10/24/09

Blogspot is still blocked in Ethiopia, but thanks to Andrea I am able to post semi-regular updates! I'm feeling a bit better today than I have for a while...turns out I am allergic to Mefloquin (malaria propholaxis) because once the doctor told me to stop taking it my hives have started to go away. Good thing too, the itching was beginning to be unbearable and really put me in a funk. Fortunately there are no mosquitoes in my training town (because of the high elevation) so I don't have to worry about getting Malaria. Also, I had a good reason to request a cooler, higher altitude post (no 100 degree Africa sun OR mosquitoes!) which, if they give me, will be wonderful.I will eventually go back on Malaria meds, probably Doxy, once this stuff gets out of my system and the hives go away. Between Spice this summer and the allergic reaction I've almost forgot what it is like not to itch. I really can't complain though, I'm one of the few who haven't had a GI episode yet (knocks on wood), my family thinks I'm allergic to T'eff so they don't feed me injera anymore, my host sister makes my friends and me french fries and onion rings and I live in a beautiful town.

The past week I discovered some great places in this town. There is a river that supplies the surrounding areas with water (It flooded on Sunday and knocked out the pipes, so because there was so much water there was none) that is absolutely stunning. It flows through green hills and on Sunday the whole town goes there to bathe, wash clothes or just to hang out. I went with my sisters to explore a bit. There is one place where the water looks as though it is flowing from the inside of a tree. The locals believe that the water has a healing power and people come all the way from Addis to drink from it. I'm not convinced though, it did not clear the rash, but it was still really cool. I took lots of pictures, someday I'll figure out how to post them. Then on Friday during community discovery we went walking through the farmland on the other side of town. The fields went on for miles and miles...beans, corn, wheat and lots of those trees that are in every picture of Africa you've ever seen. We stopped to talk to the farmers (by talk I mean introduce myself and say hello a bunch of times because that's pretty much all I know) and to "simply sit".Simply sitting, walking etc...is big in Ethiopia. And I thought Putnam-ites had to be creative with recreation time! It's great though, sometimes I just stop in my tracks to look around in awe at the untouched natural beauty in the rolling hills and mountains. At night I still am struck every time I walk back to my room from the shint bet and I can clearly see every single star in the sky...the best part about no lights.

There are definitely times when having to be incredibly polite to every single person (Ethiopians are much nicer than I am) drives me crazy. And when the fidel (Amharic alphabet) makes me want to stab my eyes out. Sometimes I dread turning on to my street because the neighborhood kids all wait for me at 5:00. And then there are times when I desperately want to be with someone that knows me and I can be myself with. But at the end of the day I am always happy that I made the decision to join the Peace Corps. Especially this past week when we started to get into the technical training and visit health centers I remembered why I am here. The APCD was right, this is a gift. Nowhere in the US would I get the chance to slow down and have the time to reflect on life and appreciate every little thing. You should all visit, Africa has some kind of magic that soothes the soul. And I miss you and would enjoy the company of a familiar face.

Write letters...I have lots of time to write back. And it sucks to be the one who doesn't get mail on hub day (but I wouldn't know because this week I got letters from mom and one from ds!). It looks as though it takes 10 days to send a letter from the US to Ethiopia. I sent my first batch on the 16th...I will let you all know when they got to their destinations.
Hope to hear from you soon.

Cheers,
Nikki