Site Visit!
So it’s been a month since I last wrote and I know I left at
a pretty big cliff hanger so let me dive in and tell you all what you want to
know….
Or at least that’s what we thought would happen when we went
to get our placements… we were wrong. Instead we all gathered and were assigned
a photo scavenger hunt in groups. We had to run around like crazy tourist
asking random strangers for favors. Among the photos we had to take was our
whole group in a public shint bet (like an outhouse… just nothing to sit on) in
a bajaj (a 3 wheel three seat taxi) get three Ethiopians to dance with us in
the traditional style, and get a picture riding a donkey to name a few! To be
sure it was harder to find Ethiopians to dance with us than we thought. I mean
imagine a bunch of foreign tourist running up to you in America all excited
asking in broken English for you to dance with them so they can take a photo…
we had one person say he’d do it only if we paid. Even the kids were hesitant,
though we did finally get the kids to agree at least. Besides the photos we had
activities to accomplish, the first was to do a wheelbarrow race at one of the
hotels, and then chug a bottle of sparkling water (which we had to actually buy
L
). After doing so we were given our first clue… ZEBIT! Next we had to rush to
the other side of town (on foot) to another restaurant/hotel and create and
sing Peace Corps related lyrics to a backstreet boy’s song.
Tell me now!
I really want to know my site!
Tell me where,
I’ll be living for two year!
Tell me where!
I really want to know now!
I want my site now!
Original I know… I’m actually the
one to come up with the lyrics. But in my defense no one else had any ideas and
it WORKED! After singing our heart out to a camera we got a second clue… DEBERE!
Finally we got to our third clue. Which in order to learn we only had to buy
coffee for our Language teachers. And though it was heard to sit still from all
the excitement we finally got our third clue… Amhara!
With all three clues collected we made our way to a big room
where they had taped a giant game bored onto the ground. We were arranged by
region, mine being Amhara, and given a dice to role our way through our
journey, losing a turn due to “a bus issue” or even starting over due to
“illness” in my case we finally made our way to the goal and using our clues
guessed my site and found it on the map. DEBRE ZEBIT located in the Amhara
Region in the Semen Wollo Zone. In other words either a two day journey by bus
from Addis Abeba or an all day journey by plane to Lalibella and 4 hr bus from Lalibella
to site.
The following day we packed into buses and drove up to
Addis, settling into a very nice hotel with amazing warm showers and apparently
a pool though no one had a swim suit. I felt very pampered! The next day I woke
up with a swollen eye due to a bug bite in the middle of the night… go figure.
Regardless we were given another all day of classes leading up to our
introduction of our local Counter Part. Mine is a man named Endewek, he is
married, has one child, speaks mostly decent English and is a DA in the
government run Ag-department at my site. One of the things I appreciate about
Ethiopia is there provisions or Ag experts put in almost all of the rural towns
to provide technical trainings and support to all there farmers, and to deal
with issues such as erosion and failing crops. In a lot of ways these people
are rockstars. Not perfect by a long shot, but they are tackling giant issues
with very little funds.
The next morning (around 3 am) we got up got packed and
headed out again. This time to the airport. Shortly after noon we landed in
Lalibella which is a big tourist draw due to the rock churches cut into the
stone (they are stunning, look it up on
google!). I would’ve loved to see
them in person but we didn’t have the time. We did have to by a mattress in
Lalibella though, else we would have nothing to sleep on. Though I’m still
confused why we bought it there, my counterpart insisted. Lalibella knows
Tourists have money and so most things cost far too much there. In addition we
then had to transport a mattress for hours on top of multiple buses to get it
to site. I was completely lost the entire time my Counterpart was running
around arranging transport. I have no idea how I’ll be able to use public
transport on my own from now on. After being jammed into the backs of a few
van/ “minibus” we arrived at site in mid afternoon.
I expected to be brought to my new home, instead I was
brought to my counterpart’s home, and given my first meal since 3 am that
morning. Interestingly its bayonet on “Red Injera”. Bayonet is an assorted
vegetables with a spicy sauce served on Injera. Injera is like a sour spongy
large crepe made from fermented Teff, a local grain. Normally Injera is made
from White Teff, but as I discovered in the rural towns (kebeles) Red Teff and
hence Red Injera is more common. For me getting used to normal Injera took a
long time, the Red Injera has an even stronger flavor and for me made eating a
bit hard… something more to get used to.
During the meal a man came in who was in a formal looking
uniform carrying a huge rifle. Hugging my counterpart I find out they are
brothers and that he is a police of some sort. Finishing up the meal I am then
treated to a traditional Bunna Ceremony (coffee). Ethiopia is the birth place
of coffee and it is a cultural cornerstone in their daily lives. In a ceremony
they will roast the bean, grind them by hand then place them in a pot with
water to bring to a boil. They will have 3 tea cup size cups of Bunna each
ceremony waiting for a new pot to boil each time. As a result it can take an
hour to get all three cups, this is why it is used as a social time. These
ceremonies will take place from 3-5 times in one day. Even if you can’t have a
full ceremony you will stop by a bunna bet (coffee house) every few hours for
another cup. In PST I have had maybe two cups a day and not in the evenings
though I have had bunna ceremonies before. I heard rumor that bus drivers will
stop every few hours for bunna even with a whole bus load of people, which
makes travel take quite a while.
For me the coffee in this ceremony tasted a bit stranger
than normal. I have come to enjoy Ethiopian style bunna quite a bit, even
without my preferred milk with it. On occasion the richness has a chocolate
warmth and aftertaste. But this bunna for some reason reminded me of sweet
soap. As it turns out the flavor difference was due to the addition of salt to
the coffee as it’s brought to a boil normally I just have black coffee with
sugar. Some PCVs have really liked salt in it, but I still found it a bit odd.
The third way Ethiopians drink their coffee is with butter, I have not tried
this yet, but I’m open to it if it’s offered some time.
Soon many more people start showing up at the house, first DAs
from the ag office, then a bunch of village leaders show up (also holding
rifles) all apparently as a welcome party for me, which I hadn’t been told
about pre-hand. It felt odd to be around so many guns, held so casually.
I was then given more food because apparently the meal I
just finished wasn’t enough. The party lasted late into the night and I
attempted all the language skills I knew, yet was still being told I was being
too quiet. What do they expect, I can barely understand what’s being said, let
alone contribute to the conversation. At the end I was told I was actually
expected to spend the night at my counterpart’s house, given his queen bed,
while they took the floor. Guest status protocol is still confusing to me and
makes me feel very uncomfortable, yet I can’t refuse it. They treat me half as
a child and half as a queen. And of course I needed the bathroom in the middle
of the night, my option was either use the chamber pot with the family in the
same room or wake someone up to accompany me to the shint bet so the dog
wouldn’t attack me. I chose the latter but felt awful for dragging someone out
of bed.
The next day I went to my new house, met my new compound
family and saw my rooms. I have two, about 3m2 each which is a good
upgrade from my current space. It’s made out of mud and sticks and covered in
blue paint so you don’t fully realize it and a tin roof. Surprisingly I do have
a cement floor! Only two other PCVs are supposed to have one this round,
everyone else has dirt. One of the rooms is meant to be my kitchen but really
it was just an empty room. I’m starting from scratch I have a mattress and
sheets that’s it. I had to buy lightbulbs and sockets but I do have electricity
when the power is working, but no water… I’m not actually sure where the water
comes from, all I know is a woman disappears and when she comes back 30-45 min
later she’s lugging a huge can of water on her back.
I was then shown the rest of town. It’s really only one main
streets and two side streets. The main street is one of the main travel roads
made of assault by the chimes. It’s really nice and comparable to American
roads, and gets pliantly of traffic. It takes about 10 min to walk from one
side to the next. The houses are all crowded close together in the town, leaving
less yard space than I had in America. And all the houses look the same. Mud
and wood is rarely painted on the outside. I’m not sure I’ll recognize my house
let alone my town next time I have to travel to it alone. The farmer training
is located right next to the school which is right next to the health center
which is right next to the governmental/committee center. Makes tings
convenient. I was given a tour of each and was talked up in Amharic about all
the awesome things I’d be doing to every person I met. Then they all looked at
me expectantly as I stumble through my memorized introduction. They then all
say I’ll be fluent in a matter of weeks, which I highly doubt. The level of
expectation is daunting, I’m not sure I can live up to all that… not even sure
everything they expect of me cause it was all done in Amharic.
The next day I traveled to my hub town Felakit via hitch
hiking, which I’m not allowed to do, but my counterpart got the ride for me and
since I was with him I didn’t have room to complain. We met up with another PCV
Alben who shared my hub town. He lives an hour and a half from it while I live
a half hour. So my nearest neighbor is two hours away but I’ll hopefully be
able to meet up at the hub town once a month or so. The are two other PCVs
around me all from my group of training, one is to the West of me around 2 hr,
and the other is south east also about the same distance, but both have a
separate hub town. We spent the day trying to set up bank accounts, post office
box, and meeting all the officials in the health office, main ag office, and
governmental offices. Most governmental officials spoke good English, but I have
no idea how the level of expectation they have for me could be met. We of
course had a power out while trying to set up a bank account, so we were told
come back in a few hours so they could process us, so we went shopping for
kitchen supplies, and had bunna. Power was still out so we had lunch. Power was
still out so we got some beers. My first lesson as PCV, anything that should
only take the morning, set aside the whole day for, cause it’ll take that long.
Right when we were gonna give up and go home the power came back and we
finalized everything. The post office we then stopped by, but it was closed. Apparently
since there was no manager the worker was lazy only opening it when she felt. We
tracked someone down who had her number called her, and waited 30 minutes till
she came buy and I finally got my mail set up.
Nicole Stinchcomb
box 41, felakit,
semen wollo
Amhara Ethiopia
On the ride home we found a minibus type contraption, that started out squished with 3 seated legally to two seats in america. We had 7 seats which would have been tight, but as we went we kept adding moor to the vehicle, at one point we had 14 people total, with two babies and luggage beside. i just kept giggling to myself thinking about how much like a clown care I felt. there were people standing and laying on each other to fit. in america we would have been find so much if not arrested for how many were beyond the carrying capacity. and there was nothing i could do about it cause i was in the very back corner with no way out, and my counterpart trying to explain to me that there wasn't enough transport and that's why it was happening. he was baffled at why i looked so amused.
My final day in site I was taken from home and walked out of
town to see some ag farms. First time seeing some decent space, and I quite
enjoyed it. As it turns out we were going to see a food security program at
work. This program is government run and quite remarkable. First every Ethiopian
is expected to show up to 30 days of community service. These are recorded and
marked off. After the 30 days, any man or woman can work more in exchange for
food. The types of community service may vary but much of it is geared to soil
conservation, planting trees, digging water catchments, and berms on hill sides
and building small dams in new forming gorges, meant to fill up with sediment,
and relevel the land. That day they were building a small dam for that purpose
and took a lot of pictures which I posted to Facebook. The men were set to
digging out the gorge to fill with rocks, while the women carried the rock from
a faraway unknown source on their backs. After digging it out, they set up wire
boxed and filled them with the rocks. Took a few hours for a group of 30+ to
set it up. Every time I tried to help though the locals would pantomime that I can’t
help because I’d crush my fingers or something -_- . After if finished my counterpart
gathered them around in what I assumed was a “thank you for participating” speech.
Then turned to me expectantly… with 30 strange eyes watching me, I realized
that in fact he had been talking about me and wanted me to introduce myself. So
I said my introduction for the hundredth time; name, age, nationality and occupation.
Then stopped, people still watching me not knowing anything else I could say. Despite
knowing a bunch of words I still have the language capacity of a 3 year old. “my
name is ___” “I like ____” “I don’t like ___” “this color is ____” “yesterday I
ate ___, then went to ____, I bought ____, then came back to house” etc.
After that we walked back for lunch and had the rest of the
day off. My compound grandmother was spinning cotton tread by hand and I was
able to watch! As well as making Injera. The next day I was up before dawn and
riding on my own in public transport to Felaket where I was supposed to get a
ride from the ag-office car. From there I was meant to pick up the two other
PCVs near me and drive together to Lalibella. But the person I was supposed to get it from
was still asleep. So I wait for him about an hour, drawing a crowd who stared
at me sitting around, wondering what the Forigner wants. When the ag head arrives
he explains the car needs to be prepped first and that I had to wait a few more
hours, so I go out for breakfast and inform the other PCVs I’ll be late picking
them up. Of course after breakfast we go for bunna because the car has an
issue. Then the car needs to go to the mechanic and I no longer have a ride. I’m
told if I wait till after lunch I may get a ride. Finally I find a ride leaving
before lunch but once we get to the next big town I’m left in a megeb bet
(small restaurant) for 45 min, as he goes to do an errand in another town. When
he comes back he orders a meal. By this time the PCVs I was supposed to pick up
decide to just catch a bus. Which means instead of splitting the price of my
ride three ways I have to pay for the driver taking me three hours through the
desert alone. Luckily though he did know
a bit of English, and made for pleasant company. All this I took in stride of
course, at this point something taking twice as long as it needs to be, is
common to me. By the time I get to Lalibella it’s too late to take the hike to
see the churches, but I do get a hot shower in the hotel. I met with the other
two PCVs and was able to relax a bit.
Despite the fact our plane was set for around noon we left
the hotel around 9 in order to drive all over town picking up one passenger at
a time to go to the airport. Interestingly, by plain it takes one full day to
get to my sight but two days if I want to get back to Addis, something to
remember. By the time I got to Addis though I was beginning to feel nauseous, I
thought it was just all the traveling, the landing on the plane was rough and
someone else had vomited. But the next morning I felt run over by a truck and
just wanted to curl up in the fetal position. I had no appetite started
vomiting, and I felt worse as the day progressed. I still had to suffer through
a 2-3 hour bus ride back to Butijira before I finally got to the health clinic.
It was night fall by the time I got into a bed. The doctor only gave my some
antacids for the stomach issue, which did help. It wasn’t till the following weekend
when I came back because the pain came back that they took a stool and found I had
an Amoeba Tellytuby pal. But I did get meds for it then.
The last two weeks weren’t nearly as eventful as site visit,
but they were busy. I’ve been spending 4-6 hours a day in language class now in
prep form my LPI next weekend. We also taught a class at the local middle
school for 1.5 hr that we had to design ourselves. We were graded on our lesson
plan and facilitation skills. And this last week we did our second 3 hour technical
training with farmers that we designed ourselves again. This time we taught of
crop rotation, intercropping, and nitrogen fixing trees used in agriculture. Most
of us didn’t realize St.Patrick’s day was there till we were reminded, and most
were shocked that it was that time of year already. The PCVs actually found
some green dye and had a small celebration. Sharing the American/Irish culture
;)
Among other excitement, the rainy season has started. Not the
big one when day and night is nothing but down pore, but the smaller one where
it storms all night and is calm during the day. I’m excited for this, the tin
roof dose make it hard to sleep with all the noise. Still I want to see this
place green up a bit. I have one week left in Butijira then a final week in
Addis Abeba before swearing in. After that I’ll be in site for three months
alone before reconnect. Excitement and terror all mixed together. The expectations
seam so high... I have no idea what I can even offer my site that they aren’t
already doing… nothing easy at least. Technical training is hard when you only
know what you read on google.
Well that’s all for now. Don’t forget about me, I haven’t
received anything as far as mail or packages from anyone yet. Most of the other
PCVs do. I do get e-mails faster than mail so I wouldn’t mind you sending me a
few! Nicole.l.stinchcomb@gmail.com just don’t send any attachments, I won’t get
them. I would love to hear how everyone at home is doing, I can’t afford to
call even my mom let alone everyone else.
Much love from the other side of the world,
Nikki
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