And it’s a come on, but it’s not an illusion

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1st post in a while… obviously from weeks ago:

First things first, I just got my site placement! Because of obvious delays and such, I’m writing an actual 3 weeks after I got my site placement but whose keeping track anyway.

The town I’ll be in for two years is called Debra Birhan which means “place of light.” The “light” thing is actually a cruel joke, the power frequently goes out and 4 months of the year are overcast and rainy. But on the upside it’s only 3.5 hours from Addis, PC Office internet, Mexican food, and nutella. The town itself is at almost 9,000 feet and has about 90,000 people. In contrast to Ambo, it has three main roads. Oh, and there are numerous restaurants where you can get “ferenji” food and watch satellite tv. Schwing!

When I first gave my family the news they started jumping up and down and my mom shed a tear or two. They were pretty happy because it’s less than a day’s bus drive from Ambo and because I can continue to learn Amharic (for them, the best of both worlds). Then they attributed the clutch get to their prayers. My mom, at least, has one worry: starvation. There are very few men in this country that cook for themselves and the idea that I might live without a maid was a shock to them. As a result, my mom has offered to send me off with three months of chiro powder, as if I’ll actually be making injera at my site. Oh, and she told me that I should come back every week so she could wash my clothes.

In the same town, and less than a kilometer away from my house, is a fellow volunteer and good friend named Sean. Sean is a runner who likes to wear performance outerwear; so we get along well. We left Addis two weeks ago and spent the week in Debre Birhan just so we could get acclimated, literally and figuratively. We haven’t actually moved there yet, and still have three more weeks of training in Ambo. Initial impressions were mixed. Quoting from Lonely Planet, “Debre Birhan is most famous for its woolen blankets and rugs . . . The only non-wooly reason to stop here is if you’re visiting nearby Ankobar.” But the town isn’t so bad.

Our biggest hurdle at the moment is finding furniture/things for our new houses. Ethiopia unfortunately (and surprisingly!) is lacking in Home Depots, IKEAs, and Targets, so we had to improvise. Over the course of the week we attempted to “access” (as they say) a carpenter, a mattress shop, a blacksmith (hammer and nails), a blanket shop, etc. The Peace Corps is giving us a total of 5,000 birr (500 dollars) to furnish our homes, but only gave us 1000 birr for our “site visit”. This was just enough to put a down payment on a bed, a down payment on a coffee table, and two shots of Johnny Walker during B-rock’s inauguration.

Every one of the 40 volunteers has counter-parts in their towns to work with, translate, and casually hang with. Both Sean and my counterparts are certified balla’s. My counterpart works at the town HIV/AIDS Prevention and Coordination Office (HAPCO). His name is Elias, and he has a wife and one 8-month old daughter. Elias is also close friends with Sean’s counterpart, Amsalu, so the four of us hang out quite frequently.

Both Amsalu and Elias are around 25-ish, and both dress like they are continuously going out for a night of (late 70’s) clubbing. There favorite cold weather garb is a Canadian tuxedo coupled with a purposely wrinkled button down shirt and some sort of gold or silver chain hanging out. Surprisingly, this attracts little attention. We went out for some drinks the first night here, and met up with some of their friends. If I had to take a guess, I would say at least 30 percent of the room had a denim jacket on. Oh, and the bar’s attendance was about 95 percent men because if a women is seen in a bar after dark she is generally considered a prostitute. Culture!

Oh, and Debre Birhan is betam cold. It’s a good thing I brought a couple of sweaters, because t-shirts are only good for about two hours in the middle of the day. After that, well, there’s a reason the town is famous for its woolen blankets.

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