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.