Im trying to laugh it off, but I'm so close to crying: The life of an International Teacher

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.

I was that little girl who made her siblings play “school” instead of “house”. I worked as a tutor, a camp counselor, a T.A., an after-school teacher, and a Substitute teacher. If it involved teaching in any fashion, I was on it. I did it all.

But there is nothing quite like being a full time teacher. Nothing can prepare you for the heartache, the frustration, the love and emotional roller coaster you will go on with your students. Its great, but God is it hard!

And my first full time teaching gig just had to be out here in Ethiopia. With over-sized classrooms, kids who don't speak English as a first language and with a school culture completely different from what I was used to. As if teaching isn't already hard enough.

I had spent 3 days going over the verb To Be with my students.

Giving them this simple equation and these fill in the blank statements.
Easy right?! All my students should get this, especially because this is review for them. Students in Ethiopia start learning English at a young age, it is included into their school curriculum from the start, and so by High school, they are expected to know the basics.

And most of my kids did.
As I’d be writing the statements out on the board, many students would yell out the answer before I could finish writing the sentence. I smiled to myself thinking that my kids were Gobez Clever and that this year would be a piece of cake.

I assigned homework, and later as I began correcting it I saw


They __have to____ going to school
He ___was___ a very smart student.
She  __he__sleeping


What? I was confused. Now out of 180 students maybe 20 made such mistakes. The majority clearly understood, but mixed up some conjugations and 30 other students didn't even turn in the homework.

The next day I explained to my students that we are ONLY using the verb To Be and ONLY in present tense. And I demonstrated examples.

“ Does everyone understand?”

Silence

“ DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I yelled a little louder.

Silence

“ DO YOU UNDERSTAND, GILSANO?” Understand?

5 gobez (clever) students answer “ yes, teacher it is easy!”

My students refusing to answer, & even avoiding eye contact for fear of me calling on them lol


“ Ok but If any students ever need help, I will stay after school and tutor you. Please ask questions, it is the only way you will ever learn!”

Silence. blank stares and looks of boredom from my students who I know actually get it.

That night as I began checking more classwork and homework, I noticed the same mistakes!
And with every new activity I have given them there are always random or way off answers that make absolutely no sense.

I dont understand it and I dont know what to do. After a month of lessons & 1 quiz I began to question life itself. Am I not clear? Am I that bad of a teacher? Or are my kids just dumb?

I refuse to believe the latter, sure some students need more help than others but EVERYONE can learn. I just haven't figured out the best way to reach my kids who struggle the most.
Its incredibly difficult and as each day passes and I see no progress, my heart aches and I begin questioning my ability to do this.

NO ONE ever asks for help, No students ever show up or ask me about tutoring. The only kids who engage me in discussions outside of class are the gobez kids, because they are the only ones secure enough in their English to actually approach me.

I spoke to a few of the Ethiopian staff members about this issue and how they go about helping the kids who are struggling. But no one seemed to understand my question, the answers I got were all along the line of “yes, there is a huge difference between students and their ability. Some get it and some don’t.”

And that was all many of them had to say about it.

How am I suppsed to teach a class where 25% of the kids understand me pretty well, 50% are a little lost and need others to translate for them and the remaining 25% can barely write their A, B, C's ?!

The gap between students and their abilities is jarring. With a class of 60 it is really hard identifying which kids really need help, especially because Ethiopian students cheat like crazy! Peace Corps warned us about the cheating and how it is done shamelessly here. I don't think the students think of it as cheating, but more like sharing and helping a friend. But it doesn't help at all.

 In an effort to engage all levels of students in my class I decided to create a seating chart. Grouping off the Gobez kids, Average students and those who need the most help. I even started assigning different homework assignments to each group, to reduce the possibility of cheating and to give more challenging assignments to those who needed to be challenged, and easier assignments to those who needed more help.

But I don't see it working yet.

 One kid had the nerve to copy his friends homework, even though they were assigned DIFFERENT HOMEWORKS! The answers did not fit, and I don't think the student even noticed smh.

I have 3 classes, each with 60ish kids in them and many of them are falling between the cracks. Some of them dont even care, they dont take notes in class, they dont even try, and this is sad, but it does not bother me as much. If you dont care, then why should I? But then I have those students who turn in their assignments, who take notes and who I think really want to learn but they are just so far behind! And these are the ones my heart aches for, these are the ones who frustrate me, the ones I get angry at myself over.

I cant make them stay for tutoring, I can't make them go to a Saturday class. These students lives and their stories are so different and unique, and I have to be sensitive about that. Some of the kids in my class work several jobs, some help their parents take care of their siblings or help their fathers out on a farm. Some of my students are parents of their own, they have kids and husbands to attend to.

I’ll never forget the moment when a female student came up to me almost in tears, just begging me to take her late homework assignment. I started to say how I don't accept late work, when she started telling  me that her youngest child had gotten sick and so she had to miss class.

Her story shut me up real quick and reminded me that I'm not teaching in America. Peace Corps told us to be sensitive to our students lives and to consider things that will effect their education that we wouldn't normally think of. Things like your high school student being a parent, wife or husband. Your student having to miss work because it is Harvest season, and they must work in the fields, or on Market days selling goods. I may teach 9th grade English but my kids ages range from 14 to mid 20’s and each student has their own story.

Adjusting to life in Ethiopia is pretty much done, I'm 4 months in and I’ve established a bit of a routine. But adjusting to teaching in Ethiopia has only begun, and I’m constantly searching for new ideas, better approaches and ways to improve. The simplest things like taking attendance becomes a nightmare when you have 60-70 kids in your class, only 42min a period and you spend time stumbling over and pronouncing their names. Giving homework assignments and test become a pain when there is no money to print out such test or homework’s. When you don't get your own office, or your own classroom. I haul 180 notebooks from my school, to my house and back when its time to grade something.

Teaching is hard. Period.
 And it wasn't until coming to Ethiopia and teaching full time did I realize that your students failures become your own. That each missed answer hurts and I feel like my spirit is being crushed just a little every day.These kids futures ride on their grasp of the English language. You have to pass an English exam in order to go to college. And I don't know if Ill be able to do what PC brought me out here to do. I don’t want to lose hope in my kids or in myself, but it is an uphill battle, my own personal Jericho, and the outcome looks bleak.

Wow. I just reread that last paragraph and I sound so defeated. Someone pray for me lol, I think I’ll end this blog post and watch some uplifting movie about a highschool teacher who manages to engage the students everyone else thought was lost… I’ll brb lol

The halls of my school

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Chamber Pot #2

I professed my love for the chamber pot once a few months ago.. and not much has changed. In Wolisso I still use a chamber pot, the little plastic bucket I keep in my room,  and I do love it, but now like all loves, things have gotten complicated…

Many people use a chamber pot, its a common thing here. But many people are not as embarrassed as I am to carry their pee pots from their homes to the shint bet, which is across the compound. I live on a compound with maybe 8 other people, and they carry their pee pots with pride and walk with their heads high. But I get embarrassed... walking with a bowl of pee is strange. So to avoid being seen carrying mine on a daily basis, I end up using my chamber pot over and over and over again, until its completely full. I do this in order to reduce the walks of chamber pot holding shame.

But this ends up making things worse because now here I am walking with a giant pot of pee, an amount so absurd that everyone knows it must have taken days of accumulated pee to get to that full lol

On top of all this, I am then forced to take small slooowww steps all the way to the shint bet, or else my chamber pot which is filled to the brim, starts sloshing all around and wetting my fingers as I hold the bowl... its kind of gross and its safe to say I'm still trying to figure out a way of avoiding my Chamber pot shame.

Vlog #11

Ethiopian food

 

 Injera being cooked

So many people have asked me about the food here in Ethiopia, so I've decided to dedicate a blog post to it. Not tryna call anyone out in particular but, contrary to what some stereotypes may have you thinking.... NO! everyone in Ethiopia is NOT starving lol AND there is a pretty large variety of foods available here (with the exception of hard cheeses).

There is no way I can talk about Ethiopian cuisine without bringing up Injera. It is a national dish in Ethiopia and this sourdough flatbread with its very unique spongy texture seems to unite Ethiopians from every region. There are many different ethnic groups in Ethiopia, all with their own style of dance, dress, music & foods. But Injera seems to be a constant throughout the country. All Ethiopians love it and a meal isn't considered a meal unless injera is involved.

  Injera ready to be devoured

In all honesty I did not like Injera when I first tried it. I avoided eating it for the first 3 months I was in country. It was too sour for me and it just added this extra flavor to other Ethiopian dishes that were already delicious without it, in my opinion. But what the heck did I know then lol. I was wrong, and after giving it a few more tries I realized that I had had a few BAD injera experiences but it normally is pretty good and I even find myself craving it somedays. 

My appreciation of Injera is nowhere near the normal Ethiopian level however. These people eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner. They love Injera so much that they eat a dish called FirFir, which is pieces of injera, inside injera lol

 

There are spices in firfir and you can get firfir with eggs & meat too, but its very common to see people eating the normal firfir of only injera & berbere (the spice)

Injera the way I like it... with a mixture of veggies, meat, ayb (goat cheese) & kitfo (raw meat)

 

Mahebrawi - the meat lovers dish

mahebrawi is a platter that has a variety of meats all served on top of injera. Sometimes ayb (cheese) is included. Most Ethiopian dishes are served on large platters and several people eat off this same platter.

  

Another Mahebrawi dish

 

Ayb with Gomen (cheese with cabbage)

I really like Ethiopian cheese, I prefer eating it with meat and injera though.

 

Tibs - Lamb meat (usually I think) with a small assortment of veggies (usually kayria & onion) with Injera and mitmita (a hot but yummy spice)

Shekela tibs - most PC Ethiopia volunteers favorite dish. These are tibs that are cooked on this clay pot. They are a little crunchier than normal tibs but they are delicious.

The work that goes into making a cup of coffee in Ethiopia. Wash the beans. Cook the beans. Ground the beans. Mix. Boil and serve them. #peacecorps

A video posted by Ashley Nicole (@ashleysayque) on Aug 8, 2014 at 7:19am PDT

Coffee in Ethiopia is an experience. As this lil video shows it takes time to prepare a cup of coffee, and in Ethiopia they embrace it. My host mom would offer me a cup of coffee and I'd accept thinking it was already made and all she had to do was pour me a cup. But no, she would begin this coffee preparing ceremony JUST for me and put in all this work. She'd put on this dress, have grass on the floor or these plastic green shingles to represent the grass (which is symbolic of good health I think). It was all too much, and I felt bad so I just stopped drinking coffee as much.

 

Traditional Ethiopian food is great, shiro, tegabino, kayowat, tibs, dorowat, etc... But you can also find other dishes. In Butajira one of my favorite foods was this beef shish kebab.

 

The soups aren't too bad either.

You can also find Burgers & french fries (they call them 'chips') but they don't use beef in the burgers just fyi.

 

Unless you are in Addis Ababa and go to a place like Shishu, which has beef burgers with real bacon!

 

The joy that is a Sambousaa

Sambousas are a street food, people will be selling them outside of stores or walking around with some to sell. They are deep fried with lentils & kayria inside. I've heard that they sometimes have meat in them but I've never seen it myself. These are great to grab on the go and the closest thing to fast food here.

 

As far as drinks go, you can easily find Cokes, orange Fanta and sometimes Pinnaple Fanta, Ambo (carbonated water) and flavored Ambo. Mirinda is another popular drink, it comes in orange & apple flavor.

Lawlz Shay (pronounced like -Lawse Shy)

The Us needs to jump on this little treat. Peanut butter tea O.O

Some places have it in country, some places don't. But its definitely worth finding & trying if you can. I've had really good Lawlz Shay & really bad lawlz shay.

The food here is pretty good as you can see, I really don't have anything to complain about. But I still wouldn't mind receiving a package or two with some American goods ;)
I just added a new tab called "wish list", soooo if the Lord puts it on your heart to send me a package, you know where to look lol

Settling into Wolisso

 Wolliso...its growing on me :)

Ive really come to appreciate the privacy of my new home.
I may just be in a 1 bedroom house, with 4 walls and 1 floor that I bathe, cook, sleep, pray AND exercise in, but its MY 4 walls and it is more than enough.

Today I had a praise party, music blaring, me singing along and doing the most ridiculous dances within the confines of my 4 little walls.

THIS is the beauty of having your own spot, I thought to myself as Byron cages “Bless the Lord” blasted in my house.
Needless to say I am starting to love my new found freedom and my new town.

                               One of the suks (stores) I stop by daily in order to buy small goods.

                       
    The market. Market days are Wed & Saturday and its where farmers from other rural areas come into my town to sell their goods. There is a larger variety of fruits, veggies & spices on market day.
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 I am settling in quite nicely. My Amharic is good enough where I can shop by myself, I no longer get lost, I recognize some townspeople, and because school has started all the kids in town and the townspeople know me.

I am greeted daily by kids and adults alike as “Teacher, Teacher!!” or “Ashley”. Its pretty cool :)

Im building a routine and I'm loving it. I workout, watch tv on my computer, play with the kids in my compound, read books on my kindle and I've even met a few Ethiopians who might be potential friends. I'm still figuring out what I can cook and trying to find ways to eat healthy, but so far so good. I even managed to make Fried chicken one night! (Its not healthy, but its nice to know its possible to make such a delicious comfort food for when I may need it)

Im teaching 9th grade at Geresu Duki high school here in Wollisso, and although enjoyable, its something I will also have to get accustomed too, my first week teaching here taught me that much.

I was extremely nervous and worried about teaching in Ethiopia and if I would meet the school staffs expectations, my own expectations and peace corps expectations. It was all a little overwhelming and things seemed highly unorganized.

I had been living in Wollisso for a few weeks now and still had yet to hear from my school director. He told me he would call but I'm guessing he just forgot, so I decided to show up to the school campus randomly one day and I'm so glad I did! He told me that classes would be starting the following Monday, except I was supposed to observe instead of teach for the first few days.

 

The entrance to my Highschool

 

The Library... the book nerd in my wants to cry at how unorganized it is

 

The teachers locker room. Teachers do not have their own offices, but they have lockers to storie their bags and personal belongings...well except for me -_-

When I arrived on Monday, I was anxious to meet my students, and observe an Ethiopian teacher but instead I ran into that infamous teacher from a previous blog post who was my community liaison… yes the one who called me “fat”.

“Ashley! It is so good to see you! How are you? Are you fine?”
“Yes Im fine, thank you”
“Today school starts! and you will be observing a teacher”
“Yes I know, Im going to talk to the director now about watching a female teacher”
“No you will watch me during the morning shift, and you can start teaching in the afternoon!”

Geresu Duki is split into morning and afternoon shifts. The first set of students come from 8am -1230pm and later the 2nd set of students come from 1230 -5pm. The days are split in half and students and teachers both alternate from the morning and afternoon shift weekly. One week Im teaching from 8-1230, the next week im teaching from 1230-5pm. This is done because the school is so overcrowded and there is no way the school could provide classrooms for all the students at the same time.

“No, Ive already talked to the director and I'm only supposed to be here for the morning shift, I can not stay during both shifts”
 He tries to reply but I wave goodbye and tell him I have to meet with the director, there is no way I'm going to entertain this conversation with this man.

I walk into the directors office and he informs me that I would be watch Lem Lem, a Female English teacher and that I am to start teaching whenever I think I am ready.

 

This is Lem Lem, she is 28 years old, a wife, mother and working woman. She has been teaching for about 5 years. Shes an Addis girl, a woman from the big city and her attitude and style of dress capture all that. Her English is pretty good and shes super sweet! I am sure we will become good friends. But back to my story...

I head to Lem Lems class but only find students talking, joking and sitting outside the classroom.

Class was supposed to start at 8am, I glance at the schedule to make sure, then look at my watch, yeah it starts at 8 but its already 830… where is Lem Lem?

I look around and see students everywhere….where are all the other teachers?!
I poke my head in a few classroom doors and see that no teachers have arrived yet.
What is going on?!

 Students just BIG TIME CHILLIN'

Lem lem arrives at 912 and explains to me that this is the first day, many teachers do not teach during the first week and so the students just wait outside. Together we walk over to her classroom and enter inside, only to find another teacher teaching the class.
Lem Lem and this other teacher converse in Amharic and afterwards she explains what happened to me.

“He is a teacher of a different subject and he wants to take my class period for the day”
“Wait, can he do that? You’re supposed to teach English, but he just walked in and took your class? Is that ok?”
“Yes, it is fine, he says he is teaching something very important and needs my period, so he can have it. Come, I am done for the day we can walk home”

I follow Lem Lem in a daze. Wow THAT was a productive day.. smh. If another teacher every tries to steal my class like that, I will definitely have something to say about it.. but Im sure Lem Lem knows what she is doing… and after all its only the first day…


 As we walk home she proceeds to give me insight into Ethiopian school culture and it is something I’ll be eternally grateful for. In Ethiopia and in my school in particular, there are 6 periods a day, at 42min a period. Very similar to an American High school, but at the end of each period instead of the students leaving and going to a new class, the teachers leave and go to their next class. This means that no teachers have their own classrooms, you can not hang up posters, learning aids, behavior charts, or even exceptional class work. The class room belongs to the students and those students sit in that classroom all day, every day with the same kids. It never changes. Because the same kids sit in the same classroom all day long, if you teach that class during 5th period, you know they will be in that same class for, 1st period, 2nd, 3rd, 4th… etc.. and its easy to just walk into that class any period of the day and take over and teach during the period you desire (if another teacher isn't already present)

This makes stealing another teachers class very easy, especially if they are late, or if they just don't show up. Lem Lem missed her earlier class and was late to the second class, so someone stole it. I’ve actually learned to take advantage of this classroom theft, and when I notice that one of my classes doesn't have a teacher during any given period I waltz right in there and just decide to teach an extra lesson… its 1 thing I like about this system, but it doesn't always work. If the teacher comes in late, then I feel sheepish and I have to gather my teaching materials and leave the room.

Lem Lem also told me that there is no money for teachers to print out homework assignments, quizzes or test. The only printed sheet of paper kids get are the end of the semester exams. Anything else has to come out of the teachers own pocket. Teachers do not take attendance, they are not given a roster with student names, and interactive work or group work is nonexistent, because of the incredibly large class sizes.

There are sometimes 80 or more students in a class!

Im supposed to teach 3 English classes per day, all grade 9 students, with about 60-70 kids in each class. The class sizes alone make teaching here a bit of a nightmare. Ethiopian teachers are expected to go into class, lecture, leave and repeat, and Im sure this is partly because of the large class sizes.

When I started teaching after observing Lem Lem, I tried to implement a seating chart - which was a fail. I tried creating a roster so I could know all my students names and keep track of their work, another fail. I slowly started feeling defeated, but I rebuked that thought and instead began to wonder why a simple thing such as a seating chart and roster were not working in my class. Thats when I realized that my students are just super creative and have decided to spell their name differently... every. single. day.

Bethelihem Mokonnen `would transform and become Bethlahim Mekonin
Iyayusalem decided she preferred  Iyuselim every once in awhile

&

Abendzr  and Abendezer are probably one and the same person.

 I realized that the names are basically the same and deciding which English vowel sound fits your Ethiopian name best can be a challenge when English vowels have 2 different sounds, and when your mother tounge is Amharic and it doesnt use the English alphabet but rather Fidel Or when your mother tounge is Oromiffa and it uses the English alphabet but the sounds are completely different. Not to mention that many people in Ethiopia do not write in the vowels. My LCF (language & culture facilitator) who is of course Ethiopian let me know this very early on but it took awhile for it to click in my head. And it took awhile for me to realize why my seating charts & rosters never worked and why it seemed like I had new students every other day haha

*update I have been teaching for a month and a half now and the seating chart works wonders. Im even learning some of my kids names :) (well the ones who sit in the seats I assigned them)



Teaching in Ethiopia is definitely bringing about some challenges but I am adjusting. And luckily I have not come across any cases of abuse or had to deal with seeing any of my male colleagues trying to get with the female students. Katie Puzey, another Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa, had to deal with something like this, and in her attempt to help the girl students and report this man, she was murdered (Read her story HERE). I don't even know what I would do or where to start in such a situation, but I do know that Ethiopia faces similar problems. Teacher - Student relations exist, in rural Ethiopia the teacher often marries the underage student. My male PCV friend has already been asked by his school Principal “So, what are you going to say when your female students come to you for sex?” . This is a sad reality in the US, in Ethiopia and in places all over the world, and so instead of figuring out how I would go about this problem if it ever presents itself, I just steal another classroom, teach an extra lesson and try again to make this seating chart thing work.

Kids in Ethiopia

Living with my host family taught me a lot about kids in Ethiopia. My host sister was 4 years old, and yet she knew more than I did when it came to cooking, or cleaning in this country. I'd watch her sit with my host mom and soak in how to make shiro, how to prepare injera and how to take care of the household. Kids in Ethiopia are like kids all over the world, they play, they joke, they get dirty and they have fun, but the kids here also learn how to work hard from a young age.

 I went on a hike one saturday morning and saw this boy herding his animals and watching them graze the land. I didnt look or think twice when I  first snapped this photo, because its a very common sight in Ethiopia, but later I sat staring at it and thought about what it says about the lives of kids in Africa. When I was his age my saturday mornings were all about epsiodes of Pokemon, Dragonball Z,  Jackie chan adventures and it was my day to sleep in. This childs life, compared to mine and many others looks so different. The kids in Ethiopia wake up early to till the land, to grind teff, and work to make money.







You will oftentimes find kids on the street selling gum, fruits and veggies. Boys from ages 8 to 16, shine shoes on the street, and stand behind the counters in stores selling goods.

 

Because so many parents need their kids to work, some children do not go to school until very late in life. I have 9th graders who are in their early and mid twenties because they started school when they were 10 and 12 instead of 5 and 6. They had to work in order to survive, so school isn't the priority, surviving is.

 

Kids at work, herding animals and selling corn on the street.

 This isnt EVERY childs life in Africa, its not EVERY kids life in Ethiopia, but it is the lives of some. What amazes me is seeing the same kid that sells corn on the street, smiling and playing soccer the next day. Ethiopian youth always find a way to have fun and enjoy life. They may not have an ipad, an iphone, a flat screen TV with every channel imaginable, but they have their creativity.

 Kids here play with tires, mud, empty water bottles and deflated soccer balls. They tie strings to bottles and drag them, they roll tires and run with them and draw outlines in the dirt to play skipping games and with marbles. They say that one mans trash is another mans treasure, and the kids here in Africa have shown me proof of that. In Mozambique a volunteer found out that the kids in her town played with condoms.  They would blow them up like ballons, and use the lubricant in the condom to grease their hair, or put on their skin like a lotion. Its fascinating and very well written, her post is called: If you give a kid a condom, so check it out!


There are about 4 kids of varying ages who live in my compound and I didn't have the nerve to give them a condom to see if they would play with it, but a balloon worked just fine lol

Wollisso, the first days in my new home.

My new home: Wollisso

Adjusting to change can be challenging for most people, I have always know this..what I didn't know was that I was “most people”. Not to toot my own horn, but I have always thought of myself as very easy going, chill and an adaptable person, and I thought that it took a lot to shake me, and even more to break me down.

But count on Peace Corps and life in a completely different world to stretch me thin and test my adaptability.

My time living in Woliso has been challenging to say the least.

I started the first week full of excitement at the prospect of having my own place, my own space and more time to workout and the freedom to cook my own meals. I walked into my one bedroom, pink, concrete house and smiled to myself. I can do this, there is no furniture but by the end of the week that will change.

I unpacked all my luggage into my cozy room and laid down the foam mattress I had just bought. Surprised by how much space my belongings took up on the cold concrete floor.

 Dont judge me  for the mess lol

 It was a little cluttered and very messy, but I knew that wouldn't last too long. During my site visit last month I proactively decided to talk to the wood worker in town and gave him a down payment on kitchen shelving and a table he was going to make for me…and that should be done by now. So I left my little home and decided to pay him a visit.

“Salam now? Indet Neh? Dehna Neh? Dehna aderk” Peace be with you?  How are you?  Are you good? Good morning?

(typical greeting in Amharic)

“I am fine, thanks be to God”
“Good, so did you finish my furniture?”
“Oh no, I will finish next week”
“Next week?”
“Yes next week, give me more money and I will finish next week”
“No, im sorry but you said you would be done now. I gave you money last month”
“Yes but I need more money.”
“No, I will pay you when you finish”
“Why dont you pay now?”
“Because you said you would be done, but you are not. I will not pay you again. I will pay when you finish”
“fine. I finish next week”

After this conversation I decided to take a look at what he had completed so far and he lead me to the back of his workshop and pointed to a pile of wood laying on the floor. A PILE OF WOOD ON THE FLOOR! Unbelievable and Im being overcharged for this furniture too… I had half a mind to just cancel the entire thing. I highly doubt he will be finished in a weeks time.

(A week later, he still hadn’t even started on my furniture so I canceled the order and lost out on my downpayment)

I guess my things will be lying on the floor for just a little bit longer than I thought. I decide to walk back home for the day, when it begins to rain. Small soft droplets turn into stinging bullet speeding rain drops and I end up soaking wet, and running into a nearby shop for cover.

 

 Kaylee (another volunteer) and I stuck in a shop in the rain.

I wait in the shop for 10 min, until  the rain slows down and I proceed to make my way home. as soon as I enter my house I notice a huge puddle of rain water spreading across the floor. I look at my belongings in horror to see what suffered the most water damage and am quickly relieved to see that my computer and other electronics are ok.

The landlady on my compound stands at the entrance of my door and peaks in to see the mess.

“There must be a leak in the house”
“Chigger yellum” No problem she says
and she points to my things and makes a huge sweeping gesture to the dry side of the room

“Alga beinyum” I dont understand, I say to her and she does the sweeping gesture again
… is she telling me to move my things?

a second later and my landladies niece, Kadisee, who is also another tenant in our compound comes in the room to translate.

“Shes saying you should keep all your things on that side of the room where the water will not reach.”

“oh ok…. yeah I will put them there for now, but this needs to be fixed.”

Kadisee just smiles and they both leave my soggy home.

Annoyed at my misfortune, I decide to rant to my PC friends and check up on them and how their first day in their new sites are going.
I grab my phone to make a call and notice that no calls are going through. NO calls, NO text, NO internet. Nothing is working. The system must be down. Whatever, its not a big deal.

instead I grab my kindle and begin reading Book 4 of The Game of Thrones. After an hour or so, I notice the battery charge on my kindle is low and so I plug it into the wall.

But nothing happens.

I plug my phone charger into the wall. Still no lightening sign to tell me that its charging.
I try my laptop. Still no luck

Maybe the rain knocked out the power too, I think to myself. This happened all the time in Butajira, when it rained you expected the lights to go out, the internet to go down. Everything stops working in the rain.

I get up to check out the light switch in my room, a little proof  for my theory of the power being out.

*click*

Light fills my wet little house.
*sigh* so the power is working.. its just my electrical outlet that's not.

I call my landlady and Kadisee back into my room to show them the problem.

“See the power is on, the outlet just doesn't work!”
“ohh wow” Kadisee says

“Chigger yellum! NO PROBLEM. You will work at the highschool yes? Just charge your things there!"  she says

“Uhm.. ok, but I need this to get fixed.”
“You can charge your things in the main house too” she says with a smile

ok am I missing something here? Is she telling me that for the next 2 years I should use the outlets at my school and in their house, or does she just mean for now?

I was reaching a boiling point. My little house and its pink walls were soo pretty, but why the heck is everything going wrong with it! A leak, no working outlets! I mean gosh what was next!

The next day I go into town to buy a basic bed frame, some pots, pans, buckets, a small electric stove and other things to help me settle into my house.

the Gabaye... A Taxi like service but on a horse drawn cart. They help with bringing your furniture across town.

As I'm setting up my room, Kadisee wanders into my place without knocking.

“Hi, let me help you” she says as she begins unpacking my items and moving things around
“uhm no thats ok”
“Lagazish” Let me help you. she repeats again, as she picks up my items one by one

At this point I do not want to be rude, but she is kind of in my way and I don't feel comfortable with her going through all my things. I trust her, but I honestly think she's just being nosy and trying to see what I own.

“You know what, I think I will do this later. I want to set up my bed for now.” I say
“Ok, you will sleep over there” she points to the far side of the room
“So you dont get wet when it rains”

Wait what…does this mean they aren't fixing this leak?! I start to panic. I cant deal with this anymore or take a chance. So I call Peace Corps to complain

“Daniel, there's a leak in my house and my outlet isn't working and I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think my landlady intends to fix it….”

The conversation with Daniel is pleasant, he says he will handle everything and call my landlady himself. Feeling a little better about it all, I decide to cook dinner. Spaghetti seems like an easy enough first meal. I begin boiling the water, adding the noodles and salt when the power goes out.

oh well, it will come back on. ill just wait.
After 15 min, it comes back on and I resume cooking.
8 min later, it goes back out.

UGH this has to be a joke! I try to call one of my PC friends again, but everything is down apparently. There is no connection.

I end the night eating very undercooked noodles. Sitting in silence and going to bed at 740pm because there is no power, all my electronics have died and I got tired of sulking.

BUUUUZZZZZZZZ 

Something flys by my ear

BUUUUZZZZZZZZ

The sound wakes me up and I swing to kill the monstrous insect flying by my face.

BUUUUZZZZZZZZ

I hear the sound again and slap wildly into the dark, hoping I didn't miss this time.

BUUUUZZZZZZZZ
BUUUUZZZZZZZZ
BUUUUZZZZZZZZ

The sound of this thing flying by my ear is killing me! I can not go back to sleep. I check my phone and it is 830pm. I haven't even been asleep for a full hour. I can not believe this!
My mind begins reeling with thoughts about everything that has gone wrong up until this point. All these little annoyances just adding up and I don't even have someone to talk to!


I lay in bed angry. frustrated. hungry. lonely. depressed and…. itchy?
I find myself scratching my arms every 5 min.
Then later scratching my legs and my back.

Something is biting me on this bed, I soon realize and I grab my little blanket and pillow and lay on the cold concrete floor. Hoping that whatever was trying to eat me alive isn't in my blanket or pillow.

The next morning I wake up to find at least 30+ bug bites on my arms alone. What on Gods green earth did this to me ?!

I look around my room and see 6 baby mosquitoes on the wall. Where are they COMING FROM!?!?

These things have to go.

I spend the next hour in annihilation mode. I swear I was like rambo in there, slowly scanning the walls for baby mosquitoes, sneaking up on them and striking before they can fly away.

 Me in Rambo mode lol

After getting rid of them I spray my entire house down with insecticide and go for a walk around town to avoid the fumes.

I run into my site mate Caitlin and we decide to run some errands together. We begin walking through town and after 2 minutes there are about 20 kids loudly walking and talking behind us.

“Wait are these kids following us?” I ask Cait
“I dont know…”
“Lets test it to see if they are…” I say.

I grab Caitlin and we walk over to the side of the road and stop.
The mob of kids stop too, then begin surrounding us, yelling out things in English and Amharic

“What is your name!”
Money money money
“Ferenji! China China
Africa"
"My name is"
"Africa"
"Money money Give money!"

I begin to laugh, wow I cant believe this.
“ ok, No, my name is not “money”, its Ashley and this is Caitlin”

"Ashley! Ashley! Caitlin"
"Give money"
"Africa Ferenji"

I shake my head and we decide to continue walking.

"What is your name!”
"Money money money"
“Ferenji! China China 
Africa"

"Ok stop!” Caitlin says in Amharic

The kids start laughing at her.
“balage!” Rude I say

The kids start laughing more and begin imitating the Amharic words that Caitlin and myself tired to say.

Photo of Caitlin, one of my sitemates!(I have 2!)   Caitlin next to one of the monkeys in our town.

They follow us laughing and joking and calling out “Africa” and “Ferenji” for about 5 min, until an adult comes by and begins scolding them

We thank him and continue running errands.
Buying things in Ethiopia, when you aren't a pro in the language and you look like an outsider, can make things difficult. Its hard to get across what you want to buy, and because price tags do no exist in these smaller towns you are oftentimes overcharged by the seller. Sometimes I fight, and argue about paying the “foreigner” price and other times I just dont even care.

Today with Caitlin, I tried to fight the prices but ultimately got lucky because a man in town decided to help us out….or so I thought.

This guy spoke some English and decided to help explain to the store owner what we wanted. He took us to one store and did this, so by the end of it, I gave him a sincere thank you and I had decided to give him $10 birr as well. (which is ALOT to just offer freely)

“Ahmasayguhnahlow” Thank you I said, as I handed him the bill
“Silsa” sixty He replied

Wait what….I thought and I paused for a second
“Silsa” He says again and grabs my extended hand holding the 10 birr bill
“Aye. Ahsiir, ishie.” No, 10 ok. I say

but he stares blankly at me and refuses to let go of my hand.

This guy is crazy if he thinks Im going to give him 60birr for no reason. He helped us a little but I never agreed to pay him anything. I was just giving him money to be kind and now hes demanding 60birr… 60birr will by you an entire dinner in this town.

“Silsa.” he says again, and I see his eyes roam over to the small clutch purse I am holding.
by this time a small crowd has gathered, watching this man and the 2 foreigners having a dispute.

 I pull my arm free, say “No” and a police officer approaches.

The police officer is looking at me and speaking in Amharic, asking questions. I cant understand a word he is saying, but I turn my head to look around and the guy who was demanding money has disappeared

“Algabeinyum, aznalow, tinish Amarinya” I dont understand, Im sorry, little amharic, I say to the officer

“You have problem?” he replies
“Chigger Yellum” No problem Caitlin says

The police officer smiles, nods his head and leaves.

I head home and enter my 1 bedroom house. All my belonging spread out on the floor. The place is a mess, my arms still itch, my electronics still have not been charged and I'm just over life in Ethiopia.

I'm annoyed at the world. I miss my PC friends. I wish I were home and clean and had hot water and working outlets and power that never goes out!

I feel like screaming. I feel like praying. I feel like crying.
but I do nothing but sit there grumpy and upset.

And this is my very honest account of the first few days at my site. It hasn't been easy, I am not always smiling and happy and actually during the rest of the week I spent most of my time hiding inside my room. Every trip outside of my house is a bit of an adventure, there are always people staring, people trying to cheat me out of money and days where I just dont want to even try and speak in Amharic. Integrating into my community will be more difficult than I thought. Even the idea of integration exhausts me. Sometimes my town seems more fascinated by me than by my white site mates!

“black foreigner! black foreigner!”


“she is habesha ferengi”

“she only speaks english!”
“obama obama obama!”

It gets a little annoying knowing everyone in town is watching you and knows who you are. But I just keep trying to remind myself that

 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” 

                                           -Ecclesiates 3:1

This is my time to adapt and adjust to my new home. To get used to this half of my Peace Corps service and find my place in this new world. Through all this newness, uncertainty and change I only pray that I am resilient. That I remember why I am here. Its only the first week after all, this time and season of change will pass and I realize that there is something to be learned from it. I've realized that during the times when I'm feeling downtrodden, lonely and I just don't want to smell the inside of another shint bet, Gods grace pours over me in overwhelming amounts. I'm reminded that I am His and cared for by the smiles of children I see on the streets. I wake up in the morning and see His grace in the beauty of the world around me, and during this particularly difficult week I experienced His love through the body of Christ made up of members of my family and friends from my church. An unexpected care package, a joke told by a friend, or a talk with an Aunt and cousin brought a smile to my face and a light in my heart, as I know my Lord is reminding me that I'm not alone. That although I'm in Africa He is with me, and I see him everyday through the actions of family and friends when I need it the most.  I have the most amazing family and friends, and with all that by my side, I am more than ready to tackle the remainder of my 2 years in Ethiopia.
“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” 

                                           -Proverbs 18:24

My new home in Africa, Ethiopia.... Even the townspeople cant decide on how to spell it :)