Ethiopian facts & cultural differences

Walking back from mall, landscape view

Another landscape pic

Ethiopian people on the streets

statue at museum

Another statue

statue

Posing in front of stairs w/ some meaning I totally forgot

Kenya, me, Andrew, & Bre

Landscape view from inside museum

Addis Ababa from a distance

Museum painting

English version

Amharic version

Cool monument

I’m a little tired at the moment, but I wanted to post tonight b/c I don’t think I’ll have internet access next week.  We’re going to meet out host families tomorrow, who we’ll be staying w/ for the next 3 months.  The areas we’ll be in are more remote.  We started language training today, which I’ve been looking forward too.  Ethiopians speak Amharic, which is a difficult language to speak.  It has similarities to Arabic when pronouncing the words, while the characters look like Hebrew, almost like hieroglyphics.  We just learned some basic survival phrases.  You greet someone by saying “teng yistiling” pronounced “teng eastiling” which means “how do you do?”  That’s only for the 1st time you meet someone.  There is another greeting for when you meet someone you already know, and it differs for males & females.  This can cause problems if you’re not sure is a person is a male or female.  Starting next week language training is going to get very intense, 8 hrs a day, 6 days a week.  We also took a tour through Addis Ababa today, which was really cool.  We visited a few museums, one of which was one of Haile Selassie’s old homes.  Ethiopia has a lot of history.  It’s the only African country to never be successfully colonized.  The other museum has some of the ancient evolutionary man fossils found in archeological digs done in Ethiopia.  One of the staff in the museum asked me if I was our groups tour leader.  Evidently I look like a native.  It’s quite different being part of a majority w/ other people of color.

I said in my last post I’d share some Ethiopian facts we’ve picked up.  First there is a 7hr time difference from the eastern US.  They don’t use the normal 12 month Gregorian calendar.  Their calendar year has 13 months so they are behind in years.  It’s actually 2004 here, so I’ve successfully traveled back in time.  What’s REALLY messed up is I got my host family a couple of U.S. calendars as gifts, I had no idea.  They have 2 seasons here, wet & dry.  Right now the high gets in the high 60’s - low 70’s, while the low gets in the mid 40’s.  People here where coats regardless.  It was about 70 today & I saw people wearing darn near bubble gooses.  Coffee is huge here.  Buna is  coffee in Amharic.  It’s one of the largest & most lucrative exports.  I don’t drink coffee, & have been able to avoid it so far, but there’s no way I hold out the entire time I’m here.  Ethiopian also has the largest number of traffic fatalities in the world, mostly pedestrians.  Needless to say I walk waaaaay in on the sidewalk, like shoulder to shoulder w/ buildings.  Also, men are VERY affectionate towards each other here.  It’s normal in their custom to see 2 men walking holding hands, stroking each others face, or with their hand on each other’s thigh.  What makes this even more unique is homosexuality is illegal here.  They just don’t have the same concepts of masculinity  or personal space.  I know I’m supposed to conform to customs, but I aint touching some dude’s thigh.  There is tons of other stuff I’ll talk about in later post.  So far it’s been great.  I’m looking forward to moving in w/ the host family tomorrow, to be thrown into Ethiopian culture 100%.

The Arrival

Dining on a cheese steak at world famous Geno's in Philly

World famous Geno's

Hotel lobby in Philly before boarding bus to NYC

Loaded bus to NYC

NYC view from bridge on bus

Another cool NYC pic

All our luggage at JFK

Hula hooping in the airport

PC friends passing time w/ cards

Our first steps outside airport in Addis Ababa

Boarding the bus to our hotel

Bernard & Bre on bus excited to be in Ethiopia

Our first Ethiopian meal...Cheeseburgers!!

1st day of training

Ben, one of the coolest dudes on the planet

Taking a walk

The herd from a distance

Herding cattle in the middle of the street

Ethiopian cattle

A couple of kids running the herd

 

View from a volunteer's balcony outside room

Wow, where do I start?  Oh, I know….I’M IN ETHIOPIAAAA!!!! It’s been a long journey but I’m finally here.  The flight was long, but not bad in any way.  We took a bus from Philly to JFK, which was cool b/c I’ve never seen NYC up close & personal.  It’s large & traffic was bananas! The drive took us a little over 3 hours.  It’s a little different flying international w/ a group of 20 people.  We had a lot of down time in the airport since we got through customs by 5:30pm & our flight didn’t board until after 9pm.  We ate, some played cards, some hula hooped (which can cause strange looks in the airport terminal), & we all made our last phone calls to family & friends.  I shouldn’t say last, that makes us seem like we’re on death row.  We said our see ya laters.   The flight from JFK to Frankfurt was over 7 hrs, then we had a 2 hr layover there, and finally the flight from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, which was over 7 hrs as well.  Quick side note, we flew Luthansa, which is a German airline…the service & food were impeccable.  Everything is complementary, including wine if you drink, which I don’t, so I stocked up on juice.  We got in around 9pm local.  We were exhausted, but everyone’s adrenalin was pumping so much we got our energy back quick.  The Ethiopian staff was there to meet us when we got through customs.  Everyone was so nice & cordial.  We loaded up on 2 buses & headed to our hotel.  We couldn’t get a good look at the city b/c it was dark out.  We got in, met some more PC folk & had dinner.  They gave burgers to break us in slowly.  As hungry as I was I could’ve eaten my left arm.  My roommate is Wayne, same as in Philly.  The hotel staff have all been wonderful, making sure we’re comfortable & even helping us w/ the language.  One of the staff members called me Barack Obama, which I thought was funny.

The past few days we haven’t had time to see the city.  We’ve been super busy in cultural training & getting everything situated.  Learning about the conditions we will be living in, the security, the food & water situation.  I’ve enjoyed the food so far, but we’ve been advised things can change when we’re not dining at the hotel.  Mainly that our body may not be able to handle some of the preparation differences.  As far as water is concerned, we’re brushing our teeth w/ bottled water, so drinking it is out of the question.  Once again our fragile American bodies can’t handle the bacteria.  Ethiopia is also highly elevated, so you get winded quick.  I started dry heaving walking up 1 flight of steps.  Luckily I’ve been able to avoid elevation sickness.  We’ve also been put on Malaria meds, which is good b/c I saw 2 mosquitoes flying above my bed one morning fighting each other like I was their last meal.  My left arm is a little sore now b/c I got a few immunization shots today.  With all the things I’m on now I’m peeing purple.  It’s better than being sick though.  We’re here for another day or so, then we get to meet our host families.  We’re going to be divided up into 3 groups & train in different areas.  I have a local phone now.  Incoming calls are free for me, but will cost an arm & a leg to whoever calls me from the states.  I only have one more night of internet for a while, so I’ll do a post tomorrow w/ some of the Ethiopian facts I’ve learned.

So Far So Great!

The Ethiopia PC volunteers & myself having dinner. That's my roommate Wayne in yellow

What's up guys! Well yesterday got off to the an interesting start! I was scheduled to fly out of Raleigh at 6:40.  The problem is that when I tried to check in, the locator number on the itinerary wouldn't work.  I called the agency & it turns out they never issued my ticket to Philly. Talk about having an "OOOHH F@%K!!" moment.  They put me on hold for about 15 minutes, during which my life flashed before my eyes. Did I really get dismissed before I even started, what am I going to tell everyone, I'm going to have to work at Chuck e Cheese for money...etc.  I guess it would be like being pulled out of line the day of graduation, very embarrassing.  Fortunately, they get back on the line with a new ticket on another airline departing a few hours later...early enough to make staging.  I was relieved to say the least.  Since then it's been nothing but great.  Got to Philly, checked in the hotel, got lunch (philly cheesesteak of course!), & met my roommate Wayne.  He's a really cool dude.  He just finished hiking around 40 miles a day for the last few months. If you did the math, yes that is over 2,000 miles! Dude is a freak of nature.  All the volunteers I've met are like that, just super awesome.  It's 20 of us in my class going to Ethiopia, was going to be 21, but one dropped.  There's also another group here going to Kenya.  I'm the only one from the south.  Everyone else is from all over, Texas, California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, Connecticut, & a few others I forgot.  Texas & Cali are represented the most.  I'm also one of the older members of the group, probably around 3rd oldest or so.  Everyone thinks I'm in my mid-to-low 20's though, guess I still have that new car smell.  One volunteer is a little over 60.  He's really cool too.  He sold his business to follow his passion, you have to respect that.  All the guys are really nice w/ open, warm personalities.  They have all types of backgrounds. Some in biology, business, a few in natural resources, one guy was a Chinese studies/language major...the Chinese speaking Ethiopian community will be stoked.  We were staging today from about 1-6:45pm.  It was all useful.  We learned a lot about what to expect, how to carry ourselves, how to handle certain situations...mostly as a volunteer in general, the Ethiopia specific training will start when we get there.  It's been exciting & fun so far.  All the volunteers are excited.  Everyone has extensive travel experience, a lot of which is study abroad programs.  Some have lived in Australia, Tanzania, Dominican Republic, Korea, Ghana, Guatemala, & some other places I forgot.  It makes my little traveling seem like a glorified road trip.  We all went out to eat last night w/ the money the PC gave us, which more than enough for expenses.  Everyone but 5 volunteers are in the picture.  So tonight we leave for the motherland!  I'm not sure how often I'm going to be able to blog after this, or if at all.  I found out that blogs are subject for approval for security reasons, which is understandable.  I also had to add a disclaimer as well.  Hope to post again soon, w/ some pictures of Ethiopia next time!

The Journy Begins!

My family going away dinner

 

All the siblings & myself. Left to right, Abdul, me, Khadijah, Rasheeda, & Faruq (Anthony in spirit)...the fab 5

My neices & nephews (not all) Safiya, Huston, Aminah, & Walter

Me & Ab on my way to Raleigh the day before staging in Philly

My good friends Danny & John in Raleigh the night before Philly

It's been an eventful last few weeks. I really want to thank all the friends and family who took the time to see me, call me, email me, and send me cards to wish me luck, and wish me well.  As you can very well see this is the first post that actually has corresponding photos. I wanted to share the love I got from my family & friends w/ everyone.  It's bittersweet b/c you're happy to see faces you haven't seen in a while, but also somewhat sad b/c you won't see them again for a few years. 

I'm all packed up & ready to go.  I wish it was that simple.  It aint easy packing for 2 years, and being limited to 80 pounds of check in bag weight.  It's like playing tetris & doing calculus at the same time.  I've got 80 pounds of underwear alone.  What makes it even more difficult is I don't know what part of Ethiopia I'll be stationed at yet, so I'm not sure what climate to prepare for.  Popular belief is that all of Ethiopia is hot, but b/c there are a lot of mountains & some areas are highly elevated it can get really cold some places.  That means I had to pack for all situations.  My brother enjoyed the fact I couldn't pack everything & took the opportunity to "take care" of some shoes for me.

I fly to Philadelphia tomorrow for staging, basically orientation, where I'll meet other volunteers going to Ethiopia.  Staging will be from about 1-7pm.  Then on Tuesday we're taking a bus from Philly to JFK airport in NY, where we will be departing for Ethiopia at 9pm that night.  We're scheduled to reach Addis Ababa 9pm Wednesday night local time.  I think I'm more relieved than anything at the moment to be able to actually get things started.  It's been such a long process & having to move out this week and get everything packed up to leave has really wore me out.  A few people have asked how to send things to me when I get out there.  Here are the directions the Peace Corps sent me to pass along for mailing items.

Sending mail during Pre Service Training (PST)

Peace Corps Trainee’s Name
P.O. Box 7788
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia


Sending packages
Both parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail.  Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to the possible theft and heavy customs taxes.  Please do not send any electronics (cameras, computers, hard drives, etc) as these items have extremely high custom taxes (often times as much, if not more, than the item itself) and the Volunteer will not have sufficient funds to pay these taxes and the item will have to be shipped back home to you.  You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive.  We do not recommend, however, that costly items be sent through the mail.  Even though Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may use the following address to send letters to your family member at any time during his or her service:

John Doe, PCV
U.S. Peace Corps
P.O. Box 7788
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We recommend that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed

I plan to continue to take & upload plenty of pictures as I go along.  I'm not sure how long it'll be before I'll be able to post since I'll be traveling, starting tomorrow.  Hopefully the next post will be from Ethiopian soil.