My first American visitor!

It was not until the holidays rolled around that I realized, at 24 years old, I would be spending my first holiday season away from home. While it was difficult to spend holidays that fill me with memories of loved ones 9,000 miles away, it turned into a fantastic experience. Most of this enthusiasm is due to the fact that I had my first visitor come to Ethiopia, Eric Elliott. My boyfriend of 7+ years was an amazingly great sport through it all. I tried to ease him into the Ethiopian experience a bit. We stayed in the capital city of Addis Ababa for a day and a half, and then ventured to a resort in a town called Nazret for poolside fun. Finally he was exposed to the way real Ethiopians live as we spent four days, including Christmas, in my town of Asella.

The first day of our adventure together, we explored Addis Ababa. While this town is a haven for me due to the amazing food and hot showers, Eric described it has breathing in cancer. Environmentalists have yet to make it out this way apparently. We had breakfast at an adorable cupcake shop (remember, I tried to ease him) that makes me feel as though I was at Cup Cake Bites in North Carolina! Here is Eric’s first meal in Ethiopia: some of the best French toast in the world.

Yep, that dope is the guy I've been missing...

From there, we went to the National Museum where bones and replicas of bones, found in the Afar region of Ethiopia, are displayed. If you are interested in anthropology, hopefully the Afar region sounds familiar. It is basically where the oldest and most precious anthropological remains have been found. Lucy was found in the Afar region, which is considered one of the greatest finds ever. She, or her replica- I like to think it is her- are on display at the National Museum. Afterwards, we went to an art gallery and finally to the Red Terror Museum. The museum is all about the dictatorship that was in power decades ago. The best was I can describe it would be like going to a Holocaust museum in the States.  Fascinating and powerful, but definitely not an upper.  Through all this travel, I manage to only get us lost once. I was quite proud of myself.

To pick up the mood, we went to a Mexican food place. This was entirely for me. A guy coming from Southern California to Ethiopia does not need or care about Mexican food, but I do. But at that magical place is where Eric learned one of the greatest things about Ethiopia: all soda is served in glass bottles and usually cold. It may have been the highlight of his trip…

The rest of the night was filled with beer and jazz. We went to a German Beer House where they brew their own beer on site. It is by far the best beer in country. If you are debating coming to visit, allow me to entice you with some pictures of what we can accomplish.

 

The following day we went to a town that is about halfway between Addis and Asella called Nazret. There is a great resort/hotel there called Safari lodge and we, along with four site mates, spent two and a half days there. It was a perfectly relaxing time filled with games, swimming, reading, and eating. There was a special moment when we created a game that consisted of trying to hit a ball in the pool with a Frisbee. Sadly, Eric was not paying attention to what the winner’s reward was and managed to be the victor. Per Stanley Cup style rewards, he was treated to two beers, which were poured into the Frisbee. We probably should have made sure all the chlorine water was out first. Although, it was probably the cleanest, safest water he could drink in country...

 

   After a relaxing few days in Nazret, we headed to Asella. I was able to show off my home and the life I have made for myself here to Eric. The following day was Christmas and for lunch I took him to one of my favorite places to eat Ethiopian food and he had his first real experience with the food here (it took four days, oppps) We ordered a vegetarian dish called tagabeano served with injerra and bread. Eric assessed the food perfectly in saying, “It is like I am eating a mouthful of mush. There is no texture. I should not like this. But the flavor is so good, I cannot stop.” 

Keep in mind that Ethiopian food does not photograph well.

For Christmas dinner, we went to my site mates’ house and feasted on chicken, stuffing and eggplant Parmesan. If I could go back in time, I would eat that meal over and over. Eric was able to experience his first “gorsha” in spectacular fashion.

Afterwards, we went to a local grocery and explained the true meaning of American Christmas. Interpret that however you want! It was a great night that ended in watching Ethiopians have a dance fight. This place never ceases to amazing.

 From there, Eric saw my school and was able to meet many teachers through a club I run. We all sat around a table and wrote questions on pieces of paper. The Ethiopian teachers would ask us questions about American and we would ask them questions about Ethiopia. It was a great exchange that I feel was probably the best way to get a feel for what this country and its people are like. Our last day in Asella, we went on a hike to see the Rift Valley. It is a pretty important place and the nerd in Eric loved it. It also happened to be one of the most expansive, gorgeous views I have ever seen complete with Lake Zewhy (I just threw some letter together because I have no idea how to spell it).

One the way back, we saw countless monkey. The ones just a few meters from us were the little trouble making type. I do not know breeds so allow me to make monkey stereotypes: they are unruly and seem like they would steal is given a chance. I believe Ross Gehler and Indiana Jones had this type of monkey. Across the way, maybe 75 meters from us, there were dozens of huge baboons. I feel confident they could have ripped my arms off wookie style. The biggest one took an intimidating interest in us. We would walk for a bit and then stop to watch them. This big guys was following us, stopping in turn, and never taking his eyes off us. I only felt safe because I am faster than Eric.  

Finally, we headed back to Addis and had a mellow night listening to live jazz once again at our hotel. It was a great time that sadly had to come to an end. Through it, I feel like I was really able to show off a lot of the country and made me realize I have a lot of pride (sometimes) in this crazy place. After having a few days to reflect on the visit, some things definitely popped into my mind.

• This country is a pretty amazing place. We went from eating french toast in a place that seems as American as apple pie, to using a hole in the ground for a potty. The country is so diverse and while in some cases that is a negative, it really makes me feel lucky to have been placed here.
• The day before I come home after 799 days living here, I am still not going to know what is going on most of the time. This is a common feeling and something you learned to live with. As a result, you sometimes feel like you have not changed or integrated into the culture. Being able to experience this place with someone for his or her first time really showed me how far I have come in just seven months. Things that are perfectly normal daily occurrence, Eric reminded me are complete unusual and as far from normal as possible.
• It is not the Peace Corps related work (i.e. schools or NGOs) that makes this experience worthwhile or bearable. It is exchanging culture with people you never normally would have known existed. It is about making friends and being content to spend the holidays in such good company while so far from your American family.

So to summarize, come visit!!!!