Welcome To Dangila

This past month I had the privilege of hosting my mom, dad and brother in Dangila for three days.  When I was planning our Ethiopia-section of their time in Africa, I thought about all the historical places I wanted them to see- Lalibela, Gondar, Bahir Dar.  But when it really came down to booking how many days I wanted to spend in each place, I immediately knew I wanted them to spend the most time in Dangila.  Not only did I want them to experience my home, and way-of-life, but I wanted them to meet all my friends and drink more coffee than they could handle, just as I did when I first arrived!

Our time spent in Lalibela, Gondar, and Bahir Dar was fabulous.  The sites in Ethiopia are spectacular and one-of-a-kind, but my favorite part of having them here was the hospitality received in Dangila.  I knew I had some wonderful friends here, but the warm welcome they gave my family was so special and unrivaled.  The first night in Dangila, we were invited over to Ali and Billie’s house.

They used to live in my compound, but moved out a few months ago into a bigger house nearby.  We all sat in their living room and spoke in broken English, while I translated the rest of the details back and forth.  They served us a plateful of injera and wat; some of the best I’ve had in Ethiopia!  I was a little nervous about having my family taste Ethiopian food in a restaurant the first time, but at least there, you can openly say something doesn’t taste great.  At a friend’s home, it is a bit harder to reject the food!  Luckily, the food was well received by my family.  Thanks for being troopers family.   Then, as we were putting our plates down, satisfied by the delicious food, another round of plates came out!  That’s right, another plateful, but this time it was western food! Spaghetti, tomato sauce (with burbere spices of course) and bread; we all looked at each other with wide eyes.  We graciously accepted the second dinner and followed it by a coffee ceremony, although there was quite a bit of food left over.

The next night we had yet another two-course meal, featuring almost all the same foods! It was amazingly thoughtful how all my Ethiopian friends catered to our needs and welcomed us into their homes.  My favorite part of coming to my town was the night we first arrived, after the first marathon meal, my friends Tigist and Tewelde awaited us back near my house.  They were so excited about meeting my family, and they came bearing gifts.

They had an “Ethiopian” beaded bracelet for each of them, freshly made local bread, local-made potato chips, and Christmas cards for us!  It was the nicest thing.  Then they escorted my family back to their hotel on the main road.

It truly brought tears to my eyes.  The hospitality here and love I receive from all my Ethiopian friends is truly the reason I am still here.  They teach me something new every day about selflessness and generosity.

Travels to Tigray

The twelve-year-old boy in charge of taking money on the mini-bus from Mekele to Wukro was very surprised when six foreigners hopped in.  He watched us carefully for a while, and eventually asked me a question in Amharic.  He curiously asked where we were going, and where we were from, and then I mentioned that we lived in Ethiopia.
“No you don’t,” he said.
“Yes we do,” I said, as I pointed at each person and said where he or she lives.
He continued to look at me with curious eyes as if he was calculating the possibility of what I had told him.  He still seemed very skeptical.
“Is it not possible?” I asked.
“It is possible,” he responded, “but it is not.”
 

That was one of my favorite conversations I encountered on my trip to visit Tigray.  I eventually convinced him that it was the truth, and then he continued to ramble on for the rest of the trip about his favorite movies. 

It is amazing how each part of the country is vastly different from the others.  I was so impressed by the number of stone buildings replacing the mud walls that I am surrounded by in Amhara.  The soil was much sandier, and coupled with the sandstone houses, and dry countryside, everything appeared beige.  Tigray is the northeastern Region in Ethiopia, bordering Eritrea.  The first language of the region is Tigrinia, making it feel like a completely different country, not knowing a single word.  Luckily, for the ease of getting around, if you started a conversation in Amharic, people would often respond accordingly.

I was able to spend two nights in Mekele, and two around Axum, visiting many historical sites in each of those cities and in-between.  The history of Ethiopia is so rich, and at each site, I kept trying to imagine what the atmosphere would have been like thousands of years ago.  Castles, churches, monoliths; each had their own ancient tales.

While my stories are abundant, only pictures can tell the bulk of what I saw.  From the camel market in Mekele, to the church chiseled out of a mountain outside Wukro, to St. Mary’s Church in Axum, where it is believed that the Ark of the Covenant is still kept.  This beautiful country continues to amaze me.

 

Meskel Square

Last weekend I was all packed up and ready to leave for about a week to visit the northern part of Ethiopia, Tigray Region.  We left on an 11-hour bus trip to the capital city, Addis Ababa, to begin our journey and we were planning on flying out Sunday morning to Mekele, the capital of the Tigray Region.  I knew Sunday was the Meskel holiday, but I didn’t know that it was celebrated in Addis with a mass gathering in Meskel Square!  Since we were coincidentally there on Saturday afternoon, we decided to brave the crowd and experience Meskel the right way.

Three of us met up with our Ethiopian friend and started walking towards Meskel Square.  The main streets were blocked off and masses of Ethiopians were starting to gather.  It looked like downtown right before a baseball game.  We joined the flow of people and along the walk there was a glimpse of the normally bare Meskel Square that was now overflowing with people.  The Square is about the length of a football field; enclosed on one side by a half-oval of steps where people were crammed into, and open on the other side to the main road which was closed to traffic.  The square (which is actually not square, but a half-oval) and out into the street formed a stage filled with hundreds of performers and priest all dressed in white traditional clothes.

As with most mass-gatherings, it was a bit chaotic, and the only way in was now packed with people.  The crowd around us became more dense as we were being pushed towards the small opening in front of us.  Once through a security check and around a corner we realized that the only way to get into the raised section above us was to scale a 6-foot wall.  It seemed like this was the only option, so while clutching our bags and forming a chain we made our way to the wall and followed the Ethiopians in helping each other over.  At last there was no pushing.

We then followed a natural aisle through the masses of people and found a spot where we could peak over people to see the festivities down below.  Luckily in a crowd of Ethiopians I can actually see over most people!  There was a presentation from the Orthodox Pope, and performers dressed in red, yellow and green formed the shape of the Ethiopian flag.  After about an hour, around dusk, waxed rope used as candles was passed out among the crowd of people and the highlight of the Meskel holiday was about to take place: the bonfire!  In the middle of the square a huge pile of wood was being prepared for burning as the people started to pass their flame from candle-to-candle throughout the mass crowd.  The sky turned dark blue just as the candle light filled the square while groups of Ethiopians continued chanting and dancing.  Just as the whole crowd had received the passing flame, the bonfire was lit and fireworks were shot into the air.  The sky filled with smoke and the thousands of twinkling candles formed a sea of lights.  It was a truly majestic scene.  Not long after the fireworks stopped the crowd disseminated in what seemed like a much easier fashion than the initial wall-climbing fiasco.  It was such a great evening; one of my favorite days in Ethiopia.  I retract my former comment about all Ethiopian holidays seeming the same, because Meskel was different in many ways.  I loved celebrating in Addis, feeling like I was a part of something big and truly experiencing the Ethiopian culture in a new way.

New Sites, Old Friends

Another month has passed in what seems like seconds.  It feels like just last week I was contemplating my birthday celebration and already it is time to turn the calendar once again.  It is hard to believe I have been here now for eight months.  I try to capture those eight months in my mind to comprehend all that has happened, all that has changed, but I cannot; it is like trying to hold water in my cupped hands.  This is my life now, and it is equally hard to imagine life back in America.  Costcos and Targets, public drinking fountains and air conditioning seem like a fairyland, not a reality I will return to one day.

I am part of Group 2 here in Ethiopia since Peace Corps returned in 2007, and as my group begins our eighth-month, Group 1 enters their 22nd.  Some of my good friends in Ethiopia are from the first group and it is fun to daydream with them about their upcoming integration back into American life.  I realize as I read this that, what to me is “daydreaming,” to my friends is their upcoming reality.  It is easy to get caught up in future plans and joke about common amenities we do not even think about anymore.  It is hard to realize that these dear friends of mine will soon be leaving and my time here in perspective has only just begun.  Months now can be talked about as if they were weeks, or days. Saying out loud that I will be here for about 18 more months is no longer an amount of time that scares me. But knowing Group 1 will be leaving in four months; that amount of time does not seem like enough.

Dear friends.

As part of the ever-rotating Peace Corps cycle, one group’s departure means a new group’s arrival.  Two months from now, in October, Group 3 arrives for their 10 weeks of training.  And while I don’t like to think about my friends leaving, knowing new people are coming takes my mind away from that a bit.  This past week I was able to join Peace Corps staff on “Site Development, Round 1” as they prepare for Group 3.  In order for PC to place the new volunteers, they do three rounds of site development in towns around the country to find places for volunteers to live after their training.  There are several towns around my part of the country (including two in my zone, which is like a county) that are being considered.  If any Group 3 people are reading this, some of you could be my future neighbors!  I enjoyed getting out of Dangila with PC staff to visit surrounding towns and help with the preparation process.

There are going to be a lot of changes with the training and counterpart selection that are new and exciting to all of us.  I’m sure I will be writing about these upcoming changes in my life here a lot in the next few months, but for now it is fun to be a part of something new, even though I’m not looking forward to seeing friends leave.

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go

I leave tomorrow.

I leave tomorrow.

I leave tomorrow.

I swear my mind can't stop repeating that phrase. I almost don't believe it. It is hard to make your mind believe that you are going to a place that you cannot picture. I have seen pictures, but I cannot even start to realistically imagine what my life is going to look like, or feel like for the next 27 months. The whole concept is still a very abstract idea in my mind. But soon, very soon, this abstract notion will be a very real reality.

All I know is that in 48 hours from now I will be stepping foot in Ethiopia. I will be scared. I will be nervous. I will be more ready than ever.

I know I will be ready partly because as I look at my packed luggage, I know I am prepared for pretty much anything. When I finally slid that last zipper closed I had a huge sense of relief accompanied by a wave of reality. There they are; my bags are full and my to-dos are all checked-off. I'm moving to Ethiopia.

I could not have a better support system watching over me though. My loving family, incredible friends and caring neighbors; I could not do this without your encouragement. I have truly had more support offered for this trip than I could imagine, and it has really shown me how blessed I am. Thank you all for the words of advice, warm hugs and deep discussions. I am forever grateful.

On the right side of my blog is my mailing address. Please write to me!

All That You Can't Leave Behind

As my departure date gets closer (just one week left now), my preparations have turned from practical to panicked. I am constantly debating which luxury items I cannot live without for 27 months. One "must-have" is music, as my ultimate tool for relaxation and coping. Luckily, with the invention of the iPod, pretty much any music I can get my hands on can be packed weight-free. So, I have decided that in order to be completely prepared, I need to download every record and CD in my house to my iPod.

The journey of unpacking my parents' old albums (LPs), and my brother's and my inaugural CD collection has been quite entertaining. And as much as I believe that my preparation for Africa is officially complete with the addition of Coolio's sophomore album to my iPod, I must soon turn procrastination into productive packing.

My most-recent CD import is the U2 album appropriately titled, "All That You Can't Leave Behind." Pondering this title has since inspired not only this post, but my packing. The hard part is fitting those things that I can't leave behind in my 80-lb allotment. Frustration sets in as I realize that simply rearranging items in my over-weight bag is not working, I must choose a few more items to unpack.

I have a feeling that I will be repacking until the morning of December 2, when I will be forced to make those final decisions.

Training Update

This week I found out a little bit more about my assignment and training. I will be leaving DC on December 3rd for Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia with my trainee group. There we will spend 3 nights in a hotel continuing with pre-training activities. Then we all travel to Ambo where we will each move in with a host family and begin our 10 weeks of intensive training.

I am very excited for this long-awaited adventure to start!

Preparing For Ethiopia

After graduating from Furman University last spring, I have decided that the Peace Corps is the right ‘next step’ for me. There have been many long discussions with close friends and sleepless nights trying to decide what to do after graduation, but all in all it seems like this organization is a perfect match for me. The Princeton Review book Best Entry-Level Jobs calls Peace Corps "the perfect job for the globe-trotting idealist in each of us." And, well, that pretty much sums up my aspirations.

About My Assignment

December 2, 2008 I leave for Ethiopia, where I will live and work for 27 months. My official job title is Community HIV/AIDS Volunteer. Upon leaving, I will have a two-day orientation in Washington D.C., and then 10 weeks of training in the town of Ambo, Ethiopia. After training, I will be sworn-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and assigned a town/village where I will work for two years.

I currently have less than three weeks to physically pack up my life and mentally prepare myself for what I assume will be the toughest, yet most rewarding experience of my life. After backpacking through Asia last summer, I feel significantly more comfortable with my level of patience and adaptability, but I hope to build upon those lessons. I have no doubt that this experience will shape me as a person and teach me more than I could imagine.

About Ethiopia

I recently came across a paper I wrote last winter for my “Women and Health” course about the poor health conditions in Ethiopia. I do not remember researching Ethiopia specifically, but there it was, a self-written plan-for-action detailing simple solutions to Ethiopia’s health problems. If someone had told me while I was writing that paper that less than a year later I would be living in Ethiopia with the opportunity to put those solutions to work, I would be speechless.

According to the UNICEF world health statistics, over 1,500,000 people in Ethiopia are currently infected with HIV. To give you an idea of their health education, only 54% of men, and 39% of women know that a healthy-looking person can have HIV.

I get to help change those statistics. That’s cool.

About my adventures to come…

You can check back here for updates on my preparation, and adventures through Ethiopia! I will leave you with a quote about Ethiopia that both confirmed my excitement, and secured my anxiety for my upcoming adventures:

“Testing, awe-inspiring and heartbreaking – a journey you’ll never forget. You don’t explore Ethiopia for a relaxing getaway, you venture here to be moved. And moved you shall be.” –Africa Lonely Planet