First week in Ethiopia

Arrival in Ethiopia! – December 5, 2008

I am officially in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Wow, it feels so surreal. Our time in D.C. was short and busy, but great. I know Peace Corps tends to attract a certain caliber person but I am still amazed at how cool this group is. My up-until-now roommate, Jill, is super cool – we’re besties. So the first day in D.C. was all at the hotel. I thought my flight was an hour earlier than it actually was but lucky for me that I messed up because they ended up cancelling the flight I was on and putting us all on the earlier flight. I stuck out like a sore thumb, traveling with a bunch of business commuters. I got to the hotel pretty early so was able to relax a bit before the action started. Cauchavius from East St. Louis was my first Peace Corps friend. We took the super shuttle to our hotel together.

They took us to GW on the second day to introduce us to a new program they have, which connects PCVs to medical students for advice/research assistance. Pretty cool. Then we went to get our yellow fever shots – I didn’t have to because mine was still good from South Africa.
The plane ride was long but fine considering. Wearing a white shirt on the plane was my first PC faux paus. First, in the D.C. airport we got food and drinks because we were like five hours early for the flight. I ordered buffalo wings in honor of Chelsea’s birthday and managed to get some sauce on my shirt. Then on the plane I spilt fruit cup syrup on myself, followed by leaning into my gross chicken tomato sauce dish. I used the stain remover stick Nanny got me (thanks Nanny!) and it seemed to work well but then I noticed a white residue on my hands and a slight burning sensation. The bottle warned of it, only I read that after use. It wouldn’t wash off. Once through customs, I decided to help a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) with their suitcase off baggage claim and somehow got this clear-colored sap-like substance all down my shirt, scarf, and arm. Terrific!

Ethiopian Firsts:
Breath of air: warm, the perfect temperature, and a little smokey
Realization I’m in Africa: power outage in the parking lot as loading up truck
Meal: pineapple and onion pizza, French fries, mini eggrolls, and fruit (weird right?)
Night sleep: delightful!
Shower: hot but no curtain
Traditional Ethiopian meal: delicious. Better enjera (flat bread eaten with most meals) than the kind I had in NY.
Ethiopian coffee: pretty good. Not as strong as I expected but that was just hotel coffee.


I’m in Ambo! – December 8, 2008

Tonight is my second night with my host family. They are so wonderful, I love them already. I have a mother and father that are both teachers. My mother is a science teacher for elementary school and my father is a high school history teacher. I have four sisters (Bruk -23, Hana-21, Meba-12, Belatesh-12) and two brothers (Belene-17, Sennaye-15). They all speak a little English, which has been helpful. They have taught me so many words! Today at training, a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) sat in on our language lesson and thought I studied before I came to Ethiopia because of all the words I know. Helps living with teachers! My family laughs at me a lot when I say things but I think they really like me a lot and they say I am doing well. My mother says laughter is good for us. My kind of woman. Right now my sisters are a little shy and reserved but I think they are getting more comfortable with me. Today they played with my hair while we worked on my lessons. People are very affectionate here. Girls and boys walk around holding hands or with their arms around each other (only with other girls and other boys). I think I will get that close with my sisters.

Our last day in Addis was one to be remembered. We finally got some free time so a few of us went outside the hotel to play Frisbee. Crowds of young people gathered to watch (life in a fish bowl) and soon a few older guys asked if we wanted to play soccer. We got a team together and played for over an hour. It was so great to get out of the hotel and interact with people other than each other and the hotel staff (who were excessively hospitable). Also felt good to get some exercise, although the high altitude got us all winded. After dinner, everyone brought out their games and my table played scrabble. My partner, Kyle, and I dominated. After playing two games (of which we won neither, even though we dominated), six of us went to a dance club in Addis, just a few minutes away. Kyle, Emily, Ericka, Jill, Melissa, and I piled into a hotel van and the driver and hotel manager, James, brought us to the club and waited to bring us home. There was a traditional Ethiopian dance performance followed by some swing-like performance. Both were amazing, although the latter dance was a little offensive in the way they portrayed gender roles. I guess to be expected. Then the floor opened up and we all went out to dance. Lots of hookers were around trying to work the many tourists. Kyle probably would have been harassed more if not for being with five women. Made it back safely and a wonderful night overall.

More firsts:
Latrine use: dark and scary. I was very confused about proper procedure and technique.
Water purification: failed miserably. It’s got to get easier, I imagine.
So far haven’t gotten sick!!


One Week In – December 12, 2008

The time is moving more slowly now that we are at training. It’s hard to believe that I have only been in Ethiopia for 8 days. The days are long. We start class at 8am, usually with language here at my house. The three other students in my group and my LCF (Language and Cross-Culture Facilitator) come here and we do our lessons out on the porch. It’s nice having it here because I can sleep later but sometimes I feel a little trapped at my house.

A brief interlude because it just happened as I was typing this. My sister, Hana, came in and gave me a note that says “Bonnie, I love U, From Hana”. She is so sweet! She is 21 and we have really been bonding. Well, for starters, she helps me bathe….yes, that’s right. My first bucket bath experience was a little more than I expected. She insisted on helping me. It was a little uncomfortable at first but then I thought about the way that they care for and help each other here, and it made me feel glad to be a part of it. They have really taken me into their home, in more than just a literal sense. It feels really great to be part of a big immediate family and to have younger siblings, in addition to ones my age. I have never been a big sister before…or had brothers, for that matter.

All that being said, it is still difficult here. We have class from 8am to 4 or 5pm. There are lots of PowerPoint presentations and it is hard to keep my attention for so long. It feels like being in high school again! Only longer. We get two 20 minute shi/buna (tea/coffee) breaks during the day plus an hour lunch, so that helps. However, we are expected to be home before dark, which happens at about 6:30pm. It is very difficult being on such a structured schedule and having so little freedom of where I can go and when I have to be back. I really don’t like it. I want to be respectful of my family and not make them worry but I am having trouble adjusting to such a change. We all are. We have been getting together after class to play Scrabble and other games, just to have some time away from learning and struggling to converse.

It is also very hard because it feels like I am under a microscope all the time. None of us can walk down the street without being stared at, called “farenji” (foreigner), or have tons of kids run up to you to shake your hand. It is a wonderful feeling at times but also exhausting. I miss the feelings of anonymity I had in New York City. If I didn’t want to be noticed, I didn’t have to be. No such luck here.

As for the language, it is extremely difficult but I think I am coming along very well. Considering I have only been learning it for less than a week, I think I have come a long way. The most important thing is practice, which it is hard to find time to do. Right now we are just learning Amharic until we get our site placements, at which point we will start learning another language (Oromifa or Tiguirena) if that is the language spoken at our site. At this point, we are just learning the oral language and have not really gotten to the written script. I want to start working on learning the script on my own because I think it will help immensely with learning the language. They have created this language of Amharic written in the latin alphabet, which makes learning easier but doesn’t always translate well, particularly with pronunciation. I am fascinated with this language though. The script is over 3000 years old and even in learning to speak Amharic, I hear similarities with Spanish, French, German, Italian and even Chinese! Ethiopia really is the birthplace of humans.