Christmas Time in the City...well kind of.

I'm not going to lie, being away from family this year on Christmas was tough. If you know me, you know I love traditions. I love the feeling of Christmas in the states and having time that I can spend with my family uninterrupted. Christmas music, ABCs 25 Days of Christmas, checking out all the ornaments on our tree, looking at Christmas lights, pre-Christmas activities like buying/wrapping presents, Black Friday with Alex, arguing over what Christmas dinner is going to be (my family and I do this every year...really it's me just arguing if it's anything other than what I think the tradition is...) and all the other culture that makes up Christmas in the states. 

One of the teachers here, and a woman who is becoming a close friend of mine, came over to my house on Thursday before I left for Addis. Her name is Aster, and she is fantastic. She asked me what I do in America for Christmas and how we celebrate. Then she told me that she had heard people give gifts in America, and she pulled out a wrapped gift from her purse. She told me that she wanted to give me something small, just as a reminder that I am loved and needed in Gondar just like I am at home in Minnesota. She told me how grateful she is that I am here, and that she understands it must be hard to be away but she is so glad that I'm here.

It made me realize that in my short 3 months here, I have created family and friends. The next day, I traveled to Addis, the capital, for a conference with other IFESH volunteers for the weekend. Seeing all of the other volunteers made me remember once again that here in Ethiopia, they are my family.  Although they may not be close in proximity,  they would do anything for me if I needed, and I for them. It was wonderful to see everyone, catch up on how their time has been spent in Ethiopia, hear their trials and tribulations and spend some quality time together. We had a Christmas Eve Party to celebrate on Saturday night, and then on Sunday I celebrated Christmas by treating myself to a little TLC with my friend Kelly- a pedicure and manicure was the perfect cure for my home sickness. 

The Lord calls us to live life to abundance and through his birth He makes this possible. I was not able to go to church, not able to eat Christmas cookies or a giant Christmas dinner, no immediate family around, no wrapped gifts under the tree....but it was the perfect lesson. I realized it's not about the culture, the stuff, or even the family. It's about celebrating the birth of Christ,  it's about remembering the reason of WHY we are able to live life in abundance and the lesson that even the presence of family is a luxury.  Our Lord is so sweet, and even half way across the world He has provided me with the comforts of family, love, warmth the ability to live in abundance. And for that alone, it was a very merry Christmas...even if it was a little different than normal! 

Aster, Melishu, Alaseb...the 3 women I am closest with at the college. They are all amazing :) 

Flying to Addis-50 minute flight over mountains

Kelly and I "pregaming" before our Christmas Party, AKA drinking boxed wine in our hotel room :) 

Christmas Eve Dinner with the team-20 volunteer and about 10 family members were able to join us. It was fantastic. 

Dancing after dinner...quite the entertainment

A giant dancing circle definitely was made, we even included the hotel workers. 

Christmas day pedicures-giant comfy pedicure chairs, OPI nailpolish and a complimentary glass of wine :) What could be better!

Icecream after the pedicures! Incredible-

Hope you all enjoyed your Holidays, found many things to be thankful for on Christmas and feel as blessed as I do. Merry Christmas, time to bring in 2012 :) 

Asnolo Doro

 Coming home on Thursday to a live chicken in my apartment was quite the experience. To be honest, I thought my helper was going to bring it home killed, I figured I wouldn't take part in the process....but I was wrong. I laughed pretty dang hard when I walked into my living room to find a live chicken squawking about, realizing that this is how they do it here, so why would I expect anything different! Pretty sure it knew it was going to die soon...poor little lady.

Highlight of the week for sure: Helping kill a chicken (really that means standing near by, watching and wincing while taking photos), then helping clean it, cook it, and eat it. It was quite the excitement for me. In the states, we pay big money for "organic" food, and I am just as much to blame as anyone else. Here, "organic" is the standard, and you don't get much more clean or organic than killing the chicken yourself and cooking it up for dinner that night! ;) Oh the things I'm learning here in Ethiopia!

Asnolo Doro- sorry chicken...

A few pictures to show some of the excitement...

Walking in, the doro was alive an well.

Two guards came to help finish her off, women here in Ethiopia aren't allowed to kill things. 

The remains on my front stoop....as students were walking by, the ferengi with the camera, 2 guards and my helper, I'm sure we made quite the scene. 

Cleaning the bird. First, we poured boiling water on it, de-feathered it and then took it's skin off. Afterwards, she cut it up into pieces (not needing to think twice about it), gutted it, took out all the gross stuff, and put the edible chicken in a clean bucket of water to soak with lemon. 

The end result-Doro Wot. Onions, garlic, oil, burberry, salt, chicken and boiled eggs :) It's what Ethiopians make for celebrations and special occasions, for me, a post-Christmas dinner! 

Mom and Dad, next time I'll do it all by myself so that I can repeat this process when I get home in July! ;) 

<3 

An Adventure at the Bus Station

I HAD A CRAZY EXPERIENCE ON THE WAY HOME TODAY. I was in piazza (the center of town and to get home from there you have to go to this main bus hub where all the mini busses come in and out. There are always a lot of people, it's always busy, but nothing like I ever saw tonight. On a typical day, you walk up to the area, and there is anywhere from 4-10 busses sitting and waiting. There are young bus boys yelling out the destination of their bus, and you just get on! If it's busy, the busses pull up and the bus boy who is hanging out of the bus is yelling where the bus is going. If you're on the way, you get on, it's quite easy. Today was not an ordinary day.


I knew something was up when I walked to the bus stop area and there were well over 100 people waiting for a bus. Far more than I have ever seen before, even if it was right after work. I guess there was some type of road block on the way to college (that's where I live), which meant that all the buses going that way had to take a longer route, which messed up the whole system.  


A bus would pull up, and if it was going the direction of College, people would try to hurl themselves onto the bus. They would huddle and follow the bus until it stopped, and once the doors open it was a free for all. Didn't matter if you're a woman, child, crippled or scared shitless white girl...once those doors opened you had to figure out how to push your way onto the bus. One bus pulled up, and I thought it would be a good idea to get right in the middle- push myself up towards the front. I can handle it, right?! Well, once the doors opened, I was not ready for it. It was SO SCARY!! It was like I was in the middle of an Ethiopian mosh pit, that I did NOT want to take part in!  I got scared and backed out of it, it was just too much to handle and all the Ethiopians laughed- I'm sure I was quite the spectical. I'm a spectical enough just being white around here, but then trying to fight for a seat against the locals was just too much for them to handle. 

ANYWAY, after I backed away from my near death experience, I walked away from the road to regroup and figure out a game plan.  All of a sudden I heard, "Liz!" And oh my gosh, I've never been so happy to see someone I know. I forget his name, but I worked with him this weekend when I was doing language testing. Thank goodness I ran into him- seriously. We waited for a while because he was heading the same direction as I was. 


Finally, we decided it was time to fight the crowds again. A bus pulled up, he started running towards it, grabbed my arm and told me to hurry. He was pushing through women, children, and got himself shimmied towards the front of the bus where the front seat passenger side door was way to the front. He put one hand out to block people from getting in, used the other hand to open the front door, yelled my name, and then grabbed my bag from me and shoved me inside!! He hopped in after me and we were both able to sit in the front. Once we got in, everyone was laughing because tonight was quite the unusual experience at the bus station. I thanked my friend by paying for his  fare and eventually got home safely!


What a night. 


PS- This is a picture of a typical Ethiopian minibus. I hope you have a good image of me tonight. When each seat is occupied, it seats 12 people, plus the driver, plus the bus boy who sits on a small stool near the door. One time, I counted 25 people in a minibus. Did you know, Ethiopia is 2nd in the world for most fatalities for motor-vehicle accidents? Awesome. 

Camp in Ethiopia, what could be better! :)

Last weekend I led a camp with the help of 5 volunteer and the lovely people at Yenege Tesfa- Hope for Tomorrow. We played with, laughed with, taught, sang and served 35 orphans who are all a part of the Yenege Tesfa organization. There are 50+ kids in 3 shelters in the Gondar area and it is an understatement to say that it was an incredible 4 days.

Some of the things we did included a trash pick up around Gondar and students learned all about recycling and why it’s important to dispose of our trash properly. On Sunday, we focused on health. We had speakers from the Gondar Hospital come in and talk about malnutrition, and having a healthy body. Then, that afternoon we went and played with the malnourished children in the hospital. It was a really good opportunity for the kids to serve, and realize that although they may be with out parents, their health is something to be thankful for.  On Monday, we focused on Gender Inequality issues and had an intense debate about gender issues here in Ethiopia. It was great to listen to, even if it was in Amharic. We finished up the 4 days on Tuesday when we talked all about leadership, made self-portraits and reflected on the week.  Pretty solid if I do say so myself!

It’s crazy what camp can do for kids. Having the ability to play, be silly, make crafts, serve and be loved by a role model is so important for kids- regardless of where they are in the world.  It was an amazing opportunity to lead this camp for Yenege Tesfa and I’m excited to see what comes in the future for my relationship with such an amazing nonprofit.

After Tuesday, I was pooped! 4 days, non-stop that was amazing and fulfilling…but dang tiring! Wednesday-Friday I had classes, ran errands, and gave my students oral examinations, which took up most of my free time this week!

Oh! I almost forgot, highlight of the week: Receiving 3…yes 3 packages on Tuesday! Best day ever!!! My amazing parents even sent me some homemade Christmas treats.  So thankful for little things like a package or card to remind me how close my family and friends still are!

This weekend I took part in helping test 200 primary school teachers on their English abilities.  (PS- I was SUPPOSED to do my training, but it was CANCELLED…AGAIN….really? Lame. ) Anyway, this testing…it’s an initiative through the ministry of Education to improve the English of primary school teachers in nation wide and the tests give a base line. It was great experience to be involved in and interesting to see what standardized testing is like outside of the states, but also meant a 12 hour day! Woof, remember when I first got here and was feeling like I was spinning my wheels, and was praying to get busy??? Watch out what you pray for!! J  Not complaining though, it really was good, just tiring!

Tomorrow, Sunday will be another day of testing and then filled with planning that night (and my weekly Skype date with Mom and Dad ;) ) This week I’ll be preparing my quarterly report because I’m flying to Addis for an IFESH conference on Friday. It will be great to see all the other volunteers, and to be with people I’m close to over Christmas. Plus, a vacation with a hot shower is always gladly welcomed.

Crazy that Christmas is only a week away. Doesn’t even feel like Christmas over here, maybe that’s a good thing!?  Happy Holidays my friends. 

PS- Pictures to come soon :) I'm sick of words. 

Thank goodness for Cippro...

Well, I had my first encounter with the Gondar Hospital and never want to experience that again....ever again. Like I mentioned in my last post, I hadn't felt well all weekend and when it got my serious I figured I needed to get it checked out.

Monday morning I went to the only private hospital in Gondar (it's supposed to be a bit nicer than the government funded hospital) After 4 hours of waiting, the doctor prescribed me with some anti-biotics and I was on my way out. Although, I did not leave with out having to take a stool sample in the nastiest bathroom I had ever stepped foot into. The "Laboratory" (a small room, with a few microscopes which was filthy) handed me a small, clear cup...very comparable to the sample cups they give out on Sample Saturdays at the grocery stores. In the small cup was a tiny wooden stick, and I was told to give a "small sample..." I had to wait to go into the bathroom because there was another woman who was loudly puking and when she finished, I was motioned to enter. Pretty sure the woman was puking because she was sick, I also would understand if she was puking at the uncleanliness of the bathroom-at least that's what I almost did.  I did my business, and then had to do the walk of shame out of the bathroom to hand in my sample to the lab...with all the Ethiopians staring at the only foreigner in the place. Really Ethiopians, yes...white people get sick too!

Anyway, my friend and co-worker Aster was kind enough to come with me and I am so thankful for her being there. Being in a place with so many people in such extreme suffering was intense. Also, I'm getting used to being the only white person around, but when sick, it was nice to have someone with me who spoke fluent Amharic.

What an experience. And one that I don't want to repeat. Luckily the Cippro (the medicine the doctor prescribed) is working and today I'm feeling better and was even able to keep a little food down.

The non profit I'm working with, Yenege Tesfa (Hope for Tomorrow) has officially scheduled the day camp for the kids that I'm running for them. The camp starts on Thursday, and runs all weekend. Hopefully I'll be back to 100% by then, there's is some pretty amazing stuff we're doing with those kids, so I'm looking forward to it!

Good things are to come, and being sick is hopefully behind me! I also hope that when I get back to the states in July, I can laugh at these crazy experiences rather than be scarred by them!!

<3

T.I.A...This is Africa...

        This has been one heck of a busy week, which is exciting but also exhausting. Today was supposed to be my first teacher training session with one of the primary schools that I’m working with. I was going to give training on Classroom Management on Saturday, and techniques when teaching English on Sunday. 13 teachers, 10 hours, I was ready to go and feeling good about it. My colleague Mary who I visited last weekend in Bahir Dar even came into town for the weekend to observe the training.

I woke up at 6 am to tie up some final strings, got ready for the training and made my way to the school. I picked up Mary on the way and when we arrived we walked into the Director’s office. When I walked in, he kindly greeted me but also looked confused to see me. I said, I’m here for the teacher training…where should I set up? He looks at me with confusion and said, “the training is next weekend, now we have a teacher’s meeting but no training today.  There must have been a communication error…”

Really, a communication error!? This has been planned for the last 3 weeks, how could it be a communication error! Obviously I acted as if it didn’t matter at all, and rescheduling would be fine, but what a let-down. He even said at the end, well you know, “this is Africa…” After that comment I looked at Mary and almost burst out laughing at the outrageous irony of that comment coming from this man.  In the same breath, although ironic, it is true. Things here are so much different than in the states. Although frustrating at times, it helps to teach me patience, flexibility and is definitely humbling although nonetheless annoying when things like this occur!

Mary and I walked back to her hotel where she and her sister are staying and had quite the ranting session. We then enjoyed many cups of coffee and a leisurely morning at her hotel which made things better. 

It’s exciting that they are in town, and now a busy weekend has suddenly turned into a weekend for rest. This actually may work out quite well since I’m not feeling so great. I came down with a cold on Monday, and it’s just gotten worse. The past 2 days my stomach has been really upset as well (note, this is where a bathroom within close proximity would be amazing and would eliminate the terrible incidents that have occurred…) Then, this morning when I woke up I felt like one of the herd of cattle and trampled over me…so… maybe a relaxing weekend with no plans is just what I need.

Either way, being sick (especially stomach sick), having uncomfortable bathroom incidents, and having “communication errors” all I can think of as I lay in my bed now is, T.I.A….This is Africa.

Hope you’re weekend has been more enjoyable than mine! As they say here, “Izosh” be strong…chin up..

<3