Ethio-Thanksgiving

It has been quite a while since my last blog post, so this one will be rather packed.  Where to start?


Sarah returned to Hawzien with Delphine to work on her last big project of her assignment.  She will be spearheading a silkworm project, which will employ farmers from the Millennium Villages in silk production for textiles.  Her projected time in the village will be approximately 3 weeks, give or take.  She has yet to return to Addis, but will likely only be here for a week before the end of her assignment and the close of her time in Ethiopia.  She will be travelling to Tanzania for three weeks of fun for a safari, a week at Zanzibar beach resorts and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro after her departure from her post here.  


Laura returned to Addis Ababa a few weeks ago after her visit to the States to find little change aside from Hiwot's new little one.  She quickly returned to the daily regiment of life and so did I. She has been my partner in crime over here, so I was happy to see her return.  Back to the daily grind.


Perhaps the biggest news has been the visit of my brother, Joe, along with two of my college friends, Julie and Lindsay.  They made their way to Addis Ababa for the week of Thanksgiving.  They arrived on Saturday evening, 19 November, and remained here for a week.  Their trip, however, was not just of tourism and vacationing.  They spent their mornings volunteering at an orphanage with the dozens of toddlers cared for by the Missionaries of Charity here in Addis.  


Their afternoons consisted of some sightseeing that I had arranged for them to do around the city and in local surrounding villages.  They saw the churches on the top of Entoto Mountain, the women's training centers that Sarah, Laura and I had visited previously, did a bit of horseback riding in the Sululta plains, visited the National Museum where they met Lucy, and checked out the less-than-admirable Lion Zoo.  I'm sure that they did more than just those things, but I can't remember everything.  It was a rather jam packed week for them.


Some pictures of their outings are below.  I stole some from their memory cards before they left so that I could incorporate them into my blog...

They somehow found time to plan a Thanksgiving dinner for the group of us, including Laura of course, before they came to Africa.  There is no turkey to be found in Addis Ababa (at least to our knowledge or research), so they brought something that would have to suffice for this year.  Turkey Spam.  It's not exactly good ol' homecookin', but it was what they could pack and bring over.  They brought the "turkey", a couple boxes of StoveTop Stuffing, cans of cranberry sauce, gravy, and miniature pumpkin pies.  This was just the food.  They also brought some Thanksgiving decorations and some Turkey Day crafts for us to put together.  I'm not going to lie; I was thoroughly impressed with their efforts.  Wow.  I love them so much.  I can't express how much I appreciate their travel half way around the world to spend some that time with me.  


Thanksgiving was technically on Thursday, but we celebrated on Wednesday, which we called Thanksgiving Eve.  Joe fell rather sick that day with a stomach bug.  God only knows where he picked that up.  He didn't join us for Thanksgiving (Eve) dinner or for craft time since he was resting up and trying to recover.  He was feeling a bit better at the end of the night and was miraculously well the next morning.  Thank goodness for that!  


Some pictures from our celebration that Thanksgiving Eve are here.

On Thursday, all the Americans wished everyone, not only Americans, a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We even received a number of Happy Thanksgiving returns from our non-American co-workers and friends.  Birkti joined in and wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  I'll have her Americanized by the time I leave here whether she likes it or now...  


Of course it wasn't the same.  We went to work here while most Americans enjoyed a 4-day weekend full of feasting and family time.  It was my first Thanksgiving away from America, but with Joe with me that week, I was at least not without my entire family.  I'm not so sure how thrilled my mom and dad were to be at a loss of two kids for the holiday, but I know I was happy that he was here with me.  


We paid a visit to Hiwot in the afternoon after work and found her with her two little guys.  Junior still doesn't have a proper name, so we're he'll continue to be known as such until further notice.  Joe  and I made blankets for Nathan and Junior but only wrapped Nathan up in his since Junior was already bundled up.  Joe played with Nathan so that he would sleep soundly that night.  It apparently worked since Hiwot reported back the next day that her oldest son slept like a brick that night.  

The actual Thanksgiving Day was a special day even in Ethiopia.  First of all, it was Yihenew's birthday.  Secondly, it was the day that would prelude the first day of a 40-day fasting period before the Ethiopian Christmas in January.  So, Thursday would be the last day that Ethiopian Christians would be eating meat, dairy products or eggs until January.  Needless to say, there was a lot of protein to be eaten that evening.  


We had a feast on Thanksgiving although it wasn't turkey and pumpkin pie.  It was a delicious variety of Ethiopian dishes served together, called bayeanatu.  We also ordered some tibbs, or sliced beef roasted with butter and a bit of spice.  The two orders fed a total of nine people with some to spare at the end.  


It was the first time that our three guests would see the traditional Ethiopian dancing, and Joe was fortunate enough to get a lesson on shoulder dancing.  Joe, Lindsay and Julie also had a taste of the honey wine, tej.  A great time was had by all before Birkti took myself and our three guests dancing at a traditional Tigrigna dance club.  It wasn't an American Thanksgiving, but it was a memorable one to say the least.  Our co-workers here have been such great friends to us.  They have hosted and welcomed us and have treated us so well.  I'll certainly miss them after I depart in a few short weeks.

The three left on Saturday morning for their journey home.  They would be stopping in Zurich, Switzerland along the way for a two-day visit with Julie's brother, Adam, who lives in Germany.  I already miss them, but will be reunited with them soon.  


Happy Thanksgiving!

Ethiopian Life: Re-familiarizing and Welcoming Anew

Since arriving back in Ethiopia two weeks ago, a few small things have passed.  I arrived on a Tuesday morning and Laura left for her home visit on Thursday night.  Sarah did not return until the next Tuesday, which left me alone in the GSK Addis Ababa house for four days.  Needless to say, I was really happy to see Sarah on Tuesday morning when she came back.  I've become accustomed to having roommates once again, so being alone in our house in Addis came to me as feeling a bit odd and lonely.  These feelings may have been amplified by the fact that it was much, much more difficult to return to Ethiopia.  For whatever reason, it took my mind quite a while to return its focus on life and work here after my visit home. 


The weekend after I returned, Ahisya Mencin, the GSK PULSE Program Director, and Tom Whipps, GSK's official photographer and videographer, paid a visit to their PULSE volunteers in Ethiopia.  They spent Friday and Saturday in Hawzien with Delphine and Richard and documented their projects before returning to Addis for my turn on Monday.  


The two showed up at the office on Monday morning and had a meeting with the assignment supervisors for Sarah, Laura and I.  I was also in that meeting, and Sarah and Laura likely would have been too had they not been in the U.S.  Ahsiya spoke about the PULSE objectives and goals while our supervisors spoke about what PULSE brings to MVP.  After that, Tom video'ed myself and two supervisors in an interview setting.  It was rather quick and painless, which is saying a lot considering how much I absolutely do not enjoy being in front of cameras.  It's just not my thing.


After lunch with the duo, I accompanied them to where we could find GSK Ethiopia.  There are only 14 total employees of GSK in this country, so it's much smaller than any corporate environment that I've become used to.  Getachew, the head of GSK Ethiopia, set up a meeting room where Ahsiya would present the PULSE Program and opportunity to the employees here.  I also briefly spoke to the team about my assignment.  I took a couple pictures of the scene of the presentation.  

Sarah returned the next day as I explained before and attempted to readjust her sleep schedule for the next few days.  Friday evening, Richard and Delphine joined us in Addis from the Cluster office.  Richard was spending the weekend in the big city before he would leave to return to Australia until January, so this was my last planned encounter with him in Ethiopia as I will be leaving in December.  Delphine came down to do a bit of work from the Addis office and to reengage a more urban social setting.  


Sarah and I returned to some horseback riding on Saturday afternoon for a trail ride a part of the way up the Entoto Mountains from the Sululta plains.  The government owns land there and raises quite a crop of eucalyptus on those grounds.  The plants are mainly used in house building but the leaves are dried and used to build fires as well.  I'm not sure of the topical therapeutic means that are tapped into from the oils from the plant, but I do know that when there are sinus problems, the leaves are soaked in some water and then stuck up nostrils in a bunch of between 5 and 10 as a means of medicine.  The first time I learned of this practice was when I saw one of the guards at our house in Addis walking around outside the house with leaves sticking out of his nose.  Now I understand.

Hiwot, one of our MVP colleagues, finally welcomed her second baby.  The little guy was born on Friday 4th November.  We made a visit to see her a few days later and found the whole family, including Nathan, doing well and adapting to their family of four.  Nathan loves his new little brother.  The baby has not yet been given a name, so we're waiting to hear what he'll be known as.  I was even able to capture a couple pictures of Momma Hiwot and her little one.

I always forget how tiny newborns are until I hold one again.  Sometimes I feel like I'm going to break them.  This little one was well behaved while we were there, despite reports of his restless nature from his mother.  I guess he's already found comfort with the ferenji.  Laura was not with us when we saw the baby, but I'm sure we'll be making another trip back to visit soon.  


Laura returned Tuesday morning, complete with luggage and jet-lag.  The last one of us to readjust out sleep schedules before we all return to our original roles in GSK for the new year.  6 weeks and counting...