Site placement

As highlighted by Lonely Planet:

“As you approach the park ridges to the east are punctuated with fortresslike escarpments, while those to the north are more gentle, their rounded rock pinnacles dotting the ridges like worn teeth protruding from an old man’s gums. Within the park, rivers cut deep gorges; alpine lakes feed streams; and water accepts gravity’s fate at several waterfalls. The Bale Mountains are known for their endemic wildlife, particularly the Ethiopian wolf (the world’s rarest candid) and the mountain nyala. Other large mammals commonly seen include grey duikers Bohor reedbucks and warthogs.” Several cats (including leopards and lions), spotted hyenas, colobus monkeys and Anubis baboons are also seen in Bale Mountain National Park.

Between the ridges of heather, lobelia-trees and baboons you will encounter my future homestead! Peace Corps has been generous enough to give me possibly the most coveted placement in my group BALE NATIONAL PARK! (but that goes without saying I have a generous bias.) A small town of 15,000 that sits 30 km east of Bale National Park, but the park boundaries do not limit the flora or fauna. I am also close to Shashemene, Ethiopia’s largest Rastafarian community and near Awasa where I will find my ferenji groceries! This is all tucked into the Oromia region, which is known for its ethnic diversity, trekking, hot springs, wildlife and part of the Rift Valley.

If you were on the fence about coming to visit me I would suggest you start booking your ticket. I’m in one of the few areas of Ethiopia that is better prepared for tourists! Now is your chance to see one of the remaining 500 Ethiopian wolves and ME before I go M.I.A. in Ethiopia for eternity. Every week in Ethiopia I am given one more reason to smile a little bigger and walk a bit lighter. Everywhere I look is beaming with beautiful scenery, friendly strangers and life at its most simple and endearing form. I’m anxious to see where I fit in with all of it.

Nani and me!

My mom, sister and the cutest baby EVER!

My sister and Aunt!

Bunna ceremony at my house!

My homestay sister has been teaching me some Ethiopian dance moves. She is patient with me as I ask her to slow down, rewind and teach me I gift I was NOT born with, unlike her. Sometimes her hands grab my neck/shoulders/arms and physically move my body in rhythms and directions I wasn’t aware they could go. Her eyes get really big as she (occasionally) gasps “GOBEZ!” (clever), but I can’t tell if she’s referring to my improvement or just that I’m a Caucasian and starting to dance like an African (probably the later).Different regions of Ethiopia have their own unique dancing styles. I prefer the Southern jumping and kicking, but you can’t escape the shoulder shaking. Ethiopian’s throw their shoulders and torsos in a style that would make Shakira’s hips look geriatric. I have vowed that despite endless potential for public humiliation I will learn how to dance like an Ethiopian.  Good thing I have 26 more months to practice!

Fictitious thieves

20 October 2011

Desperate for a bit of exercise, fresh air and conversation in English 6 of my PC peers went on a hike last weekend. South of town is a popular Orthodox Christian church at the base of a extensive forest preserva. We set a time to meet and even recruited a guide, Benih, Dexter’s homestay brother. Benih is a petite, yet confident 12 year old. As we set out from town we marched through a eucalyptus plantation as the kids from town warned us “jib, jib” we ignored them and continued to the river because we knew that the hyenas would be more afraid of us. We skipped across the rocks wandering back and forth across the river, until we found out trail and our destination in the horizon. Through the soybean, wheat, sugar snap peas and teff fields we took pictures, admired old lonely acacia trees and practiced our greetings on those who passed us. “Dehna walk” we would announce, but replies were slow as the shock of witnessing a white foreigner can take a while to wear off.

We made it to our destination in under two hours and found ourselves at the front gate of the church. As we walked in monkeys scampered away startling the goats that grazed the tattered landscaping. Some of ran off to find the monkeys, others to observe the church and I wandered pathetically trying to determine tree species in the church yard. We reconvened and headed back down the hills towards home passing the 8 year old sheep herder, tired pack donkeys, and the mud walled homes with thatched roofs that are worthy of a National Geographic magazine cover. Though we took the same route, our walk home seemed to hold as much yet different beautiful scenery which we shared, photographed and discussed all the way home. As we came into town again we found ourselves surrounded by children who want the opportunity to shake our hands, practice their English and laugh uncontrollably at the thought of doing either. We shake, greet, smile and continue on our way. A walk through town is never direct or lonely; it is occasionally exhausting, consistently bizarre yet flattering and benign all the same; so we play along and mosey forward.

The next morning before class my friend Jessica informs Kathryn and I that her father had heard a rumor in town that someone stole her house key. She explained that this was not only false, but that we hadn’t even met a hostile individual in our path. He insisted that she show him all of her keys, and after doing so he had her call Dexter’s brother Benih so that Dexter’s father and hers could discuss our harmless hike. The three of us laughed it off went to language class where our teacher immediately asked us about what we had been doing on Saturday. We told him we went for a nice walk, and he said “oh yes, you should not continue to do this because I heard your were robbed!” Again, we denied such events and brushed off the conversation. A few more days off before we hear that someone took the initiative to call the Mayor of our town and report that the ferengis (foreigners) we robbed south of town. Good thing there isn’t a local printing press to send out tabloids. It seems that 6 white people in a town of 15,000 are something worthy of talk about, even if there isn’t much to say. It’s fairly harmless, especially since it isn’t true, but it sure makes attempting another short hike a heavy thing to consider.

It'yopiawit naw

14 October 2011

Yesterday I received my temporary residency in Ethiopia, so now instead of telling people “Amerikawit naw”  (I am an American) I can say “It’yopiawit naw” which blows their mind because I am speaking their language, saying that I’m Ethiopian while looking very un-Ethiopian. I have just completed my first week of training which included language immersion, moving in with strangers, cold showers, washing my clothes by hand, beautiful hikes, soccer and eating injera like a maniac.

My homestay family is INCREDIBLE! My mom is a midwife, and her husband is also a nurse. They have 2 children, Bobby is 22 and studying mechanical engineering at University and Redet who is 9 and the top of her 4^th grade class. They all speak English, which is a nice break when I’ve been studying Amharic for 8 hours every day. I am really impressed by how modern and progressive my family is. They ensure I’m always full of food, entertained and practicing my Amharic. I have an indoor shower and a pretty decent shint bet (toilet), but it is rural Ethiopia so the shower is cold, the water is inconsistently available and the shint bet is still a stinky hole in the ground. I am adjusting to some things better than others.

Amharic is one of the oldest languages in the world which means that nothing I have previously learned in life, except for patience, can help me take on this challenge. Amharic uses script my fingers struggle to draw, clicking “explosive” noises my tongue is not conditioned for and noises my ears cannot distinguish. Regardless, I am proud of the progress I have made in only 5 days of class.

Each day I wake up in shock that I’m here, in Ethiopia, in the Peace Corps, living with people who I didn’t know last week, but who I  call family today. With each piece of me that embraces my new life, I miss the people who I love so much at home… in AMERIKA! I am grateful for all the photos I have so I can share my friends and family with my new friends and family in Ethiopia. I have written letters, but they won’t arrive for maybe 3 weeks. If you get one from me please send me an e-mail so that I can figure out how consistent the postage is here. I won’t be in touch very much because my town doesn’t have internet, but you can bet that I’m studying Amharic, eating injera and missing my friends and family from home.

Touristas o voluntarios?

Not yet volunteers but happy tourists

This is day 5 of my 27 months and I feel more like a tourist than a volunteer. Tomorrow I will move in with my homestay family which I'm looking forward to as I feel like I will start to transition away from the tourist feeling. Our hotel is amazing, so much more comfortable than anything I stay in when I'm traveling (maybe that's because I've grown accustomed to sleeping in buses, hammocks, tents and big-ridden bunk beds). The housekeeping and restaurant crowd are very gracious and most nights we have live entertainment. One of the waiters changes clothes, and he sings everything from classic Ethiopian favorites to Lionel Richee. His friend, who is also a great singer, plays a keyboard and we can't get enough of them.

Injera, wot, breaded fish, stuffed tomato, green salad and macaronie, carrot and lentil salad. 

Table of delicious salads

Pretty swanky lobby of my hotel

Today was our first day of language class, and I am finally thrilled to learn Amharic. Before I was too intimidated to even hope I could EVER communicate effectively. Now I can meet, greet, and speak superficially with my friends in the restaurant. A few of my fellow volunteers are African American, which is a curse and a blessing. With language, Ethiopians expect them to know Amharic fluently, because obviously they are black, and therefore Ethiopian (the Ethiopians cannot be convinced otherwise). Being Caucasian, I am immediately excused from speaking a native African language. We learned very basic, yet crucial phrases, regarding food, water, bathrooms and polite ways to express need for such things.

After lunch we did a city tour of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the headquarters of the African Union and the home of the largest outdoor market in Africa. We went to a museum that occupies Haile Sellasie's last palace. This was a cultural museum that covered much of the ethnic diversity, rituals, food, crafts, art, currency and religion. Additionally, the museum has a lot of former emperor Haile Sellasie's lion mane-hair embellished robes, a taxidermy abssydian lion, fine china and his bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Their was a  dressing mirror in his closet with a hole from a bullet that occurred from a coup de t'au from the 1960's. I had the goose-bumps being in Haile Sellasie's bedroom. HAILE SELASSIE!!!

Haile Sellasie's palace at the University of Addis Ababa

Next we went to another anthropology/archaeology museum that held a beautiful art collection, statues, prehistoric tools, musical instruments and in the basement a robust display of homosapien and dinosaur bones. When not touring the U.S. Lucy calls this museum home.

Lucy replica

Training at the King Hotel

Yet again, training continues to be better than I expected. This may change when we move in with our host families and have class 8-10 hours a day for 6 days a week. As for now I have no complaints, even though we spent the day indoors for 10 hours on a beautiful day. We got the scoop on some of the geo-politics of Ethiopia. I'll briefly fill you in:

The horn of Africa is unstable. Somalia is a failed state. Ethiopia and Eritrea are in a standoff border dispute. After over a decade of civil war, South Sudan is forming an independent nation from the former Sudan. Kenya is FULL of refugees from Sudan and Somalia and there are terrorists and extremists East and West. The beauty of it is that these hostile nations have not taken Ethiopia's security, instead Ethiopia is a very stable nation despite the hardship and corruption that surrounds it. It is a nation full of rich history, proud people, beautiful diverse cultures and mind-blowing scenery. 

View of Addis Ababa from my balcony.

The country directors informed us that no volunteers are placed near areas with security issues. Most of our sites are in the north which helps me have faith I will be in a cooler region at high altitude. Addis Ababa is at aroudn 7,000 ft. and the weather is perfect. In ten weeks we will be sworn in as official volunteers and each left to a town by ourselves.We will learn of our permanent sites soon and be visiting them on the third week. It seems that time is already going too fast, and I've only been here for 24 hours. This Sunday I will be moving in with my host family and the following day I will officially begin my language training. Today I quadrupled my Amharic vocabulary which means I went from knowing 0 to 4 words:

Coffee = ጮፍፈኤ = "bunna"

 Perfect = ፐርፈጭት  = "goma" 

Ok = አልርግህት = "eeshi"

 Thank you = ትሃንክስ = "imma say gon alo"

                 

 If I could maintain this pace I would be in good shape. I've heard that it takes at least a year to be able to participate and understand lengthy conversations. This will be a test of patience, but one that expected and look forward to. There is a decent chance that I will need to learn another language in addition to Amharic, which will slow down the learning process. Over 80 languages are actively spoken in Ethiopia and Amharic, the official language, is only primarily spoken by roughly 20% of the population. Even though I may learn enough to get by it is safe to say I will not learn to write proficiently in the traditional fidel script. It is beautiful and incredibly ancient to say the least. (try your Amharic skills here)

Fidel script and Amharic language requires a thick thought and  big lungs.

My comfortable gawdy bed at the King Hotel. 

We also got our 2 week stipend today which amounted to 330 birr. This made me feel like Bill Gates, until I realized that it was only $20, which means I'm getting paid roughly $2/day. Money is obviously not the purpose of my mission. Instead, I feel wealthy in the amount of friends I have already made, the incredible coffee, support of my new PC family and all the delicious Ethiopia food that I encounter 5 times a day (this food culture is something I've only dreamed of).  I know that things will get a lot less luxurious, a lot more frustrating and a lot less delicious, but I am enjoying each moment.

The beginning of a love affair

I arrived at my hotel in Philadelphia feeling far from home, but not that much closer to Ethiopia. The details about where I will live or my job description were still vague, but

As I stepped out of the taxi I was approached by a friendly bellman. As he was running down his list of polite questions about how I was, where I’m from he learned that my final destination is Ethiopia. His eyes met mine in shock as he declared “I AM from Ethiopia!”

Up until this point I had not even met an Ethiopian and now I was miles from home, but already making friends. Mesfin reminded me that Ethiopia is the best country in Africa, most friendly people and the food is delicious. Meron, the barista was also from Ethiopia and before I knew it everyone in the lobby knew my name, my mission and offered their friendship. I was sent away with e-mails and phone numbers of family members in Addis Ababa to welcome me.

I spent the weekend with my lovely Aunt LouAnne and cousin Lindsey. I come from a small family FULL of incredible women and these two are no exception. I wish we could spend more time together and the next and only time I come home during my service will be to enjoy Lindsey's wedding and celebrate with my crazy, fun family. I cannot wait to have fun with these ladies again. 

Training was a lot more fun that I thought it could be. There are only 20 of us and we are all in conservation and natural resource management. This is a uniquely small and homogenous group for PC. We heard that recently a group of 97 left for Ukraine. Already I know everyones names, where they are from and that we all get along. Again, how lucky am I?

As more time passes, my excitement grows and I am shocked at my lack of nerves and anxiety. A lot of my peers share my concerns and enthusiasm which is a great comfort to me.