My Last Ethiopian Holidays

For my final three weeks of Peace Corps, including Christmas and New Years, my boyfriend, Dominik, is visiting Ethiopia. In a sense it has been strange introducing him to this place I’m about to leave. I’m trying to let him find his footing while I’m trying to figure out how to gracefully tip toe away.  It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to visit the places I know and love in order to say goodbye one last time. We were able to spend Christmas in Bahir Dar with other volunteers, visit Gondar, make a day trip to the Simean Mountains (my first time), and still have a week to spend in Dangila.

My favorite part of Christmas was our boat ride to see the hippos in Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile River. I invited my great Ethiopian friend Aregach to come up to Bahir Dar for the day to join our adventure. She has always told me she loves airplanes and boats, even though she’s never been in either, so I decided it was necessary that she try out at least one of the two.  She has only been in Bahir Dar once before for a wedding, so I was very happy to help her see a bit more of her own country.  We also invited a couple of the Bahir Dar high-schoolers Kyle knows to join our trip as well. We had such a fun time on the Christmas boat ride and saw at least five hippos, including one baby, who kept poking their heads out of the water for us to see.

For New Years we had a party at our friend Michelle’s house, a PhD student who we’ve known for a year and a half now.  She was packing up her house to leave early in the new year also, so we had a big bonfire to burn her and Kyle’s trash. Some travelers and some new PCVs joined us and we had a grand time ringing in the new year. Now just a week left in site to wrap it all up before finishing Peace Corps. It’s all happening so fast, it almost doesn’t seem real.