Addis Ababa: The First Six Weeks

My first six weeks in Ethiopia (August 20th-October 2nd), my time in Addis Ababa studying the language of Amharic and trying to get a bit of a sense of the culture and history of Ethiopia, were basically one long exercise in feeling like a small and not particularly clever child, and enjoying it. Amharic is just one of many many languages used in Ethiopia, but it is officially the language of the national government, and it is, I think, the most widely spoken language. After six weeks of studying it more than 20 hours a week and hearing it much more than that, Amharic is still pretty much incomprehensible to me. There are four ways to say “you.” That’s right, four. You masculine, you feminine, you plural, and you formal, and all the verbs change accordingly. The verb goes at the end of the sentence, verbs roots sometimes change for feminine, there are over 200 characters in their alphabet, and some are sounds that I’m pretty sure my mouth is incapable of making. Someone once told me that Amharic is the 4th hardest language to learn in the world. I don’t doubt it. But, it is a beautiful language to listen to, and the written form is so cool looking that you can’t help but want to learn it. More than that though, because it is so difficult, foreigners usually don’t know Amharic, and Ethiopians always seem so surprised and excited when you manage even a proper greeting that it always makes me want to try harder. So, I was grateful all six weeks to be learning.
I was also grateful all six weeks for the multitude of new experiences. It is hard for me to say what my first impressions of Ethiopia were and are, but here are some things that I wrote after my third full day in Addis, “I have a really hard time knowing how to describe Ethiopia. In a way everything seems so different. As a white person, you stand out everywhere. To the point where kids stare at us and want to shake our hands when we walk by. Outside of language school and MCC functions, I’ve only seen other white people three times, and this is Ethiopia’s biggest city. The water smells strange here and is undrinkable without a filter and/or boiling. When we ride in a mini-bus the diesel smell stings my throat and gives me a headache, and the dust gets in my eyes and nose. People tend to have a ‘houseworker’ and potentially other employees working for them, and even when/though they’re well-liked and well-treated, it seems they often remain separate from the family and somehow distant. In many ways there is a lot of distance in the culture. Many people live in houses made of sticks and mud and/or metal sheeting, while people with money live in houses with huge walls with barbed-wire or broken glass on top and a guard on the premises almost all the time. I have never experienced class as strongly as I am experiencing it here.
And yet in some ways the Ethiopian culture has much more of a sense of closeness and life than most of what I’ve experienced in the States. Having houseworkers and guards, for example, brings into contact people who, in America, would probably never meet, and allows them to have important and even meaningful relationships. When you’re crammed into a mini-bus (think a medium-sized van or a VW bus) with like 14 other people, you don’t think so much about personal space or worry about the implications of accidentally touching someone, which in a way is kind of freeing. The streets are scary, and crazy, and dangerous, with people are cars and even some animals haphazardly criss-crossing everywhere, but in some ways it is almost nice to feel as though not everything is so perfectly cordoned off, separated, divided. Not everything is so isolated and independent, and that somehow seems more real and natural. Men hold hands or embrace or touch each other in conversation without it meaning anything but friendship and closeness. As I began my language training and orientation today, I started getting really excited for all the possibilities and changes and experiences this year could bring.” Now, more than seven weeks later, some of these things have faded into the background of my mind, while some of them seem more important or significant than ever, but more on that later.
I spent my time in Addis living in a house with three longer-term service workers and the other SALTer, and sometimes fourth service worker, who came in for the weekends. Living in the house definitely had its difficulties and its disadvantages, but for me was a really nice way to begin my time in Ethiopia. I found that everyone in the house was well-meaning and generally fun to be around, and having so many people around staved off most of my loneliness and homesickness. Plus they each have their own lives, which meant that most of the time there were fun and different activities that I could jump into if I wanted to. Mostly, it was nice to feel like it was OK for me to be the stupidest and most incapable person there, because I knew that if I tried and failed there would be someone there who could help me out. I felt pretty isolated during most of my Carleton career, so it was really nice to come into this new venture with a built-in community. Plus, I felt like my indecisiveness and sometimes problematic passivity actually added nicely to a household full of strong personalities. That is not to say that there weren’t problems with the living situation. Tensions sometimes came to a head in the house. My primary relationships there were with Americans, so my integration into the culture was not as full as it might have been if I were living with Ethiopians. But overall, the wonderful people I lived and worked with in that time shaped my first six weeks in great ways, and put me well on my way to loving Ethiopia.
Because the individuals I spent my time with are really what I remember from my first six weeks here, here are some descriptions of those who made the time what it was:
The major players:
Me: I think you all know the basics: First time in Africa, first time doing extended travel, first time as a “service worker,” millionth time being more excited and far more nervous than ought to be possible.
Ben: The other SALTer here for the year. We traveled over together and, because of our common status as “the SALTers,” shared most of our activities and experiences during our time in Addis. I’m pretty sure that Ben was unanimously the favorite SALTer of everyone we met, but I can’t really begrudge him that too much, because he is genuinely a cool person. He likes sports (particularly soccer, which goes over well here), but also history, philosophy and religion. Plus, he’s a good cook and made us all laugh often. He is now teaching English at the Meserete Kristos College in Debre Ziet, which is about half-way between where I am in Nazret and Addis Ababa.
Megan (and Yenasaw): Megan is a service worker who has been in Addis Ababa for two years and will leave shortly before I do next summer. Megan is an extrovert the likes of which I’ve rarely seen. Within two years she has become nearly fluent in Amharic, which, according to pretty much everyone I’ve talked to, is basically unheard of. She seems to engage easily with pretty much everyone she comes in contact with and she made me feel comfortable in no time at all, which is not an easy feat. She is a great person to have to introduce you to the city and to people, as everyone whom she knows and works with seems crazy about her. Her boyfriend, an Ethiopian named Yenasaw, is a teacher at the language school I attended. Yenasaw has lived in or around Addis for pretty much his whole life, which is probably part of the reason that he seems to know and be friends with everyone. But, I think it really has more to do with the fact that he is kind, outgoing, and concerned about the well-being of everyone around him. Plus, his English is pretty much perfect, and he is a wonderful teacher. He had us over to his house for the Ethiopian New Year, which was such a fun way to celebrate. His family fed us and fed us and his father literally told us we were “not excused” until we had eaten some cake. Yenasaw and Megan are great to hang out with and were wonderful about including Ben and me in their plans.
Krista: Krista is a service worker who has been in Ethiopia for two years and will leave in the summer of 2012. Krista has been amazingly helpful in facilitating my time here. She started giving me advice before I even got here, answering many of my questions over email and Facebook. Krista spent her first year here in Nazret, living with the same family I’m living with and working with the same organization, although in the office rather than the school, so she has been great about giving me an idea of what to expect here, and she has been working with the family and with MCC to make sure all my needs are taken care of while I’m here-what a gift that has been! Krista’s pretty quiet and somewhat introverted, but likes playing games, going to cafes, and watching movies and TV shows, so we had a lot of fun doing those things.
Tamara: Tamara has been here the longest of any North American MCC Ethiopia staff member. She came over with SALT four years ago and she’ll be here at least another two years, likely longer. Tamara also got in touch with me before I came and was great at answering questions. Originally from the Twin Cities (it’s fun to have someone to reminisce about the Mall of America, the MN state fair, or the MN weather with), Tamara has a really strong sense of and desire for social justice, and is very committed to her work and especially to the people with whom she works. She likes to talk and she likes to argue, and she is good at both. Tamara knows a lot of the cool, less touristy places in Addis and has a great love for and understanding of the Ethiopian culture. She is a wonderful person with whom to explore Addis.
Doug and Wanda: Doug and Wanda are the country reps, which means that they and the wonderful national staff of Mekonnen, Solomon, and Yeshi manage all of MCC’s involvement in Ethiopia. Doug and Wanda were in charge of our orientation and so they made sure we saw everything we needed to see in the city. They both were pastors before they came over, and I think it is likely from that background that their deep interest in each of the service workers personal well-being comes. Maybe as part of that concern, they introduced Ben and me to all the nicest restaurants in Addis, so we know what to crave and go for when we’re back in town. They also have three daughters, Abby and Amanni (12-year-old twins) and Sophia (11), who are all really fun, and the family hosts frequent pizza and movie nights and other great gatherings.
Jalalie: My language school teacher. Jalalie is a slim and quiet, but kind and funny mother of five, who switched a few months ago from being the school’s cashier to being a full time teacher. She had the patience to deal with all my Amharic bumbling for six-weeks and still be encouraging and positive, so I think that alone deserves an award or something. I really didn’t get to know her much personally, but she was nevertheless a big and important part of my first six weeks.
There are definitely many many more people that should go on here: interesting students and teachers from the language school, people who worked in the house were Krista, Megan and Tamara (and for the six weeks Ben and I) live, the final member of the MCC team, T., who works in Debre Ziet at the MK College too, and so many others, but at some point I have to cut this off, and this is that point.

A Belated Greeting from Ethiopia

I’ll start this post out as I will likely start out most of my posts, with an apology for being so negligent with my blog. I would like to blame it on the fact that internet in Ethiopia is very slow and charges per minute, which is true, but not really an acceptable excuse because I’ve been able to check emails fairly regularly and even occasionally check Facebook. I’d also like to blame it on the fact that blog sites, such as this one, are generally blocked in Ethiopia. Apparently, as an attempt to limit the opposition during the particularly tumultuous 2005 elections, the government restricted access to blogs. Although the recent election was relatively peaceful, the blocking of blog sites remains. So, it almost sounds convincing, and makes a pretty good story, for me to blame my lack of communication on government censorship. But, unfortunately, that excuse doesn’t hold up either. As soon as I discovered the block and relayed that information to my family, I had multiple offers of substitute posters. So that excuse won’t work either. I’d also like to explain my poor posting on being very busy and engaged with the Ethiopian culture. That sounds the best, and is probably the most legitimate excuse so far. I spent my first six weeks here in Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, doing my language study and my “cultural orientation.” Struggling to learn an extremely difficult language, exploring the capital city, trying new foods, meeting new people, and living with 4 other American MCC service workers kept my days full and my mind occupied. But, there was still plenty of free time. I spent many afternoons reading and many evenings watching TV shows or movies with my housemates. Life was full, but it wasn’t too busy and it was rarely stressful. So what’s the real reason I’ve been so negligent in my blogging? Part laziness. As most of you know, I’m a procrastinator to my core. But, more than that, I’ve been having a very hard time knowing what to say. I started to write 3 separate posts at various times during my language study, but never knew how to finish them. How can I sum up everything I feel and think and do in a new country with new people? How can I describe the intangible ways in which everything feels different and everything feels the same? How can I make all those I love back home understand experiences about which I’m not sure how I feel?
I can’t. That’s the truth. It’s impossible.
But, I guess I better at least try.

First Day of Orientation

Today is the first day of my orientation in Akron, PA, and so it is the first real day of my nearly-year-long time away from home. Even though it has actually started, I still can't comprehend it.

Mom, Dad, Anna, Jonathan, and I left Knoxville Tuesday morning at around 9:30 and drove up to Pennsylvania. We got to spend some time with our wonderful (great-great-) Aunt Libby, and her (also wonderful) daughter and son-in-law Christina and Jeff. We were able to help celebrate Christina and Jeff's 25th wedding anniversary, so we shared a really fun and delicious meal with them and some of their friends. It was great to have that time to be with family, both immediate and extended, which allowed me to forget about some of the worries of preparation and focus on things besides my trip.

After a lunch and some last minute preparations today, my family brought me to Akron to start the orientation. It was difficult to say goodbye to the family knowing that I won't see them for a year, and I can hardly believe that it will be so long, even as I write it. Orientation has been good, but pretty low-key today. All we've had is registration, dinner, a few "get-to-know-you" games, and then free time. It has been fun (although somewhat overwhelming for an introvert like me) to meet so many people from so many different places, but I don't feel like I've really gotten to know any one yet. I'm staying in a room (actually a bed) with another SALTer, but I haven't actually met her yet. So far things are exciting, but really surreal. I think most of us are just having trouble comprehending what life will be like and really getting a grasp on the fact that we are going to be away from home for a whole year. I know I am. Every once in a while I have these nervous glimpses of how uncertain things are and how long a year is, but then I remind myself how much preparation I've done and all of the things I already know and I calm myself down. Mostly everything just feels uncertain, incomprehensible, and scary. But exciting. Really exciting.

Commissioning Service

Today Knoxville Mennonite held a commissioning service for me. They did such a beautiful job. It is so helpful to know that I am going to Ethiopia with the support and prayers of the congregation, and that they will be keeping me in mind throughout the year.

I am so thankful to Pat and the Elders for putting things together, and to all who shared comments and encouragement.

Welcome!

Hi all,

Thanks for checking out my blog. I am getting so excited for my time in Ethiopia and all the changes and experiences that it will bring.

I am not sure what sort of internet access I will have in Ethiopia, but I will try to update this blog with pictures and posts as often as I can.