Blogs from Oromia Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 8

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Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region » Jimma January 26th 2010

I met my compatriot Regina in the airport, I was pretty happy to see her. Yes! Not alone. She’ll have to go through the same b.s. that I do. We checked in, got a SIM card for our phone and had a coffee. The flight to Jimma from Addis had assigned seating but evidently no one pays attention to what seat they are assigned. The airplane itself was a twin prop with two seats on each side of the aisle and the flight itself was fairly pleasant. Landing however was a bit exciting. Nothing too terrifying, but it was definitely the roughest landing I have ever had, including the Cesna flights I had with my pilot friend. We got a ride to our hotel, and passed 2 fellow Touro students on the way; we knew they ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region » Jimma January 26th 2010

The Heathrow International terminal that I was in made Nordstrom’s look like a Marshall’s and it made Marshall’s look like the Goodwill Outlet I shopped at during college that sold clothes by the pound. Seriously, the shops were that nice. Anyways, I got on my Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Air is no Virgin Atlantic. I have no idea who the Ethiopian equivalent of Sir Richard Branson is, but he needs to get off his ass, buy Ethiopian Air, and pimp it out. I managed to sleep a decent amount so the flight was not too painful but the seats felt like someone put a cushion on a toilet seat, there was some serious dip. We landed, got off the plane, I was somehow first through customs, which consisted of portable fabricated walls that ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region » Moyale November 28th 2009

Dear All, Ethiopia has been interesting. I regret that my last blog entry was written on my first day in this country, and now, I finally write again on my last day. I (inshaallah - if god wills it) will catch a pick up truck south from Moyale on the Ethiopian-Kenyan border. Today I spend my last night in Ethiopia at the fanciest hotel in town, clocking in at a whopping $6.50 (I splurged for a shower in my room and a toilet I can sit on). Where to begin? I headed north to Bahir Dar from Addis Ababa at 5:30 in the morning. The bus was standing room mostly but since I got there early I had a prime seat. I curled up in my sleeping bag (I boarded the bus around 4:45, it was ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region » Moyale February 23rd 2009

Firstly, apologies for the rather poor ratio of pictures to words in this entry, but this leg of the journey has been spent either on the road or in large African cities, which from our experience are neither the most photogenic places nor the safest to carry cameras round. In any case this can hopefully make up for any jealously that our photos of Zanzibar may have caused! It was high time we started heading in the right direction and north towards Ethiopia. The first leg of this journey was a return trip to Nairobi, via the same means that we had arrived by. Our first objective for our third and final stay in Nairobi was to obtain visas for Ethiopia. This was achieved with far greater ease than we could ever have imagined and without ... read more
Alex after a Dusty 25 hour Bus Journey!
Injera

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region January 5th 2009

So, as many of you know, my first entry did not make a successful appearance on my original blog (I can’t even type in the address because the Ethiopian government blocked it in every form). But the internets being as they are, I located a different site that serves the same purpose. Hooray for internet! Hooray for blogs! Here is my first entry that I typed on my computer after the first week, as well as successive entries.... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region January 3rd 2009

We finished our 4th week today. I just want to say that everyone in the Peace Corps gets the same mood swings I was getting. No worries. Next week is going to be a big one for all of us. On Tuesday we have our Language Proficiency Tests, and on Saturday, we will recieve our locations. It is kind of ridiculous about how secretive they are being about our sites. We had a slew of speakers come in this week and explain about their organizations and projects. The only one that spoke about any type of Income Generating Activities was from a real sharp guy from the Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Program in Awasa. I did a bit of reading about this place and it sounds amazing. They are working at a giant national park, which is ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region December 30th 2008

Today was the first day since my last post that both the phone lines and the power were working at the same time. Ethiopia has made me realize how much I hate Dial-up. So all of the Volunteers brought gifts for a Dirty Santa game. The limit was 10 Birr or 1 dollar. I bought a chinese power converter that only works in China(it's useless here) and a DVD of The Cowboy Way, a horrible movie with Kiefer S. and Woody Harrelson. All in all a pretty terrible gift, I would say. Of the 40 volunteers, I drew number 33 and was able to walk away with a bag of Swedish Fish, that someone had decided they didn't like even after bringing them halfway across the world. Sucker!!! I have to say that I haven't really ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region December 25th 2008

Sorry everyone I spent all my money on some local beer and haven't been able to afford the internet. The Peace Corps Staff took all of us to a place called Lake Wenchi today. It was so beautiful. It is a giant crater lake. I would say about a kilometer across. The best part was the hour and half walk down the mountain side to the lake. I can't wait to be able to load some pictures on here for all of you to see. It has been a weird day though. We have been singing Christmas Carols all day but it is still 80 Degrees outside. A Christmas dinner is being arranged for us at one of the local hotels. I think this should be interesting with what they come up with. Oh, I had ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region December 15th 2008

I felt really bad for my host father yesterday. He took me and my neighbor(who is also a Peace Corps Volunteer) to a local park and waterfall. It really was amazing just being able to sit and relax, and tune out everything that is on my mind right then and soak up the scenery. Anyways, the trip almost broke my host father's wallet. First off, the bus ride was 2 birr for locals, 5 for foreigns. Next the park entrance fee was 2 birr for locals, 10 for foreigns and an additional 10 to bring in a camera. Then the ride back. Keep in mind that the exchange rate is roughly 10 birr to the dollar. I found out that I make 17 birr a day. Ethiopian culture says that if you ever were to invite ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Oromia Region December 13th 2008

Well it is 2pm on Saturday. We got out early today because we were tested today. I did pretty good. The language is actually really fun. It is all formula like spanish so there are rules to follow in every situation. Amharic is like a giant puzzle. I have a 45 minute walk down the main road so today I left an hour early so I could play soccer with some of the kids in town. Everyone is super friendly and if you didn't want to, you wouldn't ever have to lift a finger. Some of the other Peace Corps members who have been here for a year, said that one way to get the kids from yelling,"Forengi," is by giving them a quarter to go get a bar of soap for them or any other ... read more




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