Happy Thanksgiving – November 25th, 2009



Hey Everyone.  Sorry it has been way too long.  Luckily, I can say its because I have been busy as opposed to just sitting around and doing nothing.  First things first, about my stomach.  My biopsy came back and said that I had hypotrophy or hypertrophy of some of the acid-producing cells in my stomach lining.  This means that the cells were super-growth cells and were producing more acid than my stomach could handle.  This explains the esophagitis, the extra acid was coming up and burning my esophagus.  I am on medicine for it and monitoring my diet very carefully.

I got some bad news about the miniature golf project.  I talked to customs at the airport and they said that I can only bring one golf club back with me.  The conversation went something like this, “hey, I am doing a project in the south  working to make a miniature golf course.””m-hmm””alright, well I was wondering how many golf clubs I can bring back before I have to start paying taxes?”,”Is it just you or a team?”,”Oh, its just me”,”well then you can bring back one.”,”One? Do you know anything about golf?”,”Yes, I know about golf.”,”Then you know that golfers carry up to 14 in their golf bag for just themselves.”,”No, that is not true.”  At this point I got mad and walked off.  So that puts a big stop into that project.  Now I am going to have to draw up my project for all the taxes and fees for customs to ship the golf clubs in.  That will put me right around $20k USD.  That is not good.  That money alone could sustain the organization for two or three years.  I will have to figure out someway to trim money off my budget.

One big project I have been working on is coming along very nicely.  It is an environmental project that is looking to reforest a hill by the lake.  The project will also develop nature trails that go up the mountain creating a new tourist destination.  I am thinking of working with this organization called Trees for the Future.  They work on agroforestry projects across the globe and seem to be a good organization for what I want to do.

One other project that I am especially pumped about is an astronomy project.  I am planning on bringing back a telescope with me from the states.  The sedimenya people have a lot of their history that is held in the stars so my project will first involve going out into the rural area and finding out about these stories.   Then we would just go around to different neighborhoods and do a presentation at nighttime.  I thought it would be a cool idea at first just teaching about astronomy, but my friend, Abel, thought it would be better to teach a little bit about the culture.  Most of the people that live in Hawassa are not from the sedimenya people.  Anyway, if nothing else I will get to learn more about the stars.

I am trying super hard to get a bunch of projects started or completed before I go home.  Everyone who has gone home and stayed said that if they didn’t have projects to come back to, they wouldn’t have come back.  I am super excited for it and if I am being honest, I am a little scared of going back.  Oh well, plane ticket has been purchased already.  No backing out now.

We are throwing a little bit of a birthday party for me this weekend.  There will be some volunteers down here that don’t normally make it so we should have a good time.  My friend, Tesfi, wants to throw a giant house party for me at his house and DJ Love wants to have a party at the place where he DJ’s.  We will figure out something.  Marina brought back cups for Beer Pong so I am thinking a tournament.

Well, I am conducting my first training of Ethiopian People tomorrow morning so I need to get some sleep.  I will make an attempt to do this more often.  Night everyone.

My Stomach Visit to Addis – October 17th 2009

Here goes nothing… I just got back from an expensive week long trip in Addis. I rode up there on Tuesday when a 4-6 hour trip turned into 10-hour reading day. The bus broke down at around 11am about 90 minutes from my house. I woke up from a nap because the entire car was filled with smoke. We pulled over and piled out of the bus. There was a giant acacia tree that gave a large amount of shade so I grabbed The Three Musketeers and found a comfortable spot to sit. I read for about an hour while we waited for the new bus to arrive. As soon as this bus arrived we all started fighting to get on. As it turns out they were just dropping off a mechanic. False alarm. The mechanic worked for about thirty minutes with a hammer and screwdriver before he declared that it couldn’t be fixed on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I sat back down and continued reading The Three Musketeers. Another hour passed and the new bus arrived.

Fast forward to Addis Ababa. I checked into the hotel and found Rachel, who was in Addis for rabies shots because her cat bit her. We ate dinner at one of her friend’s houses and laid low for the night.

The next morning I had my appointment at the Internalist. I got there at 8am, when my appointment was, and the doctor saw me just before he took lunch. The only thing I found out that I didn’t know was that I had dropped more weight. I am now at 154lbs. This whole stomach thing has affected my eating habits and portions. After 6 minutes in his office, he told me to come back on Friday for the endoscopy. I was worrying the whole time while I was at the office because I had a climbing date with a guy I met from the states, who lives in Addis and wanted to show me some of the stuff he has been climbing lately. He came and picked me up. Sure enough, right as we got to the site, it started pouring. This section of Addis is really high, around 3100m. That is almost twice as high as Denver. Needless to say, but it got cold so we left.

The next few days weren’t that eventful. I just enjoyed watching tv in my hotel room. So I showed up at 4pm on Friday to get my endoscopy. I waited for 2 or 3 hours then was shown into the room. The doctor checked my esophagus, stomach, and first foot of my lower intestine. He found two things. The first was that I had esophagitis and the second was a small lump on my stomach. After inflating my stomach with air, the lump flattened out. Either way, he took a biopsy just to be sure. I should have the results in a couple weeks. He gave me some new meds and that was pretty much it.

That night Peter, Gail, and Julie all came into Addis. They were in to get their money for their projects but Peace Corps had moved the money to the new training site for the new volunteers. They were also supposed to go into the office on Monday but in the infinite wisdom of Peace Corps, they weren’t told that Monday was Columbus day. Peace Corps Staff has all American holidays off. So they were pretty much screwed. We went to go see the new movie, Inglorious Bastards. It was really good.

I have been just skimming over the activities to get to this part. We went to the Tedy Afro concert. Tedy Afro is an Ethiopian singer who could be considered a little against the government. He wrote a song against the government party and it wasn’t received very well. Ironically, after that, he was imprisoned for vehicular manslaughter while he was drunk. There were a lot of weird things around his arrest but he served his sentence and was released two months ago. This was his first concert since being released. It was amazing. I went with Gail, Ericka, and Emily. We had a blast. Instead of fighting our way to the front and being groped/sweated on/harassed, we just stayed in the back. There was no crowd back there. There was plenty of room to dance so Gail and I flipped off our shoes, rolled up our pants and danced for 4 hours. The energy of this concert was unreal. The twenty thousand people there could equal the energy of a 100k person crowd in the states. Absolutely Incredible.

Honestly, there isn’t really much that beats that. I came home, threw my things down, and went to talk to my family. One of the girls, Sambrit, crawled into my lap and fell asleep. Since then I have just been sloth-ing around. Projects are moving very slow as should be expected.

As of late, I have been falling in love with Ethiopia. It’s stubborn, ungracious, dirty, dangerous and I absolutely love it. Don’t get me wrong I am not going to move out here, but I definitely feel that Ethiopia will always have a special spot in my heart.

Until Next Time.

Happy Birthday Alan!!

What it is like to travel in Ethiopia – October 5th 2009

I was cleaning my house and getting all the stuff from my last trip put away.  I found these notes that Jill was taking of our journey.  She was told that only volunteers that are more than two overnights away from Addis will get flights.  So she documented our 1 night and 2 day trek into Addis.  I thought it was pretty funny and pretty much typical of any bus trip(the only way to travel in Ethiopia).  I hope you enjoy.

6:22am – Just boarded the bus to Korem. Religious music blaring, my ears nearly bleeding from the “rtythm” of the steele banging.  The suns not up yet. The woman in front of me smells like the combination of vomit and overcooked asparagus.

8:16am The 4-ton museum exhibit has left the station.  The journey that will bring us to Addis so I can contribute something to the program I love has commenced.  Lord willing, I will arrive unscathed.

8:26am There is incense burning on this dinosaur-aged bus that probably has a gas leak.  Taking bets on how many seconds will pass before the next piece os sagging ash will fall into this man’s blanket-shirt.

8:44am I hate that this guy next to me is trying to read this! We’re on hairpin turn #47 of 111 on the way to Alamata… the incense is almost gone… fearing the amassing pungent aromas.

9:01am Already cheated death six times today.  It seems on this bus ride Ato Death will catch me once and for all.  Please note: windshield looks like the oft-shot body of poet 50 cent.  Question: Can I get medically separated for dying?

9:35am This whole bus smells like butter.

9:51am I feel like I am actually inside a scrotum when I ride these buses.  It’s hot. And moist.

10:18am Is it me? I’ve just been sold to the fourth bus of the morning in Kobo.  At first they tried to put us on a bus with negative 1 seats available for 4 people.  I will never understand that math.  But seriously, it’s philosophy, not math that drives bus logic… and maybe a little physics, or lack there of.

10:44am Spoke too soon. Count: 22 persons, Seats: 11.

11:55am Weldia, three buses, one town.

11:58am Didn’t get very far, a goat fell off the luggage rack of the bus before we even got out of town.  Don’t even ask what a goat was doing on the luggage rack.

1:15pm I think we are in Desse! Wait, nevermind…

1:58pm I think we are in Desse! Wait, nevermind…

2:55pm I have to pee so bad I think my bladder will explode the next bump we go over.

5:04pm We are actually in Desse.

Day Two.

4:48am The phone rang, it was the Amharic-Only-Speaking driver letting us know he would be at the main road in 5 minutes.  We put everything in our bags, and crept past the snoozing lion-dogs towards the single pair of headlights on the main road.

7:16am Hmm, that gentleman in front of me has a hand gun tucked into his waistband.

9:06am Qurs?(Breakfast) Qurs?(Breakfast) Meche? (When?) If I can’t have breakfast can I at least stop for bathroom break?

10:09am We finally stopped to eat breakfast.  They only have Goat and Eggs.  I think we will be having scrambled eggs.

10:21am  Apparently, our waiter thought when we said eggs we meant we would love 3lbs of goat.  I love a waiter that can read between the lines.

11:25am No Entry – Fell Asleep.

11:26am That must have been a huge pothole.  Oh wait, that was the one 6 foot stretch of pavement on this 1000km road.  It must have been a deep sleep to dream of nice roads with occasional bad spots.

11:43am There goes Sean and Adam’s town.  It looked like a nice place.

12:20pm We reached the outskirts of Addis.

2:31pm We had made it to our destination in Addis, sweaty and tired but alive.  Now to find a bus to get to the hotel

2:33pm My wallet was just stolen out of a zippered pocket in my backpack in the 50 feet we have walked.  Its good to be back in Addis.

3:02pm Laying down on the bed in the Ras Hotel.  I love that this hotel is so water-usage conscious.  They store water in the carpets.  I don’t even mind the knock-you-off-your-feet smell.  I am just glad they have a plan for water conservation and are following through it.

4:38pm It is amazing that all of what I have just written is immediately forgotten when I bite into the Tijuana Steak Burrito at Family Restaurant.  I can’t wait till the next time I get to come into Addis.

My Vacation – September 30th 2009

Today is Tuesday. I have been in Addis since Sunday. My stomach has been diagnosed as having Dyspepsia. That just means I have an ulcer. Pretty lame, huh? Oh well, I have been getting tests done for the past two days. Blood, Stool, and Ultrasounds, I don’t really care. I just want it to get better. It is not that the pain is extra-painful. It is just constant. For the past three months my stomach is about at a 3 on the 10 point pain scale. Some nights it will get up to 6 or so, just enough to keep you awake in agony until you are so tired you could pass out in the middle of a tornado. I am waiting to hear back from DC if my endoscopy is approved. Either way, the result will be the same. I will still be on the same medication. Ok, now for the fun stuff.
I started my vacation on the 11th. That is the Ethiopian New Year. I did a nine hour journey up to Debre Birhan to visit Sean(Upstate NY ) and Adam (Minnesota). I stayed for three days. The New Year is a time of celebration (drinking) and those boys sure did celebrate. Mike(Virginia) came down from his town. With my stomach the way it is, I was the designated sober. We still had a lot of fun. After Debre Birhan, I continued north through Debre Seina, which is a beautiful town on a mountainside with natural tunnels and the like. Mike is lucky for living there. I think the main thing that struck me was how green the North turned out to be. This is the area that every year is struck by drought and famine, and yet, it looks many times greener than the South. It may be the elevation changes. On my way up, I was always either climbing a mountain or descending a mountain. I should have been placed up north. Oh well. I continued north to Dessie to visit “The Other Jon”(San Francisco). His house is absolutely amazing. He actually rents out the main section of the house. It has a full bathroom, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a huge living area. I would even say that it is too big. He made some butternut squash soup that was sent out from the states and we didn’t really do anything else. I left early the next morning and headed up to Tina( Idaho) and Jill (Chicago)’s area. Honestly, these two were the ones I really went to see and that is why I rushed through everyone else’s town to get up to see them. Jill had just gotten back to Addis from a biking trip, her and her family had finished in Germany and Austria. Tina and I just killed time until Jill made it back to her site. There is a beautiful waterfall in just outside Tina’s town, Korem. The water has washed out a huge hole in a large slab of rock. The setting up there was amazing. 200ft down from the waterfall is a 1500ft cliff so it seems you are looking down on the rest of the world. I know my words won’t come close to describing the setting so I am not even going to try. Let me just say that it was breath-taking. Fast forward through the rest of the trip. I made it back to Addis in two days where I had my medical stuff taken care of.
I don’t claim to be a great story-telling, nor even a decent one. I am having to leave a lot out because of things that could get other people in trouble for illegal travelling. The next part of my trip was actually for work. My friend, Abel, who I was doing some work for his tourism initiatives, took me to the South Omo for the Meskal Celebration(The Finding of the True Cross). According to legend, one of the Queen’s of Ethiopia went looking for the Cross that Jesus was crucified on. She lit a large fire and prayed for the Lord’s help. The smoke rose from the fire and fell on a certain spot. After digging in that spot, she found the true cross.
We (I can’t say who it was) met Abel at 6am and jumped on a bus. We traveled on buses all day. All of the buses that were going to our destination were packed to capacity so he smooth-talked our way on to the buses without having to wait in the line. For instance, we got to the bus station in Shashamane where 200 people were waiting for a bus to Sodo. As soon as the bus pulled up, Abel went and talked to the bus handlers and they had us walk around to another side of the station to get on the bus before anyone else was let on. It was like that at every stop. Our destination was in a town called Dorze. It is only 20km from Arba Minch but there is a 1700m difference in elevation so our bus ride was insane. Zigging and Zagging in a 4ton bus prone to rolling, up a road that makes the one in San Fran look like child’s play. From the overlook in Dorze you could see Arba Minch and the incredible lake that surrounds it. We ended up staying at Abel’s friend’s tourist lodge. It had a bunch of cultural huts that look like elephant faces. We just pitched a tent in the courtyard. All-in-all it was a great trip.
I didn’t get into much on that trip because as it turns out I have Ghiardia. I am going to the bathroom every 15 minutes and in between dealing with the horrible cramping. Luckily, it didn’t really get bad till after I got to Awassa. I should be over this in a few days and then I go into Addis on October 6th for my Endoscopy. I am just a walking GI problem right now. Oh well, this month has been incredible…

Kes ba Kes (Step by Step) – September 7th 2009

I am on such a good news high right now.  On Wednesday, I sat down with the organization I want to work with, explained the project and they loved it.  They are currently doing urban gardening projects around town.  Each garden has thirty beneficiaries, which means that the profits from each garden go to supporting 30 orphans.  The organization was looking for an IGA(Income Generating Activity) to help support the running of the organization.  Perfect. Then, on Thursday, we met with the Kebele office.  They are like a community based government.  I pitched the idea and they said they have a bunch of plots of land around my neighborhood that are to be used for some sort of community activity.  Perfect x 2.  Then on Friday, we met with the Capacity Building Head for the SNNPR.  He is the third most powerful person in our region of 18 million people(only behind the President and Vice-President).  He loved the idea because he has spent some time in the states.  He said that if I run into any problems, just give him a call.  That will be huge because with the bureaucracy of Ethiopia, there are always speedbumps.  Everything is moving along perfectly.  The best part is that when this project is completed, I really feel it will help the entire city of Hawassa.

The tourism project I was working on failed to get any funders.  No worries.  It is hard for businesses and organizations to put money into developing a tourism industry.  The concept of tourism just doesn’t translate to Ethiopians.  This just frees up time to work on other projects.  Plus, the guy I was working with, wants me to go on a trip with him to show appreciation for working so hard for him.  The trip is at the end of the month, and the purpose would be to develop an itinerary for his tourism company.  The trip would normally cost around 6-700 USD, and I am going for free.  There is a big celebration for the finding of the cross in this very rural area of Ethiopia.  Plus, we will be going around finding different activities to do in the area.  You know, visiting waterfalls, checking out endemic species’ habitats.  This area doesn’t recieve a bunch of tourists because it is very removed and hard to access even by 4WD.  I am super excited.

I also got two packages in the mail.  One from Elysia, my friend from Bowling Green and one from a PCV that went home.  They are amazing.  I ripped the boxes open so fast that everything fell into one pile and I just stared at it. Thank you Elysia, Thank you CR.  One thing that has been blowing my mind was one of those spice jars with a 4 different types of spice blends in it.  That thing, Parmesean Cheese, and Old Bay have rejuvenated my cooking at home.

I ate cow meat for the first time in a couple months, borderline life changing.  Too much goat meat.  The weird thing is Goat is more expensive than Cow.  Oh well, just have to roll with it.

So what’s going on in the states?  I have kind of been out of the loop because my internet is slowing down to Africa time.

I had two guys staying with me the past couple days.  They found me on CouchSurfer.  They are a bunch of fun.  They remind me a lot of my friends back home.  One of them has biked all the way from Jo-burg in South Africa and the other one came to Nairobi.   We have had a bunch of fun just doing little things around my town.  Like last night, we stumbled upon a large group of the Orthodox Church.  Around 10,000 people, all with candles, singing and dancing in the stadium lot.  It was really neat.

Alright well, that is enough for now.  I have to work on this Project Proposal.  Any ideas on funding sources?  Later.

Also, do not be afraid to leave comments.  I really miss getting those, like on the old blog site.

Completing Projects (Doin’ Work) – August 24th 2009

Something is up with the blog site and I haven’t been able to send this out, so I will see if this works and if it does I will transfer all of you emails. No worries.

Hey Everyone!!! I figured I would catch you up to date because it has been quite a while. So lets see what has been going on. I went down to my friend’s house two weekends ago. Kyle and I have been wanting to do some disc-golfing. Yes, my friends are amazing and have been sent out some discs. There is a great place to throw at a place Kyle works at. The kids kind of followed us around while we played but they were all really behaved. Then the rains came and we ran into the school building. The kids gathered around me because I was new and started asking if I was a guy or a girl because of my hair. Then they all started dancing and singing. It was a lot of fun. Then the next day Bonnie, Kyle’s girlfriend, came from her town. They had it in their mind we were going to have barbeque chicken. We all went to the market and got two chickens. Kyle’s friend came over and showed them how to kill and clean the chicken. I stayed inside the house and read Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The chicken turned out horrible. The skin was so tough that it didn’t allow the meat to cook. Bonnie’s mashed potatoes were pretty good, but my salad was best. Kyle’s parents have sent out what seemed like an entire kitchen. There was an entire package of nothing but spices and seasonings. He had balsamic vinegar. I couldn’t believe it. Oh well what can you do?

Oooh, my projects. Ok, I finished up the latest installment of the newsletter. It just got back from the printer’s this week. My questionnaire is finished and under-going some final revisions before we gather all our data collectors and send them out with it. Lastly, I met with the head of the organization I want to work with for the Miniature Golf Project. I explained to him the idea and he agreed even though he later told me that he has no idea what miniature golf is. He said he would do it because he has seen how hard I work on the newsletter. I don’t know when he has seen me working on the newsletter but I am pumped about it. I showed him some pictures of miniature golf and he then understood what I was talking about. I also talked to one of my friends that started up the Awassa Youth Campus and when I told him about the idea, he said that he had set up a hole and then put different obstacles on the hole. He said that everyone loved it. It is now seeming that everyone I talk to about this project really likes the idea and is willing to help. Not to jinx it, but every speed bump I have foreseen has not been a problem.

The Chinese are building everything in Ethiopia.  They are constructing all of the roads, telecommunications, Hydro-electric power plants, and something else I am forgetting.  Anyways, I found out that about two months ago, the Chinese are moving their silk production farms to Ethiopia because land is becoming more and more precious in china.  They are then exporting the silk under AGOA, African Growth and Opportunity Act, which allows African goods to be exported tax free in an effort to support developing countries.  China is taking advantage of this.  That is one thing I have realized living in Ethiopia, that the Chinese are sneaky.  I am sure they are doing all of the same infrastructure work in other developing African countries.  The problem is that they underbid all of the other possible contracts and provide shotty work.  They just approved the GIBE V hydroelectric plant to be built.  I was reading it and it said that the Chinese government is loaning Ethiopia the money to pay for it.  Obviously, the real question is why a country who is constantly devastated by drought and famine, depending on water to supply them with electricity?

One of my friends, CR, went home for a friend’s wedding two weeks ago. She found a pretty funny website, http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/2008_Biennial_Volunteer_Survey. This is the results of an annual survey given to all Peace Corps Volunteers about how happy they are with their Peace Corps Experience. The results are a little tricky to understand but pretty funny when you do. Remember that the rankings are out of 67 countries. So that means we got one last place, two second to last place, and two third to last place.

My friend, Christina, is ET-ing today. She goes into Addis on Saturday and will leave sometime next week. She went to Germany with her family for two weeks. She came back and realized she doesn’t want to be here. “If I can’t bring myself to leave my house, there is something wrong.” She did also find out that she is a german citizen and is now going to move there. I know, I didn’t understand either. I guess she was born there. The German government is going to pay for her to learn German so she can get a job. I am just pumped that I will have someone I know in Germany.

Next week, I have the PAC committee meeting in Addis. I am pretty excited except when I think about how much money I am going to be spending there. I already know what I am going to get. Mexican food. I am going to get the Nachos and Potato Skins. I know what you are thinking, Why potato skins and not the Tiajuana Steak Burrito? The answer is simple. I need bacon. I have been craving it for some time and I am pretty certian it doesn’t exist in this country. Plus I dont think my stomach can handle a burrito yet.

I had a completely retarded moment the other day. I was taking my extra linolieum and making booties for all of the legs that touch the ground. That way when I move them, they don’t rip up my floor. I was holding the stuff in place with my hand and needed to adjust it. So I then take the piece of Duct Tape I had just torn off and place it on my lip. STUPID. So without thinking, I just ripped it off as well as a large piece of my lip. I am kind of glad that it happened though. I have been having more frequent waves of “why am I here?” Times like that when I slip on a banana peel and remove duct tape from my face remind me that I need to laugh.

I don’t think I have told you guys this, but I have been helping one of my friends, Abel, with his tourism business. He has some really amazing ideas for the entire tourism industry for our region. I have been helping him with writing proposals. I didn’t really think about it because I just help him when I can and it has nothing to do what-so-ever with HIV/AIDS. Anyways he pitched a proposal I wrote up for him to the regional tourism bureau and they are going to use it for their main project for World Tourism Day on September 27th. The entire Ministry of Tourism for Ethiopia as well as many of the main people in the government will be coming down to see this. It should be great exposure for his company as well as building relationships for later projects. I will see if I can get any pictures from the event. Abel and myself are also wanting to do a community mobilization project. We want to use this local hot springs area and turn it into a park area. The place is being completely destroyed because people use it to wash their clothes in it and it is just sitting in this swamp area, stagnant. The goal would be to create actual facilities for restrooms and kind of regulate how people are using it. We would charge a small fee to enter and that money could be used for wages of guards and kids to pick up trash around the area.

I have decided that I am going to take a little vacation. I am going up north to visit some friends and their sites. It should be a lot of fun except for the bus rides. I have never gotten car sick in my life, in fact, I love road trips. The buses here are ridiculous. I don’t know if it is the exhaust that is often found inside the bus or the horrible roads but it just gets to me.

I will tell you why toilets are better than long drops. If I drop something in a toilet, I simply fish it out. However, it is much harder to fish something out of a Shent Bet. Nor would I want to. My outhouse has claimed my headlamp and my flashlight. Now if an urge develops when the power is out I will have to use a candle or just do it all by feel.

I am not happy to say this but I put a rat trap in my house. I am sorry but I have no problem with all of the rats that live in my ceiling but there has been a rat who comes into my house. I can’t handle that. Luckily, since I put the trap there, he/she hasn’t come in. Well, that does it.

Alright, well I don’t really know where else to go with this so I will end it here. Alright everyone, I will talk to you later and if you want to talk to me before then… write me a letter. Letters and care packages from home are amazing. Love you all.

Here Comes the Rain Again… – August 4th 2009

I think it is about time that I owe everyone another blog. If only I could think of some things to talk about. Well, let’s see new developments. I got internet at my house so I can now check my email a lot more regularly. In fact it isn’t half bad. The days when I do have power, the majority of the town doesn’t so that frees up a lot of the bandwidth.

I get asked a lot if I think I am making a difference and until recently I said I don’t really know. However, the second edition of the newsletter came out this week. It may seem like a small thing. I just sit down for about six hours and pump out a fairly decent looking document. However, in Ethiopia, this is very rare to have a document like this. Anyways, the Forum has been able to create a new position, Project Officer, and purchase a generator with the extra funds my newsletter has brought in. I know what you are all thinking that what I just described is not sustainable but my plan is to help with the next newsletter and answer all questions while the people at the forum put it together. That is my phase out plan.
I started the Resource Mapping Project this week. I know I am just doing this project because the government wants it done and will throw all the money it needs to get it finished. It will be cool to think that organizations that service the 17 million people in my region will all be taking this survey and giving me the results. My brain hasn’t even started calculating how much work I am going to have to do on the back end. La Di Da.

I think I may have come up with an idea for my big project, the one that ends up defining my Peace Corps Experience. I can’t do any of the normal things because my town is so big. For instance, there are six volunteers who are all constructing internet cafés that will be run by different target groups. I can’t do that because there are 300 internet cafes in my town and ones that have wireless and have 12 computers. I cannot compete with that. When thinking about what to do, I wanted something that would be low maintainence, something fun, and something that Ethiopians could wrap their heads around. I came up with Miniature Golf. Now here me out. There is the one channel that most places get here in Awassa, the sports channel. Now I doubt more than 1% of Ethiopians have ever played golf but an overwhelming majority has seen it on tv. I know of a good local community based organization called Fiker behiwot (Love Life). They are focused on providing for orphans and it’s a pretty unique idea. A couple of guys who were orphans growing up started the organization and as kids get older they are offered positions as councilors and such. Then they can use that experience as a platform to get another job. I think it is a pretty smart system and think they possess the kind of mentality that it would take to get a putt-putt course off the ground. I emailed like 12 companies in the states who all design putt putt courses and none of them responded. We will see. I found out how expensive building materials are today. It is 500(46USD) birr for a bag of concrete. What is even worse than that is that because the inflation the country is facing. Projects have to project what the cost will be when the funding comes in. Unbelievable.

Doxycycline. That is the name of my former malaria medicine. About a month ago, I called my medical officer and told them of a stomach pain I had been having. They prescribed me Prilosec and I took that for two weeks. I told them it wasn’t working, so they had me double the dose. Didn’t work. Then I was just supposed to take a double dose when I take my malaria medicine. Then I was asked to complete two stool samples and a blood test. After all that came back negative for parasites, they decided to take me off of doxy. I am not getting switched to Malarone. I shouldn’t have any reactions to that because that is why it so expensive. However, if I do have a reaction to it, odds are I will be going home. There are only three malaria prophylaxis that are allowed and I have had reactions to Meflouquine and Doxycycline. That is the worst case scenario, I would say there is a 4% chance that I will have a reaction to Malarone.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me by sending letters and packages. You have really shown me who I can rely on and I will not ever forget this. My jaw dropped when I opened the package from Kyle Davis. Alan and Shawn are sending out a disc and some more TV shows. Shannon is sending out one of her amazing packages soon. Even Tyler wrote me a letter back, granted it took her 5 months at least she did it. To her defense, she put quite a bit of effort into it and she is super busy. Everyone is really showing me how amazing they are. Oh some people asked what I would want in a care package so I just have a few things for ideas. Parmesan shaker cheese, Processed Brick Cheese, dark chocolate, caramel, hot tamales, orange trident, and sour patch kids. Other volunteers get weird stuff sent out like refried beans, and premade dinners that all you have to do is heat it up. I mean I don’t complain when I am given this stuff from a volunteer named Marina because I surprised her on her birthday.

I am sure that everyone will be happy to know that I am growing my hair back out. Now it is at that weird length that it sticks out of my helmet awkwardly when I am riding my bike. Oh well. I requested for some of those really good hairbands to be sent out. The ones with the rubber strip on the inside so it doesn’t slide down your head.

Another couple of volunteers quit this month. No one I have mentioned. One transferred to the Peace Corps Program in Cambodia. She says it is amazing there. Wow, I cannot believe it is already August. I left the states exactly 9 months and one day ago.

The rainy season has come and it is in full effect. Addis is super wet and cold. Hawassa it rains until 9am then it clears up and sunshines stays until about 4pm when the clouds take over. At around 10pm it will start raining and persist throughout the night. I actually enjoy the rain. I have a tin roof so it has a calming effect in the morning. Oh, question, does anyone know how to remove rats from your ceiling. My house has ceiling tiles that are nailed in and the steps of the rats echoes throughout my house at night. I don’t really have a problem with them up there but I swear if one of those tiles falls in the middle of the night, I WILL FLIP OUT! I can handle most anything except ice and now I know that rats are also on that list. Its not the one or two in my rafters that gives me the creeps. It’s the 1ft hole in my ceiling that these two rats opens up and lets the thousands of their friends falling on to my floor where my bed is. Ok, subject change. My bed is still on my floor. I refuse to pay half of my monthly stipend just so my bed can be exactly one foot higher than it is right now. I do have a sofa. It is two single chairs and a double. They name them by how many cushions fit on them. All the other volunteers have so much furniture in their house that you can barely move but I guess that’s good. When you stand up from the large couch and hit your leg on the coffee table, anywhere you fall odds are you will hit some piece of furniture. Not my style. I keep running over everything and I am leaning towards getting a refrigerator. It would just be so nice to not have to cook individual portions all the time. I could make a giant pot of pasta and not have to gorge to finish it. They are just so expensive. If anyone would like to contribute to the John’s Fridge Fund, please let me know. Hah. Ok well, I don’t have much battery left so I will send this out. I love you all and hope everything is going well for you.

The Missing Week… July 19th 2009

This blog entry is the missing week of Chris’s visit. I thought it would be a fun twist to have a new set of eyes tell you the story of what happened in his week vacation. I just want to warn any Ethiopians that nothing in this is meant to be critical of the culture. This was Chris’s first visit to Africa so anything that isn’t part of normal American Culture stuck out to him. Some parts may be a little harsh but I agree that all these things happen. I hope you guys enjoy.

So I really don’t know where to start, I’ve had a month to think about everything that happened on my 1 week trip to Ethiopia, and in that 1 week everything has changed about me. I don’t think the same about anything anymore. I guess Ill start with the people.

The people were amazing. Both good and bad. With the good, they were very very interested in white people. Everywhere we went, we were like celebrities (everyone told me that too). I mean I for real know what its like to be famous. They literally will follow you for blocks just looking at you because you are white. But once you talk to them, they are all very very nice and friendly. I mean everyone is totally friendly, they all enjoy talking and messing with us. Ethiopians have no shame in staring or following, the people literally would just circle around us and stare (no one saying a word, just looking, it was horrible for me, since Im very weird about people looking at me). They also were very hospitable, people want to help you, I got bananas on the bus, they all are just really happy to give and share with one another. When I had to go back to the airport alone (a 6 hour bus ride), the people were very helpful, a random guy actually took me under his wing and guided me to the place I needed to be just to be nice. Also, there is no mean people, despite the harsh conditions over there, most people generally seemed happy. Bully’s just don’t exist, its all just average people. The people are also just beautiful, I mean even though no one over there showers or any of that, they just had a natural beauty like I had never seen anywhere in the world. The women are just stunning, its hard to explain, but you would know if you saw them.

On the bad side, most people try to steal from us since we are white. I mean it got to the point where I was holding my pocket at all times walking since the people would just walk next to my pocket staring at it. But its understandable though, its survival of the fittest over there, and I for sure understand. There are also tons and tons of orphans and homeless people. I mean literally there are thousands of orphans living on the streets (and in the sewers). These children are just the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. 14% of people over there have aids, so when their parents die, the children have no where to go but the streets to live. There are foster homes, but I literally saw thousands of homeless children on the streets, all in rags, begging for money. And these kids don’t just beg sitting down, they follow you for miles. When they see us coming, they literally would follow us for miles, begging the whole time. It really puts the American homeless to shame. I’ve always been very sensitive toward the homeless in America, but the 1st homeless person I saw when I got back, I actually didn’t feel bad for. Its one thing to live on the streets and have addictions to alcohol, drugs, etc., but the people in Ethiopia, have no addictions. I can think of few people I saw smoking, drinking, etc (most of them were white people I met through John in the Peace Corps). When the homeless get money over there, they use it to eat, and thats it. It really puts the homeless of America in perspective, though I still feel sensitive about their problems, I can’t help but almost laugh at how lucky they truly have it compared to the homeless in Ethiopia. On my trip back to Addis Ababa (where I had to fly out of), a child ran up to me and walked with me for over a mile. And this kid had serious problems, some kind of facial deformity, no home, just living in the streets, begging was his life. When you see a 5/6 year old kid by him/herself all alone on the street, begging for food, it really puts everything in perspective.
Myths

They also have a ton of myths, things that are just stunning. All of John’s Peace Corp friends kept telling me “you are thinking logically in an illogical world, so stop trying to think normal”. It took me the whole time I was there to start to get over the myths, here are some:

On the buses, people will not roll the windows down because they are afraid of getting sick (even though the buses are full of sick people), they think the air outside makes them sick, not the actual people.

They put up glass on the edges of the walls to protect them (like a security fence). Even though you can just push the glass off there, people just put it up there ( I mean it would take days to put all that up there), and it would take maybe 5 seconds to move the glass to jump the fence.

People litter and piss/shit in the street. There is no sanitation. I actually saw a kid take a shit in the street and he waved at us since we were white (I laughed my ass off).

The businesses there are horrible. Instead of thinking for themselves, they just copy each other. All the stores are almost identical because they think thats the only way to succeed. John told me one time he saw 17 hardware stores next to each other (they don’t understand that setting up a hardware store next to another is a bad thing).

They sweep dirt. I still never figured this out (neither did anyone else), but they actually get up in the morning and sweep dirt with a broom. Like just sweeping dirt, not doing anything, its the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. And they do it for hours too.

They water the walls. The concrete walls are really dry so each day they get buckets of water and water the walls (like how we would water plants).

So those are some of the weird myths and weird things, its fucking weird, but its so in their culture that nothing can change their minds. Ethiopians are EXTREMELY stubborn which is one of the biggest problems with trying to help them since they don’t make changes (unless their elders tell them too, the only people they respect are their elders).

Some more about the people. They love to touch you. Like everyone over there is all about touching you and getting close to you. I had some girl on the bus touching my arms because they were hairy. The children just cling on to you and wont let go. Its impossible to keep sanitary there. Some guy at the airport was touching my legs and putting his arms all over me, I actually was laughing it got so ridiculous.

Its illegal to be gay in Ethiopia. But whats crazy is that all the guys hold hands and the girls never do. It literally is like how it is with girls in America but the roles are switched. Most guys that are friends will hold hands, hug, etc and thats not gay.

Women are less than nothing over there. A woman is more or less a possession. If a guy takes a girl on a date and he asks to marry her, its pretty much set in stone. The women also do chores ALL DAY LONG. I mean from dawn till dusk, while the men just watch and do nothing.

Animals are abused like I had never seen in my life. It was so hard to watch I can’t even tell you how hard it was for me. In the 1st 3 hours there, a donkey fell in the street so 3 people were kicking it in the face trying to make him stand up. The dogs are all tied up to trees with leashes that are about 1 foot long. The aren’t petted or any of that, their sole purpose is to bark for intruders. So they live on these trees and just get fed. The cats are the same, they are at peoples yards, but just to kill mice and rodents. Animals over there are no different then a sack of food, just a possession with a purpose. No one cares for them, they are just something to be used.

John mentioned some of the “ethiopian sports” to me. Some of these “sports” are staring at people working, staring at people, and literally just doing nothing. I saw one time a group of about 30 people just watching one guy dig in the dirt. If someone has a job, they all just watch them, its crazy. The government also makes jobs that are fake. For example, you will see a guy in a construction outfit, just standing in the street doing nothing. His job is just to stand there, because they make jobs even though they have no real purpose. They also, just stare at any and everything, I mean staring over there is crazy. You can’t do anything without being stared at. If you go in the street, you are immediately stared at until you get back home. They will actually run out of nowhere and just walk with you just to stare.

The service there is horrendous, you order something, it never comes, you generally have to order 2-3 times to get it. And the best part is that once you do finally get it (generally around 45 min to one hour), the food/drinks are sometimes not even what you ordered. They will just say “we were out of that so here is something else”. You still have to pay for it and everything.

Another thing is every single person has a product or service to sell. I mean you can be in the woods and some person will be trying to sell you lottery tickets, or trying to shine your shoes. Its crazy. When we got off the bus with my suitcase, literally about 20 people surrounded us and were fighting to carry our suitcase (I was really scared, it was overwhelming, but luckily John knew what to say and do to get rid of them).

There is no such thing as a line over there. Every where you go, the line is just whoever can push the hardest. I saw a guy getting on the bus, he fought his way to the front and then the bus driver punched him in the face, so he took a few steps back and got back in line. John didn’t even flinch it was so regular to see that. The bank, is literally just a giant group of people holding their deposits out in the air at one teller. Lines don’t exist so everything that requires waiting is chaotic.

Ok so enough about the people now on to the country and animals. The country was amazing, just stunning. Huge mountains, lakes, just beauty like I had never experienced. I mean you will just be sitting there and a bird that looks like a damn dinosaur will fly over your head, just amazing things. We went on a trip to the nicer part of Ethiopia, went out in a boat in the “great earth valley”, surrounded by mountains on a lake, the lake had hundreds of wild hippos and crocs. Just stunning. They just pop up and look at you, it was amazing. The crocs are HUGE, I mean fucking scary. Like if you fell in the water, one bite would finish you off. Also monkeys just run in the streets, I saw tons of monkeys, one of them stole our bananas (he was crazy!!!)

So the story about how John and I almost died. A day when we were in “Arba Minch” (the place we visited with the scenery and animals), we got a tour guide and he took us on a trip into the woods to see the natural hot springs. We rode bikes into the forest and it was fun. So all of the bikes had flat tires (its still ethiopia mind you), so we ended up having to walk up this big hill. When we were almost at the end all of sudden 2 masked men with machetes jumped out of the brush and started running at us. Our tour guide instantly through his bike down, and started running (he didn’t say a word, just ran for his life). So we did the same.

I mean in a matter of like 3 seconds we were all running for our lives. I didn’t look back, but John looked back and he saw them jumping over our bikes running after us. So we ran about 1/4 mile and then found a police car (armed guards are everywhere there), and we got help. We find out they were a gang that hides out in remote areas and attacks/robs people (especially foreigners). So me and John outran an Ethiopian gang. I thought I was about to die for real, I now know exactly what people mean by the “fight or flight instinct”. It was the most real feeling I’ve ever had, my body just told me to run, that this was the end and I had one chance to live.. Over there, if you are killed, nothing happens, you are just dead and they get away. I ran the fastest I ever ran in my life, my legs hurt for 4 days afterwards I ran so hard. As soon as I saw them come out of the bushes my stomach just dropped to the floor, it instantly was survival mode. I swear, me and John were so lucky, its unbelievable, I mean these guys were trying to kill us for real. Luckily we all were decent runners, and they just gave up and let us go. Needless to say that night we went out and had some beers to celebrate life. It was scary, without a doubt the most serious and scary moment of my life. But we were all good and thats all that matters (the experience was great though, that alone was worth the trip).

Overall, Ethiopia was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, I mean totally life changing. When I got back to the States, the 1st thing everyone wants to ask is “so how was it!!”, and my response has always been “be grateful for everything you have, you and I have never had a bad day”. And that is the truth, I used to think days were bad, working too much, having a hard time, etc. But now that I know what the worst of this world is like, I have to honestly say that every single day of my life has been great. The worst day I’ve ever had, has got to be better than the best day of some of the homeless children over in Ethiopia.

It’s funny how we think days are bad when a boss yells at us, when we get a ticket driving, when things are just not like they should be, but over in Ethiopia, a good day is living to see the next. A good day is getting enough money to get food to live to the next day, that’s something that almost all Americans will never have to experience (even the homeless). We have never been hungry, never had to worry about where we are going to sleep, never had to worry about getting a disease treated, its all just available for us, where for Ethiopians, none of that is available. I am so lucky, its just ridiculous, and now when I hear people complaining about a hard day at work and whatnot, its laughable, I just wish I could show them the images I have burned in my brain now.. Like I said before, when you see a half naked child come up to you at 1 AM, in total darkness, begging for anything you have to offer, it really puts things in perspective. When you see a man that’s half dead coming onto your bus begging for anything, he has no eyes (just gaping holes where they should be), missing an arm, and has a scar on his face that looks like someone stuck an axe in his face, it puts things in perspective. We are lucky, anyone reading these words is lucky, you and I have never had a bad day, and thats a fact. This world is a scary and brutal place, now that I’ve been in the 3rd poorest country on earth, I just feel so grateful for everything I have in my life, its just ridiculous. So Ill end my story at that, just remember how lucky we are and don’t take any day for granted.

As far as John and his friends in the Peace Corps, I have nothing to say but positive things about them. I mean just seeing Johns life alone, was totally stunning. He has nothing, I mean he can barely afford some chairs in his house (though he just bought some, but with a huge price tag). These people are living their lives in a place where they are constantly harassed, followed, and have nothing, to try to better this world and themselves. They don’t get any thank you’s from the people, nothing except the satisfaction of knowing they are making a change. To me, thats one of the most noble things I’ve ever seen. John has always been one of my best friends over the years, and I can honestly say that my respect for him is through the roof. It takes a lot more than balls and willpower to stay in a place like Ethiopia. I mean the average person could never make it over there. I am an extremely strong willed person, and by the end of one week, I was starting to get scared about things. At the end I was starting to worry if I would make it back alive or not. Getting to see John and his Peace Corp friends was very enlightening, especially seeing the girls. The girls in the Peace Corps don’t bathe (rarely), they don’t wear makeup, they don’t do any of the stereotypical American girl things. I actually feel really bad because I told them that it was hard for me to imagine seeing American girls do that kind of stuff (which they took offense too, totally understandable and I feel really bad about). They are just the most independent and most extraordinary group of people I’ve ever seen. So if any of you girls are reading this, just know you have my utmost respect and it was a pleasure to see you in that environment, really changed my perspective of what “american girls” can do . I think they just see things through a different set of eyes that very few people have. Dedicating your life to the betterment of this world is incredible, and my respect for all these people is more than any other group of people I’ve ever met. If all people had these kind of morals, guts, and just goodness, then this world would be a beautiful place

Well I will end it at this, just remember like I said, love everyday of your life. We are so lucky, its just ridiculous, just be thankful for everyday you have and live each day to the fullest. I hope this has been a good insight into my trip and I hope you all enjoyed it. If any you guys want to hit me up about my trip and whatnot you are more than welcome to do so. Talk to you later.

Chris
christopher.woodling@wku.edu

America’s Fall of the Derg Celebration – July 6th 2009

How is everyone doing? I hope everyone had a very safe Fourth of July. I would say there was a fair amount of celebrating here in Ethiopia. Everyone met up at their consolidation points. Bahir Dar, a city about 20 hours on a bus north of me, had a very large group meet up there, as well as, Dessie, which had a few meet there. Hawassa, had the biggest group, consisting of about 16 volunteers. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, beer, Jungle Juice (we called it Freedom Juice instead), a beautiful day with no rain, and a baby monkey. Now from the things I listed here it sounds like any other Fourth of July party. But like everything in Ethiopia, it is never as easy as it sounds. For instance, hamburgers, we had to go to a butcher on the side of the road that hacked off 2 kilos of meat from a carcass. Then we had to take that to a person who specializes in meat grinding. We had two charcoal stoves, each with a circular grill six inches across. The girls, Bonnie, Marina, and CR, all did a great job with the food. Our Jungle Juice was a bucket with 8 liters of water, 3 liters of Gin, A jar of Mango Tang, and a jar of Orange Tang. It was sickly sweet but had a great deal of Vitamin C in it. Scurvy is still something to worry about. The beer was also a bit of challenge. You have to put a deposit on the bottles so everyone has to finish their beer before you can get another case. Then you have to walk about three quarters of a mile to pick up the beer and walk it back. Luckily, I am getting really good at balancing things on my head, which gives the locals something to laugh at.

Awassa has a series of drainage ditches next to the main roads to rid the city of rainwater during rainy season. The problem with these is that on certain parts there is no covering for these. Sean, PCV, found this out the hard way by missing the step and falling in. He scraped the mess out of his shin and thigh. When got back to my house and started to clean up his leg. That’s when I realized the loose skin had flipped up underneath the attached skin. All I could see was his muscles and bone moving in layers. Worst scrape I have every seen. He went to the hospital and got his stitches. He is doing much better now.

I am so busy right now. It is unbelievable how sometimes all your deadlines fall together. I am working on three projects right now.

Newsletter – I am doing the next newsletter for the forum. Did I tell you that because of how good the last one looked. The forum’s donors all pitched in to create a new position, Project Manager, on the stipulation that they would have a column to announce their regional news. I think that is pretty cool especially when you think that it only took me two weeks of work and I can already see results of my being here.

Resource Mapping – I am putting together the questionnaire of all of the Health Organizations in our Region. Then we will hold a training to teach people how to conduct this questionnaire. After that we send them off for a month to collect data. It will come back to me and I will do a bit of Data Analysis and do a small writeup. That will be it for that project.

Burquito Hot Springs – I just got on with this project. My friend, Abel, is an eco-tour guide based here in Awassa. He is really smart and has a lot of great ideas. One of those is working with the Burquito Hot Springs. The project would consist of placing formal facilities there, cleaning up all of the trash, stop all clothes washing in the hot springs, charge a small admission fee, and hiring people to work there. I am going to help him draw up a project proposal and apply for some funding. This project really doesn’t have anything to do with HIV/AIDS but this is something that I think will be fun and lasting.

Some people have been having trouble mailing letters, so just as a reminder my address is :
John Lamon
PO Box 1298
Hawassa
SNNPR
Ethiopia

So how is everything in the states going? We get news but only the major headlines. The whole Micheal Jackson thing has been really weird. People slowly starting hearing he was dead and now you can’t walk anywhere without hearing his music coming from a store or some random set of speakers. Friday night, my friend DJ LOVE, played an all MJ playlist at one of Hawassa’s bars.

That is pretty much all I can think of for right now. Oh, I can’t remember the country code for Ethiopia but my new phone number for the time being is Country Code + 910431895. My family has been buying phone cards at the dollar store and drug stores so if anyone wants to give me a call go for it. I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for the work week.

June Post – June 25th 2009

Let’s see… It is one o’ clock on a Tuesday or Wednesday. I am at my house being completely lost at the fact I have had electricity for some part of the day since Saturday. I had power all day Saturday and Sunday, which never happens. I am just waiting for the power to get cut off for a good three or four days in a row. I am stocked on candles so that won’t be a problem. Chris Woodling or Biker as some people know him came out for a week and we had a great time. I won’t talk about that week because I plan on letting him do it with it being his first week in Africa. I am sure he will have some amazing observations and it will give you a break from my aimless narrations.

Work – Related

So with my resource mapping project, I totally nailed it as far as why it got passed so quickly. HAPCO (Ethiopia’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office) sat down with the organization I have been volunteering at and when asked what information would you like to find out, all that was responded was funding sources. They are going to spend $20,000USD to train nearly 100 people to go out and conduct this survey while paying per diem for 25 days and all they would like to find out is how organizations are getting funding. What can you do? It will at least give our organization a lot of room to work with and get some good data.
I got elected to be on the PAC, Project Activities Committee. That pretty much means that three times a year I got to Addis and meet with my bosses and go over everyone’s project reporting forms. Then we discuss what is working and what is not. Then, ideally, draw up a Project Database with possible partners, and possible projects. Hey, I am all about it.

So from Addis we had 15 people come down to the South of which only 9 live here. One night we slept seven people in my house. I t was so much fun. Luckily I had just got my couch so we pulled all the cushions off and used my bed and yoga mat, and slept 7 people comfortably. I love my Peace Corps Family. Then after they all left and I put Biker on a bus to Addis, I kind of felt like a mother who had sent all her children to college. It was just me. The worst part of that was I got my phone stolen or lost it. Either way, I don’t have it anymore. So I couldn’t call anyone. It was a pretty rough week. I would say now I have gotten back into my rhythm.
I have a new goal for the next three months. On my floor next to my arts & crafts table is a stack of 22 books. I plan on reading all of these in the next three months. I started this goal about 10 days ago. Since then I have read Catch 22, two David Sedaris books (He is absolutely hilarious), Hemmingway – Green Hills of Africa, and this other book called Contrary to Popular Belief. Last night, I started Lord of the Flies. I wonder if I will be able to finish it (I didn’t). To make things move according to plan, I am doing one book that may be a struggle for me and then a book that is fun.
I have decided that I am probably going to start saving up for a refrigerator. I know I am getting a lot of mean looks from everyone reading this. I have just gotten so tired of making meals for one person and if I make too much, I have to feed it to the dogs or throw it away. Also, it wouldn’t be like it would always work anyway. I think I am going to have other people in the South to buy shares of $20-$30USD and in turn, I will provide cold beer whenever they come into town. That is almost worth it in itself. The problem with anything that wasn’t made in this country is sold at fair market price. So while I can get a kilo of Bananas for less than 2 dimes in US currency, a refrigerator is still around $200 USD. I should be able to get it in August. The refrigerator will also allow me to make big meals and reheat them. AHHHH!!! I am so excited.
My candy supply has completely run dry, which is mildly saddening. I don’t get the intense cravings for candy I used to. Now I get cravings of things I rarely eat. The other day I was at a restaurant and eating some food and the smoke from the trash fire down the street flew in my nose as I had a mouthful of food. All at once, my entire body started screaming UTZ Crab Chips. I really can’t explain. I have to say that Dark Chocolate never gets old though.
One other thing that I have found I like are Crosswords. My friend, Sarah, in Minnesota sent me a week’s worth in her package. I did the Monday in like an hour or two during my coffee time without cheating. I felt I was on a roll so I tried the Tuesday and after a while I had to put it down because apparently the difficulty curve is exponential for crosswords. Oh well, I guess if they were easy they would call them Sudokus.
So I have been getting these weird intestinal cramps, almost like indigestion. I called my medical officer and he said I need to be more careful eating food where the national flavor is spicy. My malaria medicine is also partly to blame so they said if it continues, I am going to get put on some special malaria medicine. This will be my third malaria medicine, if I am switched. I was hoping I was going to have something cool like amoebas or some other stomach parasite but nope just indigestion. Oh, well.

I feel I do a lot of complaining on here and I want to apologize. It is just easier to remember things you are sore about as opposed to those which went according to plan. It’s back to second grade, I only pick on this country because I like it so much.

Anyways, I am still having a blast. I am learning new skills everyday. I think tonight I am going to do this really amazing dolphin paint by numbers. I don’t know, I like to keep my options open. For those of you, who make my weeks with your phone calls, I will have a new phone card in a few days. I am just going around Peace Corps so I can get something to talk on. Until next time…