Small Accomplishments

I suddenly find myself with countless tales and adventures.  I have been living here in Dangila for just one week but already the adventures are adding up.  In a few months, or even just a few weeks I am sure that I will develop a routine and the adventures will become just normal, but for now I appreciate the change of scenery where everything seems new again.

The first couple days I would go to bed feeling accomplished, but as I reviewed my day I could not completely understand why I felt that way.  In America if you wake up, fix breakfast, run errands, swing by work for a bit, eat dinner and go to sleep, it's a sufficient day, but not one to boast about.  Living in Ethiopia I have to reevaluate the way I judge the work I do each day.  Fixing breakfast here is not as easy as grabbing a granola bar, microwaving oatmeal, or driving up to Starbucks.  So when it takes a couple hours to make pancakes (sans a few ingredients) and wash dishes via my bucket system, I don't sweat it, in fact, I feel pretty darn proud.

French toast breakfast!

Each night I now record a bullet-point list of accomplishments from that day in order to adequately acknowledge my small successes.  My first day in Dangila reads:
•       Bought 2 pots, cooking dishes, flour, eggs, roll of bread
•       Picked-up furniture from carpenter
•       Unpacked suitcases into new dresser
•       Checked mail (3 letters, 1 package awaited me!)
•       Melted cheap power cord
•       Ate Peanut Butter sandwich for dinner

Each item contains its own story, and that was just my first half-day here!  My favorite story from that day was picking up my furniture. When I stayed here for a week during "site visit" about a month ago now, I ordered three pieces of furniture from a garage, as they call them.  Imagine a quarter-acre of land with a large shed in the middle and about five workers in jumpsuits hammering away on chairs and tables alike.  I gave the owner a simple sketch I drew of the pieces I wanted made, and we bargained on an appropriate price thereafter. When I went back my first day here I was pleased to find my finished pieces of furniture scattered amongst the skeletons of half-finished sofas and piles of scrap wood.  When the horse-cart waiting outside demanded 30 Birr ($3) to transport the pieces to my house, I was outraged, and luckily, so were a few of the workers.  Two of the men working there agreed to carry it to my house for half that price.

Before I knew it they had hoisted my bed frame over their heads and were striding down the street, taking two steps for my one.  They arrived in half the time it would have taken the horse-cart, and they carried their wooden masterpieces straight into my house!

My list of accomplishments from this past week is surprisingly filled with many culinary undertakings.  My whole PCT class received cookbooks (put together originally by volunteers in Kenya, and then revamped by current Ethiopian PCVs); therefore I cannot take responsibility for the wonderful recipes that are not only possible with limited resources, but delicious!  I am very proud of myself though for putting in the effort to make complex meals here, because at home I tend to stick to boxes with step-by-step instructions, usually having something to do with the microwave.  So far, I have made tortillas from scratch along with guacamole for dinner one night, and an awesome pasta sauce from scratch the next night!

I am enjoying my small accomplishments each day as I take the time to explore my new community and find my place here.