The Emotional roller coaster that was 2014

Here's the first blog of the year. Enjoy!

It's been some time since I last wrote. That's because one of my close friends from college came to visit for three weeks. It was great showing her around Butajira and the daily happenings of my life. During her visit we traveled to Hawassa, Shashamene, and spent a really fun weekend in Addis. It was also wonderful having her here for Christmas. With the limited ingredients we had, the both of us were able to come up with a pretty delicious meal. Being away from home during the holidays is always harder so I'm thankful to have had my girl Candace with me and I feel like those three weeks together brought us much closer. There's nothing like washing each other's underwear in a bucket outside and sharing a chamber pot to bring two ladies closer. With a new year upon us I've been reminiscing a lot on 2014. So much has happened and I'm trying to piece it all back together to come up with a coherent idea of what the year's been like for me. Around this same time last year I was in a very different place mentally. I started off 2014 feeling quite uncomfortable and unsure in Ethiopia, even after having been here six months. I still had no idea what I was doing, how to go about doing my work and living here, and to be honest, several things were still scary. I was pretty negative and I hate to admit that my outlook on Ethiopia wasn't great. I can remember only focusing on the bad things that happened to me which caused me to be angry most of the time. Things were not going the way I wanted at work, my communication skills weren't there, and the harassment I received was really getting to me. I stayed in that state of mind for longer than I'd like to admit.

So I moved from being scared and uncomfortable to being angry which in turn became sadness. All of this wasn't great. I can recall last spring when I was counting down the days until my trip to the states and only being focused on that. Not healthy! Going to America was a whirlwind of emotions in itself. After a month in America, where I got to be with my family, see my friends, and eat a ridiculous amount of food, I arrived back in Ethiopia feeling depressed. All I wanted to do was go back. The thought of ending my Peace Corps service early crossed my mind on more than one occasion. Looking back on it now though, I'm so happy I decided to stick to it. When my second year began I knew I hadn't given it my all so I decided to try harder and seriously push myself.

I don't remember exactly when it was, I want to say sometime in August, but my outlook on Ethiopia changed. I made a decision to view Ethiopia in a different light if I was going to take on another year here because I couldn't continue the way I had been for months. I wasn't going to make it to the end with that frame of mind. And if I was, I would have become an extremely angry and resentful person. I had to accept that I was never going to change Ethiopia and that I'm not here to change it. Harassment was probably the hardest thing I dealt with and I came to realize that if America still doesn't have its act together concerning gender equality, how could I ever expect Ethiopia to? I had to stop allowing harassment to make me angry and afraid and ruin my days.  Being angry wasn't solving the problem and the men that I was getting angry at didn't understand where my frustrations came from. Changing the way society views gender takes generations. I'm only here for 2 years. How could I ever think that my being here for that short span of time would make men treat women as their equals? That's crazy! The best I can do is hope that my being here alone is planting seeds in peoples' minds about changing the role of women in Ethiopian society.

Concerning work, I decided to do things that were working and to make more of an effort to work with people who wanted to work with me; To only focus on the work that is going well. I decided to make more of an effort to work with my community and school and really listen to what they wanted me to do instead of what I wanted to do or what I thought the schools needed. Because that doesn't work and it's not sustainable. At the end of the day, my coworkers have been here a lot longer than me, they know their communities better and ultimately I am their volunteer.

The hardest pill for me to swallow has been having to remind myself that I am a guest here. I made the decision to come to Ethiopia on my own. No one asked me to do this and so in that period when I was constantly complaining about this country and I only saw the negative was unfair. It still doesn't make the way I'm treated by certain Ethiopians right, but when it comes to work I try to remind myself of that simple fact. I made the decision to live in Ethiopia for 2 years. Don’t get me wrong though. I constantly find myself in less than thrilling situations, but I try my best not to focus on those incidents so much and to think of the good things that happened to me that day.  Being the center of attention every time you walk out the door and having people yell out at you and gawk at you really builds confidence after a while. I'm no longer scared to walk through town and I brush things off a lot more easily.

Favorite picture of 2014 - Surroundings at Lake Langano

I have to thank all the Ethiopians I've met who have made me feel welcomed and loved. My host family and compound family are always here for me. Conversations with them and encounters with my teachers makes it all worth it. Even though working with the teachers has proven to be quite challenging, they are still very nice and appreciative of what I'm trying to do and I'm comfortable around them. I try to focus on the student that hugged me and kissed me on the cheek after we read together for half an hour or the student that offered me her banana flavored stick of gum as we crossed paths on the dirt road. Simple interactions with a suk owner can turn a bad day around. Just yesterday as I was walking to school I had an elderly Ethiopian man bow his head at me and take off his hat when he walked past as a sign of respect. I try to focus on those moments instead of the ones where people are aggressive towards me.

I want to end this post my expressing that my experience is mine personally. I cannot stress that enough. It's important for people to remember that every Peace Corps volunteer's service is different. We may live in the same country, but our regions, our sites, our work, the people in our community, etc. vary widely. Each one of us has a very different experience and so what may work for me does not necessarily work for someone else. For all the volunteers in my group who ended their service early I think they all ultimately made the best decision for themselves. And who knows, if I had had to go through some of the awful stuff other volunteers experienced I probably wouldn't still be here either. But whenever I thought of going home I knew I would end up regretting it. I hadn't given it my all and until that moment came when I had tried everything and I was still miserable, then I would say it's time to say goodbye. That moment has yet to arrive.

For my own experience, staying patient and going through that difficult first year allowed me to learn, grow and arrive at this current point where I'm happy in my service. I'm sure some will ask if going through those rough months was worth it. For me it absolutely was. I'm not here to change Ethiopia. I'm here to experience this country for all its good and bad and learn from it.  

Another Thanksgiving Away

As I’ve stated many times before, living away from my family is one of the hardest parts about living abroad. It's especially challenging during the holidays. Most volunteers go through episodes of depression during this time. As Thanksgiving was approaching I felt myself trying my best not to see the date getting closer on my calendar, but it was difficult. So when I found out my name had been drawn to have Thanksgiving dinner with a family working at the American Embassy I did not hesitate to accept the invitation. A few weeks prior, Peace Corps had asked Americans working at the embassy if they would like to host Peace Corps Volunteers at their homes for the holiday. Since not all of us would be able to go because there weren’t enough families to host the over 200 volunteers currently present in country, Peace Corps picked names at random. I found out I’d be going to Addis Ababa just a week before the holiday.

I headed to Addis Thursday morning and met my hosts in the city where they picked me up in their private car and drove me to their beautiful home. As soon as I arrived through the gates, it felt like a completely different world. And I welcomed all the luxury. All I thought as I entered their home was, “enjoy this Helena, it’s only going to last a few hours before you have to get back to your mud house and shint bet.” In the most basic sense I can describe their home, it was America. All these things that are normal to Westerners, a home where you wear no shoes because it's so clean, a full kitchen, a living room with couches and huge rugs, a huge dining room table set for 10, a full bar with actual glasses, a hard wood floor staircase, a bedroom with an actual bed and bed frame and a private bathroom … all the stuff that’s normal, isn’t normal for me anymore. So when I walked in with all these things at my feet I was overjoyed and I had to stop myself from screaming and crying tears of happiness. My hosts led me to the spare bedroom where they said I could sleep the night and told me to take my time getting ready. As I was left alone in the room I just sat on the bed and took it all in. And then of course I immediately hopped into the shower. I got dressed, put on my dress, did my hair and put on some makeup. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to feel like a woman. I took these simple acts for granted back home. To be able to get ready in a comfortable home was such a gift. After I had finished pampering myself I headed downstairs to see what I could help with. There was an actual turkey sitting on the kitchen table. Yes… a turkey!!! (Embassy workers put in their turkey order a couple months before the holidays). My host then asked me what I wanted to drink. He gave me an entire list of things I could have. I know all this stuff seems silly to people back home, but this is not what I’m used to anymore. Obviously I was beyond happy. We had our drinks and appetizer/snacks as we waited for the other guests. My white wine actually tasted like what good white wine should taste like. I got to have chips and salsa, hummus and pita bread, mixed vegetables with dip that included broccoli, red peppers, and cucumbers!!!!! I had to control myself so I wouldn’t go crazy over all this food. And those were just the snacks. Cabbage, potatoes, and tomatoes start to get old after a few months of the same repetitive meals, so the variety in vegetables was a welcomed change.

Afterwards, the other guests slowly arrived and I got to meet some really interesting people. Of the group of us there, half of us had done Peace Corps so I was able to relate to quite a few of them. It was amazing to be able to have conversations with Americans. We finally got to sit down and have Thanksgiving. The turkey was delicious which was of course accompanied by every other Thanksgiving dish you can think of. All in all, I stuffed my face and ended the night with a stomach ache that was well worth it. I would do it all over again.

Until Peace Corps I had never really sat back to think of what I’m thankful for in my life. So here’s what I’m thankful for this year. I’m thankful for this wonderful embassy family who agreed to host me. They went above and beyond by letting me stay the night in their home and driving me all the way to the bus station the following day, a.k.a. the place I dread most in the entire world. I’m also thankful for this experience and for Peace Corps. This past year and a half has been a huge learning and growing process. I’m often complaining about it as many of you know, but I honestly am happy I made the decision to come to Ethiopia and I have no regrets. Living abroad has also taught me how important my family is to me. I’m so thankful to be able to have an experience that shows me what I truly value most in life. I don’t think everyone gets that opportunity. And most of all, I’m thankful to be an American. Being a white, middle class American comes with many privileges that I never understood before and didn’t realize I had. I’m so much more aware of my gender, my class, my skin color, my nationality and what all of it means. I can’t imagine what my life would be like today if I hadn’t accepted my invitation to serve in Ethiopia.

I had a great Thanksgiving this year. I hope the same goes for everyone and I cannot wait to be home for the next one!   

The Small Things

I had some pretty incredible encounters yesterday. They may not seem like huge things for some, but for me they made everything worth it and in my book they're going down as successes in my service. My morning started off by going to one of my schools to help facilitate the spelling club an English teacher and I started a few weeks ago. Of course this teacher arrived 20 minutes late, but after overlooking that minor detail everything went especially smoothly. All the students were participating and asking questions. From where I was standing it seemed like they were all interested. I loved every minute of it.

After the club was over, I proceeded to walk over to my regular suk(shop) to buy carrots and green beans (he’s the only one who I have found that has these on a regular basis). As I was getting ready to pay him I realized I had left my wallet at home. I told him never mind on the vegetables and I would come back and buy them another time. He looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to leave without them. He told me not to worry about it, that I could just pay him another time. I told him I could come back later that day and he said not to worry. I could come back the following day or the next week, it was no problem at all, “chigir yellem.” That small act of kindness made the rest of my day great. I can’t think of this ever happening in America. You can’t go to a grocery store and walk out with your items without paying and only your word to the manager that you’ll come back with the money. But here, this man who barely knows me trusts me. No questions asked.

Later in the afternoon my girls club met. I could immediately tell that the girls were more comfortable this meeting than last. The change in some of them from just a week ago was unbelievable. A couple of the girls whose voices I had yet to hear were raising their hands, wanting to participate, and sharing their ideas. It was wonderful to see. But that’s not what added the cherry to my day. After the club was over, my counterpart (the teacher working on the club with me) informed me that the day before, one of the girls had expressed her feelings about this club to her. She said she was so happy to be a part of it and that this wasn’t just important for her now, but also for her future. And this was why she wasn’t going to be absent to any of our meetings and make sure all the girls would come. She found all of the girls the day before to remind them to come to the club. I don’t know how to express how I felt on hearing that. As a volunteer you never know if the work you’re doing is making any kind of difference. I have no idea if I’m helping my students or teaching them anything. Hearing my counterpart tell me this made everything that’s been challenging about this experience worth it. If I leave Ethiopia having only helped that one girl, I’ll know I’ll at least have done one thing.

So those three things, the spelling club meeting, the suk owner trusting me to pay him later, and the student in the girls’ club telling my counterpart how happy she was with the club were small encounters, but these are the instances that make this experience worth all the pain. I’ve lived in Ethiopia about 17 months now and it has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I am constantly questioning myself, sometimes asking what I’m doing here, wondering if it’s really doing anything, but those moments yesterday made it all worth it and made me say, “I’m happy to be here.”

Getting some work done with the students

Not much has changed in the past couple of weeks, but here’s a little update on some of the work I've been doing.  I’ve gotten both my student and teacher programs started. Fortunately, I’m a lot busier than I was my first year. It’s been nice having something to do every day. I’ve even had days where I get a little stressed, so going back to work in the states after working here for two years will surely be a challenge and take some getting used to.

My student programs have been going really well. I love my grade 7 and 8 English club. I have some of the same students that I had last year so my 7th graders have become my 8th graders while some new students have joined. For the last four weeks I’ve averaged 20 students per session, a number that I’m pretty proud of. Seeing them come back every week is a good sign. I’m so much more comfortable with the club this year. I feel so much more relaxed and at ease with the students. I always have a lot of fun with them and I always leave our meetings feeling so happy. This is by far my greatest success. I also have an English club for grades 5 and 6. Getting students registered for this one has been difficult. I have much less students than in my other English club, but I have the same three boys showing up every week on time. So even if it’s just them who come I still have a lesson prepared and they seem to really enjoy it.

At one of my other schools I’ve found a really motivated English teacher who has taken initiative to start English language programs. He’s very enthusiastic about teaching. I get the sense that he truly wants to help his students improve. Last week when he spoke to me, he wanted to start a spelling program that would meet once a week on English day (Wednesday). He asked me if I would participate and assist him in running it. This week we had our first meeting. I prepared a short lesson and taught the group. We’re going to try to continue this every week. This will be a great way for me to get more teaching experience. I teach in my English club but that’s a much more relaxed environment. This program feels more academic since I'm teaching them grammar and spelling. What I’m most excited about is having a teacher to work with. With this program I’m not the one doing all the work and having to pour all my energy into it. And I’m also doing something that the school and the teachers want which seems to work best in the end. The idea for this program came straight from them.

Furthermore, I hope it will please everyone to know that the books are getting plenty of use. During break times (recess), all the desks in my classroom are filled. When I’m not doing anything they’ll practice their reading with me. They share books with their friends and read together. I see them pointing and looking at pictures and laughing. So far the books are a hit.

In a previous post I had mentioned a girls’ club I was starting to pilot a program developed by the organization Girl Hub. That club has proven to be a bit more challenging to run. I was having communication issues with the counterparts (female teachers working with me on the pilot). Last week, Girl Hub came to visit our session. It didn’t go as planned but I think the representatives from the organization were able to clear up any misunderstandings we were having. This curriculum is all in Amharic therefore the counterparts are to act as facilitators while I observe and monitor the sessions and then send Girl Hub my feedback. It hasn’t been going that way so hopefully now that Girl Hub came and helped make our roles more clear, things will run smoothly. I’m not giving up on this club yet. Gender programs are so important in Ethiopia so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will work. I recently read a book on women living under oppression; “Half the Sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryll WuDunn. Each chapter had a story of a girl or woman in the developing world living in difficult situations. Several of the stories focused on females in Ethiopia. It was a reminder to me of the conditions that countless women around me face. While I’m living here I can and need to do something. Reading this book was a reminder that my programs are important and I can’t give up on them.

Coexistence, a breath of fresh air

I recently had an encounter with some Americans who are living in Butajira. The topic of our discussion revolved around religion. Our views were quite different to say the least. But everyone is entitled to their opinions and as far as I’m concerned you can believe in whatever makes you happy. We discussed aspects of Ethiopians and how they worship and disagreed on that point as well. When I got home, our conversation left me contemplating my own beliefs. I won’t discuss my personal ideas, but I will say that I came away from that afternoon with a deeper appreciation for Ethiopia.

Before I go on, I'll add a little bit about my site and the religions practiced here. I want to stress that the situation I am speaking of highlights my site only. Not all towns and regions of Ethiopia are like this. I can only speak for my community. In Butajira half of the population is Muslim while most of the rest are either Protestant or Ethiopian Orthodox. There are both mosques and churches that are often frequented. Rather it is a Muslim holiday or a Christian one, schools and other governmental institutions are closed. These religions all coexistent. I’ve never come across any conflicts between them. Christians and Muslims work together, form friendships with one another, they eat together, and celebrate together. People talk about both God and Allah with no problem. They know about one another's beliefs and can tell you what the other accepts as the truth. There exists a mutual respect. Think about that for a minute … that’s beautiful!

Getting back to the realization I came to after my afternoon with the Americans, after living in a place for a while and becoming comfortable in that new environment, you start not noticing everything around you so much. It has become my way of life. Because I’ve adapted to my site, I’ve become used to the different religions and traditions that coexist amongst one another. To me this has become so normal. Because this is so normal to me, I have forgotten how truly amazing it is to have people with different religious views living together. Therefore after discussing religion with my fellow Americans, I was reminded of that coexistence and once in my house, I thought to myself how incredible that is. It’s a beautiful part of Ethiopia. This is one of the things I love about this country. In a time when countries and cultures continue to misunderstand each other with regards to religion in turn leading to countless conflicts, living in an environment that goes against what much of the rest of the world is struggling with is a breath of fresh air. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to see this and live within such coexistence. To me what makes religion so special here isn’t the fact that people are so deeply religious, but the fact that they can all live together. Ethiopians may not all believe in the same God, however they share a common history and a common culture with traditions that go back hundreds of years. They share a past. They continue to find a way to keep their traditions alive while following different faiths.

Homesickness

This week has been great work wise, but emotionally it’s been a rough one. I arrived back to site after MSC (mid-service conference) feeling refreshed and motivated to start working. And that’s exactly what I did. I went to my school the following day and was welcomed with open arms by all of the teachers and administrative staff. I met with the vice director of my school and discussed programs I’d like to get started. To my great surprise, he was on board with everything I wanted to start (English clubs for grades 5 and 6, English club for grades 7 and 8, reading program, and girls’ club) and told me the teachers I needed to talk to and the steps I needed to take to make sure my ideas didn’t just stay ideas. I was able to meet with all the teachers and staff I needed within a few days. One of the English teachers accompanied me to every 7th and 8th grade class so I could announce the English club and the reading program. I also went to the education office and had a meeting with one of the staff members about how we should proceed this year with the English teachers. I was a little bit hesitant about this meeting since my teacher trainings last year did not go very well. We came up with an observation program to start the following week. From my observations I will provide trainings for the teachers on where I see the most improvement needs to happen. The education office told me they would discuss this with all of the teachers and make sure they all come to the trainings. So this week, I started doing observations with the English teachers. The vice director and the supervisor did these with me. After we would watch a teacher, the three of us would meet and discuss what we saw and then we invited the teacher and discussed our observations and comments with him/her. Those have been going better than I could have ever imagined. The teachers like getting the feedback and I think they appreciate the way I present my observations to them. The vice director also told me he was learning from doing the observations with me and learning about how to present feedback in a positive manner. It’s great to see these programs working, but I’m even more excited that I have Ethiopians doing these with me. The work I’m doing feels much more meaningful when I’m with Ethiopians that are excited about it as well. And hopefully this can be sustainable and it continues after I leave.

Another success this week was with the girls’ club. I attended a training right after MSC on starting a girls’ club to pilot Girl Hubs (English organization) Yegna Connections curriculum. Our first meeting was this week. It was just an introductory session, but the girls seemed excited. At first they were all quiet and shy, but by the end they all had smiles on their faces. I’m hoping this energy stays throughout the pilot and I’m even more excited to have a group of girls that I can work with.

The point of all this is to show that I’m finally doing some work that I’m proud of. But even though the past two weeks have been great work wise, emotionally I’ve felt terrible. I’m so homesick. And I was even more upset to be feeling like this while everything is going so well at work. I thought something was wrong with me. I was confused about why I was suddenly feeling this way and I’ve been trying to understand why it seems to have come about randomly. I should be happy and energetic and motivated. But the fact is, Peace Corps doesn’t get easier. No matter how long I’ve been here, it’s always difficult. Throughout this entire experience, I’ve never undergone so much loneliness for such a long period of time. You are always alone here. Yes I have my neighbors and I have my friends, but it’s not like the people I have back home. I miss talking to people and having long conversations about issues that matter. Yesterday morning as I was eating my peanut butter and honey sandwich (peanut butter and honey sandwiches are amazing) and drinking my tea, I was suddenly overwhelmed with misery. I was alone. Again. Like every other morning. Eating breakfast all by myself. It sucks. It’s really hard. I’m realizing that it doesn’t matter how much work I’m doing and how great I feel about it, I still miss my family. I miss being able to pick up the phone and call my parents or send one of my siblings a quick text. Simple things that we don’t think about back home, but that mean so much. When I got back to Butajira I felt optimistic and confident about living here another year and I guess I was just hoping that feeling would last until the end of my service. I was wishing that I had passed that first difficult year and from now on, through the next 11 months, everything would be easier. But I've soon found out that those hopes were premature. I am thankful that things are going well for me at work. But that will never fill the hole I have inside for my family and friends. I’m learning that that can never go away, no matter how meaningful and fulfilling my work is. 

It's been busy on this side of the world

When September arrived I was sure it would be a long and boring month since I had nothing planned until the end of the month. I assumed I would be at the house catching up on a lot of reading. It didn’t turn out that way. My cousin asked if she could come see me and when she asked if the following week would work, I didn’t hesitate to say yes! So my month turned out to be pretty busy. I spent the first week of the month getting my house ready and washing a lot of clothes, just preparing for her visit. The following week I headed up to Addis to meet her and from that day on there was a lot going on, all of which I was excited about.

            I hadn’t seen my cousin in over a year and a half and to be able to spend two weeks with her, visiting southern Ethiopia, and catching up on our lives, talking about our past, present, and future was amazing. I am so thankful that she was able to be here with me and I got to show her my life in Ethiopia. Dropping her off at the airport after our adventure in Ethiopia was hard. My cousin and I may have grown up thousands of miles away from one another yet looking at our lives today we are so close. She’s one of my biggest supporters and an important person in my life. We may not see each other a lot, but when we do we get back to exactly how it was when we left each other. So all in all, getting to be with her for a few days was great.  

            Saying goodbye to my cousin and watching her enter the airport (only passengers are allowed to enter. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know) was difficult. I headed back to the hotel feeling really alone. That’s one of the hardest parts of being here, feeling lonely a lot of times. And of course that feeling of being completely empty is the worst right after you’ve spent time with people. So I went back to my hotel feeling empty and alone and just wanting to crawl into my bed and cry, which is exactly what I did. At this point I’ve felt this way so many times that I’ve learned how to deal with it. I knew it would take a couple of days to feel better again. My Peace Corps service has taught me to be in touch with my emotions so when I feel a certain way, I accept it and just feel it. I’m not down on myself when I want to cry, I just cry and then I feel better.

The guest house we stayed in. A traditional Harari home.

            But on to more happy things. After my cousin left I was only in Addis for a day before my trip to Harar with some other volunteers. Harar is about 10 hours east of Addis and is the fourth holiest Islamic city in the world after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Within this city is the walled city of Jugal. Old Harar has about 90-odd mosques and is said to have one of the largest concentrations of mosques in the world. Everywhere we walked we were met with a different mosque, all of them beautiful. The walled city is also filled with small, cobblestone alleyways that curve into all directions. It’s easy to get lost. Being in Harar didn’t feel like we were in Ethiopia. The city is so different than anywhere else I’ve been to in this country. The guesthouse we stayed in was a traditional Harari home within the wall. It was gorgeous and a great experience to spend a couple of nights there. On our first day we headed straight to the brewery. Harar makes a beer called Hakim Stout. You can see where our priorities are, but hey, we were on vacation. And we tried to visit the brewery, but it was closed, so we just resolved to drinking. After the brewery, we found fabric row and all bought some beautiful fabrics and scarves. We then found camel meat and bought a kilo. A man took us into his family’s home, another traditional Harari house, where his mother cooked the meat for us. It was delicious. That night we also saw hyenas. Harar is famous for hyena feedings which is popular with the tourists. When night fell around 7pm, we went to find the hyena man. After negotiating a price, the hyena man went out of sight and started yelling out, making howling noises for the hyenas to come out. I’m still not sure if it was real or just a show. For all we knew, the hyenas were in a hidden cage and the hyena man was only calling out to them for theatrics. Either way it was pretty cool. The hyenas came out and were right in front of us.

The guest house we stayed in. A traditional Harari home

One of the many mosques in Harar

The square where we bought camel meat

The following day as we were walking around, visiting Harar, a man invited us into a wedding celebration. Of course we accepted the invitation. The women were all dressed in traditional Muslim clothes. They were gorgeous. We also ate traditional Harari food of rice and meat with a delicious lime sauce. Before leaving Harar we absolutely wanted to get henna. We asked around and when we found the woman who did it, she wanted an outrageous amount for it so we left. We were all pretty disappointed and gave up on the idea of henna. As we were walking around the market, I spotted two women on the side of the road doing henna to each other. I approached them and said the designs were beautiful. I then asked them if they could do it on me and they agreed. Sitting on the side of the road on market day definitely brought us a lot of attention. A crowd was gathered around us while all five of us took turns getting tattooed. We chatted and laughed with the women. I felt so relaxed even though there had to be at least twenty people around us. This was by far the highlight of my trip. After the woman from earlier had wanted to charge us a ridiculous amount I had given up on the idea of getting henna and was ready to head back to Addis. But it’s always the unplanned situations that you walk into that are the best and that teach you the most about where you are.   

Henna

            The next day was a full day of travel on a public bus back to Addis. It was awful. It took us 13 hours to get back. I thought we’d never get there. I was so happy when we arrived at the Ghion hotel. The next five days was our group’s (G9) mid-service conference (MSC). These conferences tend to be negative with it being the middle of your service, but I think our group in general surprised the staff. We were all pretty positive. The entire week was full of experience sharing. We discussed what was working at our sites and what wasn’t. We worked together on ideas for next year and gave one another solutions for certain problems and challenges we were having. The conference was a great way to motivate us for our second year. And it was also wonderful to get to see all of G9. We hadn’t been together since our All Volunteer Conference in March.

            That next weekend I participated in a 3-day gender training held by an organization called Girl Hub. Girl Hub and Peace Corps are working on some projects together. This training that I was involved in is to conduct a pilot program at my school. Girl Hub has developed a curriculum to go along with the girl band they created. They would like Peace Corps Volunteers to pilot the program for 6 weeks. Throughout these next weeks, I will be doing this curriculum in a girls’ club made up of 12 adolescent girls and a female counterpart. I will be monitoring the sessions and giving Girl Hub feedback on the program. I’m excited to be a part of the development of this curriculum. I think this will be a great opportunity for me to work with the girls in my community and also a great opportunity for my school and students.

            Finally, my last day in Addis involved a mandatory physical with the Peace Corps doctor and a visit to the dentist’s. So that was my September. It was really busy and a lot of fun but now it’s time to get back to work and complete my last year of service. With it being October there are less than 12 months to go until I’m back in the States. I’m ready to make this year my most productive and successful yet. Let’s see what happens.