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| Bus ride to Arba Minch |
I know I’m way behind on my blog
posts so let me try to bring you up to date. The weekend after Easter (so at
the end of April) I traveled to Arba Minch with some other volunteers for a
friend’s birthday. From Butajira I got on a bus to Hossana (2 hours). Once in
Hossana I got on another bus heading to Wolayta Sodo and had the driver drop me
off in Areka (1 hour and 15 minutes) where my friend Theresa lives. I spent a
couple days with her and then we headed down to Sodo (45 minutes) where we got
on a bus to Arba Minch (3 hours). The ride down to Arba Minch was gorgeous. The
road on the other hand was pretty bumpy and very dusty. But I got some great
photos of the scenery so it was well worth it. And of course getting out of
site for a few days is always nice. Arba Minch was extremely hot though.
Without ever feeling a breeze I felt exhausted most of the time I was there. It
was so hot I couldn’t enjoy the hot shower which is saying a lot seeing as how
the only shower I’ve seen in the last few months has come out of a blue bucket.
I’m glad I made the trip down though and got to see a part of Ethiopia I hadn’t
before.
On a more serious note, the
first couple weeks of May were met with some violent protests across the Oromia
region. University students along with citizens from the towns in which the
students met were protesting a development plan for Addis Ababa. I don’t know
all of the details but some people were arrested and some were killed. The
volunteers in those areas were evacuated to Addis. They are all safe and as of
last week most have returned to site. Because of these events, Peace Corps
decided it was best to cancel the EveryOne Campaign Race in Hawassa on May 11th
that many volunteers had signed up for. I think the majority of us were pretty
disappointed about this, but it was a necessary decision Peace Corps had to
make to ensure all of ours safety.
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| Bus ride to Arba Minch |
Other news:
G10 is out of training and has
sworn in as volunteers. This means they have left Butajira and I have the town
to myself again. G11 arrives in July and Peace Corps training staff will be
back in Butajira to set up in a couple of weeks so I won’t be alone long. Since
G11 will be here this summer and they are an education group, I’ll probably be
helping out with some of the trainings since school will be out and I won’t
have much work.
I still have my weekly English
club with my 7th and 8th grade students. This is my
favorite hour of the week. I have so much fun with the students and they seem
to be enjoying the club too. They keep coming back so I’m taking that as a sign
that they like club as much as I do. My teacher trainings on the other hand
haven’t been going the way I’d like them to. Last week only one teacher showed
up. I was pretty frustrated and have decided to stop doing trainings this
school year. If the education office wants me to continue trainings we can
start up again in the fall, but we will have to go about it a different way
because I can’t keep putting energy into helping these teachers if they aren’t
giving me anything in return.
I’m still doing the Better
World Books drive and am very excited to say that I have over 100 books now.
Students come into my class every day to read or just flip through them and
look at the pictures (for the ones who can’t read). Most of them have never
touched a story book so I’m really thankful to the people who donated. I’ve
been putting ideas together for a summer reading program I can do for the
students now that I have all of these books.
With the end of the school
year approaching students are getting ready to take exams. The national exams
are for grades 8, 10, and 12. If students in these grades do not pass their
exams they don’t get to move on. So at my school, if grade 8 students don’t
pass they can’t move on to the high school. As you can imagine it’s a pretty
stressful time. Grades 4 – 7 students also take final exams at the end of the
semester so they are preparing for those.
Rainy season is approaching.
Walking back from school last week I got caught in a downpour. I was in a
t-shirt, skirt, and flip flops and by the time I got to my house I was drenched
and my feet and legs were covered in mud. Note to self: start taking your rain
jacket with you everywhere.
Even though there will be no
school this summer, I’m brainstorming some ideas for some summer programs I can
do with some of the students. I’m hoping this will keep me busy. I’ve already
mentioned the summer reading program, but I would also like to do a female only
program. I’m still working on the details but stay tuned for that.
I have a lot of free time that
I fill up by reading. I’ve read so many books! I’m going to use the time I’m home
this summer to stock up so if anyone has any they want to get rid of, save them
for me when I come home this summer.
And of course the best news of
all is that I’ll be in America in less than 6 weeks!!!! I am beyond excited.
I’m trying to keep myself busy so I don’t think about it too much. So I think
this about brings everyone up to speed on Ethiopia.
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| View from one of the restaurants we ate at in Arba Minch |
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| View from one of the restaurants we ate at in Arba Minch |
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