Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday! Happy New Year!

Brownies and ice cream with Pam and Shauntea

Typically the week(ish) of December 24th-January 1st is my absolute favorite time of the year.  During what other time can 3 awesome holidays be celebrated in just one week?  Christmas, my birthday (yes, I am referring to my birthday as a holiday), and New Year’s- 3 great holidays- 3 great parties!  This year, however, my favorite week of the year filled me with dread for most of December.  I knew coming into this whole Peace Corps gig that this week would be extremely difficult for me.  I originally considered going home for a vacation during this time, but eventually decided against it figuring that if I can only afford to come home once during these 27 months, I would much rather it be at the half-way point than so early on.

 If you follow my blog regularly and commit my every word to memory, as I’m sure you do, you will recall that Ethiopia runs on a different calendar than most of the rest of the world.  We are about 7 years and 8 months behind the ferengi (foreign) calendar.  So December 25th is not Christmas in Ethiopia, and January 1st is not the New Year.  Ethiopian Christmas falls on January 7th, and we rang in 2005 back in September.  Being away from family and friends during the holiday season is hard enough, but being away in a strange land where there are no familiar, comforting holiday traditions and nobody even knows that it’s Christmas basically blows!  I do have to say that there were a few things that I did NOT miss this Christmas.  I didn’t miss the stress of trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on my list.  (Simple- no gifts for anyone from me this year!)  I didn’t miss the traffic and the lines at the mall.  (My biggest traffic issues are crazy bajaj drivers, herds of sheep, and stampeding donkeys.)  I didn’t miss being completely broke come Christmas Eve.  (Ha! I’m completely broke all the time.)  I didn’t miss the incessant and annoying Christmas music that is inescapable in every public place.  (I chose to listen to the 1 Christmas album on my iPod when I wanted to hear it.)  I did however miss many other Christmas traditions.  I missed my annual family Christmas Eve celebration.  I missed my mom’s sour cream coffee cake on Christmas morning.  I missed the lights, trees, snow, and stockings hung by the chimney with care.  I missed the overall spirit of Christmas.  Those are just the things I missed, and that’s nothing compared to missing family and friends!

Fortunately I have 2 lovely new Peace Corps site mates who moved to my town just in time for Christmas.  They are a married couple from Minnesota, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them over the past few weeks.  We decided to celebrate Christmas together by cooking some great food and delivering some Christmas gifts to our workplaces and to some of the people we know around town.  The Christmas gift thing was not my idea, and the Scrooge inside me didn’t really want to do it (my original plan for Christmas was to stay in bed and cry all day), but I went along with it anyway.  I am so, so glad that my site mates had this great idea and that they were kind enough to include me in it.  We walked all over Ambo bringing little packages of kolo (a local snack of roasted grains and peanuts), gum, and candy canes tied together with a cute, hand-made Christmas cards.  After we abated the looks of confusion on the faces of our co-workers and friends by explaining that the day was ferengi Christmas, they all seemed very happy and pleased to receive our gifts.  We ended the day with the most delicious meal that I have ever consumed in Ambo- tacos with made-from-scratch tortillas, guacamole, sangria and real taco seasoning on the meat!  So, I have to say that I learned my Christmas lesson- if you spend your day sulking over something you think you’re missing, you’re bound to miss something amazing.

Don't worry, I gave her a big tip for being a good sport!

In case you don’t already know, I am a birthday brat!  I LOVE my birthday.  I mean, really, what’s not to love about a day that’s all about me?  You would think that my enthusiasm for my birthday would wane as the years go on, but that’s not the case.  It only grows stronger with every passing year, and this year, the birthday of all birthdays- my golden birthday!  I turned 30 on December 30!  A few years ago, I could never have imagined that I’d be celebrating the big 3-0 in Ethiopia.  I’d been secretly planning my 30th birthday for at least the past 5 years, and let’s just say that Ethiopia was not a factor in this particular equation.  While my birthday wasn’t quite like the one I’d planned in my mind, it was a really fantastic time.  I met two of my Peace Corps friends in Addis Ababa for the weekend.  We filled up on ferengi food- pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, cupcakes, oh my!  We also enjoyed hot showers, clean toilets, free wi-fi, television, and a trip to the spa.  Yes, that’s right I said spa!  There is a wonderful oasis in Addis called Boston Day Spa.  This spa is absolutely gorgeous, and I almost forgot that I was even in Ethiopia that is until the power went out during my pedicure.  Not to worry, the power returned after a few minutes, and I was able to continue enjoying getting my hair done, eyebrows waxed, manicure, and pedicure.  It was a truly wonderful weekend spent with my friends- probably pretty close to how I would have celebrated my birthday at home actually.  It’s easy to forget how nice it is to feel like a girl again, to wear make-up, have clean feet and pretty toenails, and wear clothes that don’t make me look like an Amish grandma , even if it’s just for a little while.

Yay for birthday cupcakes!

In terms of great parties, New Year’s Eve is usually at the top of my list.  I’ve thrown and attended some wicked fun ones, but there have also been a few duds (not thrown by me, obviously!).  I think I can safely say that this New Year’s Eve will be a dud.  I am pretty tired from my birthday weekend, and am planning to go bed early tonight.  I don’t really feel like I’m missing much on this holiday, especially since it’s currently the 4th month of 2005 here.  I can’t say that I’ll miss the anti-climatic ball drop in Times Square.  I do love the New Year for the possibility it brings- a chance to reflect back on the past year and the hope and optimism of a new year.  I feel like I was in a bit of a slump for most of December.  I had Peace Corps In-Service Training mid-November, and I found it difficult to get back into the swing of things when I returned to my school afterwards.  Plus I let my negative attitude about being away from home during the holiday season get the better of me.  I have never been so happy to see December go!  Now that ChristmasBirthdayNewYear is behind me, I feel excited and invigorated to begin new programs for students in a few of my schools and to continue with the work that I have already begun.  

May you all have a happy and healthy New Year!

Yummy drinks

Stranger in a Strange Land

Traditional dress

After living here in Ethiopia for 6 months, I am still awed daily by the onslaught of cultural differences between life in the U.S. and my life here.  I think I’m pretty well adjusted to the food- I’ve just about mastered the art of eating with my hands, and I actually enjoy injera and most Ethiopian foods.  I’ve grown accustomed to the bathroom situation- I still pee on my feet 90% of the time, but that’s ok, I just wipe them off.  I’ve embraced only bathing and washing my hair twice a week- I’m dirty and my hair is a hot mess most of the time, and I don’t even care!  These physical differences between my former “normal” life and my current Ethiopian life are the things that you may think it would be difficult to adjust to, but I have found them relatively easy.  What I have found most difficult is adjusting to the attitudes and different social norms that I experience in Ethiopia.  It is amazing to consider how ingrained my American-ness is, and how my American brain interprets everything I see and hear using the cultural standards that I’ve lived by for my entire life.  I would consider myself pretty well-traveled for a 29 year old (yep, that’s right, I’ve got 18 days left of my 20s and I’m going to enjoy my remaining youth!).  I’ve been to several countries outside of the U.S., experienced, to some extent, life and culture there, so I imagined myself to be fairly well-prepared for life in Ethiopia.  However, I am constantly reminded that I am still just a stranger in a strange land.  Here are a few situations that still have me shaking my head.  These circumstances all occur on any given day.  On a good day when I am experiencing Zen-like inner peace they are simply humorous.  On a day when I am frustrated, annoyed, tired, sad, or not feeling well, they are completely maddening.

“Ferengi, ferengi!” “You, you, you!”  These phrases are regularly called out to me as I walk down the main road of my town.  Mostly by children, which can be forgiven because it can be assumed that they just don’t know better, but when it is done by an adult, it generally infuriates me and makes me want to push the ignorant individual into on-coming traffic.  The person yelling, will generally continue to shout until either I acknowledge them or until I get far enough away from them.  Why people feel the need to point out that I am a ferengi (foreigner) is beyond me, but they do.  They even alert their friends that they have spotted me.  I like to pretend that they are saying “The ferengi is coming! The ferengi is coming!” because that makes me feel like Paul Revere, although I suppose that in this scenario that would make me the British, and that’s not the side I want to be on.  Anyway, I often wonder what exactly they expect my response to their shouting to be?   Do they really expect me to yell back across the street to them?  That’s definitely not going to happen.  I don’t typically enjoy yelling, and I’m certainly not going to draw any more attention to myself by doing so.  Actually, I should mention that the calling out is typically done by young men and children.  Clearly the women here are far more civilized.  I would also like to point out that everyone here answers their phone by saying “hello”.   Is it really too much to ask that if someone wants to get my attention, they should just say hello?  I think not.

Everybody’s all up in my grill!  Everywhere I go, everything I do, everybody is watching me and taking note.  People will literally stop what they are doing to watch me walk by.  Complete strangers find it appropriate to ask personal questions.  For example, I met a guy on the road a couple days ago.  He first asked me my name, he then asked what my religion was.  Now that’s cutting to the chase!  People also think nothing of commenting on your appearance from the shade of a person’s skin, to a person’s weight.  I’ve been called fat more times than I can count.  It’s getting easier not to cry when that happens.  I’ve had people ask about my freckles and point out pimples.  It’s so much nicer in America where people make these kinds of observations behind your back!  Every day I am peppered with questions and receive unsolicited advice.  Here are a few examples “Alicia, don’t sit there.  Sit here.”  “Alicia, why aren’t you drinking tea?”  “Alicia, you look fat when you wear a skirt. You should only wear trousers.”  “Alicia, talk, play.”  “Alicia, why are you sweating?”  “Alicia, are you sad because it’s almost Christmas?”  “Why aren’t you married?”  “Alicia, I want you to marry my brother.”  Now some of these questions seem harmless enough, but they are incredibly annoying when I am asked them CONSTANTLY!

I’m about to drop a ‘bow on this dude!  There is no such thing as personal space in Ethiopia.  There is no such thing as a nice orderly line at the bank or post office or anywhere else.  Everyone just shoves their way to the front without worrying about who was there first.  I can be at a shop talking with the shopkeeper, asking for the things I need to buy, and somebody else will just come right up to the window and start asking for the things they want to buy.  I’ve gotten into the habit of putting my elbows out and trying to block the whole window when I’m doing my banking or at the front of the line at the bank.  The worst is getting onto a line taxi in Addis Ababa.  Line taxis are little mini busses that run on certain routes throughout the city.  There are often many people trying to get just a couple open spots on the taxi.  People will run, push, and shove you out of their way.  You have to be very aggressive to get a seat.  Luckily since Addis is not my town, I don’t really feel the need to be nice to people! 

Now the question is- are these behaviors rude?  My American brain says, yes.  If I was in the U.S. and somebody cut me in line at the bank, you’d better believe I would make sure that person knew how rude I

Ambo sunset

thought they were!  If someone called me fat, they would absolutely get an equally insulting comment back and the dirtiest look I could muster up.  Here in Ethiopia though, these behaviors are just a part of daily life.  In most cases people are not intending to be rude.  It takes a huge change in mindset to not get offended or upset, however that is easier said than done.

I don’t want to give Ethiopia a bad rap.  There are things that are a wonderful change from American culture.  Many people here are very kind and generous.  One teacher from my school invites me to her house for lunch at least once or twice a week.   Even people who do not have a lot are willing to share what they do have.  There is an amazing sense of community among neighbors.  Everybody knows each other.  They celebrate together in good times and grieve together in bad times.  I have to keep these things in mind when the annoyances creep in. 

School assembly for Ethiopian Culture and Diversity Day

This student made a remote control car- betam gobez!

*The photos on this blog post don’t really have anything to do with the subject of the blog, but

An academic competition for 8th graders

what fun is reading anything without pictures??

Report Writin' and Body Parts

First graders hard at work

As a first assignment at site, Peace Corps tasked us newbies with writing a Community Educational Needs Analysis.  We are to research and write this report within our first 3 months at site.  Now, I do not normally consider myself to be a procrastinator- I was the kid who went home from school and did my homework right away, but I have been putting off this CENA for as long as possible.  I have been slowly gathering research and observing English teachers for a few weeks now, and finally this week I have begun to put pen to paper (or typing to Microsoft Word, I guess).  I have just about 2 weeks left to complete my report.  One reason my CENA has been a little slow going is because it is quite difficult to track down the correct people with the information.  Even when you find the correct person, he/she may not have the information you need.  Plus with an unhelpful counterpart, who regularly blows off our appointments and when I do get a hold of him, tries to get rid of me as soon as possible, it’s been especially difficult to get this report moving.

Oh yeah, and there’s the fact that this report is a pain in the butt, and I just don’t want to write it!  I don’t think the Peace Corps properly read my resume.  Did they not notice that I my degree is in Baking & Pastry Arts?  We didn’t write research papers!  Class assignments consisted of making fruit tarts, French baguettes, petit fours, and cakes.  Lectures were on the history of chocolate, the properties of eggs, and the gluten content of different types of flour.  Final exams were making wedding cakes and sugar showpieces.  I’m not sure I’ve ever written a paper that is this research intensive and important.  Well, there was that third grade report on Prince Edward Island.  That was a challenge- for all you kids out there, those were the days before Al Gore invented the internet!  Fortunately I am incredibly smart and talented, and as you can judge from my blog, a gifted writer, so I’m sure that my CENA will be just fine.  

A class of 68 first graders

The main school that I am assigned to work in is called Addis Katama Primary School.  This school has approximately 2,850 students from grades 1-8, and 63 teachers.  Class size ranges anywhere from 50 to 70 students.  I actually observed one first grade class that has 73 students.  Just think about trying to control 73 first graders, never mind trying to teach them!  As you can imagine, the teachers here face many obstacles in the classroom.  A first grade student can range from 7 years old to maybe 13 years or older, and an eighth grader could be anywhere from 14 years old to 20s.  Many children, especially girls, are kept home from school to do household chores or help with the family business, particularly farming, livestock, etc.  Once a younger sibling comes along to take over these duties, or perhaps the family can hire someone, then this child goes to first grade.  As for the age range in eighth grade, there are those who start late of course, but also there is a country-wide eighth grade exam which must be passed in order to move on to ninth grade.  The students who cannot pass this exam, may re-take eight grade and try again, possibly many times.  Judging by the fact that there are 7 public primary schools in Ambo, 3 public secondary schools (grades 9 & 10), and just 1 preparatory school (grades 11 & 12), it’s a safe assumption that most students don’t make it past eight grade and even fewer go past tenth grade.  If a student does not pass the nation-wide tenth grade exam to move on to eleventh grade, he/she may attend a technical training college, including a teacher’s college and become a primary school teacher.  Hmmm, interesting….

I’ve spent most of the past month that school has been in session observing the English teachers in my primary school.  Inevitably the teachers love to throw the lesson over to me, asking “Alicia, can you teach them something now?”  After the first or second time I was caught off guard, I learned to ask the teacher ahead of time what the day’s lesson was on.  This week I observed a 1^st grade class.  The teacher informed me that the class was working on learning parts of the body.  I told him I had a great song that I thought the students would enjoy.  I taught him “Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes”.  When class began, the teacher wrote the words for the song on the board as I went over the words with the students, pointing out each body part mentioned.  Then, 68 first graders got up out of their cramped desks to sing and do the motions of the song.  The kids absolutely loved it!  We started off slowly, getting faster and faster each time, until even I could barely keep up with the motions.  We finally stopped when I was exhausted and my throat was completely dry.  It was so much fun to see the students all active and participating and all just having a ball.  Unfortunately students aren’t regularly engaged in classrooms here and learning is rarely made fun.  These are some of the things I hope to work on with the teachers during my time here.

Also this week, I started my English club for the teachers at my school.  I plan to hold the club twice a week so that any interested teachers can join.  Because of the overwhelming number of students and lack of space, public schools are split into 2 shifts.  The morning shift goes from 8am-12:15, and the afternoon shift goes from 12:30-4:45.  Grades 1-4 attend one shift, and grades 5-8 the other.  So students and teachers have a 4-hour school day.  Each month the shifts change, so for example right now grades 5-8 attend in the morning.  Next month, they will switch to the afternoon shift.  Anyway, this is my reasoning for running my Teachers English Club twice a week at two different times.  On Tuesday I had 9 teachers attend- 4 were English teachers and the rest were from various other subjects.  On Thursday I had only 4 teachers attend, but I did have 2 teachers tell me later that they forgot and will come next week.  I adjusted the time for Thursday’s club to be more convenient, so I expect a better turnout next week.  I originally didn’t want to start anything just yet because I will have to miss 2 weeks in November due to Peace Corps In-Service Training, but the English department head was pushing to start now.  It was actually really nice to have something to plan and work on this week- made me actually feel useful for the first time in a while.  I think the teachers all enjoyed it, and I am looking forward to starting some student clubs soon.

Some of the older first grade students

One of the newer and nicer buildings on my school campus

Most classrooms look like this though

and like this

Field in front to the school

A watched pot does, in fact, boil.

I have now been living on my own in Ambo for 6 weeks.  I have spent most of the past 6 weeks being extremely bored.  I have not been able to do any work yet because although school was scheduled to start over 2 weeks ago, classes are not yet in session.  My counterpart, who has been assigned to help me get work done, meet town and school officials, and basically support me and the Peace Corps mission is full of promises, but has proved to be unreliable thus far.  The first couple of weeks in Ambo, it was actually a relief to have nothing to do.  It was really nice to relax and catch up on some sleep after a rigorous 2 ½ months of training.  It was good to have some time to wander around town, find out where to go to buy the things I need.  After about 2 weeks though, I had slept so much that I had thrown off a normal sleep pattern.  I had no reason to get up in the morning, nowhere to go, and nothing to do, so I would just stay in bed until noon, sometimes I would fall back to sleep in the evening, then I would be awake until 3am.  I have never before been so bored.  Sure, at times I would have nothing to do back in the U.S., but then I could watch t.v., go drive somewhere, call a friend to hang out, something.  Here it’s a whole new level of boredom.  There’s only so much I can walk around town.  Plus a simple walk through town is anything but simple.  There will be stares from every person I walk past, children asking for money, people shouting out at me from across the street, “ferengi, feringi, where are you go?”  On one walk to the post office, I had a young man walk with me (uninvited, of course) and ask me all about how to get a visa to America (I have no idea, call the Embassy), why I am not married (because I neither want nor need a husband), do I want a habesha husband (absolutely not!), could he have my phone number (sorry, my phone is only for work), could I give him an English book (nope), where do I live (over there, pointing to everywhere and nowhere),  could he come to my house (not a chance in Hell, kid).  I finally ditched him once I arrived at the post office only to run into him again later that day, and have him ask again for my phone number and if he could come to my house.  I’m sure you can see how this could become quite annoying.

One thing I have done to combat my boredom is to enact a strict “no multi-tasking” rule.  I absolutely will not allow myself to do two things at once.  If I am cooking dinner, I will sit and watch water until it boils, rather than doing something else in the meantime.  Then, I will do whatever else I have to do later in order to stretch out my time.  I have also become an old lady, and I enjoy doing crosswords and other puzzles.  I have read a lot of books and written a lot of letters.  I have watched all the movies that I have, some multiple times, and you know, The Lucky One just isn’t good enough to watch over and over, but I’ve now seen it 3 times. 

Many Peace Corps volunteers have a site mate- a fellow volunteer assigned to the same town.  At first, I was glad to not have a site mate because I wanted to discover things on my own, and make my own way here.  I know that if I had someone, I would depend on that person to show me the ropes.  I am really glad that I have done a lot of things by myself.  It has not been easy, but I have managed.  That being said, there will be a health volunteer coming to Ambo in a couple months.  The new group of trainees has not even arrived in Ethiopia yet, and I have already made this person my new best friend and planned all sorts of things we can do together!  Haha  Hopefully he or she will be cool and not think I’m too nuts!

Carrying torches to light the Meskal bonfire

Bonfire, but nobody brought marshmallows! What's wrong with these people?! haha

In other news from Ethiopia, this week, we celebrated the holiday Meskal.  Meskal is celebrated by the Orthodox Church and commemorates the discovery of Christ’s cross.  Part history and part legend, the story says that Empress Helena sought to find the cross upon which Jesus died.  In order to find where the cross was buried, she lit a fire and followed the direction of the smoke.  The smoke led her to a site and after digging, 3 crosses were discovered, one of them said to be the True Cross of Christ.  Part of this cross is located at a church here in Ethiopia.  On the Eve of Meskal, neighbors come together to light bonfires, some with crosses fashioned at the top.  During this time yellow daisies are in bloom everywhere, these Meskal daisies are used to decorate the bonfires and also in homes.  It was really interesting to observe this celebration, and to see friends and neighbors come together.  As at home, Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, Meskal is the unofficial end of the rainy season.  I am very happy about that!

Another Meskal tradition- bands of men go around chanting/singing/praying (who knows?!) and collecting money

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Before furniture- living like a bag lady!

Yay! Clean and organized. Now I'm just waiting for a couch.

I am also happy to report that my furniture was finished this week.  About a month ago, I ordered a coffee table, chest of drawers, and kitchen piece from a local carpenter.  Finally, with the help of my landlord and his truck-owning friend, we picked up the furniture on Wednesday afternoon.  I feel so much more relaxed and settled now that I have finally unpacked after almost 4 months!  It is a great feeling to have a clean and organized home.  I didn’t have enough money to order all my furniture at once, so this week I ordered a couch which should be ready in another month.  I look forward to being completely settled into my house soon.