Part 4: Adjustments

A few health center staff arrive at the restaurant for lunch and we speak together in English, Amharic and Sidamic. ☺ 
Afterwards, I go to the tea/coffee/bread shop to speak with new friend/potential work partner. She is not there. 😐 
Have coffee anyway. Walk to Health Post to meet with CP. She is not there. 😐 
Boy follows me to practice a few English phrases. ☺ 
Asks me for money several times. 😐 
Talk with PCV on the phone about site and she has similar feelings/experiences. 😊 
See part five...

Part 5: Adjustments

LLs invite me over for coffee again. They say "Hassawi!" (Talk!). I ask their visitor a few basic questions in Sidamic. I find out she has a one year old child, the age range PC wants for a nutrition survey. She agrees to do the survey and we complete it with the LL's help. (Questions translated to Sidmic by language tutor). The survey leads to a discussion about limited availability of certain fruits and vegetables locally, especially those with Vitamin A. I show all the carrot seeds and other veggie seeds and LL's guest and LL's pregnant daughter/midwife at Health Center ask me to plant veggies with them next month. 🙌 
Go back to my place and my language tutor arrives. Am full of glee as I haven't seen him since Friday, his English is very good, and he's also incredibly kind and supportive and has a good sense of humor. 🙌 
We review Sidamic terms and grammar and I feel proud to have memorized quite a bit more (in part because on Sunday I discretely used note cards to work on Sidamic during a three hour church service). 🙌 
Then, he tells me that he'll be away for a week to help with the national exams. 😞 
I express my disappointment in some Sidamic phrases like "you are running so I am grieving" and we laugh. He praises my progress in Sidamic and starting a daily yoga and exercise routine. He tell me not to be alone and names several people I can continue to reach out to. He tells me he will text me when he is away to check in. 😊 
Then the electricity turns back on after five days without! 🙌 
I charge my phone and external battery. Say goodbye to language teacher. Make dinner. Various tasks. Read Harry Potter. Talk with older sister on phone. Read Facebook posts. Today more of the same emotional roller coaster. Time to learn some equanimity.
Maybe I can do this thing...

language struggles

I'm finding language to be a very challenging issue at my site. I can get by somewhat with the Amharic I learned in training and Sidamic greetings, etc. But many people don't speak much Amharic or don't like me to speak Amharic. Every day when I pass by people I hear the words for "English, Amharic, Sidamic". People tell me all the time "Sidamic is very easy/simple" and say that the last volunteer spoke Sidamic so why don't I know more? I understand that this, along with the staring and laughing, is just par for the course/part of the job but still it's a daily exercise in fortitude. To be honest, it's exhausting and very lonely. I have to keep encouraging myself to reach out, to practice with people, to make daily, weekly monthly plans and then adjust when the plans inevitably change. And thank goodness there are people like my language tutor, counterpart and others who are encouraging and patient and helpful and kind.

Hand washing stations outside homes

Two more hand-washing stations built at two family homes! (After some health education about the importance of hand-washing with soap).

Hand washing primary school

Hand washing presentation #2 at the primary school today. We built a hand washing station for students. Here are also some photos of the school gates and resource room.

Hand washing teachers

Did a hand-washing presentation at the primary school today and we built a hand-washing station for teachers.

Video from a fellow volunteer

Beautifully shot and edited video made by an Education PCV in Ethiopia about his first three months in country. Watching this will give you a good picture of what my life is like here.