Category Archives: Ethiopia

Ethiopia

“Fixer Uppers” has Nothing on Ethiopian Decorating

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Sorry I was sick yesterday so no picture. Today I wanted to show you part of my friend’s house. The typical way to decorate houses here is with the poster of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. T

he hand made grass woven thing is traditionally used to sort grains and things from impurities. I don’t know why but all the furniture in the rural areas are painted in this weird mottled coloration. Finally, the fake flowers, I don’t really even know what to say about them, but they all love them. Even in the coffee places they have them scattered around.

Ethiopia

Squatty Potty

So you would be surprised at how many Americans ask me about my toilet situation.  Well this is my shint bet (pee house). It is actually pretty nice compared to a lot of other volunteers. No splash back happening here. Considering I have not had water in town for a year, it isn’t as clean as it would normally be. But I think that is a little understandable. Regardless,

I have actually come to appreciate the squat toilet. Let’s just say that the positioning works better that way.

Ethiopia

Afaf – The Gorge

Afaf, or as we call it the gorge.  Today we sat by it and ate some sugar cane. But I’ve walked down it several times, walking up it will make you hate your life but people still do it every week to sell at the market here in town. The first time I did it, when I got home

I literally collapsed in my bed and didn’t move for twelve hours. I didn’t even have enough energy to get out of my nasty cloths.

Ethiopia

Enjera For Everyone!

Enjera is the staple food of Ethiopia. It is made from t’eff, a grain endemic to this country. It is high in a lot of important nutrients that otherwise would be absent the average Ethiopian diet. The slightly fermented mix is poured onto a heated clay stone, the fuel for the fire is often cow dung that has been hand made into patties and dried in the sun.

Ethiopia

Thirty-Eight Days Left

With only thirty eight days left,it is easy to get caught up in the rush to leave. Volunteers have already been heading home. Those of us still in country are seeing the photos of them enjoying delicious food, having great parties, and being in weddings. It is hard to believe that we completed our service, made new friends, changed lives, and changed ourselves as well. Packing, selling our belongings, and having good by parties will be our lot in life for the next few weeks and months as we all say  our goodbyes to the friends and coworkers we have made over the last two years. Trust me, at this point almost no one can believe it has already been two years.
Looking back on our service and thinking of what we should have done differently is easy, after all hind site is 20/20 (which I am too still just coming from medical).  But I want to think back and figure out what I did right, so that is what this blog is about. Realizing that yes, I could have, should have, and wish I had, done some things better. But so does everyone else, but I did some things right and I want to focus on these to remain positive about my service.
Going back to the very beginning I would say I formed a really good relationship with my host family. While I don’t call them enough and they do get upset about that, and to be fair I don’t really call anyone, I have visited them a few times since leaving training and I still have a great time every visit. I am especially going to miss Andualem, my host brother, and I kind of wish I could just bring him back to America with me. While having a site mate has been great, I also was so correct in going to a site with no other volunteers. I am an introverted person and I don’t easily accept new friends. If I had another Peace Corp volunteer in my site from the beginning I don’t know if I could have made as many new friends. Friends which I will miss. I also made some great PCV friends, and yes, so did we all but my immediate neighbor was Allie and without her, I don’t know if I would have survived training, and we continue to visit and be friends to this day. The amazing people of G10 will always have a special place in my heart.
From swearing in and going to site I would say I am very glad I decided I was going to make reading a priority. Having read more that eighty books since arriving in country I would say I am not doing too badly. It is a great way to stimulate your mind in a place where sometimes you feel like everything just makes your head fall off from boredom. Getting myself a project of beekeeping right away was a huge bonus. I was lucky how it worked out to be. And yes I did beekeeping the whole two years, though it was very off and on work. But having something to know was my thing to work on was nice. It gave me some focus and commitment.
While from an outside perspective this will probably sound odd. I have a coffee shop hangout.. I have sat in that one place more than any other place in my town, with the exception of my own house. There I have met new friends, been introduced to counterparts, had meetings, taught about sexual health, ate some great food, gotten drunk, made people laugh, shared my culture, learned Amharic, passed the day away, and yes I also drank a LOT of coffee.  As a creature of habit if I had chosen any other place to spend my time I doubt I know I would have had a very different service.
Getting clubs started at my site was a bureaucratic mess.  It took three months of wadding through red tape, getting through translational nightmares, and frustration that I thought might kill me. But the gender and English clubs allowed me to meet the kids of my town, something that has value only another PCV can truly understand such as issues of harassment. And I got to know some of the kids who can even inspire me so long after my own high school days.
In my service there have been amazing ups, and the lowest lows in my life. But I am glad I am able even now to look back and see the friends I have made, the people I call family, and some kids I know will go on to be leaders of this country. I hope I have helped make some lasting changes from my service, and I know I will always have my Peace Corps service as a mile stone in my life.
Starting thirty days before I leave I want to try and show you all in photos my town and Ethiopia through pictures. I don’t know if it is going to work with the internet problems and power outages I am still to this day dealing with in my town. But I am going to try to upload a picture a day so you all can get a feel for my life. But be prepared for me to miss some, not to mention the very poor quality pictures my phone takes. I hope it works but check back and see.
Also just because I love this city here is a picture of the sun setting over lake Hawassa last night.

Ethiopia

Camping and update

Jan 10-
So I apologize to all of you who are following this blog.  I had a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays post scheduled to go up on Xmas, but for some reason the program decided it wasn’t really ready to go and never posted it.  However, my mother just got it up so it should be viewable now.
So I just spent a week in Addis celebrating the New Year, and getting some good internet time in.  It is hard to believe that I am down to my last three months of PC service, then I will be off to India.  I have been spending a lot of time researching India, and i think I am ready to go, I am really excited to get into a new and unique culture.  Close of Service conference is right around the corner.  I will actually be spending a lot of time in Addis this month due to New Year, COS, and the new volunteers coming in.  I am also hoping that PC is going to call me in to Holeta to help teach the new volunteers about bee keeping, the last training I did with G12 went really well and was super enjoyable.  All in all the last three months should be interesting, if not hectic.
I FINALLY managed to make it out to part of Bale National Park…well sort of.  My fellow G10 is doing her Masters International and asked for me to be a research assistant for her.  So I went out to the mountains and hiked to the camps that are set up for tourists.  It is not technically a preserved area, but the government has it set up with the local people to encourage ecotourism.  Because of that the people have a vested interest in preserving the forest and wildlife.  Hiking up was almost straight up hill for about an hour and a half.  We were lucky enough that the park provided us a car to get us to the highest accessible area by car before the rest of the hike.  While in the park honestly I felt that I had left Ethiopia. We walked through the Juniper forest almost in silence just enjoying the nature and beauty of the area.  After that we came to the deciduous forest with two types of trees growing prolifically that the bees love.  Once you got into that part of the forest it was unmistakable.  The buzz from the bees and other pollinators was unmistakable and unceasing.  You would think that it would be annoying, or that you wouldn’t be able to concentrate with that kind of droning, but honestly it was almost soothing to hear and you found yourself noticing its absence at night time. 
Once we got to the first camp we had a look around, it was nice for even a lot of houses in Ethiopia.  It was well stocked and even had a kerosene stove to cook with.  While waiting for the participants in the program to show up I took a look around the area and found a beautiful rock wall that I almost couldn’t resist climbing, as well as a little house that you had to stand directly in front of to even know it was there.  The whole building with the only exception being the door was covered in vines.  I am guessing it probably helps with insulation because of how cold it is there.  Regardless it was rather beautiful, and a unique find.  Along the walk I found an impressive view of the mountain side from a perch on the edge of a rock.  From there I could see farmers working, cattle grazing, and among all the normal things in Ethiopia also a troop of Colubus monkeys, they however were less than happy to see me and were keeping a close eye on me the whole time I was there. 
Once the participants in the survey arrived it was quite cold, so a fire was started and roasted barley was handed out as snacks.  The survey itself was interested, but the most interesting response in my opinion was when they were asked what “the negative social impacts of ecotourism” were.  The response for both groups of participants was that women were seeing foreigners dress styles and wanted to emulate them.  They wanted to start wearing “trousers and jackets” and it was eroding their culture. 
After cooking diner on the fire it was time for bed.  Here I want to thank Jill and Devin, if not for their ultra warm sleeping bag, I am not sure I would have survived the cold night.  As it was just washing my face with the air temperature (COLD) water was bad enough.  The next day it was time for the real hike.  Thirteen kilometers across the mountains, going through the scrubland forest, down back to the deciduous zone, all the way back to the juniper forest, then back up again to the scrubland.  It was a pretty intense, but beautiful trek across some of the most beautiful areas of Ethiopia I have visited.  All of that in only three hours might have been a record for our guide who was more than happy for the fast pace.  Another group of people made the same trek in six hours the same day to put it into perspective.  From there, after a cold beer to relax the survey was repeated, along with dinner and another freezing night made ok by my thick sleeping bag. 
Finally it was time for the walk down.  This time with the other hikers in tow it took significantly longer, but as we were in no rush it was quite alright.  After a good four hour hike down the side of the mountain we were once again picked up by a car to skip walking through all the larger towns. 
Getting back to my friends site might have been one of the largest culture shocks of my whole PC experience.  Having spent two days away from all the typical harassment and being yelled out, and returning was a shock.  It really brought to light what can be changed through a little training and exposure. 
Being up in the natural forest gave me an idea of what Ethiopia could and did look like before years of over deforestation and terrible overgrazing.  It reinforced the wish to be able to go back in time and see what Ethiopia really was like in as little as a hundred years ago.  I hope the trend of preserving the forest for people to enjoy will be kept up in this beautiful forest, and I hope one day that it might even turn into a reforestation project that spreads across the country to bring Ethiopia back to its beautiful origins. 
1/17
Travel.  It feels like that is all I have been doing, well probably because it is all I have been doing.  Starting with consolidations, then going to Addis for New Year, heading to the mountains, with only three days at site before heading back to Addis I have spent almost no time in site.  I can’t say I am super disappointed as I haven’t had any work at site since September.  The trend is only going to be kept up to with the coming Epiphany holiday I will be spending with my Ethiopian friends family, and the COS conference.  The one thing I will say is that my bank account is taking a beating.  PC will be reimbursing me for most of the travelling I have been doing, but as it takes about a month to get the money in my account it is a slow trickle instead of an actually replenishment. 
New Year was spent with some of my favorite people though volunteers!  I love these people and heading out it is one of the things I will miss most about returning to the States.  One of the good things about being in Ethiopia is that you also get to celebrate two Christmas, the American, and the Ethiopian one.  For me that meant visiting my PC friends Ethiopian friends, eating food, and drinking home brewed alcohol.  Not a bad way to spend Xmas honestly.  Still, nothing will replace spending Christmas with family.
It is hard to even believe that two years have already gone by, only three months left till India. Reading my friends posts and seeing his posts coming from India right now is so exciting I can hardly believe I am getting to fulfill my lifelong wish to visit India.  Also, the FOOOOOOOOD!  Then it is back to America for my sister’s wedding.  
Backpacking into the forest
Red Hot Poker
Rural area at first campsite
The people of the first survey
This girl loves her some qolo (roasted barely snack)
The trek to the second camp
Up one mountain and down another
So lush and green!
Maggie and I
Ethiopia

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends, family, and PCVs all across the world.  
I miss all of you very much and think about you frequently.  I hope you enjoy the holiday wherever you may be and whoever you are with.  Even though Thanksgiving is already past please remember to take a moment and think about all the friends, and family who you have in your life, and remember how lucky you are to have them. 
Enjoy the rest of the Holidays, I can’t wait to celebrate the next round in America!
(Note: We made the sign from PlayDoh)
Ethiopia

Stuck in Hawassa

12/15-

     Well, as many of you know there has been another round of protesting from the New Deal that the government is trying to push through.  I am not able to go into details as anything I write here would be considered journalism and could land me in trouble.  All I can say is that despite some harrowing experiences all of the volunteers have remained safe.  
     Currently many of the volunteers in the problem areas are consolidated. This includes all the people who currently live on the Dodola-Goba road.  We are in Hawassa keeping up with people in our site as best as we can, and monitoring the situation with PC.  Currently the earliest we are expected to go back to site would be Thursday.  Until then it is nice hotels paid for my the PC, per diem, American food, a lake, and plenty of partying.  If you couldn’t tell from my last post, the monotony of site was really beginning to get to me.  Being in this city has done a lot to relieve my boredom and stir craziness.  
    For those of you who are interested, there is an interesting article on NewsVice about what is happening.  Please keep our friends and coworkers in mind as they have to navigate this dangerous time where they live.  Truly we are much more worried about them than we could possibly be about ourselves.  
    On a different note it is a bittersweet time for many of us as some fellow PCVs are finishing their service.  The last of the G8 volunteers are on their way out, with one exception, and we wish them all the best.  It is exciting for them to move on and get to the next phase of their life, but they will be missed from our PC family.  
P.S. I want to say to Danny’s family, thank you for the Christmas card.  It was so nice of you to think of me, and I am glad you have been reading my blog.  I got it the day before we were removed from site so I have not had a chance to send anything back to you.  But, know I appreciate the thought and I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.