My first Sunday here
on New Adventures in Ethiopia (Ethiopia), 03/Mar/2009 08:35, 34 days ago
This morning after waking up and having hot water and electricity enough to wash and feel clean, I sorted out my half done laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. I swept a little outside and headed out to breakfast as planned with the other volunteers. We went to Hotel Pinna– a ‘nice’ hotel in Awassa where I guess you can have a ‘nice’ breakfast. The word ‘nice’ is put that way because the niceness in comparison to what I’ve seen in my very blessed lifetime is up for debate. .I had some Ethiopian tea and muffin type thing. The four old ladies that were on my ICT in Addis were there too. I was quiet the whole time and couldn’t believe how posh they are. They talk like news broadcasters and are so out of place that it will get on your last nerve. One of the tem commented on the other by saying ‘she looks lovely, like the picture of a colonial lady’ – wow. I don’t even know what to say to that. Apart from…why are you here again?? .Anyway…Silvester text me and told me that David (a weird British volunteer who drank everyday) has already gone back to the UK. That was predictable. Unfortunately a lot of the British volunteers were just getting wasted from day one and it really reflected terribly both on VSO and in terms of how it resonated with the Ethiopians. .So after breakfast when I finally convinced Stella that we should get away from these crazy people, we went to the internet café for a while and then we went grocery shopping. Stella showed me a tin shack that had a little lowered door and when you opened it there was a little shop inside with a little old lady selling onions and potatoes and garlic and small things like that. I bought some from her and I feel happy now that at least I will have some basic ingredients to cook some basic meals. After I got home, I just relaxed for while. I really didn’t have much to do so I walked back into town and went back on the internet and actually got to talk to Sharice which was nice. .When I was done, I came home and made a lentil curry type thing and some rice and sat outside and ate and looked my avocado tree. That brings me to this point…it started pouring down with rain again and the electricity keeps getting cut off so I have a candle lit and I am sitting with my laptop in darkness typing up my memories of the day. If the electricity stays on, we may actually be able to watch that movie tonight. .Now since I have laid out the structure of my last few days, I do realize I have said what I did but I feel I should write an additional note about the things I see and experience that I cannot capture really in a daily activity log. Everyday I see very very poor people. With no shoes, with no proper clothing, malnourished and I encounter chronic staring by absolutely everyone. The children will ask me for money and so will the very poor. The streets can be quite dusty and I do also see babies (literally babies) on the street. Today as I turned into the internet café there was a baby…probably not even 2 years old, no shoes, no diaper just a small sleeveless t-shirt standing on the street, his little cute feet in the dust, playing with refuge and there was no adult around. Who the kid belongs to or how long he’d been there is beyond me but he is not one innumber. It’s very difficult for me not to pick up kids like that and at least take them home and wash them and feed them but you can’t. You may cause so many problems for yourself that you are just advised not to do anything. They are so little and so adorable but they are street kids and thereare millions like them. .Another interesting aside is the number of animals I see! Everywhere I turn there is an animal– cows, goats, dogs, cats, just animals everywhere. There are horses and horse carts, donkeys and donkey carts and all kinds of other funny modes of transportation. It seems quite amusing that my commute involves seeing these creatures. We share a space. The roads are not just for humans here. .In general, in my blog, I try to give an account of what I’ve done and I hope I do it well but to capture the essence of this place in words is quite difficult and even recalling the very small but interesting things and details that occur is just not feasible. I hope I can at least put as many thoughts down that will conjure some kind of a picture. .I will try to upload as many pictures when it is practical but as of yet, I have had slow internet connections and I have not been able to dedicate that much time to uploading pictures. I will try to when I can. Until then my writing will have to do. .I feel very comfortable in my house now. It’s starting to feel like home and I look forward to coming here. .Stella just came over again holding some things and with her flash light in her mouth. I am still sitting by candlelight and I guess we will sit here again until we have light. Tomorrow I am supposed to travel quite a distance into the rural area of Dara to see the implementation of several of CISOs projects. I think it will be interesting. .(The power came back on and we ended up watching the Notebook…the volume was extremely low and I fell asleep)