October 6, 2009
As I am writing you this, my latest blog entry, I am dining on a sandwich of canned “potted meat” that my friend Chris received in a package and was scared of (I have no such qualms about foods with ingredients such as “mechanically separated chicken”), topped with several month-old cheese whiz. I know I have bragged about my cooking prowess but I guess it’s just one of those nights. You order delivery, I have potted meat sandwiches. I am also listening to Christmas music because that makes me happy. If it’s any indication, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the most-played song in my iTunes.
Moving along… I am sure that many of you have heard (through Mama Mohan) that I had an unfortunate incident a few weeks ago, when a crazy bum on the street punched me in the chest during the middle of the day completely unprovoked. If you hadn’t, then please be assured that I am fine. But this incident was a breaking point of sorts for me. After months of daily harassment, this incident really upset me and made me realize that I could not keep living like this in my town. This was also just one week after I had some small items (hair conditioner, body wash, and rolls of TP) stolen from my bathroom, which is just outside of my house. So I met with Peace Corps senior staff and we decided to do an intervention of sorts in my town. Two staff came down to Dilla and we had a meeting with the head city administrator, my counterpart from the HIV Office, and the head of the health center. We discussed the problems I have been having in the town and ways that we can address these issues. For the first time, I really felt that I was taking control of the situation and was being heard. The city administrator agreed that there was a serious problem in Dilla and the head officials in the town had been meeting about how to address these issues. In fact, on the day of the punching incident I learned from my co-worker that an HIV-positive commercial sex worker was attacked in the town because of her status. Not a great place.
But even still, I have decided to give Dilla another chance. Additionally, I am moving houses! It became clear after the second theft (you may remember my clothes being stolen off the clothes line when I first got to site), that this is not a safe place for me to be. I also have a very contentious relationship with my landlady, which was exacerbating my feelings of negativity and frustration with the town. So I have found a new house that is right across from the health center and just a two minute walk from my office. The house is beautiful and HUGE, not just compared to the tiny place I am in now. It is a little bit farther from ”downtown” than my current place, but I like to look at it as similar to my choice to live in a spacious studio in the Bronx rather than a closet in Manhattan. The neighborhood is much more residential than my current neighborhood and I think living and working in the same neighborhood will really give me the sense of community that I have been craving but lacking up until now. This week I will be meeting with the kebele (local division of the town) leaders for my new neighborhood, my counterpart and the head of the health center, to organize a kind of community meeting to formerly introduce me to the community and explain why I am here. I feel that if I have at least one place in the town where people know me and understand why I am here, that I can tolerate all the other unpleasant attention. And I will just avoid the crazies as best I can.
So that’s what’s happening with me. Now I just have to find the money to buy all the new furniture I will need for my new mansion that I never had room for here. :) But at least I will have the space to host THANKSGIVING!!! My mama and sister will be here in Ethiopia for the holiday (and mom’s birthday, shhhhh) so I am preparing to have the works. I’m already trying to track down a turkey. I’ve also heard rumors of a pig farm in Dilla where I might be able to get a ham. I myself have not seen a pig since coming to Ethiopia (no one here eats pork) but I think the Catholic Church in town runs it or something…good ol’ Catholics, right Nanny? I’m crossing my fingers.
So anyway, now that I have spent months carping about the harassment I get here, I thought you might enjoy a little taste of what I mean by that. So here, for you all, is “A Day in the Life” of Bonnie Fewel Mohan, Peace Corps Volunteer in the character-building town of Dilla, Ethiopia. For those of you who will not be able to experience the charm of Ethiopia for yourselves (at this point, everyone except my mom and sister), I hope this will give you an idea.
“Greetings” (in relative order of their frequency)
1. The general “you”, which comes in several different forms:
• The steady, high-pitched string of “yous”, most common among young children, and generally delivered uninterrupted until I am out of site.
• The “you” couplet delivered in a kind of coo coo clock rhythm with increasing volume, under the misconception that I simply cannot hear them.
• The single, painfully loud shout of “YOU!”, most common among the adults in town and usually given at distances of less than three feet
• The comparatively delightful Amharic version for women, “anchey” (a has the ‘ah’ sound). For men, it is “anteh”
2. The “foreigner”, specifically “white person” accusation/identification, which also has different varieties: farenji, farenj, farenjua (female), farenjita (the Sidaminya version…that’s the language of Sidama Zone, just above of my zone, Gedeo), and finally farenjitay (Gedinya, the language of Gedeo).
3. “Ky-yo”, meaning “the red one” – I could understand this one if I were sun burned but I rarely am
4. “China” – the only other foreigners that are here for long periods of time are the Chinese guys working on either roads or telecommunications. I think they just think it’s another word for foreigner but I get a kick out of it and sometimes reply with “Bulgaria” or some other random country. They don’t get it.
5. “Sister” – this one I don’t mind
6. “Miss” or “Mrs.”
7. “Ennatay”, which means “my mother” in Amharic. Oddly, this usually comes mostly from beggar women that are my grandmother’s age (or at least look it, they might be 30 years old the way people age here).
Inquiries
1. “Where are you go?” – somehow, everyone in this country thinks this is a normal question to ask someone and the grammatically correct way to do so.
2. “Are you fine?” – to be “fine” is very good here so people will just ask you if you are it, rather than “how are you?”; there is only one real answer: “I am fine”
3. “What is your name?” – they often don’t even know what this means
Rude stuff
1. “Give me money”
2. “Money”
3. “Fuck you”
4. “Sex”
So that pretty much sums up the main things I have yelled at me here. Not to mention all the people that just stop in front of me to stare, follow me, or touch me. Please keep in mind that this begins from the minute I leave my compound until the minute I am inside somewhere where people know me. Take a minute to think about what that would be like, every day of your life. I know it is mostly innocent and comes from a lack of understanding, but it is also extremely exhausting. But, I guess that’s what I signed on for. So I try different tactics for how I respond to the attention to see which are most effective. The jury is still out. One experience that I have a lot, and which my Irish family will appreciate, is Ethiopians’ preoccupation with freckles. They seriously do not understand what they are and I constantly have people rubbing my arms, trying to figure it out. It’s also a difficult concept to explain because they tend to just think they are sun spots or “blemishes”. Being a proud Irish American, I refuse to have my beloved freckles reduced to being called blemishes. So for the kids at least, I just say that they are little spots of habesha, which is the name Ethiopians call themselves. This goes over pretty well and then the kids start pointing to all the different freckles, naming them “habesha” and then to the white areas saying “farenji”. It’s pretty adorable.
One last tidbit that I have to share is my first real “Peace Corps” experience. Get ready, it’s kind of gross. I had a worm lay eggs in my toe! I always wear my chaco sandals around town and have never had a problem until the rainy season came and some worm worked its way in. I guess the way they operate is they dig themselves in, lay a bunch of eggs, and then as time passes they will burst out and infect all the other toes. Fortunately, I caught it before this happened and just had to dig all the eggs out with my tweezers and nail clippers, throw on some Neosporin and call it a day. It looked a lot like puss but when you look at it up close you can see it’s hundreds of tiny little white eggs. Pretty gross, huh?
Ok, that’s all for now. I hope you have a better idea of what my days are like, at least concerning the attention I get. It will be so nice to get back to NY when no one looks twice at you, no matter how hideous, beautiful, or outrageously dressed you are. But in the meantime, I’ll work it :)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Six Month Blues
August 25, 2009
I’ve now been living at my site, Dilla, for a little over six months and have been in Ethiopia for almost nine months. It’s ok, you can allow yourselves to be shocked that you’ve made it so long without me; I know I am. I mean, I’m shocked I’ve made it so long without YOU, of course! :) So apparently, according to the Peace Corps Emotional Rollercoaster (it’s not just internal, they actually have a graph), I should be in a little downward dip at this 6-month point of my service. Damn Peace Corps, I pride myself on being such an individual and they got me down to a T with their stupid rollercoaster.
Things have been tough lately. On a bright note, the harassment, although still very much present, has been getting better. “Benny” is quickly catching on and I am feeling a little more integrated in my very large community. While I am on that, I was disappointed to learn from my mom that many of you did not get my “Jets” reference. It’s Elton John, folks; “Benny and the Jets”. Maybe you’ve heard it before. Not one of my fave Elton hits but it fits the bill.
Anyway, what’s been difficult lately is mostly feeling a little unaccomplished with work. The American in me (I know, I didn’t think there was much in me either) is kicking in and naturally expecting to see results after 6 months of “work”. Not only are there no results, I have no concrete projects in the works. I feel like I am still just trying to meet people and so far behind the other volunteers. I am sure everyone is feeling this way, but I am still having a difficult time breaking my self-criticism and frustration.
I’ve also been pretty homesick lately. The funny thing about being homesick is that sometimes I find myself missing the strangest things/places. Of course I miss the people I love most and the places I love most (NY and my favorite spots within it). But sometimes places pop into my head and, while missing it terribly, I think, “I’ve only been there like 2 times” or “I don’t even like that place.” For instance, I find the hot dog stand outside the City Hall subway station popping into my head far too frequently. Granted, those that know me know I LOVE a good street hotdog but I can count the number of times I have been to City Hall on two hands (mostly to deliver grants to government buildings or for ROC events) and can count the number of times I have bought hotdogs at that stand on one hand. Yet I think about and miss it frequently.
The other place that caught be by surprise and let me know I was really having a tough time here, was when I found myself yearning to be in Los Angeles. No offense, Sister, I know you love it, but LA is really not my kind of place. When all of a sudden I had an image of LA in my head and wanted to be there, I was like, “Whoa, Bonnie. You need to get a grip.” Hehe.
I guess the stranger thing is that, even though I miss home so much, this place really does feel like a home of sorts. My life here feels like life; not a vacation, not this crazy temporary experience, but just life. In the beginning I had to tell myself that this was home for the next two years; that this was my life now. Now, I just think it naturally. Thinking about my life being anything different is what’s abnormal. The way I think about life in America is similar to the way I think nostalgically on my time studying abroad in Barcelona: an amazing time, but one that is over. It’s also kind of like the way people in America think about what it would be like to live in Italy or something. You imagine it being filled with drinking good wine and eating amazing aged cheese and salami all the time. It’s all romanticized and glorified.
That’s kind of how I think about life in America now. I think about summers playing in Central Park with my friends, eating any type of food I want, seeing more than two different races of people, getting someplace in less than 2 hours and without someone practically sitting on my lap, etc. Can you believe I even romanticize riding the subway?! I tend to leave out details like having to work, being broke and the like. But ultimately, I think it’s a good thing for me. Eventually, I will have to face “American” reality but in the meantime, living in America doesn’t feel like reality to me. Ethiopia is real; America is a dream. And if I keep thinking that way, I think I will last here longer than I sometimes want to.
Speaking of that, I have sad news. This week, we are losing two more volunteers from my group. Christina (who is from CT and whose mom works with my Aunty Mary) and CR (one of my good friends who lives relatively close to me…8 hours-ish) have both decided to Early Terminate (ET) and will both be back in the States within a week. Christina leaves on Thursday and CR will probably be gone by Monday. I am going into Addis Ababa this weekend to say goodbye to her. Both of them recently traveled outside of Ethiopia (CR to the States and Christina to Germany, where her mom is from and boy friend lives) and upon returning, realized that they were much happier in those respective places. Neither of them have been very happy since we have been at site and it seems this is the best thing for them. I completely support them but I’ll also miss them a lot. I am sure you all remember from my blog posts in the past how difficult it is to lose fellow volunteers. We really are a family here.
However, while I am on that note, I have a happy update on my friend Travis (the one who was forced to go home because of asthma). He applied to re-enroll into another PC program, one which could deal with his medical condition, and just last week left for the Philippines! Although it’s daunting to have to start all over again, he is really happy with his placement (and with good reason, that sounds way better than Ethiopia!). So I am really happy for him about that.
Anyway, there is just a quick little emotional update for you all. I am hanging in there and am optimistic about my future here. I still don’t really know what is going to happen work-wise but I have faith something will come together. Hopefully I’ll be climbing that next big hill on the rollercoaster soon. As always, thank you for your love and support. If anyone has any interest in supporting me more, um, tangibly, here are some things that I enjoy receiving:
Will accept unlimited supplies of:
-canned chicken and tuna (in water)
-cheese of any kind (it travels fine, I swear)
-beef/turkey jerky and summer sausage/hard salami (also travels fine)
-chips or crackers (triscuits and stonewheat are favorites)
-chocolate
-pasta and rice seasoning packets, like Knorr or Zataran’s black beans and rice or jambalaya
-nuts and dried fruit
-entertainment (books, DVDs, news magazines, puzzles, paint-by-numbers, crafts of any kind)
-recipes! (preferably ones that don’t have very exotic ingredients; simple is better)
Things I need only one of so communicate with each other:
-the book, The Magus by John Fowles
-a Schick Quattro women’s razor
-a dark-colored fitted sheet (anything you have extra in your closet, doesn’t need to be new, just dark because it’s dirty here. And they only sell top sheets which really don’t stay tucked in.)
And seriously, please feel no obligation to send me anything. I’m not starving or anything. Just if you WANT to send me something, these are some helpful hints. But I will accept ANYTHING gratefully so don’t feel tied to this list. Thanks!
I’ve now been living at my site, Dilla, for a little over six months and have been in Ethiopia for almost nine months. It’s ok, you can allow yourselves to be shocked that you’ve made it so long without me; I know I am. I mean, I’m shocked I’ve made it so long without YOU, of course! :) So apparently, according to the Peace Corps Emotional Rollercoaster (it’s not just internal, they actually have a graph), I should be in a little downward dip at this 6-month point of my service. Damn Peace Corps, I pride myself on being such an individual and they got me down to a T with their stupid rollercoaster.
Things have been tough lately. On a bright note, the harassment, although still very much present, has been getting better. “Benny” is quickly catching on and I am feeling a little more integrated in my very large community. While I am on that, I was disappointed to learn from my mom that many of you did not get my “Jets” reference. It’s Elton John, folks; “Benny and the Jets”. Maybe you’ve heard it before. Not one of my fave Elton hits but it fits the bill.
Anyway, what’s been difficult lately is mostly feeling a little unaccomplished with work. The American in me (I know, I didn’t think there was much in me either) is kicking in and naturally expecting to see results after 6 months of “work”. Not only are there no results, I have no concrete projects in the works. I feel like I am still just trying to meet people and so far behind the other volunteers. I am sure everyone is feeling this way, but I am still having a difficult time breaking my self-criticism and frustration.
I’ve also been pretty homesick lately. The funny thing about being homesick is that sometimes I find myself missing the strangest things/places. Of course I miss the people I love most and the places I love most (NY and my favorite spots within it). But sometimes places pop into my head and, while missing it terribly, I think, “I’ve only been there like 2 times” or “I don’t even like that place.” For instance, I find the hot dog stand outside the City Hall subway station popping into my head far too frequently. Granted, those that know me know I LOVE a good street hotdog but I can count the number of times I have been to City Hall on two hands (mostly to deliver grants to government buildings or for ROC events) and can count the number of times I have bought hotdogs at that stand on one hand. Yet I think about and miss it frequently.
The other place that caught be by surprise and let me know I was really having a tough time here, was when I found myself yearning to be in Los Angeles. No offense, Sister, I know you love it, but LA is really not my kind of place. When all of a sudden I had an image of LA in my head and wanted to be there, I was like, “Whoa, Bonnie. You need to get a grip.” Hehe.
I guess the stranger thing is that, even though I miss home so much, this place really does feel like a home of sorts. My life here feels like life; not a vacation, not this crazy temporary experience, but just life. In the beginning I had to tell myself that this was home for the next two years; that this was my life now. Now, I just think it naturally. Thinking about my life being anything different is what’s abnormal. The way I think about life in America is similar to the way I think nostalgically on my time studying abroad in Barcelona: an amazing time, but one that is over. It’s also kind of like the way people in America think about what it would be like to live in Italy or something. You imagine it being filled with drinking good wine and eating amazing aged cheese and salami all the time. It’s all romanticized and glorified.
That’s kind of how I think about life in America now. I think about summers playing in Central Park with my friends, eating any type of food I want, seeing more than two different races of people, getting someplace in less than 2 hours and without someone practically sitting on my lap, etc. Can you believe I even romanticize riding the subway?! I tend to leave out details like having to work, being broke and the like. But ultimately, I think it’s a good thing for me. Eventually, I will have to face “American” reality but in the meantime, living in America doesn’t feel like reality to me. Ethiopia is real; America is a dream. And if I keep thinking that way, I think I will last here longer than I sometimes want to.
Speaking of that, I have sad news. This week, we are losing two more volunteers from my group. Christina (who is from CT and whose mom works with my Aunty Mary) and CR (one of my good friends who lives relatively close to me…8 hours-ish) have both decided to Early Terminate (ET) and will both be back in the States within a week. Christina leaves on Thursday and CR will probably be gone by Monday. I am going into Addis Ababa this weekend to say goodbye to her. Both of them recently traveled outside of Ethiopia (CR to the States and Christina to Germany, where her mom is from and boy friend lives) and upon returning, realized that they were much happier in those respective places. Neither of them have been very happy since we have been at site and it seems this is the best thing for them. I completely support them but I’ll also miss them a lot. I am sure you all remember from my blog posts in the past how difficult it is to lose fellow volunteers. We really are a family here.
However, while I am on that note, I have a happy update on my friend Travis (the one who was forced to go home because of asthma). He applied to re-enroll into another PC program, one which could deal with his medical condition, and just last week left for the Philippines! Although it’s daunting to have to start all over again, he is really happy with his placement (and with good reason, that sounds way better than Ethiopia!). So I am really happy for him about that.
Anyway, there is just a quick little emotional update for you all. I am hanging in there and am optimistic about my future here. I still don’t really know what is going to happen work-wise but I have faith something will come together. Hopefully I’ll be climbing that next big hill on the rollercoaster soon. As always, thank you for your love and support. If anyone has any interest in supporting me more, um, tangibly, here are some things that I enjoy receiving:
Will accept unlimited supplies of:
-canned chicken and tuna (in water)
-cheese of any kind (it travels fine, I swear)
-beef/turkey jerky and summer sausage/hard salami (also travels fine)
-chips or crackers (triscuits and stonewheat are favorites)
-chocolate
-pasta and rice seasoning packets, like Knorr or Zataran’s black beans and rice or jambalaya
-nuts and dried fruit
-entertainment (books, DVDs, news magazines, puzzles, paint-by-numbers, crafts of any kind)
-recipes! (preferably ones that don’t have very exotic ingredients; simple is better)
Things I need only one of so communicate with each other:
-the book, The Magus by John Fowles
-a Schick Quattro women’s razor
-a dark-colored fitted sheet (anything you have extra in your closet, doesn’t need to be new, just dark because it’s dirty here. And they only sell top sheets which really don’t stay tucked in.)
And seriously, please feel no obligation to send me anything. I’m not starving or anything. Just if you WANT to send me something, these are some helpful hints. But I will accept ANYTHING gratefully so don’t feel tied to this list. Thanks!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tales of Turning 24
August 11, 2009
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORA (July 22nd), MAUREEN AND DAD (July 30th) and Kelly (July 31st)!!
I hope you all had spectacular birthdays this year.
As for my birthday, it started out a little shaky but was wonderful in the end. The night before my birthday was sleepless, interrupted by intermittent trips to my friend John’s disgusting latrine with persistent diarrhea and phone calls from home from loved ones who are used to the crappy network in my town and wanted to make sure they would be able to reach me. I have no complaints about the phone calls (thank you!) but the runs I could have done without.
Next, Kyle and I went to the bus station to catch a bus to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where I was meeting up with some friends for my birthday. The best part was, Gail, one of my best friends who lives on the other side of the country (we joke that she lives in Sudan and I live in Kenya) was going to be in Addis as well, for medical. The bus ride took 8 hours when it should take about 5, due to traffic outside of Addis. We were just sitting in absolute bumper-to-bumper for 3 hours. Might I remind you that I have the runs on top of it. So I was sitting there anxiously, trying not to crap myself. You’re welcome for the details; you just have to read it, I have to live it. When we FINALLY get into Addis, our bus breaks down and we are all forced to get out in the middle of a busy street and find line taxis, called “Blue Donkeys”. They have specific routes so we had to find the right one to get to our hotel.
Luckily, when we arrived at the hotel, our friends had already reserved rooms and I am able to take my first hot shower in what seems like ages! It was just what I needed. Getting to the restaurant to meet everyone was a chore, as it was raining, but when we got there at about 8pm, they surprised me with a cake, roses, a bottle of champagne and two huge beer towers!! We were treating ourselves to dinner at the Beer Garden. I was so surprised and felt so loved. I really have made some amazing friends here. At least through the other volunteers; I am still working on making some real Ethiopian friends. There has been some progress on that front, details coming in the next blog.
So after an amazing dinner (I ate chicken! Yeah, CHICKEN! I wish you could comprehend how exciting that was), a few of us went out dancing with these VSO volunteers (a service organization kind of similar to Peace Corps based out of the UK. They can serve 6 month, 1 year, or 2 years stints). One of them is dating an Ethiopian woman who just happened to share the same birthday as me! Although for her calendar, the birthday is the 25th of Hamlay, which is the 11th month of their 13 month calendar.
Brief aside: I believe I have mentioned that the Ethiopian day begins as 6 o’clock so their time is 6 hours after the rest of the world’s time…convenient, I know. Additionally, they have their own calendar. The Ethiopian New Year is on, coincidentally enough, September 11th (Maura and Catherine, maybe Ethiopia is the place for you two. Your birthday is actually a celebration over here!). They have 13 months, the first twelve of which are all 30 days long and then the final month is only 5 days long (and no one gets paid for that month). Additionally, the year here is 2001, 8 years behind the rest of the world. Therefore, there is no easy mathematical way to translate the Egrarian calendar date from the Ethiopian calendar and vice versa. Sometimes people and offices will have calendars that have both dates, which are very helpful, but in day-to-day life it’s extremely complicated, which is why I basically ignore their calendar. Have I mentioned that Ethiopia is unique? Yeah, it’s a little annoyingly unique.
Moving along… So my birthday was a success and lots of fun. The following day I had plans to visit my host family in Ambo, but they were in Addis for a wedding. I was somewhat relieved because it was really cold and rainy and the last thing I wanted was to get on a bus. So instead, Kyle and I went to the movies where much to his dismay, the only showing of the new Harry Potter had already passed so we saw The Hangover instead. It was funny and a nice break from Ethiopia. There weren’t even any power outages at the movie theater like last time! Monday morning we went into the Peace Corps office to use internet and such. They have satellite internet so all the sites that the Ethiopian government blocks (such as my blog site) are accessible there! So I got to actually look at my blog for the first time since I’ve been here. You can all thank my mom for posting my entries and pictures on my censored behalf.
In the afternoon we went to Fitche, a small town about 2-3 hours north of Addis where Karen lives. The ride was beautiful, despite riding in a bus with a bunch of Ethiopians who honestly believe that they will catch diseases by having the windows open and many of whom were vomiting into plastic bags on account of their illogical misconception. When we arrived in Fitche, it was close to dark, there was no cell phone network, and we had no idea where Karen lives. After much asking around, we find a bajaj driver who thinks he knows where she lives. We get in the general area and continue asking and through a neighborhood effort, we are personally escorted to Karen’s door. This is an early indication of how wonderful the people in Fitche are…and the benefits of being the only white person living in a town. Karen is surprised and delighted to see us and welcomes us in saying, “I didn’t know if you brought slippers so I bought you some.” Ethiopians all have house shoes, these ugly plastic shoes imported from China and widely available in any town, necessary in order not to track mud and dirt into the home. Karen, the doll that she is, actually went out and bought Kyle and I a pair. Unfortunately for Kyle, the largest size she can find was like a Women’s 10. Ethiopians are tiny.
None of us was particularly hungry so we just sat in her cozy living room, catching up by candlelight (no power). Karen is such a wonderful person to be around. She has the warmest presence and makes you feel more comfortable and at peace just by being near her. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a therapist back in the States and is professional listener. That’s actually why we went to FItche, in addition to wanting to see her, because she is doing an art therapy program for orphan children in her town. Kyle and I are both interested in doing a similar program in our respective towns, so we wanted to check it out. Kyle wants to do the program with children, many orphans, from the rural area of his town. I am hoping to adapt the program to adults in the Dilla Prison. Her program was great. Doing art for kids here is extremely difficult, though, because it is just so foreign to them. Artistic expression, any kind of creativity is not encouraged here so one is ever challenged to think abstractly or even to just think for themselves. It’s one of the things that frustrates me the most about living here. So the kids didn’t always understand the instructions, they were often just drawing what the person next to them was drawing, but they were so happy to have real colors to use. Karen had crayons and colored pencils sent from the States and I am confident it was the first time any of those children had used them before. It is going to take time for them to feel comfortable expressing themselves through art, but I think it was already a success. And I think these are the programs that are going to change Ethiopians’ mentalities so that progress and innovation may be possible from within the country, rather than always initiated by international organizations. I can only hope.
So thank you family and friends for the calls, the cards, the presents, etc. Even though I am far away, I felt extremely loved for my birthday. More updates (hopefully) coming soon! Love and miss you all!
Oh, and I got bit by a dog…but I’m ok!
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORA (July 22nd), MAUREEN AND DAD (July 30th) and Kelly (July 31st)!!
I hope you all had spectacular birthdays this year.
As for my birthday, it started out a little shaky but was wonderful in the end. The night before my birthday was sleepless, interrupted by intermittent trips to my friend John’s disgusting latrine with persistent diarrhea and phone calls from home from loved ones who are used to the crappy network in my town and wanted to make sure they would be able to reach me. I have no complaints about the phone calls (thank you!) but the runs I could have done without.
Next, Kyle and I went to the bus station to catch a bus to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where I was meeting up with some friends for my birthday. The best part was, Gail, one of my best friends who lives on the other side of the country (we joke that she lives in Sudan and I live in Kenya) was going to be in Addis as well, for medical. The bus ride took 8 hours when it should take about 5, due to traffic outside of Addis. We were just sitting in absolute bumper-to-bumper for 3 hours. Might I remind you that I have the runs on top of it. So I was sitting there anxiously, trying not to crap myself. You’re welcome for the details; you just have to read it, I have to live it. When we FINALLY get into Addis, our bus breaks down and we are all forced to get out in the middle of a busy street and find line taxis, called “Blue Donkeys”. They have specific routes so we had to find the right one to get to our hotel.
Luckily, when we arrived at the hotel, our friends had already reserved rooms and I am able to take my first hot shower in what seems like ages! It was just what I needed. Getting to the restaurant to meet everyone was a chore, as it was raining, but when we got there at about 8pm, they surprised me with a cake, roses, a bottle of champagne and two huge beer towers!! We were treating ourselves to dinner at the Beer Garden. I was so surprised and felt so loved. I really have made some amazing friends here. At least through the other volunteers; I am still working on making some real Ethiopian friends. There has been some progress on that front, details coming in the next blog.
So after an amazing dinner (I ate chicken! Yeah, CHICKEN! I wish you could comprehend how exciting that was), a few of us went out dancing with these VSO volunteers (a service organization kind of similar to Peace Corps based out of the UK. They can serve 6 month, 1 year, or 2 years stints). One of them is dating an Ethiopian woman who just happened to share the same birthday as me! Although for her calendar, the birthday is the 25th of Hamlay, which is the 11th month of their 13 month calendar.
Brief aside: I believe I have mentioned that the Ethiopian day begins as 6 o’clock so their time is 6 hours after the rest of the world’s time…convenient, I know. Additionally, they have their own calendar. The Ethiopian New Year is on, coincidentally enough, September 11th (Maura and Catherine, maybe Ethiopia is the place for you two. Your birthday is actually a celebration over here!). They have 13 months, the first twelve of which are all 30 days long and then the final month is only 5 days long (and no one gets paid for that month). Additionally, the year here is 2001, 8 years behind the rest of the world. Therefore, there is no easy mathematical way to translate the Egrarian calendar date from the Ethiopian calendar and vice versa. Sometimes people and offices will have calendars that have both dates, which are very helpful, but in day-to-day life it’s extremely complicated, which is why I basically ignore their calendar. Have I mentioned that Ethiopia is unique? Yeah, it’s a little annoyingly unique.
Moving along… So my birthday was a success and lots of fun. The following day I had plans to visit my host family in Ambo, but they were in Addis for a wedding. I was somewhat relieved because it was really cold and rainy and the last thing I wanted was to get on a bus. So instead, Kyle and I went to the movies where much to his dismay, the only showing of the new Harry Potter had already passed so we saw The Hangover instead. It was funny and a nice break from Ethiopia. There weren’t even any power outages at the movie theater like last time! Monday morning we went into the Peace Corps office to use internet and such. They have satellite internet so all the sites that the Ethiopian government blocks (such as my blog site) are accessible there! So I got to actually look at my blog for the first time since I’ve been here. You can all thank my mom for posting my entries and pictures on my censored behalf.
In the afternoon we went to Fitche, a small town about 2-3 hours north of Addis where Karen lives. The ride was beautiful, despite riding in a bus with a bunch of Ethiopians who honestly believe that they will catch diseases by having the windows open and many of whom were vomiting into plastic bags on account of their illogical misconception. When we arrived in Fitche, it was close to dark, there was no cell phone network, and we had no idea where Karen lives. After much asking around, we find a bajaj driver who thinks he knows where she lives. We get in the general area and continue asking and through a neighborhood effort, we are personally escorted to Karen’s door. This is an early indication of how wonderful the people in Fitche are…and the benefits of being the only white person living in a town. Karen is surprised and delighted to see us and welcomes us in saying, “I didn’t know if you brought slippers so I bought you some.” Ethiopians all have house shoes, these ugly plastic shoes imported from China and widely available in any town, necessary in order not to track mud and dirt into the home. Karen, the doll that she is, actually went out and bought Kyle and I a pair. Unfortunately for Kyle, the largest size she can find was like a Women’s 10. Ethiopians are tiny.
None of us was particularly hungry so we just sat in her cozy living room, catching up by candlelight (no power). Karen is such a wonderful person to be around. She has the warmest presence and makes you feel more comfortable and at peace just by being near her. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a therapist back in the States and is professional listener. That’s actually why we went to FItche, in addition to wanting to see her, because she is doing an art therapy program for orphan children in her town. Kyle and I are both interested in doing a similar program in our respective towns, so we wanted to check it out. Kyle wants to do the program with children, many orphans, from the rural area of his town. I am hoping to adapt the program to adults in the Dilla Prison. Her program was great. Doing art for kids here is extremely difficult, though, because it is just so foreign to them. Artistic expression, any kind of creativity is not encouraged here so one is ever challenged to think abstractly or even to just think for themselves. It’s one of the things that frustrates me the most about living here. So the kids didn’t always understand the instructions, they were often just drawing what the person next to them was drawing, but they were so happy to have real colors to use. Karen had crayons and colored pencils sent from the States and I am confident it was the first time any of those children had used them before. It is going to take time for them to feel comfortable expressing themselves through art, but I think it was already a success. And I think these are the programs that are going to change Ethiopians’ mentalities so that progress and innovation may be possible from within the country, rather than always initiated by international organizations. I can only hope.
So thank you family and friends for the calls, the cards, the presents, etc. Even though I am far away, I felt extremely loved for my birthday. More updates (hopefully) coming soon! Love and miss you all!
Oh, and I got bit by a dog…but I’m ok!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Benny's July Message
July 16, 2009
Well, I guess the first order of business for this month’s blog is to wish you all a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! It’s rather odd celebrating a strictly American holiday in another country (particularly one that has never really been colonized so therefore doesn’t really get the excitement of an independence day), but I must say that the PCVs in Ethiopia did our country proud on the 4th. We had about 15 volunteers meet up in Hawassa to celebrate and it was awesome. Chris hosted at his new house, which is on this AMAZING compound with another American guy, his Ethiopian wife, and their 2 month old baby girl. They built this huge tree house with tons of cushions to sit on, complete with a little baby pet monkey! Unfortunately, the monkey kept getting into people’s drinks (we made a 20L bucket of gin and mango tang with pieces of pineapple…don’t knock it ‘til you try it) and it got very drunk.
A couple of us split up the shopping and I worked the grills (which I brought from my home on the bus) and grilled hot dogs (canned viennas) and cheeseburgers (4 ½ lbs. of meat that I minced myself…ugh). CR and I also made french fries and bought some potato chips. We listened to Michael Jackson (RIP) all day, eating , drinking, playing games, and had a wonderful time. When it got dark, we lit some sparklers and roman candles that Kyle found in his town. It was such a wonderful day, it really was the next best thing to being at home with my family.
After the holiday it was right back to “work”. I have been pretty busy lately having lots of meetings, but I don’t know how much is actually happening. This week I was no-showed by two different people. It’s so frustrating because my town is big and hot and I go most places by foot (enduring all the attention) and to arrive to find the person isn’t there, and is even in a different city, is so annoying! Everyone just laughs about “Habesha time” and that it’s part of their culture, but I think it’s an inconsiderate aspect of their culture. I guess I am just going to have to start dropping in on people rather than making appointments.
However, I have had some pretty great accomplishments. Last week I gave a half-day training on HIV and ART (anti-retroviral therapy) to a group of 40 medical students and about 10 staff from the health center. I was really nervous (hello? No medical background here…poli-sci major?) but I think it went really well. I covered so much material: the basics but also epidemiology statistics; the correlation of STIs and HIV; social factors contributing to the spread of HIV; the life cycle of the virus inside the body; different illnesses, infections, and diseases caused through the different stages of HIV taking over the body; and ART drugs available in Ethiopia, how they work and what side affects they have. At the end of the training, I administered a short test to see what the students had learned. Ethiopian students (even medical ones…scary!) are notorious for openly cheating on tests, but all but three students got more than 50% of the questions correct. I gave out certificates to the students afterwards (everyone always wants proof that they did something) and overall I think it was a success. I think there will be another group of students coming from a different college after these ones so I am sure I will do it again.
Another highlight is that kids are finally starting to call me by my name! A group of girls that have Koran class every afternoon at a home located between my office and the health center, always run out to hug me yelling “Benny, Benny!” Ok, so they don’t actually know my name, but it’s close enough and I am becoming quite fond of it. The lady at my “supermarket” also calls me Benny. I guess it’s easier than Bonnie to remember, although logically, I can’t figure out why. For a while I was determined for people to learn my actual name, since I am more than fond of it (way to go Mama and Dad), but I have decided to be grateful for what I can get. So from now on, my name in town is Benny. Maybe I can find a group of street kids to follow me around and be my “Jets”. :)
So I think that’s all the updates for now. I am loving and missing you all as always.
More belated birthdays to:
Uncle Pat!! (June 21)
Aunty Kate!! (June 27)
Tony!! (June 29) – and congrats on the engagement!
George/G!! (July 3)
Also, special congratulations to my cousins Melissa, Maura, and Catherine on their high school graduations!!! I’m so proud :)
Ok, so that was going to be the end of my blog (which I intended to post today but there was no power) but something just happened that was too funny to wait until next month. So it’s Friday night and, as I mentioned, there is no power. After hours of reading my book and running out of things to occupy my time, I decide to lie in bed and read through all the cards I have received since I left for Ethiopia. As I am getting all wrapped up in a blanket of warm fuzziness and appreciation for how loved I am (not an actual blanket, of course, it’s hot and no fan), one of my candles burns out. I light a new candle and while I am trying to make it stick to my make-shift candle holder (a piece of cardboard), I knock it over. I scramble to grab it before it falls and in my haste, allow my hair to dip into the fire from the other candle. The smell of burning hair alerted me to my blunder (the smell which still lingers in my room). I laughed, joking to myself that I guess it’s finally time for me to cut my hair again, which I had been putting off. However, the best part is that as I am plucking burnt, shriveled shards of my hair away, in literally less than twenty seconds, the power comes back on. Moments like these can only be summed up by two words: Peace Corps.
Well, I guess the first order of business for this month’s blog is to wish you all a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! It’s rather odd celebrating a strictly American holiday in another country (particularly one that has never really been colonized so therefore doesn’t really get the excitement of an independence day), but I must say that the PCVs in Ethiopia did our country proud on the 4th. We had about 15 volunteers meet up in Hawassa to celebrate and it was awesome. Chris hosted at his new house, which is on this AMAZING compound with another American guy, his Ethiopian wife, and their 2 month old baby girl. They built this huge tree house with tons of cushions to sit on, complete with a little baby pet monkey! Unfortunately, the monkey kept getting into people’s drinks (we made a 20L bucket of gin and mango tang with pieces of pineapple…don’t knock it ‘til you try it) and it got very drunk.
A couple of us split up the shopping and I worked the grills (which I brought from my home on the bus) and grilled hot dogs (canned viennas) and cheeseburgers (4 ½ lbs. of meat that I minced myself…ugh). CR and I also made french fries and bought some potato chips. We listened to Michael Jackson (RIP) all day, eating , drinking, playing games, and had a wonderful time. When it got dark, we lit some sparklers and roman candles that Kyle found in his town. It was such a wonderful day, it really was the next best thing to being at home with my family.
After the holiday it was right back to “work”. I have been pretty busy lately having lots of meetings, but I don’t know how much is actually happening. This week I was no-showed by two different people. It’s so frustrating because my town is big and hot and I go most places by foot (enduring all the attention) and to arrive to find the person isn’t there, and is even in a different city, is so annoying! Everyone just laughs about “Habesha time” and that it’s part of their culture, but I think it’s an inconsiderate aspect of their culture. I guess I am just going to have to start dropping in on people rather than making appointments.
However, I have had some pretty great accomplishments. Last week I gave a half-day training on HIV and ART (anti-retroviral therapy) to a group of 40 medical students and about 10 staff from the health center. I was really nervous (hello? No medical background here…poli-sci major?) but I think it went really well. I covered so much material: the basics but also epidemiology statistics; the correlation of STIs and HIV; social factors contributing to the spread of HIV; the life cycle of the virus inside the body; different illnesses, infections, and diseases caused through the different stages of HIV taking over the body; and ART drugs available in Ethiopia, how they work and what side affects they have. At the end of the training, I administered a short test to see what the students had learned. Ethiopian students (even medical ones…scary!) are notorious for openly cheating on tests, but all but three students got more than 50% of the questions correct. I gave out certificates to the students afterwards (everyone always wants proof that they did something) and overall I think it was a success. I think there will be another group of students coming from a different college after these ones so I am sure I will do it again.
Another highlight is that kids are finally starting to call me by my name! A group of girls that have Koran class every afternoon at a home located between my office and the health center, always run out to hug me yelling “Benny, Benny!” Ok, so they don’t actually know my name, but it’s close enough and I am becoming quite fond of it. The lady at my “supermarket” also calls me Benny. I guess it’s easier than Bonnie to remember, although logically, I can’t figure out why. For a while I was determined for people to learn my actual name, since I am more than fond of it (way to go Mama and Dad), but I have decided to be grateful for what I can get. So from now on, my name in town is Benny. Maybe I can find a group of street kids to follow me around and be my “Jets”. :)
So I think that’s all the updates for now. I am loving and missing you all as always.
More belated birthdays to:
Uncle Pat!! (June 21)
Aunty Kate!! (June 27)
Tony!! (June 29) – and congrats on the engagement!
George/G!! (July 3)
Also, special congratulations to my cousins Melissa, Maura, and Catherine on their high school graduations!!! I’m so proud :)
Ok, so that was going to be the end of my blog (which I intended to post today but there was no power) but something just happened that was too funny to wait until next month. So it’s Friday night and, as I mentioned, there is no power. After hours of reading my book and running out of things to occupy my time, I decide to lie in bed and read through all the cards I have received since I left for Ethiopia. As I am getting all wrapped up in a blanket of warm fuzziness and appreciation for how loved I am (not an actual blanket, of course, it’s hot and no fan), one of my candles burns out. I light a new candle and while I am trying to make it stick to my make-shift candle holder (a piece of cardboard), I knock it over. I scramble to grab it before it falls and in my haste, allow my hair to dip into the fire from the other candle. The smell of burning hair alerted me to my blunder (the smell which still lingers in my room). I laughed, joking to myself that I guess it’s finally time for me to cut my hair again, which I had been putting off. However, the best part is that as I am plucking burnt, shriveled shards of my hair away, in literally less than twenty seconds, the power comes back on. Moments like these can only be summed up by two words: Peace Corps.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I MADE THE 6 MONTH MARK!
June 15, 2009
About two weeks ago marked the 6-month anniversary of my arrival in Ethiopia and it comes as a sense of accomplishment and encouragement to keep it up, that I have been in the Peace Corps for half a year. As luck would have it, this 6-month marker came during the Peace Corps In-Service Training, so I was with all the other volunteers from my group (except the three that went home…yep, we lost another just a week before In-Service Training). Besides the loss of Gabe, which was sad news to get, it was absolutely wonderful being with all my friends again. It was interesting to see how far we have all come since those few months in Pre-Service Training when we were all just trying to figure out what was going on and how we could live in this country for two years. Of course, we are all still trying to figure that out but everyone seems to have adapted very well to being on his/her own and are doing great things so far. One highlight of the 10-day training was the North vs. South Kickball game we organized between all the volunteers. Everyone made uniforms (North-blue and South-green...yes I did choose my team’s color) and we found a park at the resort PC put us up in to play the game. It was a huge success, although unfortunately the Southside lost :(. I think our group is creating quite a reputation for itself as one of the most fun and creative PC groups in the history of Ethiopia, if not the whole world.
The training itself was rather boring, chock full of PowerPoint presentations by representatives from various organizations, but there were elements that were very helpful. We spent the first three days learning about permaculture (“permanent agriculture”) from a former PCV who now lives in Tanzania and is an expert on this. I now feel more confident not only to start my own garden (which I planted this past weekend, finally!) but also to teach the methods I learned to members of my community. We learned about how to control water so that planting can still be done during both the rainy and dry season common in this part of Africa. I am living in a region with some of the most fertile land in all of Ethiopia, yet almost all of the agriculture is for exports, like coffee. Food prices have increased exponentially in just the past year yet people are still not growing their own food. I really want to help spread this message of growing food through family gardens that will foster more self-sufficiency and improve the health in my community.
This training really motivated me to get back out into my community and get started on some of these ideas floating up in my head. There is so much I want to do that I don’t really know where to start and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I think I am just going to dive in head first and see what sticks. I’ll keep you posted.
Before returning to my town, I took my first vacation! Jill and Tina (who live in the northernmost region of Ethiopia) made a visit down south after training and we had a girls trip to Arba Minch. Nichole, my friend from Group 1, also came along and we had such a great time. We had to endure an 8-hour long bus ride on an unpaved road in a bus with no shocks to get there and back but it was definitely worth it. We took a boat across this huge lake, where we saw crocodiles, hippos, and pelicans. Then they brought us to the shore of the national park, where we hiked through and saw herds and herds of zebras. It was so beautiful and amazing; it actually felt like being in Africa. We all have a little joke that Ethiopia isn’t actually Africa but rather a continent of its own inside Africa. But it was a really great experience and I have some awesome pictures, which hopefully will make their way onto my blog soon.
Not much else to report. My sincere apologies for being so out of touch these past two months. Right before training I was consumed with finishing my Community Needs Assessment, which I had to present at training. Then, the training location was this little resort completely cut off from the rest of the world and I had no internet access. Now that I am back in my town, the power has been out all day for the past three days in a row. However, it just came back about 30 minutes ago so I am frantically writing this and heading off to the internet café to send it. I love and miss you all!
Also, VERY belated Happy Birthdays to:
KRISTINA!!! (May 25th)
AUNTY MARY!!! (June 1st)
Uncle Brendan (June 12)
I love you lots and lots and was thinking about you on your respective days :)
About two weeks ago marked the 6-month anniversary of my arrival in Ethiopia and it comes as a sense of accomplishment and encouragement to keep it up, that I have been in the Peace Corps for half a year. As luck would have it, this 6-month marker came during the Peace Corps In-Service Training, so I was with all the other volunteers from my group (except the three that went home…yep, we lost another just a week before In-Service Training). Besides the loss of Gabe, which was sad news to get, it was absolutely wonderful being with all my friends again. It was interesting to see how far we have all come since those few months in Pre-Service Training when we were all just trying to figure out what was going on and how we could live in this country for two years. Of course, we are all still trying to figure that out but everyone seems to have adapted very well to being on his/her own and are doing great things so far. One highlight of the 10-day training was the North vs. South Kickball game we organized between all the volunteers. Everyone made uniforms (North-blue and South-green...yes I did choose my team’s color) and we found a park at the resort PC put us up in to play the game. It was a huge success, although unfortunately the Southside lost :(. I think our group is creating quite a reputation for itself as one of the most fun and creative PC groups in the history of Ethiopia, if not the whole world.
The training itself was rather boring, chock full of PowerPoint presentations by representatives from various organizations, but there were elements that were very helpful. We spent the first three days learning about permaculture (“permanent agriculture”) from a former PCV who now lives in Tanzania and is an expert on this. I now feel more confident not only to start my own garden (which I planted this past weekend, finally!) but also to teach the methods I learned to members of my community. We learned about how to control water so that planting can still be done during both the rainy and dry season common in this part of Africa. I am living in a region with some of the most fertile land in all of Ethiopia, yet almost all of the agriculture is for exports, like coffee. Food prices have increased exponentially in just the past year yet people are still not growing their own food. I really want to help spread this message of growing food through family gardens that will foster more self-sufficiency and improve the health in my community.
This training really motivated me to get back out into my community and get started on some of these ideas floating up in my head. There is so much I want to do that I don’t really know where to start and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I think I am just going to dive in head first and see what sticks. I’ll keep you posted.
Before returning to my town, I took my first vacation! Jill and Tina (who live in the northernmost region of Ethiopia) made a visit down south after training and we had a girls trip to Arba Minch. Nichole, my friend from Group 1, also came along and we had such a great time. We had to endure an 8-hour long bus ride on an unpaved road in a bus with no shocks to get there and back but it was definitely worth it. We took a boat across this huge lake, where we saw crocodiles, hippos, and pelicans. Then they brought us to the shore of the national park, where we hiked through and saw herds and herds of zebras. It was so beautiful and amazing; it actually felt like being in Africa. We all have a little joke that Ethiopia isn’t actually Africa but rather a continent of its own inside Africa. But it was a really great experience and I have some awesome pictures, which hopefully will make their way onto my blog soon.
Not much else to report. My sincere apologies for being so out of touch these past two months. Right before training I was consumed with finishing my Community Needs Assessment, which I had to present at training. Then, the training location was this little resort completely cut off from the rest of the world and I had no internet access. Now that I am back in my town, the power has been out all day for the past three days in a row. However, it just came back about 30 minutes ago so I am frantically writing this and heading off to the internet café to send it. I love and miss you all!
Also, VERY belated Happy Birthdays to:
KRISTINA!!! (May 25th)
AUNTY MARY!!! (June 1st)
Uncle Brendan (June 12)
I love you lots and lots and was thinking about you on your respective days :)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
THERE'S NO HIDING ME OR THE GARBAGE!
April 29, 2009
Hey all!
So I am approaching the 5 month mark of being in Ethiopia which means, you guessed it, I am approximately 18% done with Peace Corps! I swear I’m not counting the days until it’s over, I just like doing percentages J Well, I will say that Peace Corps is so much harder than I ever could have imagined. It’s definitely not the lack of amenities that makes it hard (although I wouldn’t turn down a flushing toilet and hot shower). I think the most difficult part of Peace Corps, particularly being in Africa (besides having the assignment: help with the HIV/AIDS epidemic) is the lack of anonymity. It’s indescribable how exhausting it is to be seen constantly. Sure I stood out a bit all those years living in the Bronx but I was still in a big city and could be “invisible” whenever I wanted to be. I can’t be invisible here. No matter where I go or what I am doing, people are staring at me. I know what you’re thinking: it’s my own fault for being so good-looking and entertaining. However, I have tried being as boring as possible and a week without bathing usually takes care of the good-looking part, but still they stare! I just wish that once, I could go to the market without being stared at, yelled at, touched, etc.
As for the other difficult part of Peace Corps (HIV), I have made at least a small bit of headway. Yesterday, I gave a training to Dilla High School’s Anti-AIDS Club about HIV/AIDS. This training has been in the works for a while but kept getting put off because of Ethiopian Easter, which apparently is celebrated for approximately two weeks. There were about 30 students, mostly grades 10 and 11, and it went really well. I was very nervous because this was the first training that I facilitated by myself. As you may know, I have no real medical background and high school students can ask some pretty creative questions, particularly about HIV but I felt comfortable answering all of their questions. I started the training out with a Facts and Myths game about HIV, which went over really well. I prepared roughly 15 statements about HIV and then had student volunteers read the statements and determine if it was true or false – then I explained why. Next I did some very basic instruction on the difference between HIV and AIDS, four body fluids that can transmit HIV, and the main modes of transmission. I also prepared a large graph, which showed the progression of the disease after infection, comparing the viral load (amount of HIV in the body) to the number of antibodies (the body’s defense against the virus). It shows that right after a person is infected with HIV, their viral load spikes up so they are the most infectious (able to pass the disease to someone else) yet they show no symptoms and feel no different. Sorry if this is really boring and technical for you, but who says I have to limit my HIV education to kids in Africa. Has anyone learned anything they didn’t know? If so, you’re welcome.
So basically after my instruction, I opened it up for Q&A and general discussion. The kids were really active and asked so many questions. It really did seem like they learned something, even if just temporarily. At the end, I told them that it was up to them to take the information they had gained to educate their friends, classmates, families, etc. I really do hope that they decide to get more involved and active as a club. One thing that I think would be really great to do at the high school is to have a “HIV/AIDS Questions Box” where students can anonymously submit questions about HIV and maybe once a week or once a month, I would meet with the Anti-AIDS Club and together we would answer the questions submitted and post them. Eventually, once the club members are better informed and feel more comfortable with the topic, I would want them to give the answers to questions themselves and only call me for questions they didn’t know how to answer. This is a pretty ambitious goal and it will only work if the club members are really dedicated but it’s an idea and that is a success for me at this point.
Another idea I have as a possible long-term project is for a trash collection service in Dilla Town that would serve as an income generating activity for one of the PLWHA Associations (People Living With HIV/AIDS. Right now this is just an idea in my head and I have no details worked out, but sanitation is a really big problem in town. There is no trash collection or proper waste disposal areas in Dilla, so people just burn their garbage in the streets once or twice a week. Those days, they air is just filled with dirty smoke and the smell of burning plastic. It’s awful. I myself have not been able to bring myself to this, no matter how often I am told it is the way things are done, so I have an overflowing bag of garbage in my kitchen. I am composting my food scraps but the rest of it just sits there. It’s really becoming a problem. That’s kind of what sparked the idea. My thinking is that once a week, hired people will go around town with the big donkey carts, ringing a bell or something, and people will bring out their trash. This will generate jobs and then the profits would go to the PLWHA Association. Ideally, we could do proper waste disposal, burning was is burnable and composting food scraps. Then maybe selling composted soil or starting a farm?? Again, these are really big ideas and the biggest thing that Peace Corps teaches us is that it’s no good to just come up with an idea and implement it (that’s what NGOs do). You need community buy-in for the project to be successful and sustainable. So if I want to do this, I will need to convince the community that it’s important, why it’s important, etc. Then I will need a lot of money to get it started – but luckily I have experience and good genes in that department. Right, Mama?
So as tough as life is here, I am finally feeling like I might be able to make some impact here. It’s extremely daunting and these two big ideas that I have might not even work out, but it’s something. It’s a start and that’s all I need right now. So, friends and family, thank you for all your love and support. I can’t tell you how much it helps me. I will keep up with the blogs and try to keep them as balanced between positive and negative reflection as this one has been.
Also, I have one more request. For those with whom I have been exchanging letters, could you please save those letters? I have never been good at keeping journals and I don’t need to tell you that I have a notoriously bad memory, so for all I know a few months after returning to the U.S., I may have forgotten entirely that I lived in Ethiopia for two years. If that is the case, I will need those letters (and these blogs) as proof. If you wish to keep my letters for your own scrap books, then I just ask that you photocopy them and send them to my darling grandma, Betty Mohan (70 Bunker Hill Rd. Coventry, CT 06238) and she will save them until my return. Which reminds me, hey Nanny, do you mind if I have people send my letters to your house? Ok, I think that’s all for now.
Lots of love, I miss you all so much.
Bonnie
Hey all!
So I am approaching the 5 month mark of being in Ethiopia which means, you guessed it, I am approximately 18% done with Peace Corps! I swear I’m not counting the days until it’s over, I just like doing percentages J Well, I will say that Peace Corps is so much harder than I ever could have imagined. It’s definitely not the lack of amenities that makes it hard (although I wouldn’t turn down a flushing toilet and hot shower). I think the most difficult part of Peace Corps, particularly being in Africa (besides having the assignment: help with the HIV/AIDS epidemic) is the lack of anonymity. It’s indescribable how exhausting it is to be seen constantly. Sure I stood out a bit all those years living in the Bronx but I was still in a big city and could be “invisible” whenever I wanted to be. I can’t be invisible here. No matter where I go or what I am doing, people are staring at me. I know what you’re thinking: it’s my own fault for being so good-looking and entertaining. However, I have tried being as boring as possible and a week without bathing usually takes care of the good-looking part, but still they stare! I just wish that once, I could go to the market without being stared at, yelled at, touched, etc.
As for the other difficult part of Peace Corps (HIV), I have made at least a small bit of headway. Yesterday, I gave a training to Dilla High School’s Anti-AIDS Club about HIV/AIDS. This training has been in the works for a while but kept getting put off because of Ethiopian Easter, which apparently is celebrated for approximately two weeks. There were about 30 students, mostly grades 10 and 11, and it went really well. I was very nervous because this was the first training that I facilitated by myself. As you may know, I have no real medical background and high school students can ask some pretty creative questions, particularly about HIV but I felt comfortable answering all of their questions. I started the training out with a Facts and Myths game about HIV, which went over really well. I prepared roughly 15 statements about HIV and then had student volunteers read the statements and determine if it was true or false – then I explained why. Next I did some very basic instruction on the difference between HIV and AIDS, four body fluids that can transmit HIV, and the main modes of transmission. I also prepared a large graph, which showed the progression of the disease after infection, comparing the viral load (amount of HIV in the body) to the number of antibodies (the body’s defense against the virus). It shows that right after a person is infected with HIV, their viral load spikes up so they are the most infectious (able to pass the disease to someone else) yet they show no symptoms and feel no different. Sorry if this is really boring and technical for you, but who says I have to limit my HIV education to kids in Africa. Has anyone learned anything they didn’t know? If so, you’re welcome.
So basically after my instruction, I opened it up for Q&A and general discussion. The kids were really active and asked so many questions. It really did seem like they learned something, even if just temporarily. At the end, I told them that it was up to them to take the information they had gained to educate their friends, classmates, families, etc. I really do hope that they decide to get more involved and active as a club. One thing that I think would be really great to do at the high school is to have a “HIV/AIDS Questions Box” where students can anonymously submit questions about HIV and maybe once a week or once a month, I would meet with the Anti-AIDS Club and together we would answer the questions submitted and post them. Eventually, once the club members are better informed and feel more comfortable with the topic, I would want them to give the answers to questions themselves and only call me for questions they didn’t know how to answer. This is a pretty ambitious goal and it will only work if the club members are really dedicated but it’s an idea and that is a success for me at this point.
Another idea I have as a possible long-term project is for a trash collection service in Dilla Town that would serve as an income generating activity for one of the PLWHA Associations (People Living With HIV/AIDS. Right now this is just an idea in my head and I have no details worked out, but sanitation is a really big problem in town. There is no trash collection or proper waste disposal areas in Dilla, so people just burn their garbage in the streets once or twice a week. Those days, they air is just filled with dirty smoke and the smell of burning plastic. It’s awful. I myself have not been able to bring myself to this, no matter how often I am told it is the way things are done, so I have an overflowing bag of garbage in my kitchen. I am composting my food scraps but the rest of it just sits there. It’s really becoming a problem. That’s kind of what sparked the idea. My thinking is that once a week, hired people will go around town with the big donkey carts, ringing a bell or something, and people will bring out their trash. This will generate jobs and then the profits would go to the PLWHA Association. Ideally, we could do proper waste disposal, burning was is burnable and composting food scraps. Then maybe selling composted soil or starting a farm?? Again, these are really big ideas and the biggest thing that Peace Corps teaches us is that it’s no good to just come up with an idea and implement it (that’s what NGOs do). You need community buy-in for the project to be successful and sustainable. So if I want to do this, I will need to convince the community that it’s important, why it’s important, etc. Then I will need a lot of money to get it started – but luckily I have experience and good genes in that department. Right, Mama?
So as tough as life is here, I am finally feeling like I might be able to make some impact here. It’s extremely daunting and these two big ideas that I have might not even work out, but it’s something. It’s a start and that’s all I need right now. So, friends and family, thank you for all your love and support. I can’t tell you how much it helps me. I will keep up with the blogs and try to keep them as balanced between positive and negative reflection as this one has been.
Also, I have one more request. For those with whom I have been exchanging letters, could you please save those letters? I have never been good at keeping journals and I don’t need to tell you that I have a notoriously bad memory, so for all I know a few months after returning to the U.S., I may have forgotten entirely that I lived in Ethiopia for two years. If that is the case, I will need those letters (and these blogs) as proof. If you wish to keep my letters for your own scrap books, then I just ask that you photocopy them and send them to my darling grandma, Betty Mohan (70 Bunker Hill Rd. Coventry, CT 06238) and she will save them until my return. Which reminds me, hey Nanny, do you mind if I have people send my letters to your house? Ok, I think that’s all for now.
Lots of love, I miss you all so much.
Bonnie
Monday, April 13, 2009
April 7, 2009
March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
Happy Birthday Kristi!!
March 26, 2009
Happy Birthday Aunt Cathy!!
Another Month Down – April 7, 2009
So I have pretty much resigned myself to writing one blog post every month. I know, I spoiled you all with my multiple entries while I was in Training, but now I am at site and my life is considerably more boring. Things just move so slowly here and surprisingly, for being a New York gal, I am embracing it just swimmingly. Aside from all the shenanigans with my house, which thankfully is finally complete, the slow pace doesn’t really bother me. I spend a lot of time reading and cooking, two things I enjoyed doing in the States but didn’t have as much time to dedicate to them as I would have liked. Now, I have nothing but time. So as for reading, I have gotten into this fantasy series called The Wheel of Time that another PCV got me hooked to. I know, reading fantasy books, I get a huge “Triple Nerd Score” but they are extremely entertaining and there are twelve books in the series, with each book about 6 or 700 pages long. Ergo, they help pass a lot of time.
As for cooking, I have been very impressed with myself and think you would be too. I successfully made spring rolls, entirely from local ingredients (except the soy sauce, which I bought in Addis). Other notables have been beef stew, sourdough bread, fajitas, and kebabs. I actually managed to make a grill here! Traditionally, Ethiopians cook over a coal stove called “mandeja”. I have been cooking on two kerosene stoves but this past weekend, I bought a mandeja and the shop actually had a little metal grill that fit perfectly over it! I couldn’t believe it, I was already preparing in my mind a way to describe in Amharic what I wanted to someone at the metal work shop. Then I went to the market and managed to find thin metal sticks to use as skewers. I have no idea what their actual function for Ethiopians is but they served well as skewers. Anyway, the kebabs were delicious and now I have a grill!! Cooking is providing me so much pleasure here that sometimes I feel like such a fat kid. I’m afraid if some of you are expecting a scrawny, tan version of Bonnie to return home, you will be sadly disappointed.
Hmmm, what else? Oh yeah, AIDS. Sometimes I forget why I’m here – just kidding! Well, like I said, things move very slowly here. These first two months, I have basically just been going all over town and meeting people. Visiting schools, NGOs, and the health center and establishing relationships, trying to identify motivated people to work with. I have scheduled to give two trainings to Anti-AIDS clubs at the two local high schools. Basically, I will be covering the basics of HIV, how the virus is transmitted, how to prevent transmission, etc. and then opening it up for questions and discussion. Both clubs have been pretty inactive so I hope to motivate them to be move involved, in their school and the community. I am also working to organize an HIV testing campaign at one of the high schools because the students said they have never had one. I hope to open it up to the community and have the members of the Anti-AIDS club mobilize not just other students but also members of the community to come and get tested. I am also hoping they can prepare a drama or something to give about HIV. I may have mentioned this before but it bears repeating, ETHIOPIANS LOVE DRAMAS. So those are my biggest activities coming up.
I am also conducting a Community Needs Assessment (CNA), which needs to be completed and submitted to Peace Corps by the end of May when all the PCVs in my group will meet up for In-Service Training. Basically, I am just collecting information, statistics, etc. about Dilla: population, natural resources, organizations, schools, services provided, and then identifying gaps and problems, then making suggestions for possible projects that I could work on in the future. That part I haven’t really gotten to yet. Peace Corps suggests doing door-to-door outreach and having informal interviews with members of the community to identify problems but that seems really difficult to do. Dilla is a pretty big town, about 70,000 people, and I would really need a translator with me since my Amharic is still so limited. I just don’t know of anyone who has that kind of time to go around with me. I’ll see if I can get around it somehow.
Well, I think that’s all for now. I wish everyone a happy and healthy Easter; I will be missing you all very much. Enjoy your Easter dinner extra lots for me!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
Happy Birthday Kristi!!
March 26, 2009
Happy Birthday Aunt Cathy!!
Another Month Down – April 7, 2009
So I have pretty much resigned myself to writing one blog post every month. I know, I spoiled you all with my multiple entries while I was in Training, but now I am at site and my life is considerably more boring. Things just move so slowly here and surprisingly, for being a New York gal, I am embracing it just swimmingly. Aside from all the shenanigans with my house, which thankfully is finally complete, the slow pace doesn’t really bother me. I spend a lot of time reading and cooking, two things I enjoyed doing in the States but didn’t have as much time to dedicate to them as I would have liked. Now, I have nothing but time. So as for reading, I have gotten into this fantasy series called The Wheel of Time that another PCV got me hooked to. I know, reading fantasy books, I get a huge “Triple Nerd Score” but they are extremely entertaining and there are twelve books in the series, with each book about 6 or 700 pages long. Ergo, they help pass a lot of time.
As for cooking, I have been very impressed with myself and think you would be too. I successfully made spring rolls, entirely from local ingredients (except the soy sauce, which I bought in Addis). Other notables have been beef stew, sourdough bread, fajitas, and kebabs. I actually managed to make a grill here! Traditionally, Ethiopians cook over a coal stove called “mandeja”. I have been cooking on two kerosene stoves but this past weekend, I bought a mandeja and the shop actually had a little metal grill that fit perfectly over it! I couldn’t believe it, I was already preparing in my mind a way to describe in Amharic what I wanted to someone at the metal work shop. Then I went to the market and managed to find thin metal sticks to use as skewers. I have no idea what their actual function for Ethiopians is but they served well as skewers. Anyway, the kebabs were delicious and now I have a grill!! Cooking is providing me so much pleasure here that sometimes I feel like such a fat kid. I’m afraid if some of you are expecting a scrawny, tan version of Bonnie to return home, you will be sadly disappointed.
Hmmm, what else? Oh yeah, AIDS. Sometimes I forget why I’m here – just kidding! Well, like I said, things move very slowly here. These first two months, I have basically just been going all over town and meeting people. Visiting schools, NGOs, and the health center and establishing relationships, trying to identify motivated people to work with. I have scheduled to give two trainings to Anti-AIDS clubs at the two local high schools. Basically, I will be covering the basics of HIV, how the virus is transmitted, how to prevent transmission, etc. and then opening it up for questions and discussion. Both clubs have been pretty inactive so I hope to motivate them to be move involved, in their school and the community. I am also working to organize an HIV testing campaign at one of the high schools because the students said they have never had one. I hope to open it up to the community and have the members of the Anti-AIDS club mobilize not just other students but also members of the community to come and get tested. I am also hoping they can prepare a drama or something to give about HIV. I may have mentioned this before but it bears repeating, ETHIOPIANS LOVE DRAMAS. So those are my biggest activities coming up.
I am also conducting a Community Needs Assessment (CNA), which needs to be completed and submitted to Peace Corps by the end of May when all the PCVs in my group will meet up for In-Service Training. Basically, I am just collecting information, statistics, etc. about Dilla: population, natural resources, organizations, schools, services provided, and then identifying gaps and problems, then making suggestions for possible projects that I could work on in the future. That part I haven’t really gotten to yet. Peace Corps suggests doing door-to-door outreach and having informal interviews with members of the community to identify problems but that seems really difficult to do. Dilla is a pretty big town, about 70,000 people, and I would really need a translator with me since my Amharic is still so limited. I just don’t know of anyone who has that kind of time to go around with me. I’ll see if I can get around it somehow.
Well, I think that’s all for now. I wish everyone a happy and healthy Easter; I will be missing you all very much. Enjoy your Easter dinner extra lots for me!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
February 7 - February 10, 2009
A bit out of order....
I’m a Sad Little Cookie – February 7, 2009
I guess I am not very good at keeping up with this thing, so please forgive me. So first, I’ll catch you up on things since I left Dilla. I had an interesting return back to Ambo. First, Marina got punched in the back by this crazy guy on the street for no apparent reason. Then, the minibus that we got to drive us to the bus station got hit by a bus in front of us when the other bus stalled and we were on a hill. The police came and for some reason gave our bus drivers a 40 birr ticket, which they then tried to get us to pay. I don’t really understand that logic. Then our bus from Addis Ababa to Ambo hit an unidentified animal just as it was getting dark outside. It was really scary because we thought it was a person at first but no one inside was hurt and whatever we hit got away so the mystery still looms.
When we arrived in Ambo, it was pouring rain and they dropped us off outside the bus station (pretty far from my house) and all of our belongings that were tied up on the roof of the bus were soaking wet. We waited it out for a little while at a bar. To make matters worse, I had gotten a bout of diarrhea in Addis and as soon as I got off the bus, needed to go. I ran in the pouring rain and dark (scary!) to the nearest hotel with a toilet, getting heckled all the way. Finally the rain let up a bit, but there were no taxis to be found so we just walked. It was pretty miserable and I was soaked and muddy when I returned to my home in Ambo. I had never been so glad to be home before.
I guess that kind of kicked off the week from hell, from which I am still recovering. On Wednesday, while I was in the bathroom forcing myself to poop since I had access to a toilet, Jason announced to the group that he was Early Terminating because of family issues at home. By the time I got back, he had already left and I didn’t find out about it until after a presentation, when Brad asked me if I had heard.
The news really got to me, more than I expected it to and seemingly more than any of the other PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee). We have become such a close group and I guess I had this romantic notion of all of us making it through to the end, two years down the road. Jason was also really awesome and brought so much to our group. He was even supposed to live in the south and would have been one of the closer volunteers to me. Mama called me the following morning (she must have had Mom radar) and I felt so much better after talking to her.
Just a few hours later at school when I came out of language class, Jon Losey told me that another one of us was leaving. When he said Travis’ name, my heart dropped. Travis had become one of my closest friends here and was being medically separated because his asthma condition was acting up. When he went to his town, Arsi Negele, for site visit he had several asthma attacks and broke out in hives. We all joked that he was allergic to his town, which he wasn’t crazy about anyway, but we didn’t see this coming. The last PC had told him was that he would probably be moved to Hawassa (with John, Rich, and Chris), Yirgalem (with Jordan) or Dilla (WITH ME). I was so excited at the prospect that he might be living in my town with me.
The double blow of Jason and Travis leaving, both really great guys and placed in my region, really hit me hard. I am slowly recovering though, and while I still miss them a lot, I realize that I have so much to do here and I have to be strong. I didn’t expect to become so close with anyone here and was prepared to kind of go this alone, so I can’t let Travis’ leaving get me down. I just hope he can find something else great to do because he is an amazing person and has such potential to do great things.
So now on a brighter note, I have some positive news to share! Yesterday we had our fourth and final village visit in Ginche and gave a training session to our target group: the PLWHA Association and Home-based caregivers. Over the past two visits, we learned that the Home-based caregivers wanted a refresher on HIV Basics and the PLWHA Association wanted more information on living healthy lives as HIV-positive people and information on ART (antiretroviral therapy). We were very apprehensive about covering so much in such a short amount of time (two hours), but the members say they would rather stay longer than cut out information. They seemed to be really excited about us giving the training, even though we told them we could not provide any financial assistance or per diem for attending the training.
Our group definitely had the most ambitious agenda for a training session and we put a lot of time and effort into preparing for it. I think we were all on the same page and realized that this was the most important thing we were doing in training because it was real application of the things we had been learning. We split everything up into sections and assigned two people to each section. Rebecca started things out with an introduction and trivia game that got the participants active. Sean and Chris presented on HIV Basics, which drummed up a lot of interesting questions. I was really impressed with how well we were able to answer questions, considering only two out of the ten in our group had any direct HIV/health experience before coming to Peace Corps.
Next Karen and Marina presented on mental health and the emotional implications of living with HIV or having a loved one living with HIV. This was a little difficult to really delve into in such a short period of time but I think they did a great job of putting emotional health out there as equally important as physical health. My section on healthy behavior came next, which I facilitated with Melissa. We did a skit (Ethiopians love skits or “dramas”), which compared the lives of two HIV+ men (Sean and Chris) who make different choices in their life that affect their health. Sean does drugs, drinks, and has unprotected sex with other women, putting his wife at risk. Chris buys fruits and vegetables from the market, takes his antiretroviral drugs, and uses a condom with his wife to keep both of them healthy and safe. In the end, Chris and Sean get together and Chris shares all his secrets of staying healthy and extending his life. Oh yeah, and we did the whole thing in Amharic. We are so gobez.(clever)
Shelley presented next on the importance of nutrition and good foods to eat that are inexpensive and readily available in Ethiopia. Peter and Tina then presented on ART, the importance of taking the medications consistently and correctly so that they remain effective, and suggestions of how to remind yourself about taking your meds. We finished it off with an exercise called “Baby Elephant” that demonstrates how HIV breaks down your immune system and ways to help strengthen your immune system (i.e. nutrition and ART). It’s difficult to explain but it went over really well. At the end, we passed out the fruits and vegetables that we brought as props for our skit to the participants. The total running time was 3 hours, 12 minutes. I am so proud of my group and everything that we accomplished. This whole village visit thing was designed by Peace Corps as a part of our training and we did learn so much, but I think we actually helped our trainees in the process as well. There will be a volunteer, Julia, placed in Ginche and I think that we set a good tone for her to begin her work there.
February 9, 2009
Happy Birthday Jeff!!
Pre-Service Training Comes to an End – February 10, 2009
So PST is finally over and tomorrow we leave for Addis Ababa. It’s so hard to believe it’s really over and soon we will be out on our own doing what we came here to do. This past Sunday we had a Host Family Appreciation Ceremony. The Language and Cross Culture Coordinators told me a week or two ago that I had been selected to give a speech, in Amharic, to the families at the ceremony. I was really shocked that I had been selected and definitely apprehensive about it, but it was still such an honor. I am determined to become really good at Amharic and I guess I am doing pretty well so far. About a month into our time here, we had an LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) and I received a rating of Novice-High. The scale goes Novice Low, Mid, High, Intermediate Low, Mid, High, Advanced, Advanced Plus, Superior, Distinguished, and Native Competence. Most of the class got Novice-Low or Mid, so I was really pleased. Yesterday, those of us that continued with Amharic rather than switching to a different language spoken at our sites, had another LPI and I think I did well. I hope I upgrade to Intermediate.
So anyway, Peter and I wrote our speech together (he was chosen to give a speech in Oromifa) and then the LCFs translated it. I was pretty intimidated when I saw the translation. When written in the Latin alphabet, some Amharic words can be almost 20 letters long and it is a very difficult language to pronounce. Even still, I think it went over really well and the host families seemed really impressed. I even successfully told a joke in my speech! I was really proud of myself.
So tonight is my last night with my host family and I am so sad to leave them. They have been such an integral part of my PST experience and I feel so lucky to have been placed with them. I feel like they actually got to know me and my personality, more than just being a strange American renting their room for a few months. Likewise, I feel like I’ve gotten to know each one of them, some more than others, but I appreciate each member of my family for different reasons. I am going to miss them so much, but I hope to be able to visit them a couple times through the next two years. I don’t know if they will ever be able to come to Dilla, but I hope so. Now I am going to spend the last little time that I can with them.
I’m a Sad Little Cookie – February 7, 2009
I guess I am not very good at keeping up with this thing, so please forgive me. So first, I’ll catch you up on things since I left Dilla. I had an interesting return back to Ambo. First, Marina got punched in the back by this crazy guy on the street for no apparent reason. Then, the minibus that we got to drive us to the bus station got hit by a bus in front of us when the other bus stalled and we were on a hill. The police came and for some reason gave our bus drivers a 40 birr ticket, which they then tried to get us to pay. I don’t really understand that logic. Then our bus from Addis Ababa to Ambo hit an unidentified animal just as it was getting dark outside. It was really scary because we thought it was a person at first but no one inside was hurt and whatever we hit got away so the mystery still looms.
When we arrived in Ambo, it was pouring rain and they dropped us off outside the bus station (pretty far from my house) and all of our belongings that were tied up on the roof of the bus were soaking wet. We waited it out for a little while at a bar. To make matters worse, I had gotten a bout of diarrhea in Addis and as soon as I got off the bus, needed to go. I ran in the pouring rain and dark (scary!) to the nearest hotel with a toilet, getting heckled all the way. Finally the rain let up a bit, but there were no taxis to be found so we just walked. It was pretty miserable and I was soaked and muddy when I returned to my home in Ambo. I had never been so glad to be home before.
I guess that kind of kicked off the week from hell, from which I am still recovering. On Wednesday, while I was in the bathroom forcing myself to poop since I had access to a toilet, Jason announced to the group that he was Early Terminating because of family issues at home. By the time I got back, he had already left and I didn’t find out about it until after a presentation, when Brad asked me if I had heard.
The news really got to me, more than I expected it to and seemingly more than any of the other PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee). We have become such a close group and I guess I had this romantic notion of all of us making it through to the end, two years down the road. Jason was also really awesome and brought so much to our group. He was even supposed to live in the south and would have been one of the closer volunteers to me. Mama called me the following morning (she must have had Mom radar) and I felt so much better after talking to her.
Just a few hours later at school when I came out of language class, Jon Losey told me that another one of us was leaving. When he said Travis’ name, my heart dropped. Travis had become one of my closest friends here and was being medically separated because his asthma condition was acting up. When he went to his town, Arsi Negele, for site visit he had several asthma attacks and broke out in hives. We all joked that he was allergic to his town, which he wasn’t crazy about anyway, but we didn’t see this coming. The last PC had told him was that he would probably be moved to Hawassa (with John, Rich, and Chris), Yirgalem (with Jordan) or Dilla (WITH ME). I was so excited at the prospect that he might be living in my town with me.
The double blow of Jason and Travis leaving, both really great guys and placed in my region, really hit me hard. I am slowly recovering though, and while I still miss them a lot, I realize that I have so much to do here and I have to be strong. I didn’t expect to become so close with anyone here and was prepared to kind of go this alone, so I can’t let Travis’ leaving get me down. I just hope he can find something else great to do because he is an amazing person and has such potential to do great things.
So now on a brighter note, I have some positive news to share! Yesterday we had our fourth and final village visit in Ginche and gave a training session to our target group: the PLWHA Association and Home-based caregivers. Over the past two visits, we learned that the Home-based caregivers wanted a refresher on HIV Basics and the PLWHA Association wanted more information on living healthy lives as HIV-positive people and information on ART (antiretroviral therapy). We were very apprehensive about covering so much in such a short amount of time (two hours), but the members say they would rather stay longer than cut out information. They seemed to be really excited about us giving the training, even though we told them we could not provide any financial assistance or per diem for attending the training.
Our group definitely had the most ambitious agenda for a training session and we put a lot of time and effort into preparing for it. I think we were all on the same page and realized that this was the most important thing we were doing in training because it was real application of the things we had been learning. We split everything up into sections and assigned two people to each section. Rebecca started things out with an introduction and trivia game that got the participants active. Sean and Chris presented on HIV Basics, which drummed up a lot of interesting questions. I was really impressed with how well we were able to answer questions, considering only two out of the ten in our group had any direct HIV/health experience before coming to Peace Corps.
Next Karen and Marina presented on mental health and the emotional implications of living with HIV or having a loved one living with HIV. This was a little difficult to really delve into in such a short period of time but I think they did a great job of putting emotional health out there as equally important as physical health. My section on healthy behavior came next, which I facilitated with Melissa. We did a skit (Ethiopians love skits or “dramas”), which compared the lives of two HIV+ men (Sean and Chris) who make different choices in their life that affect their health. Sean does drugs, drinks, and has unprotected sex with other women, putting his wife at risk. Chris buys fruits and vegetables from the market, takes his antiretroviral drugs, and uses a condom with his wife to keep both of them healthy and safe. In the end, Chris and Sean get together and Chris shares all his secrets of staying healthy and extending his life. Oh yeah, and we did the whole thing in Amharic. We are so gobez.(clever)
Shelley presented next on the importance of nutrition and good foods to eat that are inexpensive and readily available in Ethiopia. Peter and Tina then presented on ART, the importance of taking the medications consistently and correctly so that they remain effective, and suggestions of how to remind yourself about taking your meds. We finished it off with an exercise called “Baby Elephant” that demonstrates how HIV breaks down your immune system and ways to help strengthen your immune system (i.e. nutrition and ART). It’s difficult to explain but it went over really well. At the end, we passed out the fruits and vegetables that we brought as props for our skit to the participants. The total running time was 3 hours, 12 minutes. I am so proud of my group and everything that we accomplished. This whole village visit thing was designed by Peace Corps as a part of our training and we did learn so much, but I think we actually helped our trainees in the process as well. There will be a volunteer, Julia, placed in Ginche and I think that we set a good tone for her to begin her work there.
February 9, 2009
Happy Birthday Jeff!!
Pre-Service Training Comes to an End – February 10, 2009
So PST is finally over and tomorrow we leave for Addis Ababa. It’s so hard to believe it’s really over and soon we will be out on our own doing what we came here to do. This past Sunday we had a Host Family Appreciation Ceremony. The Language and Cross Culture Coordinators told me a week or two ago that I had been selected to give a speech, in Amharic, to the families at the ceremony. I was really shocked that I had been selected and definitely apprehensive about it, but it was still such an honor. I am determined to become really good at Amharic and I guess I am doing pretty well so far. About a month into our time here, we had an LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) and I received a rating of Novice-High. The scale goes Novice Low, Mid, High, Intermediate Low, Mid, High, Advanced, Advanced Plus, Superior, Distinguished, and Native Competence. Most of the class got Novice-Low or Mid, so I was really pleased. Yesterday, those of us that continued with Amharic rather than switching to a different language spoken at our sites, had another LPI and I think I did well. I hope I upgrade to Intermediate.
So anyway, Peter and I wrote our speech together (he was chosen to give a speech in Oromifa) and then the LCFs translated it. I was pretty intimidated when I saw the translation. When written in the Latin alphabet, some Amharic words can be almost 20 letters long and it is a very difficult language to pronounce. Even still, I think it went over really well and the host families seemed really impressed. I even successfully told a joke in my speech! I was really proud of myself.
So tonight is my last night with my host family and I am so sad to leave them. They have been such an integral part of my PST experience and I feel so lucky to have been placed with them. I feel like they actually got to know me and my personality, more than just being a strange American renting their room for a few months. Likewise, I feel like I’ve gotten to know each one of them, some more than others, but I appreciate each member of my family for different reasons. I am going to miss them so much, but I hope to be able to visit them a couple times through the next two years. I don’t know if they will ever be able to come to Dilla, but I hope so. Now I am going to spend the last little time that I can with them.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Celebrating the Holidays in Ethiopia
December, 19, 2008
It’s been more than a week since I last wrote and I am thankful to say that this past week has gone by much faster than did the first. The first week in Ambo felt like two months, without exaggeration. I was feeling really discouraged last week because it felt like time was moving so slowly and, when thinking about a 27-month timeframe, it felt like an eternity. I am pleased that this week cruised by. Training is very difficult. The days are so long and there is so much important information being thrown at us. I’m getting a little nervous that this is all information I really need to know, but none of it seems to be sticking in my brain. I’m not the only one that is struggling with it, though, which helps.
Yesterday we went on our first of four village visits where we will be getting more “real life” training on HIV/AIDS by working with various organizations. It’s a little taste of what we will need to do once we get to our sites. There are three different focus areas from which we could choose: Home-based Care (HBC), Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), and two prevention groups. I was torn between prevention and HBC (I knew I didn’t want to work with a bunch of dirty kids ;)) but signed up for HBC.
Ginche was the village we visited and I am so happy with my decision. My group is really great and Ginche seems like a really wonderful town. One of the PCTs will be placed there and everyone in my group is vying for it. I swear the satellite dish in the front yard of the future PCV’s house had nothing to do with it. So we went to the health center and met with the head of the HIV department and with the head of the PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission) department. Both were very nice and answered lots of questions for us. Then we were able to sit down and speak with some key members of the PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) Association and some Home-Based caregivers. Since arriving in Ethiopia, this was the first time I met (knowingly) with people living with HIV. It was really powerful and made me realize that I am here for a purpose and eventually the PowerPoint presentations will be over and I will be doing real work with real people. That helped my motivation a lot.
This PLWHA Association is really amazing. They have about 150 members and receive a little funding from an international NGO but most of their money comes from within. They meet every two weeks to discuss problems that they are having, ways to be healthy while living with the virus, and just to provide support for each other. Every meeting, the members contribute 4 birr and that money goes to providing financial assistance to members that are bedridden or to families of members who have passed away. The Home-based caregivers are basically volunteers, only getting reimbursed for transportation costs. They visit people’s homes to care for them, bathing them, cleaning their homes, bringing them food, etc. There are only 12 HBC-givers for 150 members and 10 of the 12 are women. This disease really does disproportionately affect women, in both direct and indirect ways.
It’s Christmas! – December 26, 2008
Well, I have officially spent my first Christmas away from home and it was a little sad. Luckily, we are still in PST so I was able to share the holiday with other Americans, and better yet Americans that have become my good friends. Even still, I missed all of you so much.
Christmas Eve, after class, a big group of us stayed in the technical school and set up the projector to watch a Christmas movie. We decided to watch “Love Actually”, a movie that I watch year round and that always makes me feel super happy but this time, it left us all depressed and homesick. After the movie finished, my friend Travis said, “If I go outside and we’re still in Africa I’m gonna kill myself.” Needless to say we were and he didn’t, but it pretty much summed up the general sentiments perfectly.
So that brings us to Christmas day. Peace Corps gave us the day off and brought us all to Lake Winchi, about a 2 or 3 hour drive from Ambo. Travis brought his guitar and we sang Christmas songs the whole ride there. The walk down to the lake was long but really beautiful. When we got to the lake, we just spread out sheets/towels, put on some music, and relaxed. Pretty low key but I think it was what we needed. Brad’s dad gave him two bottles of homemade araqe (local liquor that tastes like a combination of rotten vegetables and gasoline) so a few of us drank that but it was pretty gross.
When we got back to Ambo, I took my first shower since leaving Addis in the PCV of the week, Nicole’s hotel room. Although I have become quite fond of bucket baths (especially now that I take them alone), I must admit it felt nice to have a steady stream of hot water falling on me…and being able to stand up straight. Peace Corps provided dinner for us at Abebech Hotel and we did a White Elephant gift exchange (like Cathy’s game only the gifts were slightly under par from the gems she digs up from the Christmas Tree Shop). I gave two stamped envelopes to the States and received a pair of underwear that say “SexKiss” on them and a can of shoe polish (pretty random and weird combo). Overall, it was a strange but enjoyable Christmas.
New Year’s Eve 2008-09!
So New Years was a big improvement from Christmas. It was actually one of the best New Years I have had in recent memory. Peace Corps gave us permission to rent a hall at a local hotel and have an overnight celebration. We all got permission from our host families to spend the night out and hauled blankets and pillows over to the spot. The hotel owner made a huge bonfire for us and our Ethiopian teachers and training staff came too. We spent the night dancing and singing (both Ethiopian and American for both). I wish I had a record of all the songs we sang because they were all over the place, ranging from Frank Sinatra to Queen to songs from Disney movies.
So when we were planning this event (Gail and I were the organizers), I was determined to make a New Years ball to drop at midnight like they do in Times Square. Everyone was skeptical but as you all know, when I get my mind set on something, especially when it’s craft-related, I will make it happen. It took a while to figure out the best way to go about it with such limited (AKA without) supplies. The final product was a soccer ball wrapped in white paper and with a bunch of cut of water bottles taped all around it. I know it’s probably very difficult to picture, but it looked pretty cool and hopefully soon I’ll have a picture up here so you can all see my masterpiece. We got the ball rigged up to the ceiling of the room we rented (there was even a stage so it was perfect) and at midnight, I lowered the ball as everyone did the countdown. It truly was a memorable experience. After midnight we spent a few more hours dancing and then called it a night. Some people splurged (about 40 birr or $4) on hotel rooms to sleep in a bed but most of us just found spots on the floor and made do.
We had to be out of the room at 7am the following morning so not much sleep was had. In the morning after cleaning everything up, a couple of us went to have breakfast at the local Denny’s….I wish. At 8am, those of us from the east coast did another little countdown at our table in honor of all of you. So now you know, that wherever you were for the New Year, at midnight you had four Americans in Ethiopia doing the countdown with you!
Melkam Genna! Ethiopian Christmas – January 9, 2009
So not only does Ethiopia have its own year (2001), calendar (13 months in a year), and clock (6 hours ahead of the rest of the world’s clock) but they also have their own Christmas! They celebrate Christmas on January 7th. My family is Orthodox so they have been fasting for the entire time I have been living with them, leading up until Christmas, when they basically eat nothing but meat. Christmas morning, I came into the living room to find a heaping serving plate of enjera and doro wat (spicy chicken dish)…they don’t waste any time with the meat. It was a little strange eating something so spicy and meaty at 8am but I embraced it. Chicken is very expensive here so reserved for holidays and special events. It was also at this meal that I received my first “gorcho” – a gesture of love and respect when someone literally feeds you. My mom “gorchoed” me and it was a little strange but I jumped right in and gorchoed my aunt. There is a rule about gorcho that if you do it, you have to do it more than once to the same person.
After all the eating, my mom took me around to all of our neighbor’s houses and we had coffee and the locally made bread. I love that bread so much, it reminds me of Irish brown bread…although it’s never toasted and covered with sweet butter ! And it’s not baked by my Nanny. But it’s the closest thing I can find here in Ethiopia. At my house, they bake the bread in the same room where I bathe and I love taking my warm bucket bath in the mornings (every 2nd or 3rd morning, let’s be real) and smelling the bread baking in the oven. It’s delightful. Anyway, I digress. So basically the entire day is spent visiting neighbors and relatives and receiving guests as well.
For lunch, my family ate “teray siga” or raw meat. When I say raw, I mean they go to the butcher (most families slaughter the animals themselves for Genna but our sheep are pets I learned, so we bought the meat), then put the meat on a plate, and everyone gathers around with a knife and starts cutting off bites. They make this seasoned butter sauce for dipping but it’s pretty crazy to watch. People often get worms and other nasty parasites from it but it never stops them because they love it so much. They just drink it down with some araqe to kill the germs. Despite my desires to culturally assimilate, I did not partake in the raw meat eating and kindly asked for them to cook my portion.
That pretty much sums up Christmas in Ethiopia. There is no gift exchange, we did have a small Christmas tree but that is not traditional, it was brought in by westerners and some Ethiopians have embraced it. Nanny, I hung the ornament you gave me on the tree and my family loved it! Other than that, it was a pretty low key day, although rather exhausting from making all the visits to other houses. Don’t tell anyone here, but I much prefer our version of Christmas, commercialized though it may be.
My New Home! Dilla, Ethiopia – January 17, 2009
So big news everybody, I am now in the town where I will be living for the next two years: Dilla! When I first learned last week that I had been placed in Dilla, I was really happy and all the LCFs and other staff said that it is such a beautiful place. I am also close to many of the people that I have become closest friends with here. In my interview, I said I would like to be close to Jill, Marina, Travis, Kyle B., and John Lamon (there are two Kyles and two Johns). Well, Peace Corps really pulled through with four out of my five requests. Unfortunately, my bestie Jill, is all the way up in Tigray (the northernmost region of Ethiopia) and I am the southernmost volunteer, in SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region). But I have to be grateful for what I got. Kyle is my closest neighbor in Aleta Wondo, John is in the capital city of SNNPR, Hawassa (along with Rich and Chris), Travis is just a half an hour or so north of Hawassa in Arsi Negele, and Marina is north from there in Butajera. She’s about 4-5 hours from Dilla I think. Other than her, I am surrounded by men. The people in my cluster are Kyle, John, Jordan, Rich, Travis, and Chris. Then not too far away are Brad and Jason. I don’t mind since 3 of them are my best friends and I get along well with guys, but I am still really going to miss girl time.
Ok, so now for the town itself. Everyone was right, it is so beautiful. The drive down from Addis was so pretty and it really felt like being in Africa. We even saw camels walking down the side of the road. Once we passed through Travis’s town, it really began to get green and the vegetation was so beautiful. Approaching Dilla was magnificent. Everywhere you looked there were eucalyptus trees, coffee trees, and pineapple groves. Dilla is known for its coffee and fruits. It’s pretty much the coffee capital of Ethiopia and where Starbucks buys its Ethiopian coffee from…fun fact. I love coffee and I love fruit so I am pretty jazzed about my location so far. In Ambo, the fruits and vegetables are pretty much limited to oranges (barely), bananas, spinach, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. Today, I saw sweet potatoes! And at this one café, there are mango and avocado trees growing right in the sitting area providing shade. I felt it on the drive here and walking through Dilla only confirmed that feeling that this is the right place for me.
Peace Corps sets us up with a counterpart and supervisor in our towns to help us get settled and introduce us to key people in the town. It’s kind of a starting point to learn about HIV/AIDS in our communities and the work that is currently being done so that we can figure out where we fit in. My counterpart’s name is Girma and he is so nice and helpful. There is also a girl my age named Bethlehem, that works in the office and she has been helping me out a lot too. Girma is the coordinator for the town of Dilla’s HAPCO office, the Ethiopian governments HIV/AIDS program.
Today, after doing some shopping and errands with Beti (Bethlehem), we met up with Girma and took a bajaj (three-wheeled motor taxi) to the Rift Valley Resort and swimming pool just outside of town. It was a long walk down and a very rocky and dusty road but once we reached it, I was overcome with its beauty. The pool was smaller than the one in Ambo and it wasn’t as well groomed but its beauty felt more natural and authentic. Just down a path from the pool there is a waterfall. Right now is the dry season so the river is low but the waterfall was still impressive. I can’t wait to see it during rainy season.
It’s been more than a week since I last wrote and I am thankful to say that this past week has gone by much faster than did the first. The first week in Ambo felt like two months, without exaggeration. I was feeling really discouraged last week because it felt like time was moving so slowly and, when thinking about a 27-month timeframe, it felt like an eternity. I am pleased that this week cruised by. Training is very difficult. The days are so long and there is so much important information being thrown at us. I’m getting a little nervous that this is all information I really need to know, but none of it seems to be sticking in my brain. I’m not the only one that is struggling with it, though, which helps.
Yesterday we went on our first of four village visits where we will be getting more “real life” training on HIV/AIDS by working with various organizations. It’s a little taste of what we will need to do once we get to our sites. There are three different focus areas from which we could choose: Home-based Care (HBC), Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), and two prevention groups. I was torn between prevention and HBC (I knew I didn’t want to work with a bunch of dirty kids ;)) but signed up for HBC.
Ginche was the village we visited and I am so happy with my decision. My group is really great and Ginche seems like a really wonderful town. One of the PCTs will be placed there and everyone in my group is vying for it. I swear the satellite dish in the front yard of the future PCV’s house had nothing to do with it. So we went to the health center and met with the head of the HIV department and with the head of the PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission) department. Both were very nice and answered lots of questions for us. Then we were able to sit down and speak with some key members of the PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) Association and some Home-Based caregivers. Since arriving in Ethiopia, this was the first time I met (knowingly) with people living with HIV. It was really powerful and made me realize that I am here for a purpose and eventually the PowerPoint presentations will be over and I will be doing real work with real people. That helped my motivation a lot.
This PLWHA Association is really amazing. They have about 150 members and receive a little funding from an international NGO but most of their money comes from within. They meet every two weeks to discuss problems that they are having, ways to be healthy while living with the virus, and just to provide support for each other. Every meeting, the members contribute 4 birr and that money goes to providing financial assistance to members that are bedridden or to families of members who have passed away. The Home-based caregivers are basically volunteers, only getting reimbursed for transportation costs. They visit people’s homes to care for them, bathing them, cleaning their homes, bringing them food, etc. There are only 12 HBC-givers for 150 members and 10 of the 12 are women. This disease really does disproportionately affect women, in both direct and indirect ways.
It’s Christmas! – December 26, 2008
Well, I have officially spent my first Christmas away from home and it was a little sad. Luckily, we are still in PST so I was able to share the holiday with other Americans, and better yet Americans that have become my good friends. Even still, I missed all of you so much.
Christmas Eve, after class, a big group of us stayed in the technical school and set up the projector to watch a Christmas movie. We decided to watch “Love Actually”, a movie that I watch year round and that always makes me feel super happy but this time, it left us all depressed and homesick. After the movie finished, my friend Travis said, “If I go outside and we’re still in Africa I’m gonna kill myself.” Needless to say we were and he didn’t, but it pretty much summed up the general sentiments perfectly.
So that brings us to Christmas day. Peace Corps gave us the day off and brought us all to Lake Winchi, about a 2 or 3 hour drive from Ambo. Travis brought his guitar and we sang Christmas songs the whole ride there. The walk down to the lake was long but really beautiful. When we got to the lake, we just spread out sheets/towels, put on some music, and relaxed. Pretty low key but I think it was what we needed. Brad’s dad gave him two bottles of homemade araqe (local liquor that tastes like a combination of rotten vegetables and gasoline) so a few of us drank that but it was pretty gross.
When we got back to Ambo, I took my first shower since leaving Addis in the PCV of the week, Nicole’s hotel room. Although I have become quite fond of bucket baths (especially now that I take them alone), I must admit it felt nice to have a steady stream of hot water falling on me…and being able to stand up straight. Peace Corps provided dinner for us at Abebech Hotel and we did a White Elephant gift exchange (like Cathy’s game only the gifts were slightly under par from the gems she digs up from the Christmas Tree Shop). I gave two stamped envelopes to the States and received a pair of underwear that say “SexKiss” on them and a can of shoe polish (pretty random and weird combo). Overall, it was a strange but enjoyable Christmas.
New Year’s Eve 2008-09!
So New Years was a big improvement from Christmas. It was actually one of the best New Years I have had in recent memory. Peace Corps gave us permission to rent a hall at a local hotel and have an overnight celebration. We all got permission from our host families to spend the night out and hauled blankets and pillows over to the spot. The hotel owner made a huge bonfire for us and our Ethiopian teachers and training staff came too. We spent the night dancing and singing (both Ethiopian and American for both). I wish I had a record of all the songs we sang because they were all over the place, ranging from Frank Sinatra to Queen to songs from Disney movies.
So when we were planning this event (Gail and I were the organizers), I was determined to make a New Years ball to drop at midnight like they do in Times Square. Everyone was skeptical but as you all know, when I get my mind set on something, especially when it’s craft-related, I will make it happen. It took a while to figure out the best way to go about it with such limited (AKA without) supplies. The final product was a soccer ball wrapped in white paper and with a bunch of cut of water bottles taped all around it. I know it’s probably very difficult to picture, but it looked pretty cool and hopefully soon I’ll have a picture up here so you can all see my masterpiece. We got the ball rigged up to the ceiling of the room we rented (there was even a stage so it was perfect) and at midnight, I lowered the ball as everyone did the countdown. It truly was a memorable experience. After midnight we spent a few more hours dancing and then called it a night. Some people splurged (about 40 birr or $4) on hotel rooms to sleep in a bed but most of us just found spots on the floor and made do.
We had to be out of the room at 7am the following morning so not much sleep was had. In the morning after cleaning everything up, a couple of us went to have breakfast at the local Denny’s….I wish. At 8am, those of us from the east coast did another little countdown at our table in honor of all of you. So now you know, that wherever you were for the New Year, at midnight you had four Americans in Ethiopia doing the countdown with you!
Melkam Genna! Ethiopian Christmas – January 9, 2009
So not only does Ethiopia have its own year (2001), calendar (13 months in a year), and clock (6 hours ahead of the rest of the world’s clock) but they also have their own Christmas! They celebrate Christmas on January 7th. My family is Orthodox so they have been fasting for the entire time I have been living with them, leading up until Christmas, when they basically eat nothing but meat. Christmas morning, I came into the living room to find a heaping serving plate of enjera and doro wat (spicy chicken dish)…they don’t waste any time with the meat. It was a little strange eating something so spicy and meaty at 8am but I embraced it. Chicken is very expensive here so reserved for holidays and special events. It was also at this meal that I received my first “gorcho” – a gesture of love and respect when someone literally feeds you. My mom “gorchoed” me and it was a little strange but I jumped right in and gorchoed my aunt. There is a rule about gorcho that if you do it, you have to do it more than once to the same person.
After all the eating, my mom took me around to all of our neighbor’s houses and we had coffee and the locally made bread. I love that bread so much, it reminds me of Irish brown bread…although it’s never toasted and covered with sweet butter ! And it’s not baked by my Nanny. But it’s the closest thing I can find here in Ethiopia. At my house, they bake the bread in the same room where I bathe and I love taking my warm bucket bath in the mornings (every 2nd or 3rd morning, let’s be real) and smelling the bread baking in the oven. It’s delightful. Anyway, I digress. So basically the entire day is spent visiting neighbors and relatives and receiving guests as well.
For lunch, my family ate “teray siga” or raw meat. When I say raw, I mean they go to the butcher (most families slaughter the animals themselves for Genna but our sheep are pets I learned, so we bought the meat), then put the meat on a plate, and everyone gathers around with a knife and starts cutting off bites. They make this seasoned butter sauce for dipping but it’s pretty crazy to watch. People often get worms and other nasty parasites from it but it never stops them because they love it so much. They just drink it down with some araqe to kill the germs. Despite my desires to culturally assimilate, I did not partake in the raw meat eating and kindly asked for them to cook my portion.
That pretty much sums up Christmas in Ethiopia. There is no gift exchange, we did have a small Christmas tree but that is not traditional, it was brought in by westerners and some Ethiopians have embraced it. Nanny, I hung the ornament you gave me on the tree and my family loved it! Other than that, it was a pretty low key day, although rather exhausting from making all the visits to other houses. Don’t tell anyone here, but I much prefer our version of Christmas, commercialized though it may be.
My New Home! Dilla, Ethiopia – January 17, 2009
So big news everybody, I am now in the town where I will be living for the next two years: Dilla! When I first learned last week that I had been placed in Dilla, I was really happy and all the LCFs and other staff said that it is such a beautiful place. I am also close to many of the people that I have become closest friends with here. In my interview, I said I would like to be close to Jill, Marina, Travis, Kyle B., and John Lamon (there are two Kyles and two Johns). Well, Peace Corps really pulled through with four out of my five requests. Unfortunately, my bestie Jill, is all the way up in Tigray (the northernmost region of Ethiopia) and I am the southernmost volunteer, in SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region). But I have to be grateful for what I got. Kyle is my closest neighbor in Aleta Wondo, John is in the capital city of SNNPR, Hawassa (along with Rich and Chris), Travis is just a half an hour or so north of Hawassa in Arsi Negele, and Marina is north from there in Butajera. She’s about 4-5 hours from Dilla I think. Other than her, I am surrounded by men. The people in my cluster are Kyle, John, Jordan, Rich, Travis, and Chris. Then not too far away are Brad and Jason. I don’t mind since 3 of them are my best friends and I get along well with guys, but I am still really going to miss girl time.
Ok, so now for the town itself. Everyone was right, it is so beautiful. The drive down from Addis was so pretty and it really felt like being in Africa. We even saw camels walking down the side of the road. Once we passed through Travis’s town, it really began to get green and the vegetation was so beautiful. Approaching Dilla was magnificent. Everywhere you looked there were eucalyptus trees, coffee trees, and pineapple groves. Dilla is known for its coffee and fruits. It’s pretty much the coffee capital of Ethiopia and where Starbucks buys its Ethiopian coffee from…fun fact. I love coffee and I love fruit so I am pretty jazzed about my location so far. In Ambo, the fruits and vegetables are pretty much limited to oranges (barely), bananas, spinach, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. Today, I saw sweet potatoes! And at this one café, there are mango and avocado trees growing right in the sitting area providing shade. I felt it on the drive here and walking through Dilla only confirmed that feeling that this is the right place for me.
Peace Corps sets us up with a counterpart and supervisor in our towns to help us get settled and introduce us to key people in the town. It’s kind of a starting point to learn about HIV/AIDS in our communities and the work that is currently being done so that we can figure out where we fit in. My counterpart’s name is Girma and he is so nice and helpful. There is also a girl my age named Bethlehem, that works in the office and she has been helping me out a lot too. Girma is the coordinator for the town of Dilla’s HAPCO office, the Ethiopian governments HIV/AIDS program.
Today, after doing some shopping and errands with Beti (Bethlehem), we met up with Girma and took a bajaj (three-wheeled motor taxi) to the Rift Valley Resort and swimming pool just outside of town. It was a long walk down and a very rocky and dusty road but once we reached it, I was overcome with its beauty. The pool was smaller than the one in Ambo and it wasn’t as well groomed but its beauty felt more natural and authentic. Just down a path from the pool there is a waterfall. Right now is the dry season so the river is low but the waterfall was still impressive. I can’t wait to see it during rainy season.
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