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No internet...
So 1 week of being back in Ethiopia has passed, and I’ve really enjoyed it all so far. I’ve realised how much of the culture here that I’ve missed, with crazy sights and sounds slipping into daily normality. Walking on the road always having to watch out for massive holes in the pavement, keeping an eye on the random guys with AK47 guns slung over their shoulders, washing only one hand to eat, ignoring the continuous “you you you, money money money” calls, it all seems so normal again. The internet at Bingham is out, it has been since the power went out for a few hours on Saturday night. Hopefully they get it sorted soon.
On Thursday night, I returned to Thursday night football again. Good craic, though it has changed a lot from the crazy madness which used to happen when I was here. It is a lot more competitive now, a lot more men than women play, whereas it used to be the other way around, and more for a laugh. It was still good fun to play, and we even had enough for 3 teams, which was unheard of before. Good to see that people still play anyway.
On Friday evening I was able to meet up with the Ethiopian Computer guy at Bingham while I worked there. Dawit has since moved on to bigger and better things, and is now teaching as well, though not in a school setting, more of a training course. He has plans to start his own business, as he is not entirely happy in his current office job. It was really great to spend the evening catching up with him; he is a really great guy. The three of us went for dinner in the Bole area of town, and it is amazing to see some more of the development in the city. The lights, tall buildings, restaurants, you'd forget you were in Ethiopia if it weren't for the tacky glowing blue plastic palm trees in the middle of the road.
More Palm Trees lit up at night.
Saturday morning was a Horizon Boys Saturday. I worked with the Horizon Boys project before, if you remember reading my previous blogs. So it was really great to see all of them again, even if I wasn't able to remember many of their names. But I'm not sure how many of them remembered my name so it wasn't too bad. I remember Mukurem, pictured here, helping Brian and Aaron move, and staying on the back of their pickup truck with all of their household electronics stuff which they'd just bought from a shop and were transporting back to the house. Dawit, (a different Dawit) had asked me to speak so I told them how it was wonderful to be back after a long time, and how I'd been welcomed back, relating that to the story of the Prodigal Son. Afterwards, we played some Igir Kwas (football), and then out for some injera and coffee. It always cracks me up how much sugar goes into Ethiopian tea and coffee, the first thing you need to do is start scooping it out with the spoon, rather than stir. Lisa, one of the teachers here who works with Dundee in Strong Hearts, gave a good quote from Dundee. While she watched him stir the huge amount of sugar into his tea, he said "Americans eat their sugar. Ethiopians drink their sugar." Pretty true from what I can see.
Quite a lot of sugar in the tea..
Saturday evening was the birthday of another staff member here, so they had some dancing organised, line dancing and "Australian Bush Dancing", which as far as I could tell was basically celeigh dancing. The power went out, and they turned the generator on for the night to continue. Apparently the rules on generator running have been relaxed!! It was great to experience the community again here, and I even met the guy who bought my old motorcycle. It is still running, miraculously! He has a mechanic friend who helps fix it up, and apparently, with care, it runs well! Amazing.
On Sunday morning, I decided to head to one of the new churches which has started here, called "Bethel Bible Baptist Church". With a name like that, I could easily have been at home, but it is obvious that there is a large American influence in this church. A countdown timer starts the service, as well counts down the coffee time in the middle of the service, something which has absolutely no point in an Ethiopian context. Long after the timer has finished, people are still waiting to get coffee. The pastor was super enthusiastic, asking for people in the congregation to “be open and vulnerable” and to contribute personal life changing experiences which have changed their lives in the middle of the sermon. Naturally, there was an awkward silence. I'm not sure how much of that will catch on in this multicultural context. That said, they are a wonderful group of people, warm and welcoming, with great teaching from God's word. Some aspects of the service could take some getting used to, but the important things are done well. I especially liked their inclusion of the Ethiopians in the service, one of the songs was in Amharic, and somebody prayed in Amharic too. I think that is the first time I've experienced that in any of the English services here in Ethiopia. It is great that they acknowledge that the service is in Ethiopia, and include the Ethiopian people in the congregation.
Tomorrow is "Random Ethiopian Holiday #67" (otherwise known as "Downfall of the Derg") so school is closed. I attempted to get some interest in an off compound trip to Ghion hotel, or maybe Meta Brewery just like Brian and I used to do every holiday that we got. However, everyone seems to be too busy writing reports. Oh well, maybe another time. So I’m just heading to grab some free wifi, to upload this blog stuff. Tomorrow, I’m heading down to Langano by bus, which is always fun. Not too sure how reliable the internet down with Brian and Laura will be, but I’ll make sure to take plenty of pictures regardless.
More pics here:
Niall
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