Selekleka

A two lane highway snakes through town waiting for the busses to come through to Shire or Axum. A lush, green, densely forested hill stands proudly behind the colorful storefronts on the left hand side while the land opens up to a valley on the other. Boxes of cactus fruit sit on the sidewalk as their seller flicks away the flies. Twelve proud, tall camels use the bike lane, walking single file on the way to get another load of wood, flour or other commodities the farmer may need. Orange ping pong balls bounce back and fourth as competitive teenage boys play under the sun in Ethiopian jerseys. Fresh roasted coffee waifs through on the dusty, warm air inviting one into many little coffee houses. This is Selekleka, soon to be my home away from home.

When I was asked over a month ago where I wanted to be placed, I listed off something like the following: green, small, plenty of children, other site mates to collaborate with would be cool but not necessary, fruit and veggies, moderate temperature and rural. I realized that this was a random list and I wasn't guaranteed to get anything I asked for. There is nothing special about me to make me get what I want compared to the other 69 PCTs who also had their own dream lists. Spending time in Selekleka made me realize how blessed I really am. It's more than I could have anticipated or expected.

The country opens up along the paved turning road heading west out of Axum. Rolling hills are dark green thanks to all the rain this rainy season has brought. The first you can see of Selekleka is a square four story hotel sitting on the edge of the corner and hill while you wind your way to it. The entire town takes five minutes to drive through or twenty minutes to walk from one end to the other if you stop and talk to people along the way. For someone missing Mill City sized places, this is a relief from the large city atmosphere. Although the main road is paved all the roads coming off of it to form a web of rocky soil trails. After a rain, one has to slosh through the mud that squelches up your shoes to get anywhere. Unlike Butajira, where donkeys pull carts and horse drawn buggies are common and multiple, there are none here. Outside the mill house, where locals take their grain to get beaten into flour, donkeys and camels wait to carry the goods on their backs. I never saw a horse. Children call out and quickly learn your name! I will probably have to start being called "Jozie" as "Jessie" is a problem for most. My two site mates are fun, encouraging, welcoming, and supportive. Building relationships with them is going to be fun.

The school, a high school for Grades 9&10, is outside of the town hub. The 25-40 minute walk may seem daunting, but it is absolutely gorgeous. Hills form a loose hug around the valley of green turf and corn fields. Walking along the paved road (40 minute way) is smooth, gorgeous and a fun place to meet really rural children enamored by the lightness of my skin. Due to the rain, the short way through fields is unsuitable to go through for me. I was willing to try, but the kind school guard argued against it, so the road it was. I don't know details about when I will be teaching Grade 9, as the administrators of the school were in other cities for meetings. I am excited that it is the same grade I started Practicum with, but look forward to finding ways to adapt to the 55-60 students per class I will teaching.

While the Peace Corps did give me enough birr to stay in a hotel for my visit, I was able to say in my future compound! It is unclear if I am going to have one or two rooms, but the room I stayed in was amazing! The walls are painted a light teal, aquamarine and is still fairly fresh. The ceiling is tall which allows the medium size room to feel less claustrophobic-y. There is a bed that is comfortable and tall enough to store things under. I could get some tables and have my own kitchen area under the three foot square window. My two site mates let me look at their places, so I have plenty of dream ideas floating through my head. Probably the best part about my compound are the people. My landlady introduced herself as "Addoy" or "Mama." She is so hospitable and nice. For breakfast yesterday she gave me a large slice of bread with a sizable quantity of honey. Her granddaughter and daughter from Germany were visiting and very fun. My neighbor works at the health center as a HIV/AIDs nurse, giving medicine to those with the disease to prevent the spread. She invited me over for dinner and tea. Although our knowledge of each other's language is limited, we were able to have conversations mixing the two together. Her two year old is full of energy but adorable! I am going to miss her, but am looking forward to moving in and being her permanent neighbor.

Finally, Selekleka is a magical niche for deliciousness. Before site visit I had hit an injera wall. No matter how hard I tried, injera in Butajira was too sour and too hard to stomach most of it. In Selekleka it is edible! Last night I was even able to eat an entire plate of fir fir, injera with injera pieces soaked in spices, and enjoyed it. I also have discovered los shai, peanut tea. This sweet, thick, warm, peanut buttery tea is absolutely delicious on its own and great for dunking chocolate cookies in. Eating out at local habisha places with site mates has also been good. It is good to talk with people who live her and watch as they make food or spices. I cannot wait to learn how to cook some of these foods when I come back in a month.

Yes, I have one more month from today, before swearing in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. One month to kick up the Tigrigna learning. One month to enjoy my host family and Butajira family. One month to get education, medical and safety trainings. One month until I come back to my small piece of paradise.

Coffee

Okay we got to talk about coffee. As many of you know I am not a coffee fan. I don't like the taste or smell, but I am in the country where coffee was first discovered, drank, and cultivated. I have also done some assignments on it and figure all you coffee lovers would like to hear about this. The coffee ceremonies in Ethiopia are very important. They show respect and are at all social events. First they start by washing the green beans. Then they are put on a steel plate over a charcoal stove to roast. In order to keep the beans from burning the person roasting has a hooked shaped metal prong to move the beans around. With this she can also flip the beans so that all sides turn brown at the same rate. It is also important to fan the flame of the stove so that the beans are cooking at a consistent rate. Once the beans have popped and are the color of satisfaction they are set aside while a special clay pot specifically designed for coffee is put on the stove to boil. The beans then go in a mortar and pestle type devise to get ground extremely finely. Once the water has boiled the majority of the grounds are poured in. Then you wait for the coffee to reboil. To see if the coffee is the right, taste little samples are poured out. The pot is designed to limit the grounds During the first half of the pot. If coffee is too strong water is added, but if it is too "tea like" more grounds are added. When done the pot is brought into the house and put on a hot pad specifically designed to hold the round clay coffee pot. On the floor they put a small mat with plastic frills similar to fake hula skirts. They can range in colors and design, but all the ones I've seen have the plastic frills. On the mat is a two story tray that holds the coffee cups. While some like to drink coffee plain, adding salt and butter is preferred by my host father. They assume as a foreigner that I will have sugar in mine. Coffee is recoiled three times during the ceremony. The same grounds are used it's just the water that is re-added. Children occasionally get to drink some during the third round when it is not as strong. I made it a month without drinking any coffee. There was always tea as an option or I could opt to not buy it myself. However, this week my host dad made surprise visits home (he works in another town as a driver) and wanted coffee with dinner. I tried to talk myself out of it, but he insisted I try at least one cup. Although they put sugar in it, they used the same spoon that had been in the butter. While this might gross out you coffee gurus, it didn't taste all that bad. The second time he came I again had one cup (about the circumference of the top of a shot glass) with only sugar. I don't know if it is because the coffee is so fresh, boiled, or what, but it tasted pretty good. Granted I still prefer tea, but I can at least drink a cup without puckering. Also, because it's only 1/4 cup of coffee it totally didn't affect sleep at all. So there is a small update on coffee. This weeks assignment is to make chirro and injera!

Doing It Like Doolittle

Eliza Doolittle (from "My Fair Lady") has never connected with me more before this week. Yes it is only Thursday, but still the sweet street urchin Miss Dolittle has come to mind often enough to be recognized.

This week we changed language groups. I am still learning Tigrigna, but my language teacher has changed and my group has shrunk down to a pair. My new language teacher is a phonetic and pronunciation nazi. He's not that much different than Henry Higgins in his determination to have me pronounce sounds correctly. There are just some sounds my throat struggles to make. Of course one of those sounds is very important and used frequently in Tigray. For example if said correctly in a word, it could say "kid," but if incorrect it changes to "he said". It is also used in many numbers which is going to be key for me in a bartering system. While my frustrated brain wants to just say the sound, I feel stuck like Eliza repeating the same sound over and over and over again. However, I do recognize that this frustration can power determination to keep going for a pay off. Besides, “kid” is a pretty important word to say.

Partly due to the fact we are one month in, some friends have started reminiscing about home. Usually this involves food. A select few have received care packages with some luxuries. While I agree it would be "loverly" to have "lots of chocolates for me to munch," I've noticed my priorities have changed. I got excited on Tuesday when Peace Corps delivered my weekly stash of bottled water and even more so on Wednesday when we got our biweekly supply of TP. Having the water off in our house for sink and shower (not heated) for the last five mornings, led to bucket showers this week. Even though I wash my hands with water that will probably make me sick if I drink it, I miss it when it is gone. My little hand sanitizer  has become my go to. One of my friends was sent a gigantic hand sanitizer and her offer to refill mine whenever, totally relieved an unrecognized stress. Sure I miss American food, but my focus on what would be "loverly" has shifted. Locally made ocholoni (peanut butter), kolo (roasted birdseed) and spritz (mango avocado juice) are my new favorites snacks that I crave.

"Words! Words! Words! I'm so sick of words!" While this lyric could describe my battle with Tigrigna vs Amharic in my life, it could also be used to express a change in my teaching mindset I have undergone this week. The Peace Corps has a pretty cool "Lesson 4Mat" for Practicum and teaching. As punned, this has four sections to it: 1) Motivation: activate prior knowledge or schema 2) Information: present new material 3) Practice: all structured and guided practice time 4) Application: students apply new skill to life to produce a concrete product showing the skill. My job is to take the learning competences from teacher book, adapt student book activities to fit daily objectives (sometimes tricky as they are designed by different people) and fit 40 minutes into the 4Mat. My problem last week was not fitting in the time frame what I wanted to do. Then I realized, after observing another PCT, that I was spending too much time talking. I know English! Why am I talking the majority of the time? This week I've concentrated on condensing my lessons to a 3 minute motivation that leads directly into a 5-7 minute info section for a 10-15 minute guided practice and ending on 15-20 minutes of application. My talk has gone down, but the student talking has gone way up! It is amazing what students can do when they are engaged with a purpose.

One of the major reasons my hand sanitizer is dwindling is because I fist bump, dance, play with and twirl adorable, dirty kids. There are three beautiful girls that live by my language class. They will run with open arms as soon as they see me to see who can get to me first. Then they will jump into my arms and smile as I twirl them around. Once they are on the ground and everyone has had a chance, we play patty cake games. Some locals laugh and smile while some other PCTs think I am crazy. I love walking that road to see if they are out. Ring around Rosie type games and the Hokey Pokey games with neighborhood kids get cut short as the sun sets, making me grumble that "I could have dance [or played] all night." The children definitely are a big blessing.

Also this week I was reminded how “fair” a lady I am when I got my first sunburn. It wasn't bad enough to crazy open the sacred bottle of aloe, but a hot, stiff reminder to put on sunscreen. In all fairness, a giant storm had come in at 5am and was still going on as a constant drizzle at 7:45 when I left for class. There was no way to know the sun would come out or that one of my classes would be outside. I may need to throw the sunscreen in backpack with TP, Neosporin, hand sanitizer, chalk, and markers.

Life is busily good. I will put up schedule when I can. Love you all!

Fun Times in Butajira

You know those moments that cause us to pause and say: "Wow! I'm here!" or "Can this be real cuz it's better than I imagined!?!?" It could be while watching a sunrise at the coast or curled up in a dorm room watching tv shows on a computer with friends. I don't know what causes these moments to come, usually they are lead up to by pretty ordinary events, but I do know these moments are dear and a glimmer of pure happiness. They may seem disjointed, but here are some from this past week.

The color green is an interesting color. It is lush and full when seen outside, but at a juice house it isn't the go to color of preference. Instead shades of oranges and reds tend to dominate that scene. However, when everyone at my table ordered mango, I decided to gamble and try the other option: avocado. You probably just wrinkled your nose and exasperatingly reread that. I did the same thing. However, after putting in my straw, muttering a "Hakuna Matata" I slurped my way into bliss. Surprise! It's is sweet and creamy and thick and pure avocado. Figuring they served it with limes for a reason I squeezed that in too! Oh my the tang with the sweet was amazing! Soon those who had played it safe were trying and wishing they had had avocado. We found out the locals have them mixed. The next day we tried that (lesson planning and teaching takes it out of you once you've already had language class) and decided that separate they were good, but together they are even better. Would I have tried this back in the States? No way! I would have questioned why the manager had put it on the menu. But here I am drinking avocado mango juice with lime and wondering why more people aren't drinking it. Guess it's an Ethiopian/Butajira thing.

Practicum started this week! My schedule looks like the following (and will for another three weeks): 8-10 Tigrigney, 1030-1230 Lesson Planning 1400-1600  Teaching two sections with 15 minute break 1600-1730 Reflection. This week I have been co-teaching with another PCT. Our cohort (4pairs) is teaching Grade 9 to students who just finished Grade 8. The rainy cold weather couldn't keep hopes down as we planned our first lessons. However, it did prevent many of the students from coming. Even starting thirty minutes late we only had enough for five students per room on the first day. It was frustrating to have planned for larger groups and having to adapt to so few. The second day we got up to 7 in one class. What is important to focus on is the few that are here. As our leader said: "You plan for the hordes, adjust for the few, and focus on the fact that five students learned something they didn't know this morning." As the week went on classes stayed about the same size, but the classroom atmosphere grew. On day one it was like pulling teeth to get students to participate. On Friday we had to remind students to raise hand and wait to be called on. There were so many hands up in one of my classes I couldn't write all the good ideas on the blackboard. Yes we are using the ever reliable chalk and blackboards. We do have some poster paper which can go along way. It has required a change of mindset to planning lessons with technology to planning without it. The textbooks are government based require some adapting to make them more exciting and applicable to students. Although it can be frustrating, when I'm walking out of the school grounds all covered in dust I can't help but smile. I'm teaching. There are students learning. Students who are eager to share their life goals and ask about yours. And this is their summer break so they don't have to be here. How cool is that?!? Having students care so much about learning they take two hours to learn from foreigners during summer vacation.

Outside of my compound a couple girls came up to me to ask me how I am and what my name is. After telling me, they awkwardly stood around realizing that language is a funky thing that can separate people. I ask one of the few Amharic verbs I know: cherfera (dance)? The girls giggle but one puts her hands in mine and we twirl around for a while. Others start joining in. I sneak away for a second to take off my backpack (put it inside the compound) with my water bottle, and am hurried back out by more kids. Soon we are doing ring-around-the-roses type games. The children start singing and laughing as we spin around and around to lyrics I am still lost on. I catch on to when we all fall down in one, lean back in another, and call out names in a third. Neighbors and friends start laughing as they watch us (probably 15 kids under the age of 12). They (the children) caught on really fast to the Hokey Pokey and asked to do it again and again and again an... Then I got called in to have a rest. Children are so precious. They didn't care that I couldn't sing with them or was twice their height. We just had a glorious time simply enjoying each other.

It's the simplest things that can make the biggest difference sometimes. My host dad, Sammy, lives in another town where there is more work. I've talked to him briefly once on the phone when he called the family. This week he sent a bag with someone that was delivered on Tuesday. There were clothes, shoes, and toys for Baba. Soap and other things for Aster. Then Aster pulls out something and goes "This is for Jessie." And hands me two soft mangos. It felt like Christmas when Mulu cut me off a chunk of the juiciest mango I have ever eaten. Mangos are really expensive, but Sammy had sent us many. It felt so good to feel part of a family. I don't feel like a guest anymore, but someone of the family. Mulu taught me how to make an amazing bread and make the giant serving plates out of would hay and thread. The neighbor gave me an orange and told me I am "well loved" while I spent the afternoon and evening playing, singing, drawing and laughing with her four year old daughter. Relationships are the fragrance of life that never goes away.

Friday after school, I went on a walk with two PCT friends. After going on a long walk around Butajira we climbed up the the third floor of an abandoned building by our houses to sit and talk. (I am not Dauntless.) Even though thundered rumbled, the sky was amazingly blue through the gathering white clouds. We talked about TV shows, movies, favorite places, high school, life and language classes. Looking out on the blue hills and green lushness around me, it struck me how peaceful and content I really am. There are people I didn't know a month ago, who I look forward to seeing every day. There are dishes that are enjoyable and normal after only a couple weeks of eating them. There are places that I am starting to call familiar. Butajira is a beautiful place with so many people to meet. How cool is it that this is my home for another nine weeks!?!?!

Sometimes I think the day and week is flying by. I feel like I am on 24/7 to learn something new in one of the languages. I mix up thoughts. I trip on rocks in the road and children laugh at me. I haven't worn jeans since Addis. I make cootie catchers for kids and draw ridiculous pictures. But so many moments cause me to pause and realize I am where I need to be, doing what is fulfilling and having a fantastic time doing it all.

Butajira Part 2

Today on my way walking to internet (25 minute walk) I noticed that there was grass poking through the very muddy road. While this may seem like an ordinary event, what made me stop to think was that our road was plowed (yes demolished like with a tractor) two days ago. TWO! How crazy cool is it that God made grass so adaptable, persistent and determine to flourish after getting a beating and only one good rain after a really dry spell. I'm going to be like grass. 

I haven't had a beating (literally), but this week has been hard. Language is slower than I want and after 4 hours I feel exhausted. Learning and speaking Amharic at home makes me double check to see what I'm saying. I definately mixed the two on my test yesterday (yeah we have four hours of language classes on Saturdays) and took some time to figure out where the mix up had come. But God is good and has blessed me with many blessings that keep frustrations from overwhelming me. 

Getting frustrated with the language and needing to walk off confusion and calm nerves before the test yesterday I went on a walk. I didn't really know where I was going just that I had 30 minutes of time to just go outside and get away. I ended up walking down the major road from my language class towards the preparatory school where I have found some secluded nooks to think and be alone. I am used to children coming up to me and giving me fist bumps, but usually they leave asking giggling about the foreigner attempting to speak to them. By the time I got to the Prep school (maybe a block away) I had a gaggle of children following me (10 counts as a gaggle right?). One boy pointed to one of the murals at the prep school entrance. Before I knew it we were focusing on the other mural of a world map finding Ethiopia in Africa. Soon we were giggling and going over all the continents and oceans. It was adorable hearing them try to pronounce Australia. I also think I confused the kids by describing Antarctica as "Brrrr" before the name. They started calling it "Brrrrr Ant." Baby steps though right? It was absolutely amazing though to be around little kids and seeing their smiles. Adults walking by laughed, smiled, and waved at me when I glanced up. Sure, there are frustrations but there are plenty of kids everywhere to make sure I smile. 

Other interesting things in my life: I'm fighting a battle with cockroaches in my room. They aren't giant, but they are plentiful. Mosquito nets keep one extra warm and make morning light look golden when it reflects. I did laundry outside before the rain came so it is taking a couple of days to dry. On Tuesday we start our four week Practicum! I'm learning how to cook some great food and have mastered the shint bet (outhouse without a seat). I haven't had much milk, meat, or fruit but am loving what I have been eating. With all the walking I feel great! I have not had to have any coffee or too spicy food as my host mom is pregnant and avoids these foods. I went to an Orthodox church today which was outside! I had to cover my head and didn't understand what was going on, but that is okay. I came back and sang songs that I've torn out of bulletins and were stuck in my Bible while I cleaned my room. 

Psalms 73:26 has been stuck in my head recently: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Love you all so much! If you are curious about anything, just ask! I will try to answer as I can!

Butajira Part 1

Written on the 17th of July

Trying to find guidance on how to start my first blog from Butajira, I looked in my journal for some help. The entries start: 12 July: Oh what a crazy day! 13 July: Pitter Pitter Pitter patter. The soft rain collides with the metal roof above my head. 14 July: Wow! I collapse into my bed on my extra plump pillow thoroughly exhausted. 15 July: Okay, we got to talk about pack animals. Four days?!?! That's it!?!?! Yes, my life is racing with so many thoughts, memories and experiences, it makes for a very full four days. Here's the short (for me) version of my Butajira experience so far. My host family is fantastic! Aster, my mom, works at a health clinic and has pretty good English. She is also a fantastic teacher whenever I have questions (which is often). She no longer waits for me to ask for the Amharic word for something, but tells it to me making sure I have it correct before jotting it down. Samson, or Sammy, is my host father who actually lives in another city being a driver. That's all I know and I am not going to pry. Hellen is Aster's 19 year old sister who is living with us. She is going to university to be an engineer, but is home with us as this is summer vacation. I love her so much! She is always ready with a smile and something fun. So far she has taught me how to dance (it's more of a work in progress) and lots of Amharic. Her English is really good. Baba is my two year old little brother who has gotten over his fear of me and finally called me by name today! He is adorable! It's great fun trying to speak all Amharic to him. Mulu is our house girl who is just like another family member. She eats meals with us, teaches me as she can, and just makes life so great. She doesn't know any English so I make it my daily goal to speak more and more with her. There is a four year old neighbor girl named Massy who is often at our house. She is the best! We play house (includes feeding stuffed animals imaginary injera) and doing lots of games to work on my Amharic and her English. These people are absolutely the best and making me feel welcomed and part of their community. If you have read my previous posts, you might me confused at why I keep speaking about learning Amharic when I'm going to Tigray and should be learning Tigrigney. Reality: I am learning both. Today I had four hours of Tigrigney and then go out on the streets and back home where I need Amharic to communicate. This has been the most exhausting thing of this trip so far. It is physically gruesome on my throat as there are sounds in Tigrigney I have never made before and now have to practice to communicate. It is emotionally a roller coaster as I just want to communicate so badly with people (especially the kids I run into) and can't do it. I love words and getting to know people, and I'm being prevented from doing so until I can learn more (which isn't happening as fast as I want it to be). It is mentally exhausting to switch back and forth between the two in a matter of settings. Both are very important and I want to build relationships with the people here so I have to do this. I could only speak Tigrigney, but the sacrifice would be too great. I am not going to be the exchange like student in this community and just stay in my room speaking one language without building relationships. Plus side: I am no longer trying to speak Swahili. It occasionally pops up, but there are too many differences for me to get confused too often. Besides language our focus is shifting to teaching. The preparatory school (grades 11-12) is in my neighborhood, so it isn't a long walk for me. Interesting thing about schools: there are information murals painted on the outside of the buildings to promote learning. For example: periodic table, skeleton system, map of Africa and governmental terms. These are in English and Amharic. As to the classes, it has been really good to see different ways or organizing lesson plans, designing learning objectives and more through the Peace Corps eyes as they train a majority of non-teachers to be teachers. This makes me evaluate why I do certain things in lesson planning and teaching. I love reflecting! It's also a relief from struggling in languages to be in something that is comfortable and familiar. Addis was cold. Butajira is hot with tsunami like downpours. Two mornings ago I woke up to rain beating against the roof and window of my room. Yesterday we had to pause class because we couldn't hear each other with so much rain hitting our tin roof. But when the sun comes out, it is gloriously hot! Puddles don't last very long here! Which is a good thing because they are hard to avoid especially when you are dodging horse or donkey pulled carts that will splash you like no other if you get caught at the wrong place. It is really cool to hear the twinkle of bells on these carts to see small horses going past. There are definitely more of them than motorized vehicles in my community. I haven't needed to ride in one yet, but I am sure the experience will be needed sometime and can't wait to experience it.

Questions Getting Answered

I GET TO LEARN TIGRINYA!!!! I AM GOING TO TIGRAY!!!!

 So, today was the exciting revealing of which language we will be placed in after PST. This is so we can start focusing on the language we will need for two years. I am one of the few who know what region I will be in as Tigrinya is only spoken in Tigray! This is a northern region, with mountains and a heavy Italian presence. I AM PUMPED! This is also the region of Queen of Sheba, castle ruins, and varied climate!

     But before I get all excited about something three months out, I wanted to post some of the questions y’all have facebooked or asked me. These are great questions. They will answered from Addis. I will have to update some after going to Butijira! Keep the questions coming!

What is the food like?

The food is amazing! Especially if you like spicy. Injera is their flat bread that they tear and scoop up everything, like chapatti for Tanzanians. As it is made from fermented grain it has a sour taste and a bubbly sponge like appearance. It is odd by itself, but makes the spicy food unique! I have had some amazing goat with injera and it is fantastic! There are lots of spicy meet sauces that are traditionally served with injera. I try everything, but don’t always take seconds. There is a flat bread pizza place right up the road that is decadent. They roll out the crust and make it right as you order it so it is fresh! Although I haven’t had any, there are some great draft beers that have become favorites for many on the trip. There are lots of garlic, rosemary, chilies, potatoes used.

What are the people like?

Ethiopians are very hospitable and ready to smile. They love it when we speak Amharic with them and correct us as we go. It has been such a relief to be supported by so many. My language teacher, Fasica or Fasi, is always smiling, encouraging and ready to answer any questions. I am kindof bummed there isn’t the possible for her to be my language teacher in Butijira (Tigrenye is different), but feel so blessed to have had her. The Peace Corps staff from Ethiopia are wonderful, open, cheerful people. They explain all of our random questions patiently which is great! 

What is the weather like?

     They weren’t joking when they said rainy season. I was not anticipating what it has been like and this is the only the beginning. At least once a day we have an epic, down pouring thunder and lightning storm. There are bursts of blue sky and sunshine with temperatures probably in the mid 70s. In the morning and evenings it gets COLD! Like put on a sweatshirt kindof of cold!

Any big bugs?

I haven't seen any big bugs here. There were big bugs at the Natural History Museum in DC that were sick but not here. Here we have Mosquitos and flies that are pretty atypical. The few spiders I saw were smaller than a penny. The coach roaches ((few) have been about the size of my middle finger nail. I will keep a look out for them.

What are the houses like?

There are lots of shack houses built from sheets of metal. The other houses are made of concrete. I will know more about houses when I get to Butijira and am out of the city with slums and hotels around.

So, tonight I am repacking my bags and taking a long hot shower. Tomorrow I am heading out on a 2.5 hour bus ride to Butijira where I will meet my host family at a hotel for lunch and then go to my new home! I am not sure if my family will speak Amharic or Tigrinya so I will have to wait and see. So far all of my language training has been in the former, but I will be learning the later in intense classes starting on Monday. It is going to be an adventure for sure!  


*Remember these thoughts  and opinions are all mine and not affiliated with Peace Corps or Ethiopia!