An Adventure In Ethiopia

Apologies for those following the blog, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of  finishing up work, packing, souvenir hunting,  and goodbyes. Alas, our great adventure has come to an end. This morning we will leave for Addis Ababa and the next day, we fly out!
I think I speak for both Suzie and I when I say that we really can't find words to describe how Ethiopia has affected us. The hospitality, food, language; every part of their culture has been an enriching experience.  It seems hard to believe that only three months ago we both wandered the streets of Addis, terrified, trying to find a store that sold water, with only our instincts and sense of curiosity leading the way. I don't think either of us had any idea as to what was to come over the summer.
Of course, I wouldn't trade those 'terrifying' experiences for anything in the world. Every time we put ourselves out we felt apprehensive, almost always followed by a sense of pride and above all, fun. For instance, on our first shuttle ride in Jimma we had no idea where its destination was, but we took the chance and in the end we learned the route. Three months later, we knew the taxi routes all across town like the back of our hands. For me, this sense of trial-and-error learning has been one of the most rewarding parts of living here.
Finally, we'd like to give a heartfelt "thank-you" to NSAC International for giving us this life-changing opportunity, Jimma University for all of the incredibly helpful staff and students, and of course the people of Ethiopia: no matter where we traveled or how terrible our Amharic was, we were always met with unbelievably open arms and minds. Ethiopia will be dearly missed.
Thanks for reading!

Deuna seunbetu,

Manny

Dear Friends From the PHM M.Sc Class

Church, Olympics and Braids

Our days in Ethiopia are coming to an end. I think both Mannfred and I are having mixed feelings about leaving, happy to be going home and seeing family but sad to be leaving Jimma, a place that has become our home away from home. The next blog post will be about our departure from Jimma but for now I’ll stick with what Manny and I have been doing to fill our days this past week.

Manny left off describing his experience at the slaughterhouse and visit to Lake Boya. While Mannfred was tramping around a marshy wetland, I was doing something completely different. I attended a Sunday church service at the Winner’s International Protestant Church. Now, most people who know me well, know that I would not consider myself a religious person but I do respect religion and people’s beliefs and I was curious about the difference between a church service in Ethiopia versus Canada.

 First, I would like to say that Ethiopia has a number of religions which are popular, the most common being Orthodox Christian, Muslim followed by Protestant. Coming from a Western country it is very common to hear about religious conflict around the world but I can honestly say that Ethiopia appears to be very peaceful when it comes to the acceptance of each other’s beliefs. Living on a University campus you see students and staff of mixed religions working harmoniously together and best friends of different religions walking hand in hand.

I choose to accompany three friends to the Protestant Church on Sunday which proved to be much more interesting than a Canadian sermon. Upon walking in, the choir was singing and dancing on the stage at the front, dancing meaning full on jumping up and down on the stage. I also don’t think that I have seen so many smiles before with people genuinely enjoying themselves as they danced along to the choir. It turns out that it was the last week for the minister at this church so there were many tears shed during the morning. It was overall a very interesting experience to take in.

Aside from attending church, Mannfred and I have been hanging out a lot with our hallway of Belgians going out to eat dinner around town, playing football matches against the Ethiopians (soccer if you will) and even dancing the night away. Picture a massive crowd of Belgians, Ethiopians, a couple Canadians and a Kenyan all out dancing. It certainly makes for a fun night of shoulder dancing (and some stiff muscles in the morning). We have also been watching the Olympics recently with a very memorable experience watching in the student lounge as the Ethiopians won gold in the Women’s Marathon, which was spectacular to watch with such a vibrant crowd. We may have suffered some mild damage to our ears from the piercing screams.

Our final days have been filled with some last minute shopping we didn’t do until now as well as printing photos for friends and today I even got my hair braided. I’ll be entering the Netherlands with my new Habesha hair style. Manny will fill you in with our final fairwells.

Ciao.

Suze

Boys after church

Playing some football

Getting my braids