Settling into a new life

So this is my first blog post from my new home. Well, technically it’s from Axum but close enough. Sorry I have not blogged in awhile, so this might be a long one.

This part is from before swear in:

We left our host families and Butajira on Tuesday. It was sad and I will miss my host family dearly. They helped me out more than I can even describe. Although I still get homesick and I had a hard time at first, they made me feel welcome and at home and helped feed me (sometimes too much), keep me safe, and help me adapt to the culture of Ethiopia. I gave them a pot holder, my Uncle Mike’s calendar, and playing cards from New Mexico. The calendar is useless for them because they follow a different one, but they loved the pictures and were definitely interested in all of the holidays that were marked. I tried to explain the pot holder (which really would be useful for them), but they looked at me like I was green and had 3 heads. So that might take some experimenting for them to realize that it actually is a much better option to grab hot things than paper or their hands (which is what they currently use when cooking).

Their New Year was on September 11 (our September 11). I was expecting some parties, drinking, and a lot of food. I think my family was the exception, because I heard about that from other volunteers, but my family just sat around and watched tv all day. I was actually really ok with that, because I was able to just relax and read some Lord of the Rings (I’m a nerd, I know).

We got to Addis on Tuesday after taking the LPI on Monday. That’s the language test. We either pass or don’t, but it doesn’t have much affect. We get sworn in either way and if we don’t pass that just means we have to get a language tutor at site (which I was planning on anyways). I PASSED. Yay! J

There is a really good, new pizza place literally right next door to the hotel we are staying at and I have eaten there 4 times since being here… Ha. I also got a cheeseburger, fries, and a hot fudge brownie sundae. So basically I have eaten really well since being here. We are getting all of our firenji food in while we still can!

The other day we had “Addis Day” which is designed for us to get a sense of Addis with people who have been here a lot (current PCV’s and PCVL’s), but it’s mostly used for people to buy things that they can’t in their cities. Because I can buy everything in my city I was just able to go along for the ride. I had a group of 2 other girls and we went with a guide who is about to COS (close of service), but he is going to stay in country for awhile because he is engaged to an Ethiopian he met while serving and they have to wait for her visa. We went to a huge super market that rivals Costco and so I bought air freshner, vanilla, and baking powder that I can’t find at my site.

We then went to the Apple store (yes, there is an Apple store) to buy myself a new computer battery. They were awesome and spoke perfect English, but after like 4 different batteries they didn’t have the battery for my computer. They did order it from Apple though and are going to have it delivered here. I will get it in 3 months when I come back to Addis in December for our IST (in service training—PC loves their acronyms). I did buy a new external hard drive. The one I brought to country was 500gbs which would be fine for just backing my computer up, but I have been wanting to share movies and TV shows and can’t get many so I bought a new one that is 1.5tb. YAY! :D

It was about the same as it would be in the states with a little bit more for tax, but it will be ok. They gave us ½ of our settling in allowance in cash and ½ in our bank accounts, so I used pretty much all my cash for that, but I also don’t have to buy much for my house and stuff, so I’m not too worried.

Today we went wandering around and I bought a pair of shoes called Sole Rebels. They are sort of like Toms. Not as much of a cute story, but they are very similar in style and they are very durable. I bought a pair of purple moccasin things that are going to be very practical.

We got sworn in today!  We had all morning to wander and do last minute things and then we met at the hotel to drive to the US Embassy where swear in was. Security is super duper intense there (as you can imagine). It looks like a fortress or a big brick of a building. It’s really nice once you get inside, but it’s definitely a US government building.

We sat alphabetically by region (we practiced it yesterday and it definitely reminded me of graduation). The Country Director spoke, so did our training manager, the Ambassador, and 3 of my fellow volunteers who made a speech in the 3 languages we have been trained in. The CD got emotional because he was a director in a few countries but is retiring and so this was the last swearing in he would ever attend or do. They played the Ethiopian national anthem and the American national anthem.

We then all repeated after the Ambassador and swore in as a group (raising our right hand and all). After that our name was called and we shook the hand of the ambassador as we received our certificate and got a picture taken (PC took pictures of each one of us and will email us our individual pictures which I will post when I receive it).

After that we took a group photo and then they served us food. It was one big cocktail type mingle session. We were all grabbing the finger food that consisted of cheese, meat, sushi, and chocolate (they are all very rare in the Ethiopia). That was also a chance to get to spend time with and take pictures with all the people who have helped us on this incredible journey such as the Ethiopian and American PC staff and our Language trainings, who I was very happy were able to attend.

They gave us a huge long calendar of what we are expected to do each week in our first 3 months and an actual school calendar of when we can travel and such. That’s too much for this email, but I will definitely keep you all informed as needed!

I do not have Skype currently. It needs a new version to work and I have not had steady enough internet to update it. I will keep trying though and hopefully it will work at some point! Right now though I discovered that I can video chat pretty easily on FB messenger. I was able to video message Aly yesterday. I was able to see her even though she wasn’t able to see me. I am going to try and “see” some more people tonight before I head off to site.

I got a CDMA (internet stick) from one of our PCVL’s who is leaving and so he is selling his stuff for pretty cheap. I got my CDMA stick for 500 burr when it is normally about 1500. I think it is going to work. I will let you all know! Ha. I should be posting pictures tonight on Facebook from swear in if the internet works! It should because most people are going out, and so I should be one of the only ones using it. I am also getting a ton of stuff off peoples hard drives, so I will be a very happy camper J

I know this was a very long email, but there was a lot that happened in a short period of time. I just wanted to give a quick shout out to every single person receiving this email. I know it is going to be a long 2 year journey and there are going to be some difficult days, but I know that you all will always support me.

I definitely would not have applied, been accepted, decided to get on the plane, or gotten through PST without the support and love of all of my friends and family back home. This experience has been one that I can’t put into words, although I try often. It can’t even be put into pictures. It’s one that is the weirdest, most cool, crazy, sometimes awful, sometimes amazing, and always surreal experience I have ever had. I will continue to work hard and do well and I know that no matter what, you guys will be there for me.

This part is from my first few weeks at site:

I got to site on Saturday after flying into Axum with who I am beginning to call “The Axum 5” and we sat for awhile in a hotel in Axum to try and get internet. The internet wasn’t really working, so we sadly parted from each other.

I got to my site with Ally who lives a town away and we had coffee with my liaison before she left us to go to her site and I came with my liaison to my house. My room is super nice (well, compared to many of my fellow PCV’s). My luggage didn’t get delivered until Monday, so I had a few days with not much stuff. However, my luggage got here and I was able to unpack everything. Peace Corps drove all of our stuff up here (thankfully, I could barely lug my luggage to my room at the hotel—I own too much stuff).

This is weird for me, because it has been a long time since I have been able to spread out and make something my own. Living in the Chi O house for 4 years was awesome, but I was never able to truly unpack everything I owned, because it was spread out between houses and I always had to repack my things during vacations. Given, there isn’t a ton of room here but I don’t have a ton of stuff- well I do but it’s mostly small things. My landlady let me keep an armoir, so I am able to somewhat organize my clothes, bathroom things, and random stuff. That also means I have a place to lock everything away when I leave.

I went with my liaison to buy essentials for my house, like an electric stove, a few pots to cook with, and a few bowls to wash with. I was having some trouble getting money from the bank, because they were very specific with the letters that they wanted/needed from my school to verify I will be here for 2 years and that I will have a steady source of “income”. I finally got access to my bank account after 3 trips to the bank, with my liaison. I bought some basic food items to get myself through until I go to market (market day in my town is Saturday). I was not able to go to market this weekend because it was Meskele, however I have been eating with my landfamily the past few meals, so I still have a lot of food left.

I am going to get really good at cooking things like rice and pasta, because that’s all I can really seem to do right now. I am sure I will get more comfortable cooking with more ingredients, but right now I’m just cooking very basic things. My electric stove/hot plate can be a little fussy and sometimes the light decides to turn off. It turns back on, but I’m just hoping that it works for awhile, because I don’t want to buy a new one right now. I think it might be that I have to plug it straight into the wall to work, so it may be power surges. I am going to buy a surge protector once I get my next months income.

Life here is interesting.These past two weeks teachers have been in meetings. I have not attended because my liaison works at the different part of the school and so he would go to different meetings than me. I have been to the school though and I have met the Director, Vice Director, and other teachers. I have explored the town a little bit, however I seem to be sticking to my little area where everything I need is. The market and the only restaurant I have eaten at are across the main road, the post office, supermarket, and police station are only a couple minutes walk on the main road, and my school is less than a 5 minute walk from my house. The bank and my liasions language center are across town, but I have only walked that far with him so far.

I have been getting called firenji a lot from kids and I have been stopping to say “Kelsey ibbahal. Shimka man iyu?” which means “My name is Kelsey. What is your name?” I was proud of myself at first, but some of the kids just seem to call me firenji because they want my attention. I’m starting to gage whether to ignore them or to tell them my name. It depends on the age of the child and whether I have spoken to them a lot or not.

My land family is very nice and extremely welcoming. I am the only nonfamily member living in their compound. It is my landlady, her sister, and her daughter. The sister speaks a little bit of English, my landlady speaks a little less, and her niece does not at all, but we are able to communicate through a lot of sign language and broken Tigrinia/English. They are teaching me a lot of Tigrinia words, which I’m thankful for. The first few days I was worried because they kept checking on me and I didn’t know whether I was going to have to talk to them about personal space, but they just wanted to make sure I was doing ok, because they let me come and go and stuff. I have had buna with them and we talk when I am out in my compound, but they do not come to my room. I have spent more time with them the past couple of days and have been eating with them, and we are seeming to get closer.

There are little kids who live in the compound next to mine and they are here all the time. They are super precious and sweet and they are going to help me a lot, I can already tell. They were over the first few days I was here and we had a little dancing lesson/contest. They can totally dance better than me. We had on traditional Tigray music and then it switched the Usher and Enrique Igelsias, so that was an experience. I actually just got done with playing a game of catch with the little boy.

I love the coffee here and am now getting addicted. I had been having 1 cup at my host family’s house in Butajira, but apparently it’s proper to have 3 cups each time you have buna which here has been twice a day (at my land family’s house at least). The cups are tiny, but that’s still a lot of coffee. I know Ethiopia is where Starbucks gets their coffee, but the black coffee here is just not the same as a pumpkin spice latte. I miss those dearly. Everyone should have one for me please.

I have been a little out of my element these past few weeks because I am very used to being busy, and now that training is over and we are on our own, we have to figure out our own schedules. Because I have not gone to the teacher meetings, I have spent a lot of time in my room. I finished the 3^rd Lord of the Rings book and just started rewatching Gilmore Girls (I’m almost done with the 2^nd season). In PST I read 9 books (Atonement, Cutting for Stone, The Hobbit, I Am The Messenger, Looking for Alaska, the first 2 Lord of the Rings books, On The Road, and Everyday) and since getting to site I have read 4 books (the 3^rd Lord of the Rings book, The Alchemist, The Giver, and Catch-22). I am going to be extremely well read when I get back to country in 2 years! Although I am very nervous about starting teaching next week, I will be excited to get into more of a routine.

There are Saturday morning cartoons (American kids shows). Some are dubbed over and others aren’t. This morning Teletubbies came on TV, I kid you not. It took me back to childhood and will also give me nightmares for a very long time. Some people who came up with kids shows scare me…

Last weekend I went with the other teachers in my city to Axum to visit the university there. I have never seen a university in a country such as this. There are some elements that are similar to the US, but it is not fair to compare the 2 places. A couple of people asked me whether it was comfortable and whether I liked it. I answered yes, because of course I am not going to start comparing the 2. Let’s just say that we should be extremely grateful for the universities in the USA.

We also visited a textile factory in between Axum and Adwa. I don’t know why we did that, but it was cool to see how cotton is changed into fabric. It was so not safe to have all those people walking around with no real instruction, but there are a lot of things here that could definitely be different. I got to talk to my vice director. Not about school, but about my experience here so far and how he views things. I think that will be a very valuable connection to have.

Last week was Meskele. I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was more interesting than my host family’s New Years but not by much. The night before we watched the celebration in Addis on TV. They burn a big cross and have speeches and singing and things. It reminded me a bit of the burning of the Aggie or the Zozobra. There was also a group of boys that came around and sang and beat drums. They were actually really talented so they got 5 burr from my land family.

Someone came by our compound at 5:30am. I have no idea who, I just heard banging on the gate and someone talking. I went with my land niece (she is probably about 18 or 19) to the church in my neighborhood to watch the Meskele celebration. It was basically A BUNCH of people dressed in traditional clothes singing and dancing. They then went into the church. Luckily my land niece just went to the gates and prayed and then we went home. I got called firenji some, but I mainly got looked at like I had 3 heads or something. They offered coal to mark my head with a cross but I turned them down. Although I am interested in these celebrations, I have heard from other volunteers that it can be bad to mark yourself as one religion, especially so early on. I am kicking myself for not having taken my camera because everyone looked so great in their traditional clothes, but I doubt it will be the last time I see them dressed like that.

My family bought a chicken, and even though I did not see the actual killing of the chicken I saw the immediate aftermath and then the whole process after. Let me tell you, I have never been more grateful to just buy the meat packaged in the US. I can also see how people can be vegetarians for animal rights. I have also actually started eating all my food when I eat with my land family. I was never able to finish food at my host family’s house. When I mean finish I mean clean my plate of the topping and the injira. I can’t figure out if it’s because they give me less, I am finally getting used to the Ethiopian food, or because their injira and toppings are much better than my host family’s. I think it’s a mixture of the 3.

I start teaching on Monday. Peace Corps gave us a paper with expectations of what we should be doing/involved in for the first 3 months and we had to give them to our school. I gave mine and they copied it, but I don’t know if they actually read it. I told them that I am supposed to teach 3 sections (preferably in the same block of time). I am supposed to coteach for the first week or so, but I haven’t talked to them about that because they have been in meetings.

I thought I was supposed to start teaching last week, but apparently there were more meetings and registration…. Oh the joys of a not as organized education system. I went to go meet with my liaison and the Woreda education office and they changed the meeting for a few more days. I guess I need to get used to this uncertainty for the next 2 years.

So I think I am going to show up on Monday and just play it by ear. My site mate has been out of town doing the Tigray Trek and then at her Close of Service conference and she just got back. She texted me the other night saying that her official date to COS is middle of November. That gives us a little time for her to help me get used to the town and the people in it before she leaves me, although I’m very sad to see her go. She texted me today saying that she talked to the money guy at PC and we got the “big city bump” which means we get extra money every month because prices are more expensive in the big cities.

My liaison owns a language center and my site mate would sometimes teach classes there. I went to watch one of his classes the other night. It was a little different than I think they normally run, because it was raining really hard so they squished the classes into one because there were not many students. It was painful at times to watch though, because it was so different from anything we do in the US. And my liaison who is an educated person who speaks English well and has a good grasp on education and how to do it well. I think there is a big gap in theory and practice, and I hope that I can close that gap at least in my classroom.

I think that is about it. I never realized how much I relied on my friends that I made in training until all we can do is text each other. I have gone through a bit of burr on just texting this past week. Part of it is because I have been sitting around a lot, but I know most of my money will probably go towards communication. My best friends are spread throughout the country and we won’t see each other until December. Luckily one of my friends is only an hour bus ride away, and Axum is in the middle of us, so we will get to see each other more.

I got my post office box all set up, so now people really should send me letters and fun stuff. I promise I will write back J I have a CDMA stick and so I can get on the Internet in my house whenever the power is on. The Ethiotelecom system has been super weird recently, so that also affects the internet and phone service. 

I have journalled every night since being in country (weird, since I never did at home), but I need some way to record all the weird things that happen and how I am feeling every day. I finished my first journal that I brought from home that Leslie gave me for graduation/going away. I put my favorite quotes in the covers to always remind myself of why I’m here. Tonight I will start journaling in the one that Katie sent me.

I brought a photo album with pictures of mainly family, Chi O sisters, and friends to country. I decided to take out the pictures and tape them on my walls to make it seem more like home. So I have a bunch of pictures covering my walls of all the important people in my life. I also have random things hung up that inspire me, like quotes, all the cards that people have sent me, and random things I have doodled here. My family wall is right next to my bed, so I see them the most- but they are the reason I’m here. Love you guys!

I get to talk to my parents and Parker pretty much every week, which always makes me really happy. I have gotten to talk to a lot of people over Facebook as well. I miss you all very very much and I have gotten homesick a couple of times this week. I know it will pass and I know I am supposed to be here, but there have been a few times where I have been thinking about hugging family, eating good food, or cuddling with my dog and I have thought about coming home.

Don’t let that alarm you though. Being alone with thoughts in a new place is a dangerous thing. I will be fine once I get going and start my new life here with my classes and once I start making friends and getting integrated. Thanks for the support. Love and miss you all!

Until next time!

PS—I am safer from Ebola in Ethiopia than I would be in the states. Look at a map and watch the news ;)