it has been so long, we have not had a full day off unless you count Sunday.  We traveled back from Holeta in the early morning, but that meant we didn’t get to sleep in or rest.  Classes go from eight in the morning, to five thirty at night, we have had every session this week with our counterparts, and it honestly has been a bit frustrating.  But, it is good practice and allows them to see how PC volunteers are going to go about projects, so in the end it will be very beneficial.  It also has been raining every day, and for some reason I only brought one pair of shoes with me to Addis so I have been walking around in wet shoes for the last week and a half.  This afternoon was nice though, Sam, Naveed, Andrew, Charlie, Taylor, and I went to get Lebanese food, which was expensive but good, then went to a place we were told had good cheese cake.  Sam and I took a bite of it at the same time and both made happy noises at the same time.  It was easily the best desert in Ethiopia.  Then we crossed the street to get a line taxi, one pulled up right as we got across, and it had the perfect amount of seats.  We are sitting in the taxi when a forenji song comes on, Andrew asked if we would get the driver to turn the music up, we said we didn’t know how to ask that, but just as we were saying it he cranked the radio to blaring!  We of course all cheer, then start singing.  The only spot on the whole trip (which we honestly didn’t care about) was that when he turned the music up two of the passengers asked to get off, as he pulled over they said why so he turned the song.  But even that song was pretty good.  It was honestly just what we needed to make up for the long week so far.  I am really glad I went, because I was considering getting Thai food, but this was so much better.
8/9
So today is the second and final day of our beekeeping training.  It has been interesting so far, despite the fact that the expert who is teaching the class is not good at lecturing.  Devin came in for the training and taught one of the lectures before lunch so that was interesting.  We are all tired though, a week of classes, and going out every night will wear you down.  On top of that we have class till 8:30pm so we can do a bee transfer from a traditional hive to a transitional.  It will be fun, but we won’t get back to Addis till some time tomorrow.  They did say they are giving us the bee suits after we finish the training.  I have also been collecting seeds and cuttings from the plants they have planted here in Holeta, so hopefully when I get back I will be able to start my apiary preparations as soon as I finish training.  Then our counterparts are getting into town tomorrow so we will get no rest.  On the plus side I will get to stay in Addis for a few days extra because of the GAD committee.  There will be a bunch of people I know in Addis still so I am sure we will only be minimally productive.
Another week and I will be heading back to site.  I am in some ways anxious to get back, and in other ways I am dreading it.  It is going to be rough getting to spend time with all these guys, then go back to only having a few people I talk to.
8/8
So we are almost half done with training.  Today we are at Holeta Bee research center learning about beekeeping in Ethiopia.  I have been explaining a lot of the things that the master keeper has left out or not explained well.  Today we are learning basics and going to do some bee product processing.  Tomorrow we will be transferring bees from a traditional hive to a transitional hive.  I am excited to be able to ask my questions that I haven’t had answered yet, and even more excited to get back to site and get them started.  We have been hanging out a lot and saying goodbyes to G7s.  We also had elections for the different groups.  I was elected to GAD (gender and development) committee!  I am excited to get to working on promoting equality in Ethiopia and to help show other volunteers how to make a difference for women rights, and rights of all people.
On Ebola: So far there is nothing to worry about.  There have been no instances where any PC volunteers in Ethiopia have come into contact with Ebola, and at this point, the PC staff is monitoring the situation, but does not feel it is a threat for us.  As IST comes to a close next week please keep all the volunteers in mind.  Going back to site is one of the most difficult time for volunteers service.  Leaving our friends and the comforts of Addis is hard, and it is a very common time for volunteers to have difficulties.

Ethiopia

At IST

2 Comments

8/5
We are on the second day of IST (in service training), so far there hasn’t been a whole lot of interest.  Today people are doing presentations about their sites.  Even though it has been such a short time we have already had someone get their phone stolen, it was returned though (for a fee).  We have been in classes nearly all day for both days, so not a lot of getting out of the hotel at this point.  But, the afternoons we have been going out to eat and loving the forenji food.  The end of this week we are going to some trainings on composting toilets, then beekeeping.  I am really exciting about the beekeeping training, I have already prepared some questions to ask the experts there.  It has been great getting to see everyone again.  But, we have been warned that after this going back to site is probably going to really bum us out.  We are all sad to be losing another volunteer, but no one can blame him for his choice, and we will all miss him.
I have gotten approval to buy a horse and for (part or all) of the cost to be reimbursed by PC.  Since  am in such a rural area, bikes are not logical for some of the area I need to go, and the lack of transportation means I had to find other options, hence, the horse.  So I can’t wait to get that set up when I get back to site.  I also have gotten a cool idea for another income generating activity that I will research when I get back to site that could really improve my life as well.  I might be being a little selfish, but I think that is ok sometimes.
Yesterday we did kind of a brain storm session where the volunteers came up with our biggest problems at sight, then determined what we can do, and what PC can do to help us with these problems.  Some interesting solutions were brought up, so something good will come out of it.
Otherwise, for all of he parents reading my blog, I wanted to assure you everyone is doing well.  No one has been overly sick while here, and everyone is enjoying the company of the people we havn’t seen in months.
8/2
It has happened, the thing all travelers fear.  I have been ROBBED!  Well, all drama aside, I did get things stolen from me.  I was on the bus with my bag at my side and resting against the back of the seat in front of me.  Somehow the person sitting there reached through the seat, sliced a whole in my bag, and stole my point and shoot camera, my ipod shuffle, and my US android smart phone.  All in all, they made of with several hundred dollars worth of equipment.  Thankfully, they didn’t take my kindle, or my PC passport (which was in a hidden pocket, in the same pouch).  I really don’t know what they plan to do, my phone is encrypted and password protected, and the camera is old enough it will be impossible to find a charger for it, the only thing that is really any good to them is the ipod.  So thief, I hope you enjoy, because you just took away all of my sources of portable music.
Otherwise I have arrived in Addis safely, I will be here for two weeks, so now is the time to get in touch if you want to talk to me.

Ethiopia

What I am up to

7/27
I can’t remember what I have posted about what I am doing at site so if I repeat myself I appologize.  As I have said many times, I don’t do much.  I am up to 26 books read at this point, plus a bunch of series and movies watched.  As far as acutall work though, I am currently working on a banana disease that is decimating local crops, with some help from one of my old clients back in the states it seems that we may have found the pathogen causing the disease.  Sadly there seems to be no cure, but rather just preventative measures that are all just pure hard labor.  So if I can verify that it is the bacteria we are thinking I will be able to start working on a program to work with the farmers in erradicating the diseas.  I also am working on getting a beekeeping program started.  Beekeeping is very common in Ethiopia, but they are still using the traditional techniques that are extreemly outdated, and not as productive as the modern techniques.  I have two locations already picted out where I will work with the local farmers and the bee cooperatives to bring them up to speed on modern techniques.  As soon as IST is over I intend to start preparing the apiary (beekeeping area) where I want to keep some of my own hives as demonstrations.  I also am probably biting off more than I can chew, but I want to try grafting (think breeding) bees to fill all the empty hives that they have sitting out.  Finally, I am also intending to work with the schools doing English clubs at the least, I also may do some environment, and gender equality clubs as well.  I have the inital OK from one of the school administrators, and the Education board, but I still have to get final approval.  If I do get that, then classes start in September here, and I will start shortly after that with the clubs.
So that is about it, I am sure I will find some other odds and ends to fill my time, but right now I have no other projects in mind.  I hope this answers some of your questions about what I am doing.
-Trey

Ethiopia

What goes bump in the night.

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7/18
Well, I am afraid there really isn’t a lot to talk about.  I have told you over and over how little I have to do.  This week was the example of that.  It truly has been boring.  I started putting together my community needs assessment (CNA); it is supposed to help me determine the problems that I would be able to work on while living here.  Since I already have my major projects in mind though it really will not likely get me far.  From seeing the initial results of my survey the only things that are really being brought up are infrastructure problems like power and water which are beyond my reach anyway.  I had to get some information to put in the paper the other day, sadly it only took about twenty minutes to get so it really did not keep me occupied.  That has been the highlight of my week so far.  Tomorrow I will be in Robe to get some internet and Devin is going to let me help in some work he has on the hives he is working on.  I am glad to be able to get even a little more hands on practice; hopefully soon I will be able to get started on work here in Gassera.  The power has been pretty consistent this week, a relief since I have been able to keep my computer charged so I can watch movies in my excess of down town.  Even so I have finished a few books just this week and got halfway through another one just today.  The water has been as bad as usual though, this week we have had good water pressure once that I know of, it was so bad my landlord actually had to get water from me!  Still, I have gotten into a good water management regiment, plus I keep 100liters of water in my house so I know I have enough.  Well, I don’t know what else to talk about right now, I hope you enjoyed the thrilling tales of the water and power problems.  If I still have anyone reading thank you for putting up with this and…maybe you should pick up a hobby 😉
P.S. Two weeks till we will be in Addis and should be able to chat a lot better.
7/10
Things that go bump in the night.  Thankfully I have the gift to sleep like a rock.  In some cases, like trying to wake up to an alarm, this is a problem.  But, in Ethiopia it is most definitely a gift.  Since I live in a rural area there is not a lot of traffic, still, I do live off the main road so there is some traffic, and there have been several instances where a truck will drive by.  Once there was a dump truck bringing a load of rocks that they dumped at the house across the street from me.  Now, that wouldn’t be so weird, except they did all this at two o’clock in the morning!  On a rare occasion I will have trouble sleeping, sometimes it is because I was asleep and had to wake up at midnight to go get water, since it often only comes in the middle of the night, or the rare bout of random insomnia.  This post is so I can tell you the strange and unusual noises of Ethiopia.
Shortly after the sun goes down, 8 or 9 o’clock pm:
This is the hour of the hyena.  Now my landlord swears there are no hyenas in Gassera.  I think she must have been being too literal, because while living in Butajira you become more than familiar with the noise of the jib (Ethiopian name for hyena).  In Gassera there must not be a big population, because only occasionally do you hear them.  Regardless of if the job is out though, this is a common time for the feral dogs to start up the howling.  The dogs can go anywhere from a few minutes to the early hours of the morning.  It is also common that when the power is on the local shops and, for some strange reason, the barber shop will play music loudly.  Both Ethiopian music and older pop music.
Between 9pm and 4 am:
This is the random time.  Sometimes there will be the random bus or truck who, of course, feels the need to honk their horns and wake everyone up.  Or the dogs will randomly start howling, I have several times opened to door to fuss at the compound dog, who for some reason thinks that when he howls he should literally do it on my door step.  For those of you who are not familiar with goats, you should know that they make some strange noises.  There was one morning I almost ran out the door because I thought someone was yelling HELP over and over again.  When I woke up enough I remembered that “help” is an English word and is not something an Ethiopian yelled.  I quickly figured out that it was a goat after that.  They also make a weird belching noise, and VERY loudly.  This seems to be the noise they make when they want to impress a lady goat.  They also have a tendency to rub against the corrugated metal fence that surrounds my compound, making it sound like someone is trying to climb the fence.  All of these are some of the random noises that happen in a typical night.
Between 4am and 6am:
My favorite time of the morning (sarcasm).  I don’t know how Ethiopians feel, but to me this is the worst time to be woken up.  But, it seems like every Ethiopian who likes to make noise is up at this time.  Around 5 am every morning someone walks around with what I assume to be a tire rim and a piece of steel and bangs it to make a bell.  I am not sure what that noise is supposed to signal, but I assure you if I had to get up to it every morning I would have words with the person making the noise.  Then at 5 or 5:30, I thankfully have not been up enough to remember exactly what time, the Muslims have a call to prayer.  Now if you have ever been in a predominantly Muslim town you know that the noise produced from the speakers placed strategically around the mosque to get the furthers and widest possible effect is other worldly.  I am not sure what they are saying, but it is said very loudly.  Since there are three mosques in my town all shouting this call from different directions it is impossible to miss.  At 6 o’clock every morning there is my compound wake up call.  Someone comes and bangs on my compound door and wall every morning.  Since no-one gets up at this time I am really not sure the reason.  Finally at 7am sharp, if there is power, the music starts up again, even if there is not the buses start honking the horn and the buses door guy starts calling out ROBE ROBE ROBE, the name of the town they are going to.  I am not sure why they feel they need to shout, since it is the only bus that leaves Gassera at 7 am it is hard for people not to know where they are going.  On the rare occasion one of the shops will feel the need to start the music a little early, maybe six or six thirty.  Those are the days that really start me out in a bad mood.  Then there are of course the goats again, they are waking up, and the fence faces the morning sun just right to reflect the sun perfectly to warm them in the morning.  One goat and I know each other very well because as I open the compound door every morning I have to step over him as he suns himself in front of the door.  And keep in mind all the random noises; this part of the morning is fair game for any and all of those as well.
So tonight when you go to bed, just stop and listen.  Chances are you won’t hear anything, and just stop and thank the city ordinances for their amazing use of noise nuisance laws that keep you asleep and comfortable through the night.
In ways of just a general update, the rainy season has started.  It has not been bad so far, only a few afternoon showers.  The farmers are upset because their crops need water, and since the rain is the only source for people in my town no water means crops may fail.  The power has been more consistent lately.  We have had power for the late morning and late afternoon every day since Sunday.  However, the water is another story.  Last Thursday the water went out.  It did not return until late last night.  I ended up having to send a jerry can to be filled from the local well.  That means the guys going around town with a donkey cart came to our house, got the jerry cans from my landlord, took them to the well, then returned them filled later in the afternoon.  This has been the only source of water for the town for over a week, and it has been common to see three or four carts every few hundred meters loaded down with jerry cans.  The price of the jerry cans has also gone up at the market, because people have been buying them all up to fetch water with.  It has been my first real water shortage and a learning experience.  As soon as the price goes down I will be buying several more jerry cans. 
I have been doing a lot of work getting some bee keeping stuff in order.  I gave some instructions to be relayed to the apiary in the gorge, and have brushed up on all the documents I had.  I am almost finished typing up the training manual I plan to use.  All I need now is to get the visuals added.  Next I need to get permission to set up a personal apiary at the FTC (farmer training center), and permission to do some inspections at the local farmer cooperative apiary so I can see the state of the hives there.  Next Monday I have a coworker scheduled to go to the gorge and collect a sample of the diseased bananas.  When he gets back I am going to prepare a gram stain of the sample and attempt to determine if there is a bacterial or fungal agent infecting the plants.  If there is the next stage will be to get permission and funds to take a sample to a lab to get it grown out and the species identified so we can form an appropriate treatment for them.  Finally I am also working on my CNA (community needs assessment), I have created a survey, and now I need to start polling the community to see what my future projects should be.  So far all the things they want fixed are far out of my reach for me in the two years I will be here.  Things like the intermittent power, and lack of water, are not my specialty to be sure.  But, it is nice to finally have things to do; keeping busy has absolutely improved my mood and made the days go by faster.  In a few short weeks all of G10 will return to Addis Ababa to attend out in service training.  It will be nice to see all my friends I have been more or less out of contact with, and I cannot WAIT to get some good forenji food!  Until then I will keep trying to get things together for the bee keeping project, work on my CNA, and enjoy the power while it lasts!
Ethiopia

Update

6/18
As usual I am not doing a lot.  I have read two and a half books in the last two days, if that gives you an idea of how busy I am.  I have decided to quit trying to tell you when I am going to the gorge.  I can see it daily, but have still not been able to get down into it.  I had a set plan with a coworker to go this Tuesday.  But yesterday came and I met the person I was going with, only to find there was a problem.  I am not sure how it came up, or how the office even realized I was here.  But, it appears that the zonal agricultural office found out I was living in Gassera and had not been told I was here.  They were apparently a little pissed at having been left out of the loop and my liason called PC to sort it out.  From what I can understand, and that isn’t a lot, there was a letter that was supposed to be delivered to the zonal office but either someone at my office or someone at the PC office forgot to deliver it.  So now I have been told I am not allowed to go to any of the rural areas until it is sorted out.  That means that the few breaks I got to go explore with someone are now on hold until this is over.  So sitting at the office is the only thing I can do at the moment that is work related.  So for now I wait.  I do have faith that SOME DAY I will make it down there to see all the cool stuff I have been told is down there.  Last weekend was pretty interesting though.  I was in Robe to get some supplies and Devin and Jill were kind enough to let me get into their beehive just to get some experience.  It was a really interesting experience to see how they work to protect their hive and the progress they had made in making new combs.  Sadly we were not able to do a lot because they were too active from the relativly high afternoon temperature.  But, it was still a really interesting experience and made me even more interested in getting a beekeeping project going while I am here.  And hey, I only got stung twice, I am also sure I am not allergic!

Ethiopia

Missing and markets

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6/13
So it seems like all PCVs do this at one point or another on their blogs so I figured I would get it over with.
Things I take for granted in the states.  Hopefully you will use this to take a second and think about all the little things that you take for granted on a day to day basis.
1.  You would think that the daily (and sometimes week long) power outages or the water that only works during the first few hours of he morning would make my list.  But honestly that doesn’t really bother me.  What gets me is the cell reception, or rather lack there of.  We have two cell towers in the town, but despite the fact that I can see them both out my front door, I have no cell reception at my house, only certain areas along the road (and beside the bathroom at work) have cell reception, and often even those spots do not work.
2.  Pizza, you can get it at almost any restaurant in the US, but here even the places that have beautiful pictures of it on the wall are only really teasing you.  I have taken to pointing at the picture and ordering it, just so when they say they don’t have it I can ask them why not.  Maybe one day they will get the idea and learn to make it.  But honestly, this goes for all food.  There is really only foreiner food in Addis and I am a day bus ride from there.
3.  I know I already mention food, but food DIVERSITY.  In Ethiopia they eat the same thing EVERY DAY.  I am not kidding.  They cook about three types of wat, but it seems that each family usually only cooks one type.  They occasionally have chopped up bits of meat cooked called tibs, and fir fir (the cooked remains of what ever injera they had left over).  There are a few special occasion dishes, but in general there really isn’t a whole lot more.  Even when I try to cook something new for myself there isn’t enough food diversity to do much new.  To get a different selection of vegetables I have to go to the special place in Robe, and then most of the squash, peppers, or egg plant are over ripe and wilting.
4. Privacy, not like at my house, when I am here I am in my own space.  Just out and about.  I have gotten used to the stairs and people yelling at me.  Thankfully here it is just a couple groups of kids in a few places.  But sometimes it is just too much.  Last weekend I went to the gorge to sit and relax while reading.  But first I had a kid come up and stare at me, then that kids (I assume) grandad came up and tried to get me to give the kid money.  I refused and told them to go away (not rude here), then a few minutes later another kid came over and started staring at me.  I ignored it, until her parents and some more kids created a crowd around me and started trying to look over my shoulder at what I was reading.  At that point there was no relaxing and I just had to go home.  As I said, I am used to it and usually it doesn’t get to me, but some times you just want your personal space and having people come take the thing out of your hand to look at it gets on your nerves.
5.  Things to do.  I have read twelve books since I have been here, and during PST I think I only read two or three of those.  I have watched about nine different seasons of various TV shows.  There is truly nothing to do on the weekends in this town.  I try to make a trip out during the weekends to get coffee and read in public so I can at least say hi to the people I know that I see on the street.  But there is no movie theater, mall, public park, I don’t have my dogs, or any other thing that you would normally do on the weekend in the states.  I have not even gotten a feel for where I can and can not go hiking yet.  Everything around me is crop land and I haven’t been to the gorge yet to get my bearings down there.  (right now that trip is planned for Tuesdays)

6.  Junk food.  Ya it is another food one, so I miss my American food OK.  I was watching a show the other day and the people where eating ice cream straight from the carton.  I almost had to turn the show off.  I have sadly been eating more candy than I care to admit.  It is hard to save the candy for the kids when I can hardly ever give it out, and it is the only real junk food I can get in my town.  (If I try to give out candy every kid within a mile seems to know and show up by the time the second piece is handed out.)  I am going to add cheese in this one too because GOD I miss cheese.
I think friends and family go without saying, but I do miss you all.
Honestly it has not been that hard to adapt to life here.  It is far different that what we are accustomed to in the US.  But the things that we find indispensable in the states are really not that big of a deal.  I could add hot showers (I take a shower about once a week, and it takes me about half an hour to boil enough water to make the shower water not icy), but really it doesn’t really matter to me.  I could add cars, everywhere I go I walk.  Once every two weeks I take a bus into town, but otherwise my feet are my ONLY transportation.  I could add supermarkets…well I do miss those, just not enough to make my top few.  I could add being able to microwave a meal right out of the freezer, but I have gotten pretty good about planning my meals and heck, all my ingredients are fresh, how can you beat that.  So really, there are a lot of things to be thankful for in the US.  But I challenge you to stop your day, and think about a couple things you take for granted.  And if you are the adventurous sort; actually go without something for a week.  Anyway, obligatory post out of the way.
On a more normal note.  This week has been as slow as every other one.  Only real difference is I finally got the material together for my garden.  I have finished two of the three beds.  Using a hoe on the end of a eucalyptus handle I had to assembly myself, I have single dug one ~6meter bed, and double dug another ~5meter bed.  I have ten large blisters on my hands, and still one more bed to go.  Once I find something I can use as a watering can I will start planting, but for now not only do I not have anything, but the water source is about forty feet away from my garden so I have to figure something out.  This weekend I am going to start working with another volunteer getting some hands on experience working with some bee hives.  Next week I am going to try to start really working on my community needs assessment.  It is not do for another two months, but I am bored, so might as well start working on it.  That is about it.  A whole week summed up into one small paragraph.  I have a couple plans for possible projects.  So lets hope one or two of them pan out.
Trey
6/8
So as I said I was supposed to go into the gulch last week, however, because I had installation visit by Peace Corps I wasn’t able to find the time.  I do plan to make it this week though.  I also am planning on going to the Sulfumar caves in the next few weekends.  Installation went well.  Because of a bunch of unforeseen events I was not able to pass out the invitations until the day before.  I expected only a few people to come, but out of about 45 invites, almost 40 people came.  (Installation is where PC comes out and explains to the community why we are here and what as volunteers hope to accomplish, etc.)  After I was getting even more greeting on the street and people telling me they want to work with me.  Otherwise it has been the same old same old.  I reaffirmed there is NOTHING to do in this town just to relax.  The pool “hall” is one table where the teenagers of the town play a game I have never seen, and gamble.  So I will be reading a lot of books and getting really good at doing nothing.  But my landlord the last two weekends has invites me over for coffee and breakfast, and I will probably be getting a horse after the next two months so I will have some places to visit on horseback.  Anyway, yesterday my counterpart and I went to the market to pick up some supplies.  He LOVES playing with my camera so I have a lot of pictures of it.  I am going to try to upload them with this blog post and give some explanations so here goes.
Market day:
In every town (pretty much) in Ethiopia there is a day or a few days where people come together to show of their products and sell supplies to the local community.  For example my town has two, a small one on Wednesday, and a large one on Saturday.  They sell everything from fruits and vegetables, to livestock, to clay pots and even manure.  Usually depending on what the product you can save as much as 1/3 the price you would pay for things in town.  Eggs in town are 2.50birr, at the market they are 2.00birr.  Most of the town will at some point on Saturday end up at the market.  It is where most people buy their weeks supplies of food.  For me it is an excellent opportunity to see the local culture and my counterpart was in a very sharing mood this weekend.  He pointed out different things that meant people were looking to be married and explained different styles of dress among other things. The first picture is of some hand made clay pots, as well as hand made Jebanahs (coffee pots).  These are made from the local clay around the river.  The second is of spices, these are mostly collected locally, although some of them are imported from other parts of the country, as you can see some of these are very familiar to Americans, I can get cumen seeds, mustard seeds, rosemary, among other things.  The third is some traditional Orthodox wraps.  These are draped over the shoulders or wrapped around the heads as a traditional part of their religion.  Next is some home made baskets, these are made to hold decorations as well as to use in sorting t’eff.  It is required that as a way to symbolize a women is ready to marry that she be able to make these.  Finally the last picture shows some Sudanese women.  In the very bottom of the gulch some Sudanese have migrated, they are prominent for their clay making.  They bring everything from pots, to injera pans for the injera making machines.  They are easy to ID because of their different style of dressing.
Family: I know you want pictures of me, but there are none.  The only one he even tried to take of me was of me eating a prickly pear and that wasn’t about to happen.  Sorry.  So I hope from this you can see a few similarities as well as differences, not only between America and Ethiopia, but also between the different people of Ethiopia.
Trey

Ethiopia

Been a while

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5/18
Finally at site!  We finally got the OK to leave Addis.  Last Tuesday most of the new volunteers headed out to site.  There was a lot of confusion and work to figure out how we were getting there, thankfully though I was one of the lucky volunteers who got to ride in the PC vehicles to get there.  We dropped of the first person that Tuesday, then spent the night at a hotel in one of the larger cities on the way.  On Wednesday the other two people got dropped off.  The driver was really nice with me and took me to a city a little out of the way were I picked up some things from a volunteer who is about to complete her service.  I was able to get some kitchen stuff, a bed, and table.  Then it was on to my site to drop me off.  He made the drive in nearly half the time it takes the big busses and it was so much more comfortable.  I arrived at site, went into the compound, and found that my room had been turned into a tea house.  My landlord cleared out quickly and it was no problem, she did give me a chair after also so I have a desk set up in my room.  Finally the driver and I went out to lunch, he absolutely refused to let me pay even after all his help though.  That is just the Ethiopian mentality though, even when they are doing you a favor they still think they are the ones that need to be generous.  Even though we got to site pretty early I still decided to spend the rest of the afternoon setting up my room, reading, and watching movies and just enjoyed a lazy day.  The next day was my first day of “work”.  The cell network here is terrible and I wasn’t able to call my counter part so when I just showed up to work they were a bit surprised.  Still they let me go out in the field to work on a survey they were doing.  On the way I got to see the results of my counterparts permagarden training, even for him it is difficult to get people to understand the benefit of doing a small sustainable garden, he was able to find some people who had taken to the practice though so that was very encouraging.  After we finished we went back to town and had lunch to finish the work day off (there had been a chemical spill in the office so we couldn’t work in the office that day).  Finally on Friday I went in for half of the day, they were having a meeting and invited me to attend.  I wasn’t really able to input anything, but it was still interesting to see how the office operates.  About half way through the meeting someone came in and interrupted to tell me I had received “supplies”, after a few minutes I figured out that I had a package at the post office.  I assumed that this person worked at the post office since he was walking me there.  Halfway there I found out he actually worked at the AG office and was just being nice and walking me to the post office.  I doubt I will ever find out how they knew to contact me at the office, or how that particular person knew I had a box, but it was really nice of them to make sure I knew as soon as it got in (also they did not charge me a customs fee even though they are supposed to). 
So far the people have been very nice and the harassment has been very minimal.  I really hope that I can keep it that way for whoever comes to Gasera next and they will be pleasantly surprised
5/22
Well first of all as I expected the network here has been horrible.  So for those of you trying to call me I am sorry but I don’t expect it to get better any time soon.  On the bright side apparently there is a plan to build up the infrastructure in town…starting in a year and a half.  So maybe a month or two before I leave it will get better!   I know that I also haven’t been online to chat with anyone.  Please remember though that I have not even been here two whole weeks yet so I haven’t had much opportunity.  I was able to go into town today to pick up some supplies.  Sadly though the internet was not working while I was there so no way to get up with everyone.  Suffice it to say I am fine.  I have been sick once again but it seems to be self limiting and I am feeling better after only a day of being out.  I will say this country seems to be fighting with me and I only hope my immune system gets it’s second wind soon. 
Well before the call got dropped my mom was asking me how things are going and what I have been doing.  Honestly, the answer is not very much.  As per PC tradition/recommendation the first month or two is used to build relationships in the community.  The best way usually is sticking with a counter part (or if you have one a site mate), and meeting the people they know.  For me this involves long walks to and from the Ag office for various reasons and stopping every few feet to say hi to more people.  In the Ag office I have been trying (maybe not as much as I should) to communicate with people using Amharic or Oromifa.  The office staff are very nice and maybe too eager for me to start working.  They have been having me read manuals, attend meetings, and (on the once instance) go out for field work.  They even tried to pay me per diem for the field visit which PC forbids me from accepting.  I admit to being a bit overwhelmed.  They are in the data collection and analysis phase of the yearly training needs assessment.  The things they are bringing up are far out of my experience field and I am not ever sure how I would go about gaining sufficient knowledge on them.  I think that is probably often a concern of new volunteers but that doesn’t make me feel any better.  I have realized that a lot of what they seem interested in me doing is out of my reach though, and I have been working on some plans to get other things equally useful and more attainable going.  First I am very interested in bee keeping training programs.  Currently the most widely used method of bee keeping is the traditional hive.  Basically the keeper captures a colony, places it in a hollowed out log, then at the end of the season harvest the honey.  I would like to start teaching on the transitional hive where the hive is monitored, cared for, and altered as needed.  It seems like a simple thing, but really to get the full benefit out of bee keeping it is imperative to properly care for the hive.  This can then lead to the next step of the more expensive, but higher yielding, modern hive.  This may sound like an easy task, but as we see in America, it is difficult to get people to see that there are better ways of doing things then the way they have always done them.  I hope to just change the mentalities of a few people, and maybe just maybe start a chain reaction of people seeing the benefit and making the effort to change.
The second thing I am working on is school clubs.  Currently all schools in Ethiopia are required to have certain clubs, these include English clubs, and Environmental clubs.  I have gone to two schools as well as the woreda education office and requested to be allowed to participate and help direct the clubs that are already in existence.  In addition my counterpart is very interested in also working with the gender equality clubs, and having access to some very good material I am happy to help with this as well.  I have spoken to the director at one school and he was very excited to have me, I also have a meeting set up with the director at another school, and I do not expect any resistance.  The education board seems extremely excited to have me as well, although they are requiring me to submit a proposal for the project.  If I do get the final approval, that would put me at six clubs in two different school each meeting at least once throughout the week.  It is going to be a heck of a lot to juggle along with any other projects that I get into.  Not to mention having to find at least one more counter part that is willing to help me with the clubs.  All in all I know that sounds like a lot, but I assure you, it was enough work to MAYBE fill a day and a half, all drug out over a week and a half. 
Otherwise it has just been getting my house as in order as I can, I made it to the market yesterday; after getting caught in a torrential rain storm for about twenty minutes I managed to make my purchases (only slightly getting ripped off), and get home in the rain without getting too wet.  I was able to make my first real meal at home after that.  I have not had power except for a half day since the day after I got to site, so I made a simple salad out of habesha cabbage, and a few toppings, my landlord also gave me some bread that went pretty well with it.  It is a simple thing, but having something that is at least a little forenji went a long way to feeling more at home.  Today as I said I was in my hub town.  I went to a COSing volunteers house and bought a bunch of things from her as well as getting a bunch of donations from the volunteers there.  It was a nightmare getting to and from town today because it was the big market day, but I finally made it home to make my first REAL meal and it was FANTASTIC!  Tomorrow it will be back to the usual.  I will go to the office, sit around and read some manual or another.  If I get a free second maybe read my language manual some more, then home for leftovers before they spoils since I will likely not own a fridge while I am in this country. 
As soon as I get a chance to upload this I will get online and hopefully be able to check email and FB.  For those of you who may have tried to reach me please know I am not ignoring you, I will do my best to check as often as possible, just be patient.
Side note, I just got a small taste of how the soon to come rainy season might be like.  It started raining and within minutes got so loud that with just the rain, no thunder or anything, I could not hear the movie I was playing even with headphones on.  When the rainy season gets here it will likely be like that, but for much longer, and every day.  It will be an interesting experience, and I REALLY hope I get my rain boots in the mail before it hits!
Love, Trey
5/30
Not much has happened in the last week.  I have been cooking for myself which has been great.  I have a lot of spices and things from the volunteer who just left so it has been really nice.  On Wednesday I went to the market to buy charcoal for my garden and there was none there, then I walked to the office.  Now to put this in perspective, my town is not very large, my house is more or less in the middle but the market is one one end about a 15 minute walk, then my office is on the other end, another 15 minute from my house.  So from the market to the office it is about a 30 minute walk.   When I got to the office I found out it was a holiday and it was closed.  But the people there told me the charcoal was definitely at the market so I decided with my free day I would walk back and double check.  Sure enough it was not there.  I asked a kid who had walked back with me about it and he said I could get some at the edge of town so we walked the extra 5 minutes and waited there…no luck.  So I walked home and proceeded to read all day.  Other than a short walk to a cafe’ I literally read all day.  I finished half of one book, a document, and half of another book.  So minus the walking that is pretty much how I spend any weekend, day off, or holiday.  Glad I brought a lot of books because by the time I am finished here I will be VERY well read.  So basically I did not do anything this week, I couldn’t garden because I am still trying to get the material.  Most of my coworkers have been in the field all week, and they have said I DON’T want to join them.  On top of that the power has been off except for a few short bursts all week, the network has been practically inoperable, and the water has been sporadic at best.  Honestly though, I don’t mind any of the utility outages, I would just honestly like to have a working cell network.  But tomorrow I am going into town for my first Ethiopian wedding, at least one that I have officially been invited to (I may have crashed one already), and hopefully the internet will be working while I am in town.  Today I found out not only that I may be able to get a land line installed for free, but also that within a few months we may be getting some form of internet in town.  Honestly though I will believe it when I see it. 
Next week sounds promising though.  I have been recruited to participate in a training with USAID, and also to go into the rural area in the gorge to look into some projects.  In the gorge they not only have a high fruit tree production, but a high number of bee keepers that I might be able to meet.  It is going to be a hard walk though since I am not allowed to ride motorcycles.  Anyway here’s hoping that I am able to get internet in Robe.  (The first time in 3 weeks)