Click here to view our Picture GalleryJan. 31st- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Selam from Ethiopia!
Right now we are in an internet cafe in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There is middle eastern music playing downstairs ... and the city streets outside are crowded with blue and white colored taxis, minibuses, hundreds of fast walking people, music, market-like shops, ladies with white shawls over their shoulders and head, small children asking for Birrs (the Ethiopian unit of money), and the sound of honking car horns.
We absolutely love it here in Ethiopia!! From the moment we stepped off the plane everyone we have met has been friendly!
We arrived yesterday morning and after buying a visa, changing our money, and going through customs (as well as meeting two drugged out American men in their 40s...who had lost their passport...couldn't find the visa form...and were just generally making fools out of themselves...continually muttering to us and the customs people as we quickly went through the visa process, "girls are so much smarter...ehhe...arrhh.. girls so much smarter." and saying to us, "ooh from Massachusetts...so, like, um... John Kerry! Kerry! Kerry!" and "California..rad place... like I'm from there too." ...we were exiting the airport when they were just getting their visa! haha! (For some reason all the Americans we have met on our travels are either smoking or have been smoking recently... not a very good representation of the USA ...thank God we are traveling around showing people that not all Americans are druggies)
Mr. Negash (or as he is referred to here, Ato Negash)...the general manager of the Selam Children's Village School...met us at the Addis airport. He invited us to come visit his family for a "Coffee Ceremony". A Coffee Ceremony is the traditional welcoming ceremony of guests in Ethiopia. Ato Negash's daughter, Meseret, spent 20 minutes hand roasting coffee beans over an open flame, then mixing them into coffee, and pouring it into little tea cups for us to drink. It was delicious! We also had freshly made popcorn and a bowl of papaya fruit! So good! We then spent the next half hour or so watching an Ethiopian soap opera...we don't really know what happened during the show..but a lady did get hit by car ...really quite randomly...she was just walking along praying, and then 'boom!'..down...perhaps dead...who knows. Lindsey laughed out loud at this part! And, thank God the family also found humour in this and didn't look at us like we were heartless.
We then watched a special about Bob Marley. Bob Marley is quite famous here!! And this is why: many years ago the emperor (before they had presidents) of Ethiopia visited Jamaica for a business meeting. Jamaica had been experienceing a very long and horrific drought...but the day the Ethiopian emperor stepped off the plane into Jamaica...it rained! All the Jamaicans thought the emperor, whose name was Rastifarian (hence some Jamaicans now being called Rastifarians), was god! Ever since then there has been a connection between Jamaica and Ethiopia. Even their flags are almost the same! Bob Marley is therefore an icon for both countries. And, this week there is a big festival in Addis in honor of Bob's birthday! It is this HUGE event... a concert, famous reggae artists all descending on Addis! We plan to attend..it is in this center of the city on Wednesday night!
We are staying at the compound of a Swiss organization called Sport the Bridge (a non-profit that teaches street children sports) with all these people from Switzerland. They are very nice and the compound is beautiful...gardens...wandering stray cats... toilets (though lacking water...but much better than pit toilets)...a kitchen... and a nice view of the night sky!! It is very calm. We have been getting a good amount of sleep. Also, the weather here is wonderful!! 50s at night... 70s during the day...and sunny.
Today we went to the Selam Children's Village School. It was absolutely incredible! This is not an exaggeration...it was amazing!! The school was founded originally to serve orphan children (many children in Ethiopia are orphaned due to the civil war, AIDS, drought). However, over the past 15 years it has grown dramatically! The school offers such an extensive and progressive education that now over 3,500 students attend (not just orphans...though about 500 orphans still attend and live on the campus). The school is free and students must apply and take an entrance exam in order to attend. Not only does the Selam school teach all the basic subjects...chemistry, physics, math, english, history, etc.... but they also offer courses in technical and vocational studies. These courses are highly advanced and provide students with excellent experiences. We ate at the school restaurant today..entirely run and operated by students... everything cooked from scratch straight from the acres and acres of gardens... and the food was amazing! We had strawberry flavored tofu...spinach soup... carrots... potatos... hand-baked bread... and a really delicous pumpkin spice cake!!! It was so nice to have so much food! We have not had the opportunity to eat that much food for quite a while!
The campus of the school is beautiful! Sprawling gardens...hills in the background... pine trees... smiling faces. It was one of the most peaceful places we have ever been to. "Selam" means "peace"...the school is well named.
We are very much looking forward to the week and working with the students for the following days!
Now we must eat dinner... find a restaurant first..then eat dinner....then sleep.
Sincerely,
Jessica
Right now we are in an internet cafe in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There is middle eastern music playing downstairs ... and the city streets outside are crowded with blue and white colored taxis, minibuses, hundreds of fast walking people, music, market-like shops, ladies with white shawls over their shoulders and head, small children asking for Birrs (the Ethiopian unit of money), and the sound of honking car horns.
We absolutely love it here in Ethiopia!! From the moment we stepped off the plane everyone we have met has been friendly!
We arrived yesterday morning and after buying a visa, changing our money, and going through customs (as well as meeting two drugged out American men in their 40s...who had lost their passport...couldn't find the visa form...and were just generally making fools out of themselves...continually muttering to us and the customs people as we quickly went through the visa process, "girls are so much smarter...ehhe...arrhh.. girls so much smarter." and saying to us, "ooh from Massachusetts...so, like, um... John Kerry! Kerry! Kerry!" and "California..rad place... like I'm from there too." ...we were exiting the airport when they were just getting their visa! haha! (For some reason all the Americans we have met on our travels are either smoking or have been smoking recently... not a very good representation of the USA ...thank God we are traveling around showing people that not all Americans are druggies)
Mr. Negash (or as he is referred to here, Ato Negash)...the general manager of the Selam Children's Village School...met us at the Addis airport. He invited us to come visit his family for a "Coffee Ceremony". A Coffee Ceremony is the traditional welcoming ceremony of guests in Ethiopia. Ato Negash's daughter, Meseret, spent 20 minutes hand roasting coffee beans over an open flame, then mixing them into coffee, and pouring it into little tea cups for us to drink. It was delicious! We also had freshly made popcorn and a bowl of papaya fruit! So good! We then spent the next half hour or so watching an Ethiopian soap opera...we don't really know what happened during the show..but a lady did get hit by car ...really quite randomly...she was just walking along praying, and then 'boom!'..down...perhaps dead...who knows. Lindsey laughed out loud at this part! And, thank God the family also found humour in this and didn't look at us like we were heartless.
We then watched a special about Bob Marley. Bob Marley is quite famous here!! And this is why: many years ago the emperor (before they had presidents) of Ethiopia visited Jamaica for a business meeting. Jamaica had been experienceing a very long and horrific drought...but the day the Ethiopian emperor stepped off the plane into Jamaica...it rained! All the Jamaicans thought the emperor, whose name was Rastifarian (hence some Jamaicans now being called Rastifarians), was god! Ever since then there has been a connection between Jamaica and Ethiopia. Even their flags are almost the same! Bob Marley is therefore an icon for both countries. And, this week there is a big festival in Addis in honor of Bob's birthday! It is this HUGE event... a concert, famous reggae artists all descending on Addis! We plan to attend..it is in this center of the city on Wednesday night!
We are staying at the compound of a Swiss organization called Sport the Bridge (a non-profit that teaches street children sports) with all these people from Switzerland. They are very nice and the compound is beautiful...gardens...wandering stray cats... toilets (though lacking water...but much better than pit toilets)...a kitchen... and a nice view of the night sky!! It is very calm. We have been getting a good amount of sleep. Also, the weather here is wonderful!! 50s at night... 70s during the day...and sunny.
Today we went to the Selam Children's Village School. It was absolutely incredible! This is not an exaggeration...it was amazing!! The school was founded originally to serve orphan children (many children in Ethiopia are orphaned due to the civil war, AIDS, drought). However, over the past 15 years it has grown dramatically! The school offers such an extensive and progressive education that now over 3,500 students attend (not just orphans...though about 500 orphans still attend and live on the campus). The school is free and students must apply and take an entrance exam in order to attend. Not only does the Selam school teach all the basic subjects...chemistry, physics, math, english, history, etc.... but they also offer courses in technical and vocational studies. These courses are highly advanced and provide students with excellent experiences. We ate at the school restaurant today..entirely run and operated by students... everything cooked from scratch straight from the acres and acres of gardens... and the food was amazing! We had strawberry flavored tofu...spinach soup... carrots... potatos... hand-baked bread... and a really delicous pumpkin spice cake!!! It was so nice to have so much food! We have not had the opportunity to eat that much food for quite a while!
The campus of the school is beautiful! Sprawling gardens...hills in the background... pine trees... smiling faces. It was one of the most peaceful places we have ever been to. "Selam" means "peace"...the school is well named.
We are very much looking forward to the week and working with the students for the following days!
Now we must eat dinner... find a restaurant first..then eat dinner....then sleep.
Sincerely,
Jessica
