Hello again friends and family!
First off, I have to let you guys know that I'm having all kinds of difficulty logging on to my blogspot account at home in Asella. I don't know if it's the horribly slow internet connection or something else, but I try and try again to no avail. That being said, if it continues to be impossible for me to log on, I may have to start blogging via another site that actually works for me. I'll let ya'll know if I make the switch.
While I'm in a place where I can log on, I might as well tell you about the last two weeks I just spent in Ambo for In Service Training.
Ambo pretty much looks like every other largish town I've seen in Ethiopia so far. The difference is that Ambo bottles and distributes one of the most popular mineral water in the country. We didn't get to see the factory or anything, but we're sure it's there somewhere. Strangely enough, I didn't drink it once while we were there. The hotel we stayed at was nice enough, although anywhere that has a functioning hot shower I consider nice these days. I had lots of hot showers. The food made a lot of people sick though. Everyone seemed to be struck down by the consumption of Amoebas. Ick! I was one of the lucky one's that never ate the "Amoeba sauce". If none of you have ever experienced Amoebas, consider yourself lucky. They may be microscopic, but they'll make you suffer like nobodies business.
So, what else? I got to hang out with fellow education volunteers, and while we got off to a rocky and heated start with trainings and sessions, we managed to pull ourselves together to make IST what we needed to be. At this point we're all coming to terms with the fact that as the first education volunteers to serve here since way back when, we are guinee pigs, and our trials and frustrations are serving to make the road a little smoother for volunteers that come after us. They better be greatful for it too.....I'm just sayin'!!!
While we were there we got to witness several prossessions in the streets as the native population celebrated the holiday of Epiphany. Someone told me what it was about, something religious of course, but now I've forgotten the details. If you're really interested you can google it easy enough. While watching from the hotel it was an awesome and unique experience, but when it came time for us to come to Addis Ababa it became quite a hinderance. Every time we went through a town we were blocked by throngs of people celebrating on the street. After a few extra hours in a hot bus and a few very bumpy detours, we made it to Addis.
Last night a few of my favorite ppl and I went to eat at a place called Sishu and I had the best cheeseburger I've ever had., even in the states. Oh, the glory of good ferenji food after months of wat. I also had a damned tasty hot chocolate and a chocolate tart with bananas on top. Ohhhhh.....my food baby was so happy and full.
So now here I sit in the Volunteer Resource Center at the PC office internet that is actually not acheingly slow and it's pretty awesome. We're going back to Sishu for lunch where I will eat too much and not feel bad about it because who knows when or if I'll be back, then I'm off, back to Asella, back to a slow internet connection and the frustrations of starting projects, but also back to awesome Special Fol for breatkfast and my own tiny little house.
First off, I have to let you guys know that I'm having all kinds of difficulty logging on to my blogspot account at home in Asella. I don't know if it's the horribly slow internet connection or something else, but I try and try again to no avail. That being said, if it continues to be impossible for me to log on, I may have to start blogging via another site that actually works for me. I'll let ya'll know if I make the switch.
While I'm in a place where I can log on, I might as well tell you about the last two weeks I just spent in Ambo for In Service Training.
Ambo pretty much looks like every other largish town I've seen in Ethiopia so far. The difference is that Ambo bottles and distributes one of the most popular mineral water in the country. We didn't get to see the factory or anything, but we're sure it's there somewhere. Strangely enough, I didn't drink it once while we were there. The hotel we stayed at was nice enough, although anywhere that has a functioning hot shower I consider nice these days. I had lots of hot showers. The food made a lot of people sick though. Everyone seemed to be struck down by the consumption of Amoebas. Ick! I was one of the lucky one's that never ate the "Amoeba sauce". If none of you have ever experienced Amoebas, consider yourself lucky. They may be microscopic, but they'll make you suffer like nobodies business.
So, what else? I got to hang out with fellow education volunteers, and while we got off to a rocky and heated start with trainings and sessions, we managed to pull ourselves together to make IST what we needed to be. At this point we're all coming to terms with the fact that as the first education volunteers to serve here since way back when, we are guinee pigs, and our trials and frustrations are serving to make the road a little smoother for volunteers that come after us. They better be greatful for it too.....I'm just sayin'!!!
While we were there we got to witness several prossessions in the streets as the native population celebrated the holiday of Epiphany. Someone told me what it was about, something religious of course, but now I've forgotten the details. If you're really interested you can google it easy enough. While watching from the hotel it was an awesome and unique experience, but when it came time for us to come to Addis Ababa it became quite a hinderance. Every time we went through a town we were blocked by throngs of people celebrating on the street. After a few extra hours in a hot bus and a few very bumpy detours, we made it to Addis.
Last night a few of my favorite ppl and I went to eat at a place called Sishu and I had the best cheeseburger I've ever had., even in the states. Oh, the glory of good ferenji food after months of wat. I also had a damned tasty hot chocolate and a chocolate tart with bananas on top. Ohhhhh.....my food baby was so happy and full.
So now here I sit in the Volunteer Resource Center at the PC office internet that is actually not acheingly slow and it's pretty awesome. We're going back to Sishu for lunch where I will eat too much and not feel bad about it because who knows when or if I'll be back, then I'm off, back to Asella, back to a slow internet connection and the frustrations of starting projects, but also back to awesome Special Fol for breatkfast and my own tiny little house.
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