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Published: March 22nd 2008
Peas in a Pod?!?
No wonder my clodhoppers ended up in Jonathan's room 8-)Sunday saw the end of our language training. We wrapped it up with each group doing a presentation to the rest of the groups. Luckily, as it was still fresh in my mind, we ended up doing a “at the market” scene. I was the ‘good’ market trader who sold the fruit at a proper price, as opposed to Jonathan who was playing the ‘bad’ trader charging “ferenji prices”. We got a few laughs from the teachers and it clearly struck a chord with the rest of the volunteer’s experiences from the market the previous day. Or then again maybe they were just laughing at our accents!
Passing up the chance to go to an even bigger market in the afternoon, the pair of us took another opportunity to get online and were amazed by an almost 100%!i(MISSING)ncrease in Internet speeds! From dead slow to slow was nothing to write home about but it was a marked improvement. We later discovered that an undersea cable had been cut in the Red Sea which happened to supply Ethiopia with much of its Internet bandwidth, and the broken cable had been just repaired so normal
Booted & Suited
Sunday best to meet the boss. service was resumed. Fantastic! It’s amazing just how integrated computers, laptops, emails, online banking and the like have become into our daily lives.
Back in the Yonas the bar was packed with people watching the Man Utd vs Man City derby game. It was all a bit subdued. Although there are more Arsenal fans than Man United fans in Ethiopia, they are still well supported. Obviously I was delighted with Man City’s victory as it meant if Arsenal beat Blackburn at home on Monday, they would be 5 points clear!
Today I shall mostly be wearing Clodhoppers We then entered into the “hunt the washing” game. The Yonas Hotel provides a laundry service for guests but it’s a bit of a gamble and the washing has a habit of re-appearing unannounced in a completely different room. One Dutch volunteer had gained a few socks and underpants and lost a shirt, whereas another had gained a bright pink shirt and was missing some underwear. Fortunately the re-assignments were all inter-VSO guests so every night people could be overheard comparing notes and reclaiming or swapping various garments.
My washing was yet to resurface, however Jonathan, another ferenji on
Other VSOs
Waiting for their employers - will they, won't they show up? the third floor with glasses (like me) but staying 3 doors down said he had a fresh new pile of “Clodhopper” branded shirts hanging in his wardrobe. While Sara exchanged washing stories with one of the Aussies who was missing a pair of trousers I went to reclaim my Craghoppers and breathed a sigh of relief. A few new guests had arrived and I was convinced my entire travel wardrobe was now nestled happily in some Russian or Israeli suitcase.
Sitting in our room we prepared ourselves for tomorrow’s three-way (VSOE/volunteer/employer) meeting with our new employers. We had been told to be smart so we shook out the creases in our posh frock (Sara) and suit (me) before dusting off our shoes in preparation. Above the background noise of traffic we could hear the odd muffled cheer so I turned on the TV in the room to watch the final of the African Nations - Egypt verses Cameroon. At one point I nipped down to the bar to buy water and noticed that the place was empty. Jam-packed for the United game, the bar was deserted for the African Nations Cup Final!
Back in the room I heard
The Ethiopian MC
Good, but not Mr Teddy Afro. a cheer from outside and turned back on to see Egypt claim their second title in a row. It seemed strange that Egypt - a middle eastern team would have been supported ahead of Cameroon - an African team, however I was subsequently told that many muslims in Assosa supported Egypt on the basis of being fellow muslims, though whether this was true in Addis I could not truthfully say. The cheers for Egypt’s winner were definitely louder than for Cameroon’s goal.
OK Boss On Monday morning we hopped on the bus, booted and suited, for the penultimate time. At the Management Institute we were due to meet with representatives from our employers - possibly our managers and/or counterparts. Everyone was very excited, though we had been warned that some employers will not make the trip to Addis. With the airport closed for work on the runway, a trip to Addis from Assosa was a very bumpy 2 days by bus (ouch!) or 4x4. Plus the “per diems” offered by VSO may not be financially attractive enough to make the journey worthwhile.
While waiting somewhat nervously to see if anyone would turn up from the Assosa Capacity
Ethiopian Dancer
Best you warm up them shoulder muscles.. Building bureau I had visited the washrooms only to wonder once more if Ethiopia actually needed plumbers more than IT guys. The water was off again.
Ultimately when it came back on the cisterns and taps would be leaking. It seemed that the plumbing mirrored the weather patterns here. Either it was sunny season or rainy season. Either there was too much water or not enough!
Luckily for both of us we had representatives turn up for the day. I had both the acting Bureau Head and my line manager - the IT Department Head - turn up. Sara and Marta had two representatives from the Education bureau to chaperone for the day.
The Partnership Workshop was designed to introduce us to our employers, to raise the awareness of some of VSOs development goals around HIV/AIDS and Gender issues and to set out some expectations from all three parties. The day was very useful and it seemed that I had been lucky enough to have a really nice boss for my placement.
Movers and shakers Once the workshops and presentations ended we all, VSOs, VSOE staff and partners headed off via the bus to Patricia,
Dancing Ferenji
Who was entertaining who?? the Country Director’s house in Addis for a party. There was some lovely food and some great Ethiopian dancing.
My boss, Ato Tilahun (Mister Tilahun) explained each of the various dances - identifying the regions from which they originated based on the style of dance and clothes worn. The most famous Ethiopian style is the “shoulder dancing” which is Amharic (from the Amhara region). Its a bit hard to explain, but I guess you kind of wiggle your shoulders about, a bit like raising one eyebrow after another. It’s quite graceful when done properly and the dancers moved in and out of the VSOs and partners encouraging them to join in. After a few drinks most of us joined in - though it turned into an impromptu “lets all do the Congo” at one point.
I have to admit that the music doesn’t sound quite right to my ferenji ears. It has a curious sort of rythm that sometimes stops when you think it should start and vice versa. It clearly has African influences but is not what I would call “African” in terms of beat or rhythm. It has Arabic and I reckon Indian sounds , though I suspect a musical expert could confirm or deny that. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is not at all that easy to dance to!! Fortunately there are no videos of us trying.
After demonstrations of dancing from the northern Tigray region, the central Amharic, the southern Oromo and Somali regions we all joined in for a couple of traditional numbers before a closing speech from Patrica, thanking the partners and the organisers of both ICT and the dancing and wishing us luck in our placements. Partners headed off into the Addis night while the VSOs stumbled onto the bus for a lift back to the hotel.
Sing Up for the AR-SEN-AL Of course the night was still young. Arsenal vs Blackburn kicked off at 11pm local time so I was keen to find a bar and watch it with the Addis gooners (Arsenal fans!). Changing out of my suit I slipped into my Arsenal training jersey and ‘ARSSENAL’ scarf and headed out with the other volunteers to find a bar.
After a bit of planning confusion we all managed to meet in a bar opposite the Zebra grill selling jambos and after a bit of shoulder shaking to some reggae numbers we all camped outside for beers and a natter. Unfortunately I was told they didn’t have the right channel to show football so they insisted in showing videos of “Teddy Afro” the famous Ethiopian pop singer. If you haven’t heard of him, don’t worry, neither had I, although I have subsequently heard A LOT of him now 😊
I was clearly in a Man Utd bar as no-one seemed keen to watch the match and I only discovered by chance 3 guys around a portable TV in a darkened back bar behind a curtain watching on the sly. Grabbing another Jambo to keep me going I asked if I could join them. The seemed bemused and probably much more sober than me. Still I taught them all the Arsenal songs I knew, including the new Ade-bay-or (“give him the ball and he will score”) song. I suspect I was on my own. After about 6 songs one guy leaned over and asked if I had a song for EVERY player? He was obviously worried that by the time I had done all 45 squad members the match would be over!Fortunately Arsenal made it 2-0 and the game was all over.
Having forgotten all about me the other VSOs set off home as the bar closed, only for Gary the Hammers fan to wonder where I was. Luckily they found me, and took me away to leave the even more bemused Ethiopian Arsenal fans in peace.
In Country Training was officially over and a number of volunteers were heading off on their separate journeys into the regions, while some, including the pair of us, had 2 day professional workshops arranged. We knew that we were due to depart for Assosa in two 4x4s on Thursday morning with an overnight stop in Nekempt.
Nursing another pretty sore head I was woken at 7am by a call from reception. A parcel had been delivered from the Arab League for Sara to take to the Education Bureau in Assosa. As we were leaving Addis sooner than the other guys from her bureau they wanted us to deliver it. It was becoming clear to me that everyone is expected to be up with the sun and in bed when it sets!
Struggling to make the Queen of Sheba hotel on foot, I bumped into the IT guys heading out of the front door and into a waiting 4x4. The meeting room to be used for the 2 day IT workshop had been double booked.
So we were back at the Management Institute!
Goodbye and good luck! That evening we gathered together as many of our fellow ICT volunteers as we could round up and headed to the Zebra Grill for - yep - another bean burrito with cheese and chips! We all had a good chin-wag, though there was a feeling that maybe the Addis-based VSOs were going to miss out on the ‘real’ Ethiopia. Yes, they would have the nice houses, good restaurants and ferenji food, but maybe it’s better to live in the regions and come to Addis for a change, rather than live there. I am sure they will have a great adventure as well - it will just be different from our placement in an “emerging region”.
Maybe after 6 months we’d prefer the Addis lifestyle and long weekends in the country? I guess we would find out soon enough.
As the evening finished we said goodbye and wished each other luck. Once the workshops finished the following day, we would all be off on our separate journeys.
Assosa here we come!
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mark
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Brilliant
Hi Al, Sara. Loving catching up on your exploits in Ethiopia. Went to Starbucks this morning and they had a big sign promoting Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Made me think of you guys while I was probably denying ethiopian coffee growers of their hard earned? Did a quick web search (are you envious of that line?) on this coffee and starbucks and it looks like I might not be shopping in Starbucks again... it didn't make particularly ethical reading... So you made it through the training in one piece then? It sounds like you're having a whale of a time. Roll on 2009 and our visit to Asosa! Take care out there in the big bad world. Mark