Lights, Latkes, Action

We were invited by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) volunteers to the participate in their Hanukkah celebrations. JAFI prepares Ethiopians in Gonder for immigration to Israel and assimilation upon arrival. On Thursday we went to the synagogue for the menorah lighting. It was packed! There must have been over a thousand people in attendance! The area was teeming with children running around, singing in Hebrew, and trying to get as close as possible to the stage.

The rabbi commenced the festivities and spoke at length about Hanukkah in Amharic. We had the opportunity to meet him after the lighting. He is such a nice man, and Ari and I were able to chat with him a little bit in our broken Hebrew and Amharic. He is from Ethiopia, lives in Israel now, and rotates with other rabbis coming to Gonder for a few weeks at a time over the year. After the rabbi's speech, a short prayer was conducted. The rabbi would say one word at a time in Hebrew and the congregation would repeat after him, and then a member of the community lit the menorah.

Lighting the menorah

Group of boys we sat near

A group of students performed a skit on the story of Hanukkah. The skit was also in Amharic so I had to do my best to narrate. The students were great! They all had their lines completely memorized and acted with such passion. Judah Maccabee had a tendency to dramatically turn around and around and preach loudly. King Antiochus trudged around with a large walking stick, and the Syrians wore togas and laurels. The fight scene between the Jewish rebels and Syrian army was certainly the most eventful. There were homemade wooden swords and bows and arrows involved. The children in the crowd grew so excited that they started to stand up, giggling and cheering.

Maccabees and Syrians preparing to fight during the skit

On Sunday we returned to the JAFI community center to help prepare latkes, or levivot in Hebrew. I was assigned to the potato peeling station. There were no vegetable peelers so we had to do it the old-fashioned way and cut the potato skins with knives. It was no easy task! I think that I should stick to baking. I was with a group of girls who were phenomenal though. They were so much faster than me and produced clean potatoes without a shred of skin in sight. 

The peeling station

After the potatoes were peeled, they were washed and put through a manual machine that grated them. The grated potatoes were mixed with flour, eggs, and salt and shaped into small patties. Finally the latkes were placed in a very large metal pot with palm oil to crisp. At first the latkes weren't sticking and came out like hash browns. We solved the problem by adding more eggs to the mixture, and then the latkes turned out beautifully. All that was missing was applesauce. Before leaving we popped into one of the classrooms to hear the children learning Hanukkah songs.

Mixing the potatoes, eggs, and flour

Frying the latkes

The Leddet List

Leddet or Genna is Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas.  It falls on January 6 or 7 every year, not December 25. This year Leddet will be celebrated on January 7. Ethiopians have their own unique calendar based on the old Coptic calendar.  There are 13 months; the first 12 months have 30 days each, and the 13th month has 5 days or 6 days on a leap year. This is why you will often hear Ethiopians say they have "13 months of sunshine." It doesn't seem right that I'm spending the holiday season basking in mid-70° weather. I miss the puffy winter jackets, white lights and candles in windows, ugly sweaters, snowflakes, smell of pine cones and roasting nuts, and holiday songs inundating the radio.

Sperry Top-Siders

Valextra Passport Holder

Ahava 'Time To Hydrate' Essential Day Moisturizer

Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday

Hudson's Bay Multi Wool 8 Point King Blanket

The West Wing: The Complete Series Collection

Bodum "Chambord" Locking Lid French Press

And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Moleskine Large Red Weekly Planner 2012






If you feel like satisfying your inner humanitarian, check out this great list of gifts that Nicholas Kristof put together - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/opinion/sunday/kristof-gifts-that-say-you-care.html?_r=1&ref=opinion.

Happy Holidays!

Dog Days Are Over

With our new teaching schedule and the arrival of Lily and Sophie, I have become increasingly busy over the past week. Here's a day in the life from last Thursday:

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM

Wake up. Prepare food for Lily and Sophie, let them out, and feed them.

8:30 AM - 9:15 AM

Get ready for school and pack my bag.

9:15 AM -10:30 AM 

Head to the Piazza to have a chicken slaughtered for Lily and Sophie and stop by the Dashen Bank ATM. Go to the Merkato to pick up fresh produce in addition to a vegetable peeler, plastic bowls, and a strainer.

10:30 AM -10:45 AM

Let Lily and Sophie out and feed them lunch. Grab a banana and Luna bar to eat on the way to school.

11:03 AM - 11:45 AM

Teach morning shift 5^th period English class.

11:45 AM -12:27 PM

Teach morning shift 6^th period English class.

12:27 PM - 12:42 PM

Break. Review lesson plans in the teacher’s lounge.

12:42 PM - 1:24 PM 

Teach afternoon shift 1^st period English class.

1:24 PM - 2:06 PM 

Break.  Review lesson plans in the teacher’s lounge and read Wuthering Heights.

2:06 PM - 2:48 PM 

Teach afternoon shift 3^rd period English class.

2:48 PM - 3:30 PM

Head back to the Piazza to pick up the chicken, purchase bananas and oranges at our favorite stand across from Fasiledes Castle, and buy oatmeal, olive oil, and vinegar at a local supermarket.

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Let Lily and Sophie out, feed and play with them, and let them out again.  Give the maid the dirty sheets from their room and have her mop their room while they’re playing outside.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM 

Eat dinner in the Piazza.

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM 

Let Lily and Sophie out, feed them, and boil and mash carrots and eggs for the next day. Let them out one last time.  Put the puppies to sleep.

7:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Shower, check emails, and read Wuthering Heights.

Heartbeats at My Feet

Introducing the newest members of our Gonder family:  

Lily and Sophie

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!

Catching up on my news today, I noticed a great article in The Economist about economic growth in Africa. According to the article, the economies of the African Lions are consistently growing faster than those in other regions of the world. Watch out Asian Tigers. I learned that Ethiopia is the tenth-largest producer of livestock and its economy will grow by 7.5% this year alone.

Check out the article at http://www.economist.com/node/21541008. 

One Month

This week two missions traveled to Gonder to see the work being done for Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. On Monday we met with a mission from Detroit, Michigan at the JDC Health Clinic. Unfortunately, we had to leave for school shortly after they arrived. Dr. Rick Hodes took good care of them though, speaking about prevalent health issues in Ethiopia and the services being provided by the JDC. That evening we were able to talk with the group over dinner.

Two patients at the JDC Health Clinic

My conversations with participants made me stop and think, “Has my first month here desensitized me to the ugly realities so apparent newcomers?” One man proclaimed, “There were people bathing in the river!” I responded, “Oh only a few. The river’s very dry this time of the year.” Another man announced that he had been swarmed upon leaving the hotel. I smiled back and joked, “Let me guess, children tried to sell you gum or toothbrushes and men tried to convince you to visit the Simien Mountains?”

That’s Gonder. People wash their clothing and bathe in the river, which shocked me initially but did not come as a complete surprise. Faranjis in the Piazza are conspicuous and naturally draw attention. Most of the children selling gum and toothbrushes in the Piazza actually go to school. A few of these children are young boys studying to become priests. The church cannot pay for their expenses so the boys sell small goods in the afternoons to support themselves. Whenever Ari and I are in the Piazza we are always approached. Often after we decline to buy gum or arrange a trip to the mountains, the seller still wants to just talk to us. So far, Gonderians have been nothing but gregarious and curious.

Other members of the group discussed the poverty, poor sanitation, and unexpected beauty of the surrounding countryside. One couple quietly ate tuna from packets. I commiserated and told them that it had been difficult for me to eat meat in Gonder and our kitchen was stocked with canned tuna. That’s Gonder.

Street in close to the Piazza

One of the main roads in Gonder goes through
the neighborhood of College

Monk walking in College 

Reloading wood on a gari

Children playing soccer on a dirt field behind the library

Personally, I have found it very interesting that everyone in Gonder is relatively poor. There are few people actively begging though. Occasionally, a child or elderly person will stick out a hand toward us. Just as quickly as we say no, the child is off to school or meet up with friends and the elderly woman is off to buy vegetables at the Merkato. Begging is not their main pursuit. Gonder is bustling at all hours of the day. Everyone seems to be going about his or her day. The people do not seem to be frozen by their poverty.

I don’t mean to downplay the severity of poverty or daily struggles for subsistence. Poverty certainly exists here. I get glimpses every day.  According to Unicef, Ethiopia's Gross National Income per capita  is $330 (2009).  Listening to the Detroit group's reactions led me to see that I have become accustomed (ok, a little desensitized) to reality in Gonder. The visit was a needed check on complacency. There is much to be done here, as there is throughout Ethiopia, throughout Africa, and throughout the developing world. 

Lost in Amharic

Am-har-ic (Am like palm - har like car - ic like trick)

We just finished our first full week of teaching at Fasiledes. The students seemed very excited to have us at their school. We are focusing our lessons on English speaking, pronunciation, and listening. We noticed that the students have a hard time with certain English sounds that are not found in Amharic. For example, it’s very difficult for them to say words with the “th” sound.  They often mispronounce “th” by making a “t” or “s” or even “f” sound. In the case of “the,” they say “ze.”

We have them stick out their tongues and exaggerate the “th” sound. The class usually giggles, humors us, and does it correctly once or twice before reverting back. I can’t blame them. I distinctly remember having to practice the rolling “rr” in Spanish class and thinking, “I can hear the difference between ‘r’ and ‘rr.’ I just can’t make the right sound. I just can’t wrap my tongue around it.” Interestingly, Ethiopians can roll their r’s very well! Listening to my students say “t” instead of “th,” I now realize there is a huge difference in seemingly subtle enunciations to a native speaker.

School entrance

One of our 9th grade English classes

This had me thinking about my Amharic, which is still in a very very primitive state. I’ve been here for almost a month, and I know tennish Amharic (a little Amharic). Last week I was in a tiny supermarket. I said a very simple phrase to the shopkeeper, and another customer asked me in English if I spoke Amharic. I looked up, and he was a little, old Ethiopian man in a suit. I told him, “Tennish” and smiled. He continued in English, “You speak Arabic?” I was a little surprised. I told him that I did not speak Arabic. He tried again, “Italian?” Wrong but getting warmer. “No, but I took Latin in high school. I speak Spanish.”  He seemed puzzled. As he shuffled out the door, he kept murmuring “Spanish.”

I think my Spanish might be improving. Every time I go to speak to a native Ethiopian, I hear myself starting to translate my thoughts from English to Spanish. When I am at rural schools speaking with young children, I begin to say, “¿Cuantos años tienes?” rather than “Edmeh sent no?” When I am at a restaurant, I begin to say, “Café sin azúcar por favor” rather than “Bunna yale sukar ebakeh.”  I think my brain registers that I am in a foreign country and then automatically defaults to the one foreign language I know, Spanish. Imagine if I came back a polyglot. Doubtful.

It’s odd – the one thing that I take home from all of my travels abroad (aside from lots of photographs, memories, and souvenirs) is “thank you.” Often when we visit a foreign country and cannot speak the language, we assume that our poorly written phrasebook and natives’ limited English vocabulary will be enough to help us get by if necessary. But then we get to this foreign fairytale and realize our assumptions may not hold. Our voices crescendo as we slowly repeat our sentence or query in English. Again and again. If this fails, we start making wild hand gesticulations in hopes that these will break the language barrier. Much is lost in translation, but “thank you” is pure in any language. Even if you butcher the pronunciation, locals appreciate a “thank you” in their native tongue.

Gracias • Efcharisto • Spasiba • Obregada • Tesekkurler • Toda • Danke • Ameuseugenallo

Gonder Style

Calypso St. Barth Faux Wrap Dress

Halston Heritage Silk Georgette Blouse

3 1 Phillip Lim Cardigan

Tory Burch Cotton Tunic

J Brand Houlihan Cargo Pants

Michael Kors Flat Sandal

Madewell Leather Backpack

Timex Camper Watch

Lem Lem Desert Scarf

Steven Alan Janis Fedora

Oliver Peoples Emelita sunglasses

Clinique 'Sun' Body Cream SPF 50

Essie Nail Polish - Mademoiselle

Kiehl's Lip Balm #1