1st one is one of the monkeys in Sodore, you know the hot water springs... One just like it stole my jelly sandwich...2nd one is a church under construction near Nazareth/Adama. Doesn't it look like an illustration of an Arabian night fairytale?
zondag 13 september 2009
more pics
1st one is one of the monkeys in Sodore, you know the hot water springs... One just like it stole my jelly sandwich...2nd one is a church under construction near Nazareth/Adama. Doesn't it look like an illustration of an Arabian night fairytale?
pics
The first picture is Tony and Kathleen in Nazareth /Adama with one of the juices I've been talking about. The second proves that it can and will hail in Africa during rainy season.
Lucy
Sunny day today and I have started the new year well!
On the eve I went to have some beers with an ex teacher whom I met on the bus once and one of his friends. It was pretty funny to see their face when I asked a Fanta lemon and mixed it with my beer (=Pica). Some things of Bilbao I am not willing to leave behind. Even if Fanta is kinda different here.
On new years we were invited by an African American who also works at the school to his house. James was also the guy who picked me up from the airport, he’s from Texas and a bit of a cowboy from time to time. He’s here for the second time, this time in a manager function and with his wife and their 2 year old son. They are so amazing, they beam with love. At the dinner we had the other day James was talking about how much they had enjoyed having their son ( Jamsie). At the ‘ party’ there were some people of their church ( Baptists) where both of them do a lot of voluntary work including preaching. They’re also learning Amharic to be closer to the people here. These other people were missionaries who have dedicated their lives to preaching and have lived all over the world, various years in South Africa during apartheid in a mixed church, now they are involved in Sudan,and here. Really interesting to talk to, also because they love food and cooking. We’ve been invited over to their house for Christmas and I get hungry just thinking about it. Non traditional food is a real luxury and delicatessen here! Besides it’s always impressive to meet people who are so passionate about their faith and seem even better people because of it. It was a really interesting afternoon and I had so much of the scrumptious pot roast that I didn’t eat in the evening ;-)
I did however make some kalimotxo (=cheap Ethiopian wine and Pepsi) before going to the traditional restaurant where other teachers (who weren’t at James’) ate. Luckily I was somewhat tipsy because one of the traditional dancers at the restaurant pulled me on stage to try and dance with her…..AAAARGGHGH . Their dances are so amazing, they do these expressive rhythmic movements with their shoulders, it’s wonderful to see ( and hilarious when you also try it)! Many people wore traditional clothes and had head jewellery or different kinds of braids then the regular during the celebration. Really impressive and a feast for the eyes.
Yesterday I finally got round to going to the National museum where you can view Lucy the pre-human they’ve found near Addis. Incredible she was only 1,1metre tall even though she was an adult! There are also all kinds of clothes, crowns and other stuff there from their emperors really strange to see, I felt like in a fairy tale, curved swords and velvet outfits.
I’ve also learned there are an incredible amount of different cultures here, people with lip plates, and markings included but these are found more in rural areas and I haven’t seen them in Addis yet. These people still use oxen and wooden instruments to plough… . It is so different here.
I just finished Paolo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’ and this also has made quite an impression on me. Lucretia brought it and told me I should read it because it applied on us being here. If you haven’t read it I recommend you to do so.
On the eve I went to have some beers with an ex teacher whom I met on the bus once and one of his friends. It was pretty funny to see their face when I asked a Fanta lemon and mixed it with my beer (=Pica). Some things of Bilbao I am not willing to leave behind. Even if Fanta is kinda different here.
On new years we were invited by an African American who also works at the school to his house. James was also the guy who picked me up from the airport, he’s from Texas and a bit of a cowboy from time to time. He’s here for the second time, this time in a manager function and with his wife and their 2 year old son. They are so amazing, they beam with love. At the dinner we had the other day James was talking about how much they had enjoyed having their son ( Jamsie). At the ‘ party’ there were some people of their church ( Baptists) where both of them do a lot of voluntary work including preaching. They’re also learning Amharic to be closer to the people here. These other people were missionaries who have dedicated their lives to preaching and have lived all over the world, various years in South Africa during apartheid in a mixed church, now they are involved in Sudan,and here. Really interesting to talk to, also because they love food and cooking. We’ve been invited over to their house for Christmas and I get hungry just thinking about it. Non traditional food is a real luxury and delicatessen here! Besides it’s always impressive to meet people who are so passionate about their faith and seem even better people because of it. It was a really interesting afternoon and I had so much of the scrumptious pot roast that I didn’t eat in the evening ;-)
I did however make some kalimotxo (=cheap Ethiopian wine and Pepsi) before going to the traditional restaurant where other teachers (who weren’t at James’) ate. Luckily I was somewhat tipsy because one of the traditional dancers at the restaurant pulled me on stage to try and dance with her…..AAAARGGHGH . Their dances are so amazing, they do these expressive rhythmic movements with their shoulders, it’s wonderful to see ( and hilarious when you also try it)! Many people wore traditional clothes and had head jewellery or different kinds of braids then the regular during the celebration. Really impressive and a feast for the eyes.
Yesterday I finally got round to going to the National museum where you can view Lucy the pre-human they’ve found near Addis. Incredible she was only 1,1metre tall even though she was an adult! There are also all kinds of clothes, crowns and other stuff there from their emperors really strange to see, I felt like in a fairy tale, curved swords and velvet outfits.
I’ve also learned there are an incredible amount of different cultures here, people with lip plates, and markings included but these are found more in rural areas and I haven’t seen them in Addis yet. These people still use oxen and wooden instruments to plough… . It is so different here.
I just finished Paolo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’ and this also has made quite an impression on me. Lucretia brought it and told me I should read it because it applied on us being here. If you haven’t read it I recommend you to do so.
vrijdag 11 september 2009
Happy New year!
Yes, today, on the 11th of September Ethiopia with its different calendar, celebrates new year (2002)!!!! Their slogan is 13 months of sunshine but so far it’s still raining here in Addis. I can’t wait for it to stop. It’s pretty chilly and you never know what’s on next.
We’ve finished our training and all of us especially me are extremely tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. My GYA ( Gison Youth Academy) school is very focussed on rules which doesn’t really help their efficiency. But I guess if I wanted efficiency I should have stayed in Belgium or something. Some examples: we are supposed to be there at 7:45 but even in the planning it doesn’t state we’ll start before 8:30. Obviously people aren’t very motivated to be there on time hence a lecture every morning about being on time whereas they only started ‘the meeting’ at 8:47 or so instead of at 8:30… . Being bored when I could have slept a bit longer drives me up the wall so I tried to do something useful but they wouldn’t allow me to get any material until 8:00 which then obviously means 8:15…I don’t know who I’ll need the most patience for: my little kids or the office.
Turns out I only teach English conversation to all Kindergarten classes ( not to pre-KG nor to Prep) it means I’ll have the full 219 students ( in 7 groups of more or less 31) all of whom with the most impossible names to remember. I spent all Monday writing nametags of different colours for each class that’ll go on a necklace. I expect to be needing them for quite some time.
The good thing is I prepare only 4 lessons a week all of which I teach 7 times . Also even though I stop teaching at 12:00 I can’t leave the school before 15:30 so I have loads of time to make them absolutely fabulous. I’m starting to teach on Monday and my holiday is officially over!
The African colleagues ( all of them girls) seem ok although they keep more to themselves or in their little groups which make sense. I had bad luck because the foreign couple o that also teaches in the KG department( just like me) have been absent often. Jose and Carmelina with their son of 3 have had some problems adapting and finding a home. Seeing as they are a family they aren’t allowed to stay in the guesthouse where I live. It must be hard if you have people to take care of to go abroad. When they are there however it’s fun, they actually have a Latin background and speak Spanish as well so it’s our complain and gossip language.
I came down with quite a cold and am sniffing all the way through this update, so the weather and smog of the city finally got to me as well ( Carmelina has been to the hospital twice and is on all kinds of meds). The smog is actually unbelievable, more then once a car passes you by and 30 seconds to a minute later you can still smell the vile black emission. Gross!
Furthermore I am lowering my intake of dairy products ( my homeopath would be so pleased): I haven’t seen cream here yet, the milk is not as good as in Europe, and yoghurt is tricky to find. Also with the power-cuts you don’t know if it’s going to be any good. I’m starting to drink a lot of tea now which they prepare with loads and loads of sugar…mmmm.
I bought 4 eggs the other day to make some mashed potatoes and French toast and stuff and each and everyone of the was bad: one was green, the other had a recognisable foetus,… . So I told the housekeeper and asked her if she could get me some eggs and that I’ll pay her and she got me 4 perfectly ok eggs. You really have to watch your every step here because if they can and you’re white they will haggle you!
The other day I was waiting for someone who was late in front of a central police station. I think I got an idea of what the first immigrants went through. Everyone but literally everyone stared at me. Various men felt they needed to slow down or ask me if I was fine. A bunch of boys tried to sell me some chive and a police officer came out to ask me what I needed. I was there for a mere 11 minutes. It is so strange to be this different I am constantly reminded of it. Beggars cross the street to ask you for money, or become even more persistent. One time the whole minibus was watching me to see if I would give this old man some money so he’d bugger off. A guy stepped up behind me and put his arm around me, some others will grab your arm when you walk into a bar and make a kiss symbol,… . I am convinced giving in to this is making things worse or keeping them that way so I give my change to people who are asleep who didn’t bother me or I leave it as a tip in the bars. I feel the best thing to do is spending your money in small establishments so it really gets to the people. The guy from the juice bar/ fruit shop up the road knows me by now and tries to teach me new Amharic words every time I go there. He also greets me when he sees me walking. This really gives me a nice feeling.
Kathleen had a guy from an internet café across the road ask her for her mastercard. She pretended not to understand and walked away, she had gone there to try and make a long distance phone call, a service he didn’t provide. The next day as she is walking home this guy is standing outside another shop and starts shouting at her ‘ you bitch, you stupid bitch’… . she was pretty shaken by the whole thing and even reported it to the police. I am pleased I don’t look as young, slim and blond as she does and that I am more or less left alone.
I hope things don’t seem to negative when I write, I guess at first it’s always a bit difficult and I am enjoying discovering this new place a lot, I am still happy to be here.
So far for now. Talk to you soon.
We’ve finished our training and all of us especially me are extremely tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. My GYA ( Gison Youth Academy) school is very focussed on rules which doesn’t really help their efficiency. But I guess if I wanted efficiency I should have stayed in Belgium or something. Some examples: we are supposed to be there at 7:45 but even in the planning it doesn’t state we’ll start before 8:30. Obviously people aren’t very motivated to be there on time hence a lecture every morning about being on time whereas they only started ‘the meeting’ at 8:47 or so instead of at 8:30… . Being bored when I could have slept a bit longer drives me up the wall so I tried to do something useful but they wouldn’t allow me to get any material until 8:00 which then obviously means 8:15…I don’t know who I’ll need the most patience for: my little kids or the office.
Turns out I only teach English conversation to all Kindergarten classes ( not to pre-KG nor to Prep) it means I’ll have the full 219 students ( in 7 groups of more or less 31) all of whom with the most impossible names to remember. I spent all Monday writing nametags of different colours for each class that’ll go on a necklace. I expect to be needing them for quite some time.
The good thing is I prepare only 4 lessons a week all of which I teach 7 times . Also even though I stop teaching at 12:00 I can’t leave the school before 15:30 so I have loads of time to make them absolutely fabulous. I’m starting to teach on Monday and my holiday is officially over!
The African colleagues ( all of them girls) seem ok although they keep more to themselves or in their little groups which make sense. I had bad luck because the foreign couple o that also teaches in the KG department( just like me) have been absent often. Jose and Carmelina with their son of 3 have had some problems adapting and finding a home. Seeing as they are a family they aren’t allowed to stay in the guesthouse where I live. It must be hard if you have people to take care of to go abroad. When they are there however it’s fun, they actually have a Latin background and speak Spanish as well so it’s our complain and gossip language.
I came down with quite a cold and am sniffing all the way through this update, so the weather and smog of the city finally got to me as well ( Carmelina has been to the hospital twice and is on all kinds of meds). The smog is actually unbelievable, more then once a car passes you by and 30 seconds to a minute later you can still smell the vile black emission. Gross!
Furthermore I am lowering my intake of dairy products ( my homeopath would be so pleased): I haven’t seen cream here yet, the milk is not as good as in Europe, and yoghurt is tricky to find. Also with the power-cuts you don’t know if it’s going to be any good. I’m starting to drink a lot of tea now which they prepare with loads and loads of sugar…mmmm.
I bought 4 eggs the other day to make some mashed potatoes and French toast and stuff and each and everyone of the was bad: one was green, the other had a recognisable foetus,… . So I told the housekeeper and asked her if she could get me some eggs and that I’ll pay her and she got me 4 perfectly ok eggs. You really have to watch your every step here because if they can and you’re white they will haggle you!
The other day I was waiting for someone who was late in front of a central police station. I think I got an idea of what the first immigrants went through. Everyone but literally everyone stared at me. Various men felt they needed to slow down or ask me if I was fine. A bunch of boys tried to sell me some chive and a police officer came out to ask me what I needed. I was there for a mere 11 minutes. It is so strange to be this different I am constantly reminded of it. Beggars cross the street to ask you for money, or become even more persistent. One time the whole minibus was watching me to see if I would give this old man some money so he’d bugger off. A guy stepped up behind me and put his arm around me, some others will grab your arm when you walk into a bar and make a kiss symbol,… . I am convinced giving in to this is making things worse or keeping them that way so I give my change to people who are asleep who didn’t bother me or I leave it as a tip in the bars. I feel the best thing to do is spending your money in small establishments so it really gets to the people. The guy from the juice bar/ fruit shop up the road knows me by now and tries to teach me new Amharic words every time I go there. He also greets me when he sees me walking. This really gives me a nice feeling.
Kathleen had a guy from an internet café across the road ask her for her mastercard. She pretended not to understand and walked away, she had gone there to try and make a long distance phone call, a service he didn’t provide. The next day as she is walking home this guy is standing outside another shop and starts shouting at her ‘ you bitch, you stupid bitch’… . she was pretty shaken by the whole thing and even reported it to the police. I am pleased I don’t look as young, slim and blond as she does and that I am more or less left alone.
I hope things don’t seem to negative when I write, I guess at first it’s always a bit difficult and I am enjoying discovering this new place a lot, I am still happy to be here.
So far for now. Talk to you soon.
donderdag 3 september 2009
pics
Ok so that's the monkey from the bar and our housekeeper Arakesch en 1 of the guards drinking coffee in our kitchen.
Busier
A lot has happened over the last couple of days….
First the arrival of Kathleen, a new Irish colleague( 26 and quite the character but then again so am I) , who immediately started planning a trip to somewhere. I said I’d join her so later on her first day we set out to try and book a bus (seeing as the internal flights were above my budget). After a long exhausting day, we were dropped off somewhere we didn’t want to be and we were trying to find our way to the bus station asking some people that weren’t very useful when all of a sudden a Rasta with a British accent (Tony) helped us out.
When he heard what we were up to he actually recommended another place and asked if he could join us. That’s how a day later then we had originally thought we ended up going to Nazareth/ Adama. ( 2 names= The second is African and the first one refers to the Ethiopians relation to king Solomon through their ex-emperor Haile Selassi a prophet to the Rastas).
It was quite fun, Tony can be a bit much at times and Kathleen moody but we had fun.
We stayed in a quite horrible budget hotel which didn’t even meet Ghana’s shoestring-standards but it was only for the night so we did survive. We went there amongst other reasons because there were some hot springs accompanied by a resort with a pool. Pretty cool floating in hot water ( too hot for swimming especially in combination wit being even higher up) and in a beautiful setting including monkeys that nicked my breakfast jam sandwich.
I went all out on juices which were even less expensive there…. Sheer pleasure.
At a certain moment I lost my company which was a bit scary and annoying but the Ethiopians are good people and when they saw I was lost they honestly wanted to help which made me feel even more frustrated and embarrassed.
We had taken the bus back to arrive ‘home’ we found nobody had any news about the following day which was supposed to be our first day of training. After ringing almost everyone without answer we got hold of someone who told me he was going to ring me back as soon as he knew what the plan was. That was at 6 AM!!!! He woke me up to tell me we didn’t have training until the next day! Grrrrrrrrr We are all getting a tad frustrated with being kept in the dark about things regarding us.
In the mean time another girl arrived in our home ( we are now 4). Lucretia is great! She is such a ray of sunshine and giggles at absolutely everything. She’s 35, American, worked in the army to pay for college, has lived in Korea and seems really on my wavelength about a lot of things. Can you imagine, there was a mix up with her arrival time and no-one was there to pick her up ( after a 17 hour flight). So she tried to call but nobody answers their phone here it seems then she changed the only money she had on her ( 20§) and got in a taxi to the main office and when that was closed ( lunch) she went to the American embassy and then back to the main office….. OMG ( for my mum this means: Oh My God ;-)) and all this she tells with a smile on her face after you’ve been introduced…. I would have died!
Today we had our very first day and got to meet the other staff international and regular teachers. We’re not as many as we were led to expect, a mere 8, 6 of which in Kindergarten teachers ( not all with experience or training) separated over both campuses. It was quite funny because all of us feel we aren’t getting paid enough: the school is very profitable and other schools are offering double from time to time to their international staff. So I hope we can arrange that. Things aren’t expensive here but they had told us the 250 euro would permit us to live comfortably and it’s more of a money managing budget since prices have tripled in the last 3 years ( I notice this a lot in my travel guide and also there’s a staff member who taught here a while ago and the price references he gives are so surreal) … Cross your fingers we can get united and receive a pay raise.
The boss, Mrs Leea Gibson, a converted American Muslim made a cliché speech and we had to applaud and shout yes!!!! PFFFFFFF Nothing interesting this far, a lot of importance being given to paperwork which has never benefited a single student but that’s no different in Belgium. I hope tomorrow will be more enlightening at least as to what I am supposed to do in class.
David has been told that he will teach in the other school and has to move out tomorrow to move into the bole house. I lose a nice flatmate but gain the room with on-suite bathroom, enough closet space and balcony. Every cloud does have a silver lining;-) seeing as it was raining he spent the afternoon packing and I moving my stuff and then we played some scrabble which I am happy I brought along. Nice and homey…
Big hug, thinking of you all.
Take care and all news is very much appreciated!
By the way I can be reached on 00251 113714222 landline
Or on 00251 912488366 mobile
And you can write to me on Gibson Youth Academy
PA Corine Huyghe
PO Box 15564
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
First the arrival of Kathleen, a new Irish colleague( 26 and quite the character but then again so am I) , who immediately started planning a trip to somewhere. I said I’d join her so later on her first day we set out to try and book a bus (seeing as the internal flights were above my budget). After a long exhausting day, we were dropped off somewhere we didn’t want to be and we were trying to find our way to the bus station asking some people that weren’t very useful when all of a sudden a Rasta with a British accent (Tony) helped us out.
When he heard what we were up to he actually recommended another place and asked if he could join us. That’s how a day later then we had originally thought we ended up going to Nazareth/ Adama. ( 2 names= The second is African and the first one refers to the Ethiopians relation to king Solomon through their ex-emperor Haile Selassi a prophet to the Rastas).
It was quite fun, Tony can be a bit much at times and Kathleen moody but we had fun.
We stayed in a quite horrible budget hotel which didn’t even meet Ghana’s shoestring-standards but it was only for the night so we did survive. We went there amongst other reasons because there were some hot springs accompanied by a resort with a pool. Pretty cool floating in hot water ( too hot for swimming especially in combination wit being even higher up) and in a beautiful setting including monkeys that nicked my breakfast jam sandwich.
I went all out on juices which were even less expensive there…. Sheer pleasure.
At a certain moment I lost my company which was a bit scary and annoying but the Ethiopians are good people and when they saw I was lost they honestly wanted to help which made me feel even more frustrated and embarrassed.
We had taken the bus back to arrive ‘home’ we found nobody had any news about the following day which was supposed to be our first day of training. After ringing almost everyone without answer we got hold of someone who told me he was going to ring me back as soon as he knew what the plan was. That was at 6 AM!!!! He woke me up to tell me we didn’t have training until the next day! Grrrrrrrrr We are all getting a tad frustrated with being kept in the dark about things regarding us.
In the mean time another girl arrived in our home ( we are now 4). Lucretia is great! She is such a ray of sunshine and giggles at absolutely everything. She’s 35, American, worked in the army to pay for college, has lived in Korea and seems really on my wavelength about a lot of things. Can you imagine, there was a mix up with her arrival time and no-one was there to pick her up ( after a 17 hour flight). So she tried to call but nobody answers their phone here it seems then she changed the only money she had on her ( 20§) and got in a taxi to the main office and when that was closed ( lunch) she went to the American embassy and then back to the main office….. OMG ( for my mum this means: Oh My God ;-)) and all this she tells with a smile on her face after you’ve been introduced…. I would have died!
Today we had our very first day and got to meet the other staff international and regular teachers. We’re not as many as we were led to expect, a mere 8, 6 of which in Kindergarten teachers ( not all with experience or training) separated over both campuses. It was quite funny because all of us feel we aren’t getting paid enough: the school is very profitable and other schools are offering double from time to time to their international staff. So I hope we can arrange that. Things aren’t expensive here but they had told us the 250 euro would permit us to live comfortably and it’s more of a money managing budget since prices have tripled in the last 3 years ( I notice this a lot in my travel guide and also there’s a staff member who taught here a while ago and the price references he gives are so surreal) … Cross your fingers we can get united and receive a pay raise.
The boss, Mrs Leea Gibson, a converted American Muslim made a cliché speech and we had to applaud and shout yes!!!! PFFFFFFF Nothing interesting this far, a lot of importance being given to paperwork which has never benefited a single student but that’s no different in Belgium. I hope tomorrow will be more enlightening at least as to what I am supposed to do in class.
David has been told that he will teach in the other school and has to move out tomorrow to move into the bole house. I lose a nice flatmate but gain the room with on-suite bathroom, enough closet space and balcony. Every cloud does have a silver lining;-) seeing as it was raining he spent the afternoon packing and I moving my stuff and then we played some scrabble which I am happy I brought along. Nice and homey…
Big hug, thinking of you all.
Take care and all news is very much appreciated!
By the way I can be reached on 00251 113714222 landline
Or on 00251 912488366 mobile
And you can write to me on Gibson Youth Academy
PA Corine Huyghe
PO Box 15564
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
vrijdag 28 augustus 2009
PFFFFFFFFFF
After various days I hope to finally get this stuff online. I didn’t realise how much I rely on the internet to fight my homesickness. This is really annoying, I can read stuff, download the pictures of my little cousin,etc but I just can’t reply or send anything out… I feel as if I got tele-transported to the dark ages.
Anyway all is still well although it is still raining.
After all my exploring the city is starting to make sense.
I finally found a supermarket (hm you wouldn’t call it that if it were Europe) that carries chocolate powder. I had been missing my morning chocolate milk terribly. This morning our housekeeper, Arakesh, called us down for some coffee. Now I don’t drink coffee which is a shame if you live in the land of coffee, but did not want to offend her and had a try. It does really taste different here, not what I would call nice, but different from the one at home.
She really is a lovely lady as are the guys who guard our gate day and night.
Now it’s Ramadan and there is constant chanting broadcasted from the mosque in front of our flat. Also a different not entirely pleasant experience.
I am really counting the days until our training begins, I want to know what level of kindergarten I will be teaching and get to know the colleagues. ( David’s nice and quite interesting but I’d also like to know some people that are just a tad younger). Anyways I am supposed to start training on the 1st and for all I know now I will have up to 40 kids in a class.( TOO many). I’ll keep you posted.
Anyway all is still well although it is still raining.
After all my exploring the city is starting to make sense.
I finally found a supermarket (hm you wouldn’t call it that if it were Europe) that carries chocolate powder. I had been missing my morning chocolate milk terribly. This morning our housekeeper, Arakesh, called us down for some coffee. Now I don’t drink coffee which is a shame if you live in the land of coffee, but did not want to offend her and had a try. It does really taste different here, not what I would call nice, but different from the one at home.
She really is a lovely lady as are the guys who guard our gate day and night.
Now it’s Ramadan and there is constant chanting broadcasted from the mosque in front of our flat. Also a different not entirely pleasant experience.
I am really counting the days until our training begins, I want to know what level of kindergarten I will be teaching and get to know the colleagues. ( David’s nice and quite interesting but I’d also like to know some people that are just a tad younger). Anyways I am supposed to start training on the 1st and for all I know now I will have up to 40 kids in a class.( TOO many). I’ll keep you posted.
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