Taking stock

Where to start? Well, probably with the nearly daily power outages and resulting Internet service challenges that have made it hard to get all the resources aligned to write more posts. The power goes out most days - sometimes in the evening and sometimes in the morning (makes sense, as those are peak usage times). It happened just after dinner on my first evening in Addis, and by now I'm not fazed when I have to change my plans mid-stream, such as yesterday afternoon as I sat at the computer to "get some work done" and *poof* no power. It happened again this morning when the bread was already soaking for some French toast. And then again tonight, just before putting on the water for boiling some pasta. At least I have some peanut butter and bread around to fall back on.

Some things I'm glad I brought:

1. school supplies - like color markers, which I'm using a lot and are seemingly unavailable here.

2. an old, "dumb" cell phone - it may not have Internet access or a camera, but I've used the FM radio function (I have no TV and limited web access), the flashlight (during the frequent power outages), the alarm clock, the memo function, the calculator, and the unit converter (very handy for converting prices in birr to dollars at 18.5:1. Oh yeah, it also works to text and make voice calls (even to the US).

3. my headlamp - again, for surviving the near daily power outages.

4. the NWS frisbees - already a hit with the students

Something I wish I'd brought?

Besides innumerable books and teaching aids, a soccer ball! (I know, ironic. But who knew how hard it would be to find a good one here?)

A few things it's hard to get used to:

1. farm animals in the middle of the roads - horses, donkeys, cows, entire herds of goats! (yes, Jenn, I know you warned me)

Our regular driver, Biruk, and his trusty taxi, an '86 Russian-made Lada.

2. the driving in general (although I've only been a taxi passenger so far) - there are no traffic lights  (well, there are at least 4 intersections that have them, but only one set is working), pedestrians cross at their own peril, and horns are honked with abandon (when pulling out, pulling in, turning, passing, being passed, wanting to pass, sitting in traffic...). Bicycles are understandably nearly non-existent (I've seen 5, and 3 were in a training pack; all seemed in imminent mortal peril)

3. having to soak all my produce in bleach solution for 30 minutes before eating

4. eating cold bananas - they have to be kept in the fridge to protect them from the insects

5. the insects - did I mention sharing my apartment with hundreds of ants (they wear a daily path from my front door to the back door) and dozens of flies, crickets, spiders, and cockroaches?

Educational tidbit:

As I've discovered, Ethiopians use their own calendar and system for time. The twelve daylight hours start at 6 a.m., so 7 a.m. is 1 a.m., 10 a.m. is 4 a.m., etc. The nighttime hours are similarly counted, starting at what I'm used to calling 6 p.m.

By the Ge'ez calendar, today is 20 Miaziya 2005. As Wikipedia describes, "this calendar has twelve months of exactly 30 days each plus five or six epagomenal (how intercalation is done in solar calendars) days, which comprise a thirteenth month."

This, coupled with my ignorance of Amharic, has made arranging and discussing schedules and meetings both complicated and entertaining. Thankfully everyone has been quite good-natured so far.