Good things to come :)

I’m currently sitting at Central Café, which is my favorite café/hotel in Gondar, mainly because it has cheap and fantastic coffee plus there is free Internet.  I’m 2 macchiatos (heaven in a cup) in and have quite the caffeine buzz going. I’ve been here working for the past 2 hours, and needed a break, so here I am writing a blog instead!

This weekend was great. I was planning on laying low Friday night which did not happen… I ended up going out with some friends, and a few beers turned into a few more and before I knew it, it was 3 am before I finally arrived home. It was just like college in America again, except waking up and being in Ethiopia isn’t quite as good as waking up in the states. It was nothing that some Fish Goulash, 2 orange sodas and a 4 hour nap couldn’t fix though, and now I’m good as new. I figured that all of my friends are out celebrating Halloween, so I’ll celebrate as well, just without the costumes!

Saturday night I hung out with a friend, drank coffee and watched some scary movies in honor of the 31^st of October. And now, here I am, getting ready for tomorrow which just so happens to be my first day of class! 

Words cannot describe how excited/nervous/anxious/apprehensive I am to get into the classroom tomorrow. I am teaching two sections of Spoken English I. Some of the units are Greetings and partings, Introductions, Invitations, Advice, Expressing Opinion, Preference, etc. So, pretty basic stuff but I am anxious to see the level of English that my students will actually have. Communication may be tough, but I WILL make these students better speakers. All of my students are 2^nd years and are going to school to be teachers. My job is to improve their English so that when they are teaching 1^st-4^th graders, they will be able to sufficiently teach them.

The level of impact I am able to create is quite amazing when I actually think about it. I have 2 sections of 40 teacher trainees. Those 40 students will turn around and instruct a classroom from anywhere from 40-60 students in their classrooms just their first year, and the years to come after that. The impact raises exponentially which is why I feel so grateful to be here and a part of IFESH. No doubt in my mind there will be serious obstacles but not anything I’m not ready to take on headfirst. I’m sitting here in the café making an attendance roster, a daily planning guide, writing objectives, creating assignments, figuring out the grading breakdown…this is the real deal. I’m one of the lucky ones who knows that my passion is teaching, but how crazy is it that my first official classroom is in Ethiopia!?  I’m pretty dang blessed to be living out this adventure, that’s for sure. Good things are to come for this lady. 

I can’t help but think of this quote today as I get ready tomorrow, it’s one of my favorites ...

“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

Here’s to the first day of class in my first classroom that I can call my own. After tomorrow, I’ll officially be Ms. Rath! 

<3

I'm a real Habesha now :)

First of all, Habesha is the word for Ethiopian, and after this week, I'm the real deal.

I had a whole lot of Ethiopian culture and food this week, and it was fantastic. Here are some of the things I did this week...

1. Made injera for the first time- Ethiopian traditional food that is comparable to a spongey, giant tortilla and the staple of every traditional meal. It is made with teft (a grain) mixed with water, and then left to ferment for 3-8 days. Then, the batter is poured onto a giant metal pan, on top of a wooden fire and cooks on 1 side until it is taken off. It's quite the process, and my first injera experience was less than perfect but by the time I leave, I'll be a pro!

2. I was gersha-d. To "gersha" someone is to take a pocket of injera with wot (a stew) inside and feed it to another person. It's a loving thing, a way to show affection and also force feeding :) Typically as the parent's eat they will gersha their own children, and when you gersha adults it's a way to show affection. It's quite funny when it happens, because a woman literally just took a giant serving of injera and pushed it into my mouth!

3. I helped make wot! Cooking with Ethiopian ladies is a quality time. Wot is like a stew and there are all different types of wot that are traditional in Ethiopia. Misir Wot is lentils with burberry, oil, onions, salt, tomato.  Shiro wot is oil, onions and shiro mixture of powdered chickpeas and spices. And there are so many more types of wot, but we only made those 2. It was entertaining for sure.

4. Took part in multiple buna ceremonies. Buna is coffee, and here in Ethiopia coffee is a giant part of their culture. They begin by washing the dry coffee beans, roasting them over a fire, then they grind them using a mortar and pestle (typically). Then, they boil the coffee grounds with water in a special clay container, and pour it into tea sized glasses. It's delicious. It's the smoothest coffee I've ever tasted, and has quite the kick of caffeine. A buna ceremony typically takes place in an Ethiopians home, and the process I described above is done in full. There is usually popcorn served with the coffee (strange mixture, I know) The process takes about an hour or so, and anywhere from 3-5 cups of coffee later it is an okay time to say farewell! The pace of life is so much more slow here, and the buna ceremony is one example of the importance of community and relaxing with one another.

5. I officially have an Ethiopian family :) My friend Heather lives on a compound with 13 other women and that is where many of these events took place this week. After the 2nd time of visiting the compound, one of the women said "Liz, you are now our family.." Pretty amazing how open, accepting and loving these people are. Good to know that I now have a place to call home to celebrate holidays, traditional events and just go to be with wonderful people.

Needless to say, it was a good week. Another IFESH volunteer came and it was exciting to meet her and help get her accustomed to Gondar. We went to Arada, the market to get all sort of supplies for her and showed her some of the favorite restaurants around. Tomorrow, I start my Amharic tutoring and a week from tomorrow the classes I'll be teaching will finally begin. I left for Ethiopia a month from today, and it's starting to feel like my own which is an amazing feeling. Good things to come :)


Here are some pictures of the adventure of injera and wot making with Heather at her compound.

The injera cover...

Jonas, the baby on the compound. He's a doll.

Injera, (the way it's supposed to look!)

Tending the fire

Pouring the Injera, notice Meisa laughing...

Didn't burn myself! 

My final product! It doesn't look quite as good as it should! 

Heather making injera like a pro

Final product- injera with burberry, the spice that they put on everything. Delicious :) 

Mesia washing and laughing at my broken Amharic. She looks at me and just giggles

Misir Wot...yum :)

Jonas likes to help cook too!

Frey wanted a picture with me. So sweet. 

<3 

Home-cooked meals, classes, and a fire.

There are lots of good things happening right now. Looking around me I’m so blessed,  it’s pretty incredible. No doubt in my mind that this was the right move for me to make...even if I have to pee in a bucket at night time for the year! 

This weekend was good. Heather and I visited the Brewery on Saturday for quite a few hours and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Sunday was just a lazy day full of Dexter and reading.

Last week I made my first official home cooked meal. I made (with the help of Heather) rice and stir fry of onions, garlic and carrots. We’re a little limited with vegetable choice here, so just going with what we have! We even had wine, and only a minor problem when the power strip I bought in Addis started burning and almost caught on fire. I learned 3 lessons from this experience of the almost fire…1. Don’t buy power strips from street shops in Addis because they will burn your house down 2. Heather stays calm in all situations (as I was walking back into the room I hear…”Uhh…Liz, there’s a fire…yup…a fire…” 3. IF there was an actual fire in my apartment, I still have no idea what I would do.  There’s no fire station here…stop, drop and roll? THEN, on Sunday, I made popcorn and actually started it on fire for real. I think this whole cooking thing is going to take a while for me to get down...

Ha, Anyway…Today is Monday and I think it should be a good week. Classes start later this week or next week. (I asked…and there’s no set date. What the heck, right??) I’ll be teaching Spoken English 203, a class for English majors who are 2^nd year students. All of the students here are working towards their degree in teaching, but my students will be specifically working on English. They will graduate to become primary school teachers grades 1-4, responsible to teach all subjects including English. 

I met with a teacher named Teddy who’s great, and so helpful. He has taught 203 before, so he’s helping me make sure I have everything in place. I don’t know how I would make it here if the people weren’t so wonderful! He also invited me to his house the next time they slaughter a lamb….so excited to see that! I had a meeting with him this morning, and then we had some tea. I also met my new Amharic tutor who I’ll be paying to help me with my Amharic so I can learn more. She seems great, so I’m excited to start that as well.

Once I get all the materials for my classes, I will be one busy lady. I’m heading in to town for coffee and work this afternoon and then out for dinner with friends. Right now is lunchtime, in which the whole town shuts down for at least 2 hours. I made myself an egg and avocado sandwich which was pretty fancy if I do say so myself J

Anyway, just wanted to give an update on how things were. Life is pretty great here. I miss my family, but I really think that before I know it, it will be July and I’ll be flying home.  I Skyped with them yesterday and would have given anything to be having a Sunday at home, watching the football game and eating chili on a Fall day. Oh well, that’s the opportunity cost of things like this I guess!

Hope you all have a great week

 <3 

I'd say it was a successful Saturday...

I haven't taken a ton of pictures so far, mainly because being new frenge(the word they call me on the street, translating to foreigner) in town I get enough attention without needing to take out my camera. 

As I've mentioned, there are 3 peace corp living in Gondar and this weekend some of their other friends came to visit. We went to visit the castles which are located at the center of town and are AMAZING. The whole time I was there I couldn't help but think, this is where I live..I can handle peeing in a dirty hole for a year.. :) After we went to the castles, we got some juice at a local juice bit or juice house, ate a lunch of fried fish (an ENTIRE fish just fried...my friend took pictures of that not me), and then made our way to the local brewery called Dashen Brewery where they serve Towers of beer for only 60 birr (under 4$). Needless to say, I'd say it was a successful Saturday.

Anyway, here are some pictures :)   

Heather, the Education peace corp  volunteer

The three girls are who came to visit, the guy is Mitch whose my neigbor

mmmmm :) A spritzer which is mixed juice. Guava, Avocado and Mango on top. Delicious. 

Beer towers, ladies from Freshman year, you'd be in love. Dad, maybe we should get some towers like these for the cabin :) 

:) 

I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul...

I re-read my last blog post- let’s be real, it was kinda intense. Given, it was exactly how I was feeling at the time, but I figured I should update and let you know that I’m doing just fine!

Thank you so much for the encouraging messages and prayers because something did the trick! One of the most inspiring messages I got was from Don, the initial contact I made with IFESH. He messaged me, and said some wonderful things, including the quote he was reminded of when he read my blog, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.." which is the last line in a poem written in the context of Nelson Mandella's incarceration. I'm a quote person, so this fit perfectly :) 

After sleeping Tuesday night, everything got much more manageable. I’ve been taking bucket showers in the kitchen and trying to go to the bathroom as little as possible. It’s definitely not anything like Americans live like, but when in Rome…If anything else, I’m going to be one hardcore camper after living here for a year!

Some things I’m thankful for

1. Other Peace Corp Volunteers- There are three living in Gondar that I’ve met so far and they are all friends and have adopted me into their group. Mitch, Heather and Usman are their names, and they are all great. This weekend, a group of other PCVs came into town from some rural villages to visit, so last night was spent at the Dashen Brewery where we got TOWERS of beer (coolest thing ever) for 60 birr (less than 4$...) and then went and drank tej at a local shoulder dancing house. Tej is a homemade honey wine that they make here, it made me feel kinda sick though so not on my favorite list. Either way, it was great to get out and about and meet new people.

2.    A Fridge and Stove! Since Wednesday I’ve been trying to get one but my bank account was acting up! Finally the funds went through and I bought both a fridge and stove today and couldn’t be more excited to get some food in it and start cooking. (Today, I’ve eaten a bowl of oatmeal and some saltine crackers….) The stove is just a small 2-burner unit that plugs into the wall, similar to a camping stove. The fridge is smaller than in the US but will be perfect for me. I’m also thankful that IFESH reimbursed me for the cost.

3.  The staff at the college. They are wonderful people and are so excited that I’m here. I’ve made friends with the cleaning ladies whose main station is right outside of my apartment and they love to listen to me try to speak Amharic. We all sit and laugh, gesturing and they try to teach me new words. They are all older women with quite a lot of energy! I’ve been introduced to many people on campus and everyone seems so kind and helpful. I’ve also made good friends with the personal drivers, and Fanta the electrician. He came and fixed my lights yesterday so I can see at night and fixed my closet today. That means I finally put away my clothes and things look half way organized in here. Now I just need to print of pictures, get some decorations and I’ll be set.

The school year for the students I’ll be teaching starts later here. I won’t actually begin to teach my classes for 3 weeks, which gives me plenty of time to plan! But, in the meantime I’ll be helping the peace corp volunteer in the English Language Improvement Center (ELIC) and plan out the other trainings I’ll be doing. I’ve made some good contacts and will be getting into the primary schools training  teachers on how to instruct English. I also want to start a woman’s group of some sort because gender inequality is such a huge deal here. It’s exciting that the peace corp and VSO (volunteer services abroad)  is here so that we can collaborate on projects.

Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow I’m going to visit the castle that is located in the Piazza, or the center of town, which will be awesome.  I just wanted to update and give some good news of good things going on here.

Hope all is well my friends

<3  

No toilet, no shower, no lights, no problem.

Seriously, if you could only see me now. Friends and family reading this...you would be proud of me today. To be honest, I'm proud of myself.

The day started with a 4am wake up call in the hotel. After getting ready, I packed up my bags, put them in the car and we drove to the airport. Luckily, my supervisor from Gondar was flying back with me so it was nice to have him there since people don't speak much English here. We got through all of the long lines at the airport and needless to say, developing countries have much different airports than we do in the US...

We got on the plane, and an hour plus a sandwich later we arrived in the tiny airport of Gondar. My supervisor had somewhere to go so we dropped him off, and the driver took me to my new, "home" at Gondar College for Teacher Education. We pulled up to the college where the streets were filled with unknown faces who were all staring at me and I'm sure wondering who the heck I was. It's tough to be stared at, and talked about especially when you have no idea what they are saying. We eventually pulled up, unloaded the van and I was finally "home."

I put home in quotes because it definitely did not look, feel, smell or sound like my home, or really any place I'd ever seen before. The electricity was out when I arrived but luckily it was only 9am so there was plenty of light for me to see how filthy my new "home" was. I have two square rooms. One of the rooms has a bed, table and set of drawers. The other room is like my living room and has a sofa a few chairs and another wooden storage compartment. The walls are cement but painted white, and extremely dirty. It smells old and unlived in, but I guess my supervisor did warn me.

Even though he warned me, nothing could have braced me for the bathroom situation. Literally, I almost broke down in tears. It's disgusting. It's a 2 minute walk away which isn't too far, but it is the teachers public bathroom. I have a key to my own stall and my own shower but faculty come in and out of the bathroom on a regular basis-both male and female. It smells like an out house that has been sitting in the hot sun for 6 months. The ground is terribly dirty and the shower is just a tiny square with a door that locks, with a spicket.  Don't get me wrong, I know that I didn't come to Ethiopia thinking I would have American accommodations. I wasn't expecting it, and I'm not above what these people are used to, but it is SO different from how we live.

I talked to my supervisor and for a number of reasons asked if there were any other options. I know that they are planning to build a bathroom closer, but until them I just don't know if I can do it. He said that we would talk to the Dean, so that we did. It was an...interesting...first impression while meeting with the Dean (that's another story) but he insisted that I stay in a hotel. That was that, I was going to a hotel. He was planning on having me stay in the hotel for about a month until the new bathroom had been built.

I was so overwhelmed, exhausted, felt like a needy American, and also felt unheard because the Dean made a quick decision and that was that. My immediate supervisor (the one who flew with me from Addis) and I went to go check out the hotel. When we got there, I saw the room and I just said no, I don't want to stay here. I came to Africa to live in Africa, not live like I do in America. It would have been nice to stay in a hotel in some aspects, but I'm ready to make this place truly my new home...and I want to start by staying here tonight, not at some hotel.

Until the bathroom is constructed, I will take bucket showers in the kitchen. I'll just lock the door behind me, fill up a bucket and clean up over the drain in the floor. I've done bucket showers before, not pleasant but doable. In terms of using the toilet, I'm praying that I don't get sick and use the bathroom as I need to and just tough it out. It's a big change, but if other people can do it, I can too. I'll cover the toilet.

Today, after we went to the hotel we headed to the bank. The bank was a whole other fiasco and after an hour or so I walked out with my own account at Ethiopian Commercial bank. Then my supervisor, myself and the peace corp volunteer named Mitch (who had been with us all day) all shared a pizza at a local restaurant.  Afterwards, we walked around downtown Gondar, bought a few groceries and took a taxibus back to the college. The taxibus are the big mini vans that they shove 20 people into. I was too scared (and too spoiled taking taxis instead) to ride these types of rides in Tanzania but here, first night I was on one!

We made it home for only 2birr (around 8 cents) and when we got there all the electricity in the college was out because there weren't even street lights which Mitch said there usually are. I took out my head lamp from my purse, and we walked to our places. I lit a candle, and in candle light I sit here writing this blog. In a bit I will crawl into my sleeping bag and lay down on my makeshift pillow I created using extra clothes of mine. I'm all alone, and listening to my music that calms me down and I'm actually quite content.

There's no doubt in my mind that this is going to be hard...maybe the hardest adventure I've had but great achievement requires great risk. As I sit here unwinding from my day and debriefing it in my head I come back to the idea of my gratitude journal. There were so many things that were frustrating today, so many reasons I felt like I wasn't going to be able to make it here, and I'm just so exhausted. I feel like it's important to go back to the root of where happiness and contentment comes from and that to me is gratitude.

Today I'm thankful for human beings. I WOULD NOT have made it through today without my everyone around me helping out and supporting me, especially my supervisor and Mitch. They were amazing...they were patient, understanding and we worked through to day as a team. So fantastic to have them around and I'm excited to see the friendships continue. Apart from those two, I was reminded today at how good people are. Someone always offered to help when I was struggling with luggage, the Dean arranged a car to take us to the hotel and bank, people were patient with my crappy Amharic...all around, I'm just thankful for other people because the world would not be as grand as it is without the generosity of others.

That's the end of my rant for the evening. I'm sorry if there are typos and if it's sporadically written but that's just where my mind is right now. It's almost 9pm, and it's time for bed for this girl.

If you're a person of prayer, please send some up for me..specifically for strength, perseverance and extra love when I may not be loving my bathroom situation. :)

<3

Welcome to Addis

Well, week 1 is complete plus a few days. It's been a busy, exciting, exhausting but an invigorating week. I leave for my post in Gondar, Ethiopia on Tuesday early morning. 

1. And   One is the number of nights that I’ve slept completely through the night.  This time difference and jet lag is kickin my butt! The chanting of the Orthodox churches doesn't help!

2. Hulat Two is the number of times per day that we receive, “health breaks.” AKA- a half hour break in the morning, and in the afternoon to drink tea or coffee, eat snacks and converse with each other. We are fed a ridiculous amount of food, but that will all change soon! The health breaks especially are pretty great actually.   

3.   Sost  Three is the number of “field trips” or cultural outings we’ve been on. The first to the largest festival in Ethiopia called, “The True Cross.” After receiving VIP badges to watch the festival in Meskal Square, the festivities continued at our hotel where there was a cultural, “Coffee Ceremony” and bonfire. The bonfires are held on this festival day all over the country, small and large. The second outing was to an Ethiopian restaurant with entertainment of Ethiopian dancers and an authentic band. The main singer of the band came over to our area, pulled me out of my seat and needless to say, I impressed my new friends with my shoulder dancing skills. Hahaha…so much fun with everyone dancing the night away. Lastly, the third outing was this morning when walked up a mountain outside of Addis, up to a historical church/palace/museum. It is also where there is, “holy water” thought to cure HIV/AIDS and other ailments is located, so many people who are sick travel to this place for healing. It was interesting to be there and see it.

4. Arat The number of days until I move to my site in Gondar. I am flying in a plane to the city on 

Tuesday morning! I'll be living on campus there in a "studio." I'm just praying that there is a working fridge and stove, hot water would be a plus. 

5. Amist  Five is T=the number of times I’ve been able to successfully get online-although it may be for just a few minutes at a time and in between power outages. It's funny because power goes out here, and it's just second nature. No one worries, just the way it all works. BUT, now I have an internet device so it should be more reliable from here on out...hopefully.

6. Sidist The number out of 10, or 60% of Ethiopians who are illiterate. Incredible isn't it? Can you imagine the what the US would be like if 60% of it's people couldn't read or write? We had speakers this week come in from USAID, Peace Corps, VSO, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, Public Health representatives and other professionals who discussed the current state of Ethiopia, and the small role that we play in the big puzzle. 

7. Sabat  The number of my team members who have their doctorate degrees. The degrees vary from Urban Higher Education to Engineering. I'm actually the only one on my team with out a masters degree...it's a little intimidating!  7 is also the number of times I’ve heard my supervisor Ato Mamo say, “We sent you a job description just to get you here…” meaning that the job description isn't entirely true because we truly create our own position based upon the needs of our institution. Exciting, yet terrifying all at the same time.

     8. Simint The percent, (7.8%) of Ethiopians living in the Amhara region (where I’ll be living) infected with HIV/AIDS.

9.   Zatan The number of hours we’ve spent learning Amharic- one of the many languages spoken in Ethiopia. I’m hoping I’ll be fairly fluent by the time I leave. I will at least be able to do the basic functions and not have locals laugh at me!  

10. Asir The number of glasses of South African red wine I’ve had with my colleagues at the hotel we’re staying at over the past week. The wine is lovely, and even better when sitting on a rooftop, decompressing long days, getting to know amazing people, with the sound of a busy street and prayer chants from a local mosque in the background. 

Overall, it's been a great week and it's been fantastic getting to know such amazing people. I'm looking forward to heading to my site in Gondar where I'll call home for the next 10 months. Here's a few pictures from the festival we attended. More pictures will come later, but I need to get back to a meeting!

The sea of people as we entered the festival...

 Drumming away :) Such amazing colors

Umbrellas are customary- they worked well for the rain too! 

Our group, plus or minus a few

Bahera and Douglas- married for 30 some years, met while volunteering in Africa. Lovely people, and Bahera has taken the role as my mother away from home :) 

Lighting our own bonfire

Hope everyone is doing well! :)

<3