From the Swamp to the Nile

New Blog

2010-08-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

This blog has moved to http://copelandle.wordpress.com/. Check it out!

Play Me Some Mountain Music

2010-07-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

…like Grandma and Grandpa used to play…instead of this Tigrigna nonsense. It’s kind of nice (OK it’s very nice) to wake up to a power outage, when I don’t hear the “DA DUN” beat of the standard Tigrigna music that is ever so popular here. At least my compound is situated far away from the mosque and the big church in my town, so I don’t get those lovely sounds (aka moans) in my ears as well. The compound I live on is rather small, yet there are multiple noise-producing devices and they always all seem to be turned on and playing different music. Cacophony at its finest! Ethiopians seem to love loud music, especially at 6:30am. But sometimes the local radio stations will play American music…Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Michael Bolton, and Michael Jackson are favorites. A lady I work with often tells me, “I am really really lover Celine Dion…and Michael Bolton.” (Pre or post haircut???)

Life continues to move at a pretty glacial pace over here, but in the big picture, the time is passing quickly. My group of volunteers arrived to Ityop’ya in the beginning of October 2009…and we’re almost halfway through July 2010 now! I’ve been staying a bit busy with trainings and the like. In late May, PC had all the volunteers in country get together in Yirgalem, which is wayyyyyyy down south. It was great to be on social overload for a week, but I always seem to get in a funk when I come back to site from being at a farenji-fest. Perhaps it’s normal. More recently, we had a 5 day permagarden (sustainable gardening) training in my town and the G3 PCVs in Tigray and our counterparts created a beautiful garden that will benefit some members of the PLWHA (Persons Living with HIV/AIDS) association in my town. We learned many aspects of gardening, including site development, composting, mulching, land contour, creating swales (they’re swell), seed spacing, etc…Check out my shutterfly site (http://pioneerdaze.shutterfly.com) for pictures (they’ll make you want to start your own garden!).

In other exciting news, I’ll be turning 24 on July 17^th…not sure what the past has in store for me (it’s currently 2002 here in this wild place), but we’ll see. My guess is a large round loaf of bread and some coffee??!! And if I’m lucky, a banana. The other time I had a birthday in the year 2002, I was turning 16 and got my driver’s license. How many people can say they’ve had 2 birthdays in one year, but 8 years apart? This concept is strange to me.

Also, belas (cactus fruit) season is in full swing. It’s a Tigray thing, to eat cactus. The fruit is way cheap (4 for 1 birr, or about 8 cents), and they’re full of VitC and other nutrients! But the saying goes, “Too many belas makes you fight with your anus…” (I think the latter can be said for many things here)…so you shouldn’t eat too many at a time. Did you know that camels actually eat the cactus leaf, spikes included? Ouch. Let’s see, what else…the new health center in my town will supposedly be opening this coming Thursday. Ever since I came to Quiha for my site visit last November, I was told the building would open in “2 months”…so January, right? Not quite. 2 months came, another 6 months passed, and now, it is finally going to open! The actual building has been complete for awhile, but there was no electricity or water, and “without electricity or water, it is not a health center.” And how! So we’ll see if it actually opens…it’s quite a step up from the old facility.

Happy July!

Future FCVs Coming to Ethiopia

2010-07-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

Dear future PCVs coming to Ityop’ya,

You might have stumbled across my blog while frantically trying to learn about Ethiopia and what life as a PCV is like here…if that’s the case and you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email (CopelandLE@gmail.com). Your days in the states are numbered at this point – cherish them!

A few recommendations I have for you all – some companies give discounts to PCVs – do a google search or something of the sort. Check out Chaco, Timbuk2, and Macabi Skirts for about a 50% discount on their products (definitely worth it). Also, a really good brand in travel purses is PacSafe – I think REI carries them, but they also have a website. Ladies – I highly recommend purchasing a DivaCup or something of the sort – tampons are not widely available at all in this country. Also, although PC recommends you not bring contacts, I say do it, if that’s what you’re used to wearing. I brought my contacts and wear them quite often (bring a big bottle of contact solution, as I’ve never seen it for sale in country).

If you’re thinking about making a blog (or have already), I don’t recommend blogspot, as you will not have regular access to the site. For whatever reason, it’s a blocked website in country, and most of us did not know that until after we arrived here…so to post an update, you have to have someone back home do it…kind of annoying. Wordpress is reliable here and worth looking into.

Bring some flea powder with you (and a fly swatter). There’s a very good chance you’ll get fleas at some point…in your bed. Not a good time. If you have any other questions about what to pack, holla at me.

Hope you’re all getting excited about coming to Ityop’ya – get ready for “13 months of sunshine”!!!! Yippee.

Sincerely,

Laura

The Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

2010-06-17T10:31:00.001-07:00

One thing that Ethiopians and Americans have in common is their love of coffee. However, the difference is in the way that one prepares the coffee here vs. America…

I think I have previously mentioned the Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony before, but it is such an inherent part of life here, so I’ll give you a little insight into this “ceremony”…usually when I think of this word, “special occasion” comes to mind…but this is not always the case. People will perform the ceremony any time of the day, multiple times a day, no special occasion necessary! I’ll set the stage for you: long blades of green grass or green leaves (or in some instances a couple potted plants or a plastic mat that has a tacky grass-like fringe around it) are put down on the floor where the coffee will be made, and sometimes flowers (fake or real) and popcorn are scattered throughout the grass. A box-like contraption (that sometimes has wheels) is used to display the coffee cups and saucers. A small stool is used by the person making the coffee. She (almost always a woman’s job) will first roast the green coffee beans over a charcoal stove, then pound them using a mortar and pestle (usually a heavy metal rod of sorts). However, after the beans are done roasting and before they are pounded, the lady will walk around the room and shake the beans/aroma to your nose’s delight. You are supposed to gently waft the fumes toward your nose and smile. The coffee grounds will then be mixed with boiling water in a jebena (traditional coffee vessel), then left to percolate for awhile in a little holder. During this time, a snack (coursi bunna) will be made and/or passed around. Popcorn (fandisha in Amharic, or ambeba in Tigrigna) is a favorite, or bread or a piece of injera with berbere and/or salt sprinkled over it is also common. If it really is a special occasion, sometimes bananas, orange slices, small cookies or pieces of candy will accompany the popcorn. At this point in the ceremony, incense is usually lit - either in stick form, or loose-leaf style (looks kind of like potpourri – I had never seen incense in this form before coming here) and the smoke/smell fills the room.

The first jebena of coffee that is made is called owl. The second is tona, and the third is baracka. The coffee is served in tiny cups that resemble large thimbles. It’s kind of like attending a child’s tea party… The cups generally do not have handles, so one must be careful so as to not burn their fingers when holding it. I have become good at the “tripod hold”, placing my pinky finger underneath the cup, and holding the rim delicately with my thumb and index finger. Ethiopians do not skimp on the amount of sugar that goes into this tiny cup – usually 2 or 3 heaping tiny teaspoons per cup. In my region of Tigray, after you take/taste the first sip of owl, you are supposed to say “T’ium bunna” to the person who made the coffee, meaning “sweet coffee!” It makes your host feel appreciated. The coffee is potent here, and don’t even think about asking for a cup of decaf – it’s nonexistent! This ceremony is performed at any and all hours of the day – for guests, for fun, out of boredom, special occasions, etc. It is an everyday part of life for pretty much every single Ethiopian (correct me if I’m wrong!).

And it kills me when people ask me if I have ever been witness to the “traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony”…or when it’s happening they’ll lean over and say “this is cultural”…yeah, no kidding! I have been in this country for 8 months at this point – and probably sit through at least one coffee ceremony per day. This whole process, from set up – the end of the 3^rd thimble full takes about an hour (at least). I think the most coffee ceremonies I’ve ever sat through in a day has been 4…When I moved to site I started keeping count of how many I attended (for lack of better things to do with my time!), but my count was growing at a rapid pace, so I stopped. I am also asked very often if I prepare coffee in my home…and the answer is yes, just not the Ethio way. I brought a French press w/ me (thanks dad!) and buy ground coffee in Mekele…probably the ultimate Ethiopian faux paus. I do not own a charcoal stove, nor do I own a jebena, but perhaps it will be something I’ll take home as a little relic of having lived here, to place on my bookshelf. The ceremony is quite time consuming and I do have the time, but while I’m here, I think I’ll stick to my western coffee making way (sans drip machine)…

I have seen an electric coffee grinder for sale, in addition to a drip machine, but they are not in any way/shape/form common here (except maybe in Addis).

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...

2010-05-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

...and then sometimes you don’t...

I recently got back to site after traveling to Hawassa (aka Awassa…note: every single town/city in this country has a minimum of 2 different spellings) to participate in a 7k race that kicked off the EveryONE campaign – a new health campaign aimed at significantly reducing national infant/child/maternal mortality within the next 5 years. It’s nice to spend time in a place where no one really cares that your farenji and you can simply walk down the street in a peaceful state, where every person who passes doesn't call out your name or Farenji/China/YOU! It was also nice to get away from site for a few days and see other PCVs! The run was SO hot and humid, but I finished (with a bit of walking thrown in the mix), and that’s what matters, right?! Part of the course went along the lake, and there were people lined up watching/cheering, while others took the opportunity to bathe, fish, and do laundry. Typical 7k Sunday morning scenery…

Other happenings as of late…The real Silence of the Lambs, aka Fasika (or Easter) was a couple weeks ago, and it definitely made for an interesting holiday. It was not my typical Easter celebration of a sunrise church service, followed by a delicious brunch prepared by my mother, and then the traditional egg hunt…trying to explain a large rabbit, tasty candies, and eggs (I honestly don’t even know why these are all symbols of American Easter…) is a lot of work, so I just sat back and observed/enjoyed the holiday in the spirit of the Ethio way. Meat is a big to-do here on holidays, so in the week preceding Fasika, there were many a goat, sheep, and chicken for sale. Common sightings included goats and sheep tied down to the top of nearly every car/bus that passed through my town, in addition to people nonchalantly carrying chickens around by their feet, or tugging a goat or sheep on a leash through town. The butcher shops all opened up again, as Fasika marked the end of the Orthodox Christian’s 55 day [vegan] fasting period. There are always oxen tied to a tree outside one of the butcher shops in my town – I think it’s kind of morbid and a way to let the oxen know that “Hey, you’ll probably be showcased in this window in the coming days!”

I spent my Easter-eve watching a chicken be slaughtered on my compound. It was definitely interesting, and I documented the occasion with my camera (pics are on my shutterfly site). Sabihi darho (chicken wat in Tigrigna) and siga wat (meat wat) were the main dishes served at all holiday celebrations, but I do not eat meat in this country – there is something to be said for knowing where your meat comes from, but non-meat dishes are so much more appetizing to me here! Word travels like wildfire that I don’t eat meat in my town, so people at all the houses I visited for Easter were very kind and made me scrambled eggs. Additionally, there’s never a special occasion without sewa (or sewage) – the local beer of Ityop’ya…it’s called tella in Amharic, and some of the locals jokingly refer to it as “dirty water”…if you can imagine, it’s just that good (and usually has some floating chunks around the top – you just casually spit those on the ground).

I have also been to two weddings in the past couple weeks. I must say that these celebrations are very different from the American weddings I have attended. Here, it is common for the groom to give his new bride a suitcase (or 2) full of “goods” – clothing, jewelry, shoes, etc…The bride opens the suitcase in front of everyone, then it is taken away, and I think the elders on her side of the family either approve or disapprove of what has been purchased for her. It’s kind of nerve-wracking in my opinion, but it’s a cultural thing!

Other interesting happenings as of late: I got vommed on by a fellow bus passenger on the way home from visiting a friend somewhat recently. No warning. No apologies. Gross! When using public transportation for more than about 20 minutes in this country, it is very common for people to vomit. Usually, they are able to do it into a bag or out the window, but not this time. The girl sitting to my right blew chunks on my right leg and foot…fortunately, most of it either got on herself or the floor, but still…it was nasty. But I guess this country has mellowed me out quite a bit, as I wasn’t really fazed by the situation. I calmly got out my “soft” (TP), wiped off her vomit to the best of my ability, and went back to staring out of the window, hoping the ride would be over soon.

It’s been raining on a semi-frequent basis, and little bits of grass have started popping up around these parts! My town is pretty desert-ish, and so this new greenery is gladly welcomed into my life! As is the sound of rain on a tin roof (minus the small leak in my ceiling!)…it’s so relaxing.

I’ve been staying somewhat busy teaching English a couple days a week to the staff at my health center. It’s extremely informal, but I do have a blackboard and chalk! My health center offers a comprehensive 17-component health extension package to people/families in the community, and these past few weeks I have been going on home visits with one of the health extension workers. It’s been a nice change of pace from my seemingly mundane life, and I’m being exposed to and learning a lot. The components we’ve been checking up on include a cover over the latrine, a hand washing station, and garbage disposal (2 separate things for solid household waste (garbage) and liquid household waste (like coffee and tea grounds)). Hand washing stations can easily be constructed out of a used plastic 2 liter oil container and the casing from a ballpoint pen – so simple! They are then hung near the latrine and voila – “running water”!

I’ll try to update this more frequently – it’s just something that slips my mind! Hope all is well out there and Happy Mother’s Day!

Laura, the Land-dwelling Whale!

2010-03-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

First they uncovered Lucy, and then Ardi, and now I’m the first of its kind to exist in the land-locked country of Ityop’ya – a bipedal, land-dwelling whale with reptilian skin! Hearing you’re fat/HUGE multiple times a week does nothing good for one’s ego, but such is a very common way of living here as a female volunteer. It gets reallllllllly old, and somewhat painful on the inside, especially when weight is a sensitive subject where I come from. Let’s hope I don’t develop an eating disorder while I’m here! I have to keep a sense of humor about the situation (and with most aspects of life here), because there’s not much else to do. And tact is a difficult concept to instill in grown individuals…

A lot has happened since my last post (it’s been quite awhile!) – most likely a few Ethiopian holidays have been thrown into the mix, along with more awkward moments. Woo hoo…February 11^th^th anniversary of the TPLF’s (Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front) struggle against the Derg regime. And then came the commemoration of the Battle of Adwa (where the Ethiopians defeated the Italians), and finally, the Muslim holiday that celebrated the birth of Mohammed. There really are a lot of holidays here. Next weekend is Fasika, or Easter, which is a widely celebrated holiday. It also marks the end of their 55-day fasting period (no meat, eggs, dairy), so people are getting really excited about the prospect of eating meat again. Animal slaughter party 2k10 – my heart goes out to all of those poor souls that will have an end put to their life in just a few days time. (Lekatit Aserta Hada) by the Ethiopian calendar marked a big holiday, at least in my region. It was the 35

My group of PCVs recently had IST (In-Service Training) at a “resort” south of Addis, called Sodere. It was nice to get away from site for roughly 10 days and see everyone again. We spent a couple days in Addis, then were taken to Sodere for a week. We hadn’t been together as a group since our swearing in ceremony, back in December. The place had an Olympic sized swimming pool, another pool (both with hot water), a river, wildlife, and nature trails! There were also some obnoxiously sneaky little blue-testicled monkeys running rampant on the grounds. They were not at all afraid to approach the humans and steal things as well! Luckily, I did not have anything stolen, but some people in my group did. Among my other wildlife sightings: baboons, a hippo, a crocodile, warthogs, beautiful birds, and healthy looking horses.

Life continues to be dry here in the desert in every sense of the word – I feel it in the weather, my skin, and my sense of humor. My skin has become somewhat reptilian, and lotion has become a dear friend of mine. I am really looking forward to the rainy season, which starts in June or so. It did rain (actually it poured) the other day at my site for the first time in a couple months and then there was a huge rainbow in the sky – a pretty spectacular site! And also a small leak in my ceiling – time for repair!

About half of my group signed up to do a race down south in Hawassa on May 2^nd – a 7k. Hopefully I’ll be able to run the whole thing, but we’ll see! I started “training” recently, and literally I have had about 20 people tell me they saw me doing “sport” in the morning. Nothing I do goes unnoticed in my little town. It’s kind of strange and overwhelming at times. Anywho, I’m looking forward to seeing my fellow PCVs again, and a new part of the country!

I also recently moved into a new compound. I had to move, as my landlords wanted to rent out their whole compound to make bank…so now the project manager of a large wind power project that recently started up outside of my town and some of the other workers live where I used to…good news is that Ityop’ya will have some serious wind power in three years time! My new compound mates are very nice, but it’s kind of like living with a host family again – we’re all situated very close together. And unfortunately, I no longer have a toilet – back to the old squatting position over a hole in the ground, aka quad-strengthening exercises. When in Ityop’ya…

I’ll try to update this blog more frequently – my apologies for it being so long! Hope all is well with everyone out there and we’ll be in touch! Check out my shutterfly site for pictures if you’re bored! The link is on the side of the page.

Week of the GURSHA!

2010-02-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

This past week I received my first “gursha”, or force-feeding. Basically, in this culture, if someone really likes you, they will feed you with their hand (the right one) to show their love/respect. This happened to me not only in one setting this week, but two. The first was during a luncheon at my health center. One of the lady staff members got me twice! With injera and meat broth (she skipped the meat because they all know I don’t eat it)…so that threw me off guard. And then after picking small rocks out of a huge bag of wheat with my landlords’ house girl, she snuck me into the kitchen for a snack of shiro wat and injera, where she proceeded to practically feed me my entire snack, while thanking me relentlessly for helping her.

A few weeks ago Ethiopians celebrated “Timket”, better known as Epiphany to you English speakers out there. My neighbor invited me to join him at the huge celebration in Mekele, which consisted of literally thousands of people gathering in a huge field, while wearing their finest Habesha kidan (Ethiopian clothing). Some people (mainly the religious big wigs) carried fancy umbrellas. Alas it was a very colorful celebration! As usual, I had no clue as to what was going on around me, but at the end of the ceremony, holy water was dispersed into the crowd and everyone went wild…There are a lot of holidays in this country…Tomorrow marks the start of a 55 day meat/dairy-free fasting period for the locals.

My “community discovery” continues to go well. I feel as though I am integrating nicely into Quiha. I have learned how to bathe a cat, and I have also had my feet washed/lotioned by a nice lady in my town. (Dirt shows up more on white skin – go figure!) While attending the local Youth Association meeting recently, I was invited to cut the special bread (woo hoo!). On special occasions there is sometimes a huge circular loaf of bread (this one was about 2 feet in diameter) that is served during the coffee ceremony, and a VIP of sorts is the one who gets to cut the bread in front of everyone. After the bread cutting, we danced to traditional music (everyone small-stepping in a circle, shaking their shoulders and tapping their feet) – I was told I looked like a natural. However, these dance moves aren’t reserved for the elite.

We have IST (In-Service Training) coming up in about a month in a “resort town” called Sodere. It’s kind of close to where we lived during PST (Pre-Service Training!)…And I’ve heard there are lots of monkeys, which I’m very excited about. At IST we will present our CNAs to the other people in our group of volunteers, and have trainings on various topics. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again and catching up, etc. Plus, it will be nice to have a little greenery in my life. My area is rather desert-like, with a lot of dirt, rocks/stones, cacti, and camels (very little grass or trees). I’ve heard life gets a bit greener during the rainy season, so, in a nutshell (preferably almond or cashew), I’m looking forward to the rainy season! It should start in the coming months.

Happy Valentine’s Day – can’t say it’s a widely celebrated holiday here…well, maybe in Addis, but I live about 800km from there.

FAM (Farm Animal Massacre) Day

2010-01-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

I enjoy making up acronyms of my own, so I will continue to do so…this day in particular is also known as Christmas (or Lidet, here in Ityop’ya, celebrated on 4.29.2002/January 7). Chickens, goats, sheep – hope you had a nice life, as so many of you have recently become something delicious for others to enjoy on their holiday! For the sake of those who love meat, I’m glad Lidet fell on a Thursday this year (as Wednesday and Fridays are country-wide fasting days – no meat!). On [Ethiopian] Christmas morning, I woke up to the sheep my landlords had purchased at the market the previous Saturday, dead, hanging upside down from a ladder in my compound. It was being slaughtered…first Christmas morning I’ve had of that sort…

So I have been at site for a little over 3 weeks now – the initial adjustment has been a bit tougher than I thought it would be, but I’m just taking things one day at a time. As they say here, kas bïkas (slowly)…I really like my town, and I feel as though Northern Ityop’ya is rather modern in comparison to the other parts I’ve visited. I am very fortunate to be near a big town – and have found many modern amenities there (even pizza!). There are some touristy/historical things to do/see in Mekele, so I need to get on that in the near future.

Luckily, we were able to travel for the other Christmas, so 12 of us volunteers met up in Mekele…we had an amazing feast, followed by holiday bingo! and a trip to the movies. There is a theater in Mekele that alternates between an English film and an Amharic film every 2 weeks. 2012, starring John Cusack was playing – I wouldn’t recommend it (I’m not usually a fan of action/unrealistic movies), but the experience of going to see a movie was totally worth it, big screen and all! New Year’s, however, was absolutely boring – I stayed up until midnight to wish myself a “Happy New Year”, then promptly went to bed…Here, the new year won’t be celebrated until what the rest of the world knows as September 11th. I still set new years resolutions/personal goals for my service…and will do so again in 9 months.

Slowly, my home is coming together – it’s hard (and internally stressful) moving into a completely unfurnished place, as IKEA/Bed Bath and Beyond/Target don’t exist here! You can’t just run to the store and buy a piece of furniture (maybe in Addis), bring it home, and enjoy it. You have to have furniture made by a carpenter, which takes a bit of time/money, but it’s custom made. My dresser will be ready soon, and I’m really looking forward to not living out of my suitcases any longer.

I’ve been doing “community discovery/integration” these past few weeks, and it’s going well. My town is small, but it has a lot to offer and the people are extremely nice. I haven’t had any kids throw rocks as me, which is good sign. I still get “CHINA/FARENJI/YOU!” all day every day, which is annoying, but some kids are picking up on my name, or they at least say AMERIKAWIT (American) instead of CHINA!, which is like music to my ears. There is much less animal traffic through my town than where I was during training, and I can’t complain about that. I have seen many a camel since arriving, which is always a highlight of my day, as they are such unique creatures…don’t know if you’ve ever walked beside one…they’re just interesting.

I have my work cut out for me with my CNA for the next couple months - basically, I just have to get out there and gather any/all information related to HIV/AIDS in the area. And see what the people need, not what I think would be appropriate for them…This past week there was a big vaccination campaign – Retinol (vit A), Iodine, and de-worming tablets were administered to children age 6 months – 5 years, so as to prevent blindness, goiter, and worms. UNICEF sponsored the campaign, and it was free for those who sought the service. We got a great response in my town, so that’s encouraging. Wish me luck with my data collection/research and I’ll keep you updated with my findings! Happy New Year and may it be a good one for all of you out there.

Acronym Transition Day (ATD 2k2 or 2k9)

2009-12-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

Aka Swearing In…

10 weeks down, 2 years to go – 41 new PCVs in Ityop’ya!

It’s hard to believe that we’re done with training, and are now official PCVs…transition from the T (trainee) to the V (volunteer) – this is a serious matter  Leaving my host family was a tearful occasion, but I am ready to start the work I came here to do. We all successfully made it to our respective permanent sites and have the next 3 months to do our Community Needs Assessment (CNA) before me all meet again.

A lot has happened since my last post (yikirita – excuse me – for not posting often)…I, along with a few others from my training town, took a couple horse taxis to check out the Great Rift Valley. It really was a spectacular site…and we found some flat rocks on which to do yoga, while overlooking the valley – people would probably buy a video for the scenery! PC took us on a field trip to a town called Debra Zayt one Sunday for a little R&R…it was pretty necessary, and again, very scenic.

No funny stories as of late – just a few interesting food items. One to note: beso – it’s barley in powder form, mixed with a little butter and some spices, then hand rolled to look like feces. The flavor isn’t bad, they’re just not appetizing to look at. One morning with my breakfast of champions (not Wheaties, but pasta), I was having trouble twirling it on my fork, so my host mother gave me a tiny ½ teaspoon sized spoon (used to stir sugar in the enlarged thimble sized cups of coffee) to help me. Yeah, didn’t work so well…

For the most part, you could say I’m adapting well to life here - things that once seemed so foreign and strange to me now just seem like a part of everyday life. I was used to and had mastered the šint bet (hole in ground), but now I have a toilet to call my own (is it weird that I’m excited about buying a toilet brush while in Peace Corps?!). Being able to control my diet and cook for myself is something else I’m looking forward to – I think 10 weeks of injera will last me for the next 2 years! That’s not to say I won’t eat it while living in Tigray, but just not with every meal. So far, I have made some soup, oatmeal, and couscous…quite a change!

Towards the end of training, I was trying to teach one of my host sisters some English tongue twisters – She sells sea shells by the sea shore. The sea shells she sells are sea shells I’m sure…and Peter Piper blah blah blah… Rather entertaining. Let me know if you have any good tongue twisters for the future.

Overall, I am happy and healthy, two of my personal goals I hope to maintain throughout my service. Can’t believe Christmas is just a couple days away. Lucky for all of us farenjis in Ityop’ya – we get to celebrate 2 Christmases…our Christmas on December 25th, and then the Ethiopian Christmas on January 7th…my counterpart has a nishtay (small) tree at his house and told me today that I will be celebrating the Ethiopian holiday with his family…they are going to slaughter a goat and have a big celebration. Oh boy!

Well, Happy Holidays to everyone and stay safe 

Doro Wat

2009-11-22T04:08:00.000-08:00

Doro what? Doro wat, of course, an Ethiopian favorite! Doro is chicken in Amharic, and I heard one dying as I was studying for my Tigrigna language test last Friday night. I went exploring on my compound and ended up in the family kitchen – the kitchen is a bit different than what you’re used to in America. It’s a room separate from the main house, complete with a dirt floor, an injera stove, a fire pit, several large cooking containers of sorts, and a pen for the family’s 7 sheep…(no countertops, no sink, no dishwasher, or other electric appliances). In addition to the 2 cats, there were 5 of my family members sitting on the floor, doing various culinary activities/watching the action. One of the ladies was plucking the feathers off of the freshly killed chicken…she held it up for my admiration, then proceeded to hack it into edible pieces after it was devoid of all feathers. Then, to get the meat super clean, it was washed with soap and water…so fresh AND so clean. Literally. I was later served the hen’s last laid eggs for my dinner…circle of life?

When I went to shower on Saturday morning, I noticed the pot of doro wat sitting in the shower room. Strange storage place, right? And I got walked in on (there’s not a lock on the door) for the retrieval of the pot (I turn the water off while lathering up because it’s so cold…so maybe they figured I had left the room…wrong!) So that wasn’t awkward or anything…And then I had doro wat for breakfast. I usually try to stay away from meat because I have no idea what kind it is, but this time I definitely knew where the chicken came from…my yard/my shower room!

Not much else is happening in my life…The wheat harvest just took place this past week in my town. Many students missed the week of school in order to help out on the family farm(s). There is a ton of wheat on my compound now. Our cow is still pregnant – hopefully she’ll give birth while I’m still living here. Tigrigna lessons seem to be about the same as Amharic – somewhat difficult, but doable. The language here is pretty crazy sounding and looking. Tigrigna will be more challenging now only because there’s no one in my town (outside of my language instructor and the other 2 girls in my class) who speaks it, so we won’t have the opportunity to practice whenever we want. I think I’ll get a tutor once I move to site.

One of the girls in my town was a yoga instructor back in the states, so she put on a yoga class for us this morning, which was a great release/necessary occurence. I don’t have any really crazy stories. My count for seeing people poop on the side of the road is now up to 2…I survived a few days of diarrhea and 1 day of vomming and a fever…I managed 5 whole weeks without any problems! 6 weeks of PST are down, and we move to site in almost exactly 1 month! I have posted my new address on the side, so start directing mail to that address (PC recommends to not send mail to the Addis address once we’re through with training).

While everyone else is enjoying amazing and copious amounts of food on Thanksgiving, I will be enjoying a Snickers bar that I bought in Addis and a can of wasabi & soy almonds that I’ve been saving from the start of my trip … yummmmmmm!

Land of the Burnt Faces

2009-11-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

That’s what “Ethiopia” means…and this country was named by the Greeks. Thanks Lonely Planet book – you’re full of great information. I’m currently winding down my productive vacation/ site visit, which has overall been a very pleasant experience. Northern Ethiopia is vastly different from where I’ve been living this past month, and I think the only that could be different is if there were more trees and greenery. But it’s really pretty in a different kind of way up here – kind of arid and desert-ish.

Before coming to Tigray, we had a workshop in Addis Ababa, where we met our counterparts and did a few team building exercising. Being in Addis was a welcomed change, and my counterpart seems great. During my week at site, he took me all around town and introduced me to different organizations in my town, as well as local authority figures. He also help me set up a PO Box and a bank account!
Highlights: I saw a camel and 2 pigs in my town. I know pork isn’t widely accepted/consumed here, so I was really surprised (and excited) to see the oinkers. I took a picture, and of course, my counterpart thought I was pretty strange.

So my future “house” is a large room with a private bathroom attached. I feel very lucky by the fact that I have a flushing toilet (with 2 flushing options – little and big) and a shower at my permanent site… The shower is, of course, cold, but hey! It’s running water nonetheless  I look forward to making it my home in 5 weeks time. I purchased a mattress and indoor camped on my floor during my time there. I bought a kilo of bananas, oranges, some cookies, bottled water and called it a feast. Luckily, my landlady fed me a few meals, and my counterpart had me over for dinner every night. The “air conditioning” (aka weather) is nice up in Tigray – hot during the day, but very cool at night and comfortable in the morning.

I survived a grueling 2 day bus journey back to Addis, where I will spend the night/have one last delicious meal before heading back to my small town to wrap up training. I’m actually looking forward to the Tigrigna lessons, although it has been nice having this past week and a half off from language all day every day. I can’t believe it’s already November 14th – I’ll be moving to site before I know it. Hope all is well with everyone out there – stay tuned for future updates.

Headed North - 11.01.2002(2009)

2009-11-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween a day late to everyone! We had our site placement ceremony yesterday, so it was nice to be around the other trainees on such a large holiday (ha ha). The APCD (associate peace corps director…another acronym for your dictionary) brought us some American chips from the Embassy, as the candy was all sold out. Long story short, the chips were simply amazing (Doritos, ruffles, sun chips, yummmm)! :) Enough about snack foods and more about site placement – after training, I will be moving to the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. I’ll be living in a fairly small town (population of about 17,000) just outside of the regional capital, Mekele, which is part of the historical circuit in Ethiopia. In total, there are 5 people from my training group moving way north, and I think there are 5 current PCVs up there now. I guess my region is kind of like the Marines of Peace Corps – the few, the proud. I get to fly up there for my site visit, but have to take a bus back, which will be a 2 day journey…

Starting tomorrow, I will begin learning Tigrigna, the language spoken in the Tigray region. It is similar to Amharic and still uses the Ge’ez script instead of Roman characters for the alphabet…holla! According to my host family, “Tigrigna is hard. Amharic is easy.” I beg to differ, in that Amharic is extremely difficult, so we’ll see about this new language! I get to visit my site starting next Saturday, and will spend a week there, getting acquainted with the town and my host organization, which is the town health center. I’ll get to see my future house, and according to my site description on paper it’s a large room in a shared compound with my landlord’s family. Sounds kind of like a dorm room…My town does have a post office, so that’s rather riveting. During my site visit I get to set up my P.O. Box – meaning I’ll soon have a new mailing address.

Not too much has been going on at all besides language class and technical training. Last weekend I discovered the deliciousness of peanut butter in the nearby big city, so I bought a jar…thrilling, eh?! I’ve decided that hand washing laundry is not very fun and is rather time consuming. ..it took me close to 2 hours to wash my sheets, a dress, a skirt, a couple shirts, my PJs and some undies. Before I left, an aunt and uncle of mine gave me some boxers from their recent trip to Alaska that have a bear on the rear eating a salmon that says “Bite me” – I wore them to bed a few times this past week, and have been getting bed bug &/or flea bites (not at all enjoyable). Bad karma? The boxers will be retired for awhile…

We had Sunday Funday in my town today, and a group of fellow PCTs from a nearby town came and we played American football, soccer and frisbee. I wore a pair of long athletic shorts and felt a bit scandalous, as I haven’t seen my knees in public in a month now! Unfortunately, the backs of my knees got sunburned :( It’s kind of entertaining to see the enormity of the crowd us farenji’s draw…people gawk and stare when you’re not doing anything, and even more so when you are doing something that’s watchable! After sport, we were all invited over to one of my classmate’s houses for lunch. We had typical Oromic (the region we’re currently in) cultural food (including injera!), and it was actually one of the best meals I’ve had in Ethiopia.

I milked a cow yesterday – for the second time in my life! It’s much harder than it looks – you really have to squeeze and pull hard for the wätät (milk) to come out! I’ll be leaving my host family Tuesday for an extended vacay – not really a vacation, but we have a workshop in Addis, followed by our weeklong site visit. Even though it’s at times awkward living with them, I have come to really enjoy their company. I learned today that they grow barley (gabs), wheat (sïnde), and beans (bak’ela) on the family farm. The barley is being harvested right now, so we have two gigantic piles (I actually have no idea how to describe them – more like large circular stacks that are taller than myself) off to the side in our compound. Not sure what they’re going to do with it…

I am really looking forward to getting away for awhile…I can only eat so much firfir for breakfast…I’ve been reading my travel book about Addis and there’s quite a variety of restaurants (many serve pizza!!) and just a change of scenery/no full days of language classes will make for a nice break. After site visit, training will be halfway over – time seems to be passing quickly! I’ve already been gone for one month – but who’s counting?!

I heard the Gators beat Georgia – and we’re still number one :) Happy November – I’ll let all you curious readers out there know how our counterpart workshop goes, as well as the big site visit!

Why use a lawnmower when there are so many goats in this town? 10.21.2002

2009-10-24T14:52:00.001-07:00

We’re nearing the end of week 2 as trainees, and we actually find out our site placement at the end of week 3 (on HALLOWEEN! Although I’m fairly positive that’s not a celebrated holiday here in Ityop’ya L) So I will know in a little over a week where I’ll be living for the remainder of my time here. We have a week-long site visit during week 5, in which we’ll get to see our future homes/communities. I’m excited but also pretty nervous about the whole ordeal.

This morning we went to the local public health center to learn about the services offered to HIV+ individuals, as well as educational services/programs they have going on. When we walked onto the grounds, I noticed that the grass was very well kept and then saw a bunch of goats grazing away and realized that’s how lawns are kept up here – no gas powered machines, simply grazing animals. So resourceful…Language lessons are going…Amharic is very difficult, and I’m still getting used to being on a regular schedule, as that’s something I haven’t done in awhile. Nor have I used my brain this much in a long time, or since being in college (so almost a year!) Basically, I am really headache (according to one of my host brothers, when I was trying to explain that my head hurts from learning Amharic…).

Highlights of my week: Passed my first Amharic language test (Saturday, 10.17) I learned how to do laundry by hand (Sunday, 10.18). I used a variety of buckets and a bar of laundry soap, then hung it up outside to dry. My parents called me on Sunday, which was amazing (you guys made my week!) :) I can also successfully use a šint bet (hole in the ground)…I wonder how people potty train their kids here…seems like it could be a dangerous situation. Lastly, we discovered the Ethiopian version of Oreos – they’re called Glory (so now we call them GloryOs) and are sandwich cookies with fruit-flavored cream (we’ve tried orange and pineapple). Normally, I’d pass on such a treat, but at this point they’re pretty fantastic (not to mention cheap).

The weather is here, wish you were beautiful (Jimmy Buffet!)…but really, the weather has been great – the skies are blue and everything where I am is lush and green, as the rainy season has just ended. When it’s sunny it’s HOT, but there’s often times a nice breeze, which makes the outdoors suitable for jacket-wearing.

The Ethiopian day starts at 6 (instead of 12 like I’m used to)…I still have my watch set to normal (to me) time, which is 7 hours ahead of EST…and my computer is still set to EST, so there’s much confusion when using my computer, looking at my watch, and the clock in my house. Ex: Computer: 3:30 My watch: 10:30 Clock in house: 4:30…Rrrrrrrrright. Have I mentioned that it’s 2002?!

I’m making good progress on the cross-cultural aspect of our training, as my homestay is continuing to go well – it must be as awkward for the family to have me living in their house as it is for me to be living with them. I’m very appreciative of them taking me in for 10 weeks – that’s a pretty long time to have some strange animal living in your house. My life seems to be a giant game of charades and largely consists of me pointing to things and stating the Amharic word if I know it, and asking what it is if I don’t. They’ve lately been giving me warm, sweetened milk with my dinner, straight from a cow, mooo! And I learned that an Ethiopian rooster says “Ko ko looooooo” as opposed to the American rooster’s “Cock a doodle doo”…

Ethiopian Calendar:

Mäskäräm – September – 9.11 – 10.10

T’ïk’ïmt – October – 10.11 – 11.09

Hïdar – November – 11.10 – 12.09

Tahïsas – December – 12.10 – 1.08

T’ïr – January – 1.09 – 2.07

Yäkatit – February – 2.08 – 3.09

Mägabit – March – 3.10 – 4.08

Miyaziya – April – 4.09 – 5.08

Gïnbot – May – 5.09 – 6.07

Säne – June – 6.08 – 7.07

Hamle – July – 7.08 – 8.06

Nähase – August – 8.07 – 9.06

P’agume – 13th month – 9.06 – 9.10

An Explanation of my Service

2009-10-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

So you’re probably wondering what I’m actually doing in Ethiopia (Ïtyop’ya), so I’ll fill you in on my assignment. The mission of PC is to promote world peace and friendship by:

1. Sending trained volunteers to developing countries that have requested assistance to help the people meet their basic needs
2. Promoting a better understanding of Americans to other peoples served (share the goodness of American culture with Ethiopians)
3. Promoting a better understanding of other peoples to Americans (share the goodness of Ethiopian culture with Americans)

In a nutshell, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health requested PC’s assistance to develop the capacity of hospitals, health posts, health centers, organizations and communities to plan, coordinate and deliver HIV/AIDS services. My official job title is a Community HIV/AIDS Advisor , and to prepare for our future work, we have intensive training for the first 10 weeks in country. The components include the following trainings: language, cultural/host family, safety and security, personal health, and technical/skills.

About halfway during training, we will be assigned to our permanent site, and also to an Ethiopian counterpart, who will be of great help to us once we are settled in. The first three months at site we will be responsible for doing a community needs assessment (CNA). Basically, we are here to involve the community in which we live in everything we do – we are here to assist and share ideas, not lead. PC does work under 3 pillars in the HIV/AIDS realm: Prevention, Care & Support, and with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs). We’ll be working from the bottom up, as we are not yet sure of what our community actually needs. Our perceived needs could be very different from their actual needs, and that’s why we’ll spend 3 whole months assessing our site. Nothing is set in stone as to what each volunteer will be doing, but after our CNA, we will have 2 years to complete a primary project within our community with an identified host organization (secondary projects are allowed).

I won’t know for about another month as to where I will be living permanently, but I’ll keep y’all (miss that word!) posted. If you have any questions, feel free to email me – not sure when I’ll be able to respond, but remember that T.I.A. (this is Africa) and not everything runs on a tight schedule or is at your fingertips, as it is in America :)

“And now, I am make coffee.” (10.12.2009/2002)

2009-10-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, Ethiopia has some darn good coffee. It is said to be the birthplace of humans and coffee (trivia!). There is a ceremony revolving around bunna (Amharic for coffee), that takes place on the floor. First, the beans are roasted, then ground with a mortar and pestle before being boiled on a charcoal stove. It is served in tiny cups with a lot of sugar and sometimes milk…it’s pretty delicious and puts American coffee to shame (sorry Starbucks). Before we moved in with our host families, we all had lunch together, and took part in our first coffee ceremony.

That being said, we are now living with our host families. I am living in a small rural town outside of Assela, which is the closest big city. We live in a compound a few blocks off the main paved road (all the other roads are made of dirt but they’ve been pretty muddy since it’s been raining a lot). My host family is incredibly nice and hospitable and there are 13 of them living here, plus a few goats, a pregnant cow, a couple dogs, and a cat and kitten. Fortunately, one of our group LCF’s (Language/Cross-cultural Facilitator) lives right next door to me, so she was a huge help in having things not be incredibly awkward when I first moved in, seeing as how I only knew about 10-15 Amharic words/phrases, aka “survival language” (ex: Where’s the toilet? Thank you. I need sleep. I don’t want food. It’s good! Water..you get the point). In case you’re wondering, I have my own room (it’s spacious) with green walls and a very comfortable bed, so I’ve been sleeping relatively well (thank goodness for earplugs – there are many boisterous animals at night). My family has a shower with running water (it’s ice cold, but I’ll have rock solid abs after 10 weeks here), and our toilet (aka šint bet in Amharic) is located outside in the compound and it’s a room made of mud and hay with a cement hole in the ground for to do your business. If anything, I’ll build some nice quad muscles as well!

We started language training (Amharic for now), and it is going to be quite challenging, but ultimately rewarding. Fortunately, we were broken down into even smaller groups (3 people/group) for language training. As you know, English has 26 letters. The Amharic syllabary (or fidel) contains 34 base characters (if you include the letter v) and each character has 7 variations, or orders. So that’s 238 characters we’ll be learning to read/write. Whoa. Day one went well – we learned how to pronounce everything, then for our “practical application” took our knowledge to the streets. We walked to the post office (I sent 2 letters – one to my parents and one to my sister – let me know if/when they arrive – sent on 10.12.09) and were to greet people along the way. People are really surprised when Amharic comes out of the färenjis’ (foreigners) mouths. I laugh a lot, some kids laugh and run away, but ultimately everyone stares and most reply back. But after the standard greeting, I’m at a loss for words. With time…

We are known to draw quite a crowd – Americans don’t often come to these parts. I had a girl say to me today “Hey China girl, how are you?” Not Chinese…but I don’t know how to say that in Amharic [yet]. People seem to be out and about all the time here, as are animals roaming the streets. Cows, chickens, goats, dogs, horses, donkeys…all are really cute. I had to dodge a few donkeys earlier and yesterday I got splashed by dirty water from a passing donkey cart taxi. L

The food is pretty awesome here. I don’t think I’ve had anything processed besides the candy I bought at the airport en route (aka junk food isn’t found in abundance here, so feel free to send me snack foods and candy!). Injera is a country staple and is made from something called tef, which is a superfood/grain. Injera is kind of like a thin sourdough pancake that also doubles as a utensil (you rip off pieces and pick up the other food with your right hand and eat it!). Since moving in with my HF, we’ve had injera at almost every meal, along with deliciously prepared vegetables (spicy lentils, potatoes, cabbage, corn, greens). So I’ve been eating well and fortunately, haven’t had any GI difficulties yet (I just knocked on my bed frame – it’s made of wood).

My HF bros and the younger kids in the house have all been teaching me Amharic words and tonight they busted out a deck of cards to help me with learning numbers. It’s kind of overwhelming, but also fun. One of them wrote down everyone’s first name and I had to write it in the script – it took me a small eternity, but I enjoyed it. We’ve also been watching a lot of “country music videos” – not the twangy stuff you’re thinking of, but Ethiopian country music (mainly from the Oroma region). There’s lots of shoulder shaking in their dancing – it’s amazing how they move and I hope to learn some of their moves – see if you can google Ethiopian dancing – you’ll be amazed.

I apologize in advance for not posting very often – there’s no internet in my town and these next 10 weeks of training are going to be incredibly busy. Check back periodically for updates, but I can guarantee they won’t be daily! I know that I’ve been out of touch, but know that I am healthy and happy and I hope all of you are the same J Käs Bäkäs Ïnk’Ulal Bäïgrwa Tïhedeläč (Little by little the egg goes by foot).

Finally Here (10.09.09/2002)

2009-10-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

My journey has officially started. I left Tallahassee Monday, Oct 5, and made it to Philly without any problems. I met a fellow PCT (Peace Corps Trainee – get used to the acronyms now) at the airport in Charlotte, so we shared a cab to the hotel then had lunch (cheese steaks, what what! When in Philly…) before our brief orientation. Our session lasted about 4.5 hours, and we were given a bit of information about our lives for the next 2+ years, in addition to some administrative stuff. We had our last American dinner out on the town in Philly, then a few of us walked to see the Liberty Bell…quite patriotic. The following morning we had a very early breakfast at the hotel, then got yellow fever vaccines before driving to Newark, our point of departure.

We left Newark, NJ aboard Lufthansa – for our first snack, we had beer and pretzels…how GERMAN (and tasty)! I napped here and there and watched a few movies and listened to music on the flights over. Both legs of the trip were fine, but my feet looked like chubby sausages by the time we got to Germany. I must admit – I didn’t do my flyrobics to keep my blood circulating. So I had to loosen my chacos a great deal in order for them to fit…

Our arrival to Addis went swimmingly (didn’t have to make use of our schwimmweste on the airplane!) We arrived around 7 at night and were taken to our hotel. If you’ve never traveled with 40 people in a group, you should sometime, just to see the amount of luggage – and we were all limited in the amount we were able to bring! We had orientation for the next 2 days in Addis Ababa (the capital city of Ethiopia), along with a few (only 4) shots. We were introduced to the Peace Corps more in depth and given some information about what we’ll actually be doing here, as well as a detailed schedule of our next 10 weeks of PST (pre-service training).

A little bit about my training group: we are group 3 to return to Ethiopia. There are 42 of us, spanning across the country and quite an age range. There are 4 married couples among us. We were all together during our time in Addis, but have since been split into 4 smaller groups for training purposes. We are doing a community –based training, where we will live with a host family in order to really integrate into the community/culture.

All my bags are [halfway] packed…I’m ready to go!

2009-09-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

This dream I’ve long had of joining the Peace Corps is almost a reality…10 days from now I’ll board a plane from Tallahassee and fly to Philadelphia for a seemingly very brief orientation. The following morning we’ll go to clinic and get a few shots (not sure what we still need…) then head over to Newark (to a central park in Newark! Flight of the Conchords reference for all you fans out there!), where we will leave for ETHIOPIA at approximately 5:50pm on Tuesday, October 6, 2009. We have a layover in Frankfurt before arriving to Addis Ababa 25 hours later and 7 years ago. We'll be traveling back in time. The Ethiopian Calendar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_calendar) is a bit different from ours…the new year just started on September 11 and it is now 2002.

Here’s a brief timeline of my Peace Corps experience so far:
Applied: September 2008
Interviewed/Was Nominated: November 19, 2008
Sent Medical Kit: January 30, 2009
Got Medically Cleared: June 2009
Was Invited to Ethiopia: July 30, 2009

…So this journey has already been a year in the making! I'll actually explain what I'll be doing in Ethiopia in a different post, as I'm sure you're curious.

In a nutshell, I haven’t had too much time to prepare for this trip (and by trip I mean the next couple years of my life). I know very little about Ethiopia, although I have purchased a Lonely Planet book and Amharic phrase book (I know I'm going back in time, raw meat is a delicacy, and there's good coffee). I feel as though I’ll just learn as I go. Another exciting thing is that my group (I assume there are about 40 of us) is the 3rd to go back to Ethiopia since an extended Peace Corps absence.

I haven’t actually put any of my belongings into bags yet, but I am limited to 80 pounds of luggage. Packing is one of my least favorite activities ever, but my goal is to have it done this weekend. (Oliver has been kind enough to help me pack -->)

I’m glad I’ve been able to spend the last month and a half back in Tallahassee with my family and friends. It really hasn’t hit me yet that I’ll be gone for quite some time and I am truly going to miss you all when I’m overseas.

Hillary (my lovely sister) and her fiancée, Martin, are getting married next Saturday and I leave Monday morning. Next weekend is going to be a whirlwind of emotions, but I’m extremely excited about these two epic days and the fact that I'll be able to see all of our out of town relatives before I leave. I haven’t really had time to freak out about my departure because I’ve stayed busy since moving back from Colorado, which is a good thing. If anything, I'm looking forward to starting this next chapter of my life while not being nervous, which is also a good thing (don't think my mom is on the same page).

I guess I should explain my blog title…I went to college at UF, aka the SWAMP! I was in college when I decided to join the Peace Corps. And the Nile…you may have heard of it before. Anyhow, part of the Blue Nile runs through Ethiopia, which is where I’m moving. So, from Gainesville (then Colorado and back to Tallahassee for a bit) to Ethiopia it is, but that would have been a boring blog title. Thus, from the Swamp to the Nile was born…Enjoy :)