Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Where Have You Been

I apologize for not updating this blog more often. I honestly assumed people had lost interest and stopped reading, but during my home leave I learned the opposite was true. So! Here is a much delayed update on the last 6 months or so in Ethiopia!

The Milling HouseThe big project I was working on is FINALLY underway. I received the first grant some time ago, and since then we have completed the construction of the milling house. It is located on the way to the market and looks fantastic. We started by marking off the different rooms with sticks and string (milling room, store room, shop) and digging a ditch around the outside for the foundation. From there we got a shipment of large rocks and filled in the ditches with them (I assume this is to prevent flooding in the rainy season). I (and the other volunteers in Masha…thanks again!) helped out in this process. Several people stood by and watched us and, unfortunately, laughed when we said that they should help. Promotion of Volunteerism Fail. Many people asked us why we were doing manual labor and why not just let the contractors we hired do it. It felt nice to do some hard work, but didn’t feel so good to realize that after 2 years I still can’t get people to volunteer to help people.
Or so I thought. The next day I was stopped on the street by a higher up development officer who said he heard what I was doing and wanted to help out. He volunteered to be the project foreman, set up legal contracts that I could have NEVER done on my own, and take care of things when I moved to Addis. During the construction he and his colleague turned out to be best assets I had. Especially with my dear counterpart out of town (for graduate school…pretty awesome for him…bad timing for me!) I really needed them to help with the bureaucratic red tape and communicating when my Amharic ran out. Recently I learned from the PCV who replaced me in Masha that they had finished construction. Right before I left on home leave the second grant was fully funded so now I’m ready to buy the milling machinery, install and start business! As soon as work here slows down I’ll be headed back to the SW.


Goodbye MashaThe second event worth mentioning was my departure from Masha. On November 1st my time in Masha was up. I had a lot of complicated feelings, sometimes feeling ecstatic to be moving on to the big city, sometimes feeling overwhelmed with sadness leaving the most permanent home I’ve had since I left for college, sometimes scared to leave what was now comfortable to the first city I’ve ever lived in, sometimes just relieved to be done using a pit latrine and showering in a bucket in the middle of my bedroom. I think the only consistent feeling I had was the happiness knowing it would be a good few months before I’d have to get on a bus again.
Leaving was difficult. I always have a hard time with goodbyes. I get very attached to people and places and dealing with change is a struggle. While the farewell process took about a month, I’ll tell you about my last day in Masha. Generally Ethiopians like to plan a big awkward goodbye ceremony for volunteers filled with people who volunteers don’t know or don’t have a good relationship with. I didn’t want this grand empty gesture, so I let people know not to do this, so I could give more personal goodbyes to the people I was closest to. I did my rounds to make sure I said goodbye to everyone that I needed to (everyone I worked with, people who I often interacted with in town, shop keepers, coffee house owners/servers etc…). Most of these included having a cup of coffee. I didn’t sleep well that night. During the day I spent some time with my favorite shop owner. I worked with her for a little while in her tiny square meter shop and had a few cups of coffee. I eventually needed to move on so I could see everyone I wanted to. The second stop was with two of the best people I met in Masha. Woodeh is the first person in Masha to ever speak to me and invite me to her house. She doesn’t speak any English and has been a challenging but very rewarding relationship. In the beginning I went to her house all the time for tea, later we met in town and had tea together relatively frequently. She helped me with everything in town and to integrate. We went to sporting events together, I went to her hair appointments, she helped with my laundry when I started getting lazy and, what I remember most, is she’s the person I went to after that waterfall incident years ago. Roman I know through working with the PLWHA association and also, because I randomly stopped at her tea house one day. We spend a lot of time in her tea house talking about life, her daughter and sometimes just silently enjoying each other’s company. My favorite memory with Roman was the day she found out her daughter was NOT HIV positive, I’ve never seen anyone smile so much. They both put together a Sheka dinner for me. Cabbage, k’och’o and tea. We made dinner together, had a photo shoot with them and the neighbors and sat around for hours laughing and taking pictures. I’m pretty sure Woodeh’s mom had never seen her reflection before, because each picture she looked at she asked me if she was in it, and which one she was. Sometimes she pointed to me and asked if it was her. Different worlds.
The last part of my goodbye was with the family in my compound, which I had become a part of in the two years I was in Masha. I had already had an emotionally draining day, so I thought this was going to put me over the edge. Unfortunately it was a frustrating and disappointing last meal and made me feel very ready to leave. The point of the meal was to see what I would give them, who I would take back to America with me and why I’m taking to Addis things I told them 2 years ago they could have. Then the neighbor tried to trick me into kissing him through some stupid game. But that’s Ethiopia for you, in one day you can have the best moment in country and then minutes later wish you were anywhere else and by the time you fall asleep be happy again.
The next morning I woke up early to catch a bus to Tepi and then to Mizan to visit friends on my way to Addis. The 3 hour bus to Tepi took 8. The bus broke down, we couldn’t fix it, so I was sitting on the side of the road for 5 hours waiting for another car to pass and take me with them. Goodbye Masha.


EgyptThis could be a blog of its own. I went to Egypt for 2 weeks. It was beautiful, fun, interesting and exotic. Then I had to say goodbye to my best friend. I can tell you about it later. This entry is getting long.


Moving to Addis AbabaFollowing my vacation I moved on to Addis. The three weeks I was there I wasn’t really working yet, mostly just moving in and showing up at the office to let people know I was there. I moved into my new house, which is wonderful and I’m very happy with. Kitchen sink, toilet, hot shower, couch, dining room table. Far cry from village life, that’s for sure. Those three weeks were filled with visitors, social activity and goodbyes with the rest of my training group as the left Ethiopia and I remained behind.


Home LeaveAnother item that could be its own entry. Home leave was great and it was SO wonderful to get everyone in one place again. The month was full of good people, good times and good food. Then as I was ready to go I was put on medical hold. So the second month was full of good people, good times, boring times, good food and dentist appointments.


Back to EthiopiaI’ve been back in Ethiopia for almost 2 weeks now. Work is great, I really love my new position and working in the office. PC Ethiopia has had a lot of senior staff turnover lately, and while it is sad to see people go, it’s also exciting to get a fresh perspective and see changes happen in the office. I’ve been pretty busy and putting in the first 40 hour standard work weeks in years. It feels good.
And there you have it. I’ll try to update more often now that I know I still have readers.