Becoming a Stranger/It's [Not] Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

Becoming a Stranger

12/12/09

I am getting weird. The longer I am here in Africa, the stranger I get. Between the immersion into this new culture, speaking a new language, having all new friends and infrequent communication with my friends at home I can tell that I am already different. I am worried that being in Masha, a very remote village, will magnify the Africa effect. Here are some examples I can think of. In Ethiopia, a way of saying "yes" is gasping (the first few weeks whenever someone "said" yes I asked "what happened"). At first this was weird to me, but now I do it too and I know it will drive you all crazy when I go home. Also, when speaking to Ethiopians I speak in broken English so that they may better understand me. I also do direct translations to help them out (instead of "How are you?" it is "Are you fine?" or "I can't" is "It is not possible"). Now, sometimes when speaking to other volunteers I use my Africa voice. Andy and Berny...if you are reading this I think you are cringing. I also have a few Amharic words that I use in everyday conversation that make perfect sense to everyone here, but will be just as foreign as the aussie slang I once was fluent in. I also have NO idea what is going on the the United States. I do not know what the economy is like, what the deal is with health care reform, pop culture (though I was never good at that before), fads or any current events. I do not know what is going on in the lives of my friends. I don't know what the inside jokes are, what YouTube video the Putnam kids are quoting, what movie Mike is obsessing over, if Mark and Kate have any new squatters in their home or how Ellie's doing in England. Facebook tells me more about my friends than they do...and in a week I will no longer have Internet on a weekly basis. I feel like I will be like Fry when he first gets sent to the 31st century, or like Tom Hank's character in Cast Away when he comes back from the island. I can already understand why Peace Corps warns us more about coming home than leaving.

Speaking of becoming a stranger, I will be leaving Gonde and starting all over again in Masha. I am finally comfortable here, I have friends (both American and Ethiopian), my family is wonderful, I know my way around, people don't try to rip me off as much and the kids know my name here. I am very excited, but also very scared about moving to Masha. I keep reminding myself that Gonde was crazy scary 2 months ago and now it is home. The culture shock from Gonde to Masha will be nothing compared to that of America to Gonde. Things that would make me very uncomfortable in America are now no problem. If my point of view can change that quickly, I can become comfortable in Masha. It's going to be difficult and lonely the first few months, so I hope to get a lot of letters and phone calls. Don't forget about me, I certainly haven't forgotten about any of you.

It's [Not] Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas

12/13/09

It is less than two weeks from Christmas and I have barely thought about it. There is no snow, there are no Christmas lights or TV specials, Ethiopia doesn't even celebrate Christmas this month. I even miss the Christmas music (except that one song that has the children's choir during the chorus) and traffic jams on the way from Hamden to Putnam. I think it is better though that I do not feel like it is Christmas. When I do think about it I get very sad and homesick. Being here takes the Hallmark out of the holidays though. When I think of Christmas I do not miss the gifts, I do not miss the overabundance of food, I do not miss the cocktails, the mall, or the snow. I miss my family and friends. I miss having the first glass of Hood eggnog with dad and making dinner with mom. I miss baking cookies with Jess (or at least testing the cookies she bakes). I miss getting excited to play with the Rice kids the day after Christmas. I miss secret santa (my gift will be late...sorry!). I miss playing pitch with the family. I miss Mandy jumping on me. I miss how Danshults' family knows every single gift under the tree even before they unwrap them. I miss playing wii games with Spencer. When I start thinking of these things I am reminded that 2 years is a long time to be away. At that low point I need to get out and spend time with my Ethiopian family, vent with my PC friends or just take a walk. It does not take me long to remember why I joined the Peace Corps. This country still amazes me and there will always be something to make me smile here. Today it was seeing my favorite Gonde kid in a denim trench coat...I hadn't seen her in a few days and she was just as excited as I was to see her.

Ethiopia: The Soundtrack

Nothing horribly exciting has happened since my last post so today I will write about the sounds of Ethiopia. In the morning at about 5am we are all awoken by the Islamic call to prayer being broadcasted over a loudspeaker. This lasts for hours, and no matter how hard I look I cannot find this man singing anywhere. Along with the call to prayer,the African sunrise is also accompanied by the farm choir. The cows and ox form a thick bass line (some cows sing like I do though and just sound horrible), the tenor is the braying of the donkey that reminds you just how miserable his existence is. The alto voices are that of the sheep and goat that bleat like screaming children, and then on top, just in case you haven't woken up yet, is the rooster. Before I surrender to the din and get out of bed I hear Nate and Musse (my host nephews) outside my door either calling my name, shouting the alphabet(usually incorrectly), counting (...6, 7, X, Y, Zed), or fighting.After I finally get out of bed, get dressed, and [sometimes] wash up I leave for school. The moment I walk out my door the people begin to shout at me. "Faranj!!" "China!!" "Amerikawit!!" "What is your name!!!" "Nikki, Nikki, Nikki, Nikki" or "Selam!!!" even after I stop to say hello they continue to shout at me until I am no longer insight. Some days it is like the comforting sounds of the Putnam kids singing Queen or The D by a campfire , other days it is like Greg singing "Crawling" by Linkin Park. The shouting never ends. Every time I step outside I am surrounded, the kids are like the Ethiopian paparazzi. Once the sun goes down the sounds get a bit scarier. Dogs howl at each other like in 101 Dalmatians when the puppies get stolen."Dogs aren't that scary", you may think, but when you are taught that all dogs have rabies they are less cute than the Mandys and Peles of America. Then the "whoooop whoooop" of the hyenas start (I was very disappointed to learn they don't laugh). At that point I stay in my compound until the sun comes up...hyenas are bad news. As I go to bed I put in my headphones until I fall asleep. I never dare to try to sleep without them because then the fact that I have roommates with buck teeth and long tails becomes all too apparent. Sometimes the sounds of scurrying across my floor or in my ceiling wakes me up, but usually I just pretend it is a Mefloquin hallucination and go back to sleep unphased. Then, at 5am, the call to prayer starts and the day repeats itself.


The Concept of Time


Time in Ethiopia is quite the paradox. I feel like I have been here forever but at the same time training has flown by. In just 2 months I have learned enough language to have conversations, everyone in town knows my name, I have made friends and really feel at home. Putnam feels like so long ago and America so foreign it blows my mind. I can barely remember everyday life at home. Then other days it is like I just got here. I really can't believe training is almost over and I'm an actual Peace Corps Volunteer. Time has flown by, but then again I still have 25 months to go. Some days that is exciting, other days it is depressing.
On the topic of time, I want to explain the way the clock works in Ethiopia...and I thought military time was confusing!!! The Ethiopian day begins when the sun comes up, and since I am on the equator that is just about 6am. However, they call it 12am. Lunch is at noon, 6am.I get out of class just about as the sun sets, at 6pm. So to convert international time to local time you subtract 6 hours. So now that I have nearly converted to local time, determining what time it is in the US is significantly more difficult. I have to add the 6 hours to get international time, then subtract the 8 hour time difference. whew!Confused yet? It gets better. The Ethiopian calendar is different than the Gregorian calendar. It has 13 months rather than 12, and is 7years behind. So to find the date I need to subtract 7, 8, or 9 days(depending on the month) and then 7 years. I am still working on that.

One good thing about this country is that appointments and schedules are suggested times, not mandatory. So if I am late because I can't figure out what time it is, or make an error in scheduling the meeting it is okay. If I don't know what day it is and need to reschedule,it's okay. The downside is though that if I do want to get something done it is unlikely that everyone will be present. I'm not punctual enough for that to really bother me though. Sometimes there are things that are just more important than work.

Well, I don't want to use up all of my "life isn't exciting enough fora real post" blogs so I will sign out for now. Let me know if there is anything you want me to talk about in these posts, one of the goals of Peace Corps is to teach Americans about the host country's culture so here I am, ready to teach!

Miss you and love you

Cheers,
Nikki

Something to be Thankful For

12/03/09

So many of you know I was very ill on Thanksgiving. I had a 24 hour bug that has been passed through my family, it was only a matter of time until I got it. Unfortunately the one day that the Peace Corps made a delicious American meal was Thanksgiving: the day I spent with a fever, throwing up and shitting all day. The funny thing is though,I have never been so thankful on Thanksgiving. I am immensely thankful for the two jell-o jigglers that I was able to stomach without throwing up. I am thankful that I had great friends to spend the holiday with. I am thankful that my friends convinced me to go to Assela even though I was feeling ill. I am thankful for all the great notes my fellow trainees left in my envelope. I am thankful that people know me well enough to thank me for teaching all the card games rather than for my "great smile" (the default compliment people go to when they can't think of anything else). I am thankful that I do have a FANTASTIC group of people to share my Peace Corps experience with and to lean on for support. I am thankful that these people aren't still entertaining the freshman-in-college mentality of "I love absolutely everything about everyone". I am thankful that I have a wonderful host family that went out of their way to treat me to a good holiday even though I could barely stand to eat. I am thankful that in a country so far away from CT I can feel at home. I am thankful that I have this opportunity to reach people that can really benefit from my skill set. I am thankful that I have enough electricity to make it through a buna ceremony. I am thankful that my friends and family have the opportunity to find work and enjoy living in a developed nation. I am thankful that even in economic uncertainty my family and friends are surviving comfortably. It is a weird feeling to be thankful for basic needs...something that many Americans (though definitely not all....people here seem to think that all Americans are rich) will never struggle for. Even when I was worried about finances at home I was never worried about having a place to stay...but I have already met so many people that have to make the decision whether or not to eat. I am planning on making mac and cheese on Christmas this year....and I am very, very thankful for my mom who is sending options for Christmas dinner. I remember just a few years ago when the family was unable to get together and my mom and I had thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. I remember being very upset and depressed that we spent the holiday just the two of us....today I find myself wishing to death that I was having dinner with my mom, let alone my whole family. Funny how life can put itself into perspective when you need it.

In other news, I am almost finished with training. Crazy- it feels like home was so, so long ago, but it also seems like I just got to Ethiopia. When I think about Philly and my first few awkward nights in Gonde where I sat and smiled while life happened around me I laugh.Now I start and sometimes even dominate conversations at home. I laugh with my host family and have real, deep conversations with my American friends. I am moving to Masha soon and feel completely lost, but I find comfort in knowing that I can have a conversation with someone in Amharic....a language that seemed more foreign than Elvish a few weeks ago.I am pleading to all of you to send me mail in Masha and to call me on or near Christmas. I am having a difficult time with the holidays...my training ends right before Christmas..I am going to try my hardest to make it feel like any other average day, but I suspect the day will have an aura of sadness and loneliness.
I will write again when I get to Masha. I hope to hear from you soon.I miss you all and love you tremendously.

Cheers,
Nikki

Address

I forgot to mention. My new address is
Nicole Therrien
PO Box 100
Masha, Ethiopia


If you are sending a package send it there. If you are sending a letter do not use that address until Dec 7th

Thanks!

Happy Birthday

I was pretty nervous about my birthday this year, scared that it was going to be terribly lonely. Honestly, it was probably one of the best birthdays of my life. The day started going to hub traning (all the volunteers get together for group training on Thursdays). My CBT group was waiting for me at the car and all sang me happy birthday, gave me birthday hugs and a birthday bracelet (half a lei tied together haha). Once I got to the hub site another CBT group was already there and gave me a slow, awkward group hug. That same group later sang a birthday rap they wrote for Alissa and I (Alissa has the same birthday as me). It was hilarious, and very sweet. I got two awesome handmade cards with sweet little notes. It was great to feel like these people are really my friends, not just randoms that happened to be put in the same country as me. After training a few of us went out for beers before going back to the CBT site.

Once back to site my family had an awesome party for me. They invited all my Americans to join too! We had dinner, french fries, habasha cake, American cake (it's impossible to find sweets here so that was amazing), cookies, candies and fireworks. They decorated the house with streamers and a flashing Happy Birthday sign. They also made me wear my traditional Ethiopian dress that my host mom bought me a few weeks ago. My family gave me two gifts, a bracelet and a flashlight, because they think its funny that Masha has no electricity. The night concluded with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. I felt so great that night. I was surrounded by friends, family and it felt almost like home.

Also contributing to my fantastic birthday was all the mail!!! Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes. I got fantastic packages from mom, Elisa/Bobby/Patrick/Emma and Jess as well as cards from Jess, Mom/Dad, Andrea/Jeff, the Slotas, Sally/Tom, and Aunt Jeanne/Uncle Bob. I also got a phone call from Nick and the Jersey kids. Thank you all so, so much.

Unfortunately that night the Mefloquin (turns out I'm not allergic to it) gave me awful dreams. I didn't sleep at all because of the nightmares and today I feel awful. The high of yesterday definitely outweighs the bad dreams though.

Site Visit

Wow am I glad to be back with my host family. This past week was site visit, where all the volunteers spend a week at their permanent posts. What a week it was! Coming back to my host family really felt like coming home. I take great solace in knowing that a place in Ethiopia can feel like home in just a month, so it is possible that my site will one day feel comfortable. My site is one of the most remote, I really live in the jungle...complete with 2 species of monkeys and herds of baboons. To reach Masha I had to take a 2 day journey on public transportation. Without going into too many details, the trip was terrifying. Ethiopia has the most car accidents per capita in the world...I can definitely understand why. We almost hit cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs, people, other vehicles and often veered off the road. Perhaps the word "road" isn't really appropriate. Most of the way to Masha is unpaved, steep and winding. Luckily was I was not travelling alone for this first trip out there. The two closest volunteers to me are awesome and our personalities compliment each others' very well. This will prove to be a very important support system I am sure.

The adventure did not end there. Living in my town is going to be a challenge. With the exception of about an hour I did not have electricity the whole week I was there. The water definitely needs to be purified and filtered...there are floaters. I do not have running water and need to take bucket baths, which I am not very good at yet. I share a shint bet with a ton of people, which is pretty unsanitary and smelly, but at least it is pretty well kept. Because of the lack of electricity I need to keep my door open to let light in...apparently an open door is an invitation. Kids poured into my room, touching my things, putting things in their pockets, rubbing their snotty hands all over everything and eating on my bed. I think the privacy issue will become my biggest problem...I need to fashion a screen door out of my bed net (I don't have mosquitoes! so no need for a net). My living space consists of two rooms, very similar to dorm rooms. They are across from each other, not connecting. One room I will use for sleeping/bathing and the other for cooking/eating. It sounds like I've got the roughest living conditions of the people I have spoken with, but I'm kind of flattered by the placement. The fact that I am so far from other volunteers, close to no-go zones and quite rural means that the Peace Corps staff thinks I can handle it and that I'm tough. Maybe I should have acted a bit more needy and codependent those first couple of weeks?

So enough about the challenges of my site. There are so many good things about it too. The area is bat'am k'onjo naw! (very beautiful). It is wild, untamed, untouched and exactly what I envisioned when I thought of Africa. The jungle is dense and very, very green. The cell phone network is good, so you can call me (hint hint) with no problem. I have a posta bet (Andrea, you know how much I like towns with 1 post office) and a bank, so there is no real need to leave my site other than travel. I am far from a lot of things, but there are also a lot of awesome places to visit near me. I love the volunteers that are next to me. My counterpart is excellent and very helpful. My landlady's daughter is an awesome dancer (iskista dancing!) and I am determined to pick up some sweet moves for when I come home.

My first night sleeping at site was hard. I really, really wanted to pack up and go back to America. Being in my home made me realize for the first time that this is real. I am going to be away for 2 years...and 2 years never seemed so long. Fortunately, that night Kevin called me, and it was the most comforting phone call of my life. Just hearing a familiar voice, being able to speak in English and to talk about familiar things was so, so nice. Kev, thanks...you saved me that night. The next day, however, was much better. I had meetings with local groups such as the PLWHA Assoc (people living with HIV/AIDS), a group of local volunteers, administration, and schools. The exact moment when I changed my mind about the night before and realized that I am exactly where I need to be was when talking to the PLWHA assoc. I guess that they have been trying to get help from NGOs for a while now but with no success. A woman said to me "we would be so happy to be able to work with you for two days, let alone two years". It's going to be hard, but I see a lot of opportunity already and cannot wait to get started. I think I have found my Lambarene.