Coffee, coffee, and more coffee

October 23^rd, 2007

We had a 2 hour flight using Ethiopian air to Addis Ababa. The food was good on the plane; better than the British Airlines food we had on our way to Uganda. I am staying at a Lutheran Norwegian guesthouse. We see a lot of Norwegian people. It’s funny because sometimes they’ll start talking to me in Norwegian because they think I’m Norwegian. I tell them I am mostly Norwegian.

When we first arrived at the guesthouse, we talked to some people who were doing a 2 week missions trip doing cataract surgery. It was pretty interesting. They said that the operation takes 45 minutes here because of the lack of technology, but it usually takes 15 to 30 minutes in the states. They said that the people don’t even flinch when they give them the shot of anesthetic in their eye, but in the states, a lot of people squirm and cry and faint. There’s such a difference in pain tolerance and what people are afraid of. They played Norah Jones for the patients and gave them pillows for under their knees and comfortable beds, so they would fall asleep as they were being operated on. The beds are probably more comfortable than beds they usually sleep on.

We’ve been taken out to eat and to coffee many times. Practicum is not like I expected it to be, but of course we haven’t reached our practicum locations yet. We leave tomorrow morning. The country director of Ethiopia’s FH named Andy Barnes picked us up and we went on a long drive out into the country which was beautiful and drove a super bumpy rode up a hill. Then we hiked for a bit and saw amazing scenery which seemed so unreal and was definitely picture perfect. We also saw a monkey in a tree. Then we saw an antelope type animal which Andy said was classified as threatened, which means it’s in more danger than endangered species are. The reason why it’s endangered is because Ethiopia used to be mostly made of forest (maybe 66 percent) and now it has decreased a lot (to maybe 3 percent, but don’t quote me).

On one hand I’ve loved being in Addis Ababa and seeing the city and the churches and museums. On the other hand I know we will not see as much or experience as much at our practicum sites as the other girls will. It has been seeing all of the elaborate things that the Orthodox Church has made, but at the same time, I wonder if more money could have or should have been spent on helping people, such as the poor.

So far we love the donkeys because they are really cute to us. They have floppy ears and they carry huge loads without anyone leading them with a rope. They have really love IQs but they are so obedient. Maybe humans could learn a thing or two from them. Sometimes people are like donkeys. People can be stubborn, but so can donkeys.

Anyway, it has been fun getting to know Tekle, his wife Nunu, and Tekle’s friend Kidus. He is also Nunu’s brother. He is a crack up. I enjoyed our hike up the hill with Andy as well. The view was gorgeous and it’s always amazing to see people living so far away from the city without vehicles and yet they survive. That just shows how American I am! My mom [pointed out how I am in the least developed country in the world and my sister is in Manhattan, NY. It’s such a world of difference. We’ll have to compare stories.

Things are cheaper here – especially compared to Rwanda! You can eat a very filling meal for around 2 dollars. So crazy, but great. We went to church on Sunday and I wasn’t very impressed. It was an international church. I don’t like church, but I really didn’t like that one. It was just too westernized and stale. I preferred the churches we saw in Uganda and Rwanda. Jordan House and the one in Kibuye, especially. I realized that when I go to church I don’t really see God, but when I’m out in nature, I feel him and see him everywhere! I somehow need to see God in church and not be so judgmental. But I feel like it’s okay to not like church. After all, almost everything about it is man-made and based on culture, whereas nature is made by God and transcends cultural taste. Makes sense to me!

After church we went to coffee again at the Sheraton hotel. It was an amazing hotel! So huge and elaborate. I couldn’t help feeling a bit disgusted, but awed at the same time. But I can’t judge this country or its people. Apparently the Sheraton was the hotel that Beyoncé was staying at because she had a concert here last night. But we didn't get to see her. There was a guy named Kidus whom we hung out with. He is Tekle's friend. He saw her like 5 minutes before we got there. Pretty crazy. The reason why she is in Ethiopia is because she did a show for the new millennium. You know that Ethiopia has their own millennium don’t you? For them it’s the year 2000. They also have a different time system as well. 1 am for them is our 7 am because that is when their day starts. It’s so cool, but also confusing. It was funny because when we were on the airplane, the first thing the flight attendant said to us after she found out we were American was that Beyoncé had a concert in Addis Ababa. She asked us if we were going and we asked the price (knowing it would be ridiculous, even in Ethiopia). One ticket was over 100 dollars! We all just laughed and said no.

On Monday or Tuesday (time just runs together sometimes so I can’t remember) we went to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. I was able to get a little bit of food down but I didn’t eat the bread which is the worst part. It’s called Injera. I think it will be a slow process eating Ethiopian food. At that restaurant there was live traditional singing and dancing, which was beautiful. Then we had a coffee ceremony (not religious) where there was incense blowing right at me and popcorn to eat. I actually drank the coffee. It was really strong and I put too much sugar in it. Over all, it was a good night with all of our good conversations. Robert, a Canadian FH worker who has lived in Sasiga (where Kate and I will be) came to the dinner and we talked to him about our struggles and things we’ve learned about in Africa. Hopefully we’ll see him again.