Officially a PCV

After 3 months of training, (in Addis and our community based training sites) 60 of us, split between health and environment sectors, are now officially Peace Corps Volunteers in Ethiopia. Time has gone fast and yet it feels like I've been here for years already. By the end of training I managed to reach a language proficiency of 'intermediate - mid' which was the goal set by Peace Corps. Success! Now I need to maintain what I learned and build on it everyday. Our swearing-in ceremony was a few days ago. It was in the garden at the US Embassy in Addis, a very beautiful setting. It was a nice event and fun to celebrate with my friends. 

The day after swearing-in we parted ways with our fellow trainees and moved to our sites to start our two years of service. After spending so much time together it's sad to say goodbye! Of course we can visit each other but traveling around this country is not the easiest of tasks. We will be reunited for follow up training events about every 3-6 months. There were 5 of us that were able to travel together because our sites are in the same general vicinity. 

I made it to my site in record time. Our bus left on time early in the morning so our 8 hr bus ride got me into my hub town in the middle of the afternoon. Early enough so I could try to catch a bus to my site that same day. I didn't know if there would be a bus or not, so while I wanted to sleep in my own bed at site I kept in mind that I might have to stay at a hotel. When I had travelled to site the first time, my counterpart introduced me to a woman who runs a suk near the bus stop. She was very kind, I bought some bananas from her and she told me to come again next time I was in town. So this time I went straight there to inquire about the bus situation because I knew she would be helpful if I needed it. There were people waiting for buses inside her suk, most notably a distinguished older Muslim man. I recognized him but rather than just vaguely remembering his face from site visit last month, it felt more like I knew him from sometime before in my life. He was very interested to learn about me and asked a lot of questions but talked so fast that I couldn't really respond to him. Luckily there was someone who spoke English & Oromifa who could fill in the blanks for both of us. It turns out a lot of the people waiting at the suk were waiting for the same bus as me. It was fun to tell them that I was going to live in their town for the next two years, that from this point forward we are now neighbors. Before the older man left he said something about 'when we go, she needs to go ahead of us' and it was explained to me that it is a part of their culture to show respect to their guests and I am a guest in their community so they should treat me accordingly. It is true, during my time here I have definitely felt the kindness and generosity that Ethiopians extend to their guests. But I didn't know exactly what he meant - I just thought to myself, 'that's nice'. It was such a relief to be waiting for the bus with these helpful people and not feel alone. They definitely stepped up and made sure I got where I needed to be. When the bus came it was already almost full but there were a handful of us who were queued up to get on. Actually there are no lines here, it's a blob of us, there's some pushing, I guess because people feel anxious that they might not get on. It doesn't make sense to me because in my experience everyone manages to get on no matter how full the bus is. I'm at the back of the blob because I'm not comfortable with the pushing yet and to be honest I'm just not very good at it. A young man in front of me turned around and said 'come on' so I felt like at the very least he would make sure I got on the bus. As we're waiting for the doors to open, I can sense the tension of our blob building, the pushing continues, things are being said that I don't understand, but I'm cool as a cucumber at the back of the blob just waiting for it all to be over. Then something strange happened. The door of the bus opens, people are excited to get on, but we're kept waiting, the bus attendant is blocking the doorway giving some instructions to our blob, I can't hear or understand what's going on - all of the sudden the pushing stops, the crowd parts down the middle like the parting of the Red Sea and I am ushered on to the bus first. Um, what's happening? Is this really happening? And then I remembered the older man at the suk. When the bus arrived he had instructed them to treat me as a guest and make sure I got on first. I didn't see him on the bus but the next time I see him in town I will be thanking him profusely! What a lovely way to be welcomed into my new community. 

It feels good to be getting settled into my new home. I'm anxious to buy the things that I need to make my room (I have one really big room) feel comfortable and functional. The first task was to clean - I needed my room to feel clean in order to really make it my home. The cement floor was very dusty after sitting empty for the past month and there were several spiders that had moved in. The 5yo neighbor boy helped me with spider patrol. (Side note: I have been pleasantly surprised that I haven't encountered too many critters so far. I've squashed a few decent sized spiders but nothing to go bananas over yet. I've seen photos of monstrous ones from fellow trainees so I know they're out there but thankfully we've not yet crossed paths. I hear bats every evening but they seem busy doing what they're supposed to be doing, as long as they stay outside we're cool. And of course there are mice but they don't really bother me - if they come in my room it will be a different story. I am most thankful for my mosquito net mostly as protection from any other critter that might try to visit during the night. I've very rarely had a mosquito bite but I'm definitely not interested in getting any mosquito borne illness. I am most annoyed by the flies. Freaking. Flies. Gross.) Anyway, the landlady had lent me a broom of sorts and while it was effective, there was just so much dust that it would create a cloud and it didn't leave me feeling like my room was actually very clean. She saw me struggling to sweep and like every other Ethiopian woman I've encountered while I've been here, she knew what needed to be done and stepped in take care of it. She told me to wait while she cleared out the room and brought in water and rags to mop the floor. Everything is done so expertly and swiftly that there's nothing for me to do except stand by and watch. I felt like a child but it was quite nice when she was done - it was just what the room needed.

Home sweet home

I definitely didn't expect to be treated so overwhelmingly with kindness, generosity and respect when I signed up for this experience. There are still struggles, difficulties, and misunderstandings, but the good far outweighs the bad. 

Love from Ethiopia!