What I am up to

7/27
I can't remember what I have posted about what I am doing at site so if I repeat myself I appologize.  As I have said many times, I don't do much.  I am up to 26 books read at this point, plus a bunch of series and movies watched.  As far as acutall work though, I am currently working on a banana disease that is decimating local crops, with some help from one of my old clients back in the states it seems that we may have found the pathogen causing the disease.  Sadly there seems to be no cure, but rather just preventative measures that are all just pure hard labor.  So if I can verify that it is the bacteria we are thinking I will be able to start working on a program to work with the farmers in erradicating the diseas.  I also am working on getting a beekeeping program started.  Beekeeping is very common in Ethiopia, but they are still using the traditional techniques that are extreemly outdated, and not as productive as the modern techniques.  I have two locations already picted out where I will work with the local farmers and the bee cooperatives to bring them up to speed on modern techniques.  As soon as IST is over I intend to start preparing the apiary (beekeeping area) where I want to keep some of my own hives as demonstrations.  I also am probably biting off more than I can chew, but I want to try grafting (think breeding) bees to fill all the empty hives that they have sitting out.  Finally, I am also intending to work with the schools doing English clubs at the least, I also may do some environment, and gender equality clubs as well.  I have the inital OK from one of the school administrators, and the Education board, but I still have to get final approval.  If I do get that, then classes start in September here, and I will start shortly after that with the clubs.
So that is about it, I am sure I will find some other odds and ends to fill my time, but right now I have no other projects in mind.  I hope this answers some of your questions about what I am doing.
-Trey

What goes bump in the night.

7/18

Well, I am afraid there really isn't a lot to talk about.  I have told you over and over how little I have to do.  This week was the example of that.  It truly has been boring.  I started putting together my community needs assessment (CNA); it is supposed to help me determine the problems that I would be able to work on while living here.  Since I already have my major projects in mind though it really will not likely get me far.  From seeing the initial results of my survey the only things that are really being brought up are infrastructure problems like power and water which are beyond my reach anyway.  I had to get some information to put in the paper the other day, sadly it only took about twenty minutes to get so it really did not keep me occupied.  That has been the highlight of my week so far.  Tomorrow I will be in Robe to get some internet and Devin is going to let me help in some work he has on the hives he is working on.  I am glad to be able to get even a little more hands on practice; hopefully soon I will be able to get started on work here in Gassera.  The power has been pretty consistent this week, a relief since I have been able to keep my computer charged so I can watch movies in my excess of down town.  Even so I have finished a few books just this week and got halfway through another one just today.  The water has been as bad as usual though, this week we have had good water pressure once that I know of, it was so bad my landlord actually had to get water from me!  Still, I have gotten into a good water management regiment, plus I keep 100liters of water in my house so I know I have enough.  Well, I don't know what else to talk about right now, I hope you enjoyed the thrilling tales of the water and power problems.  If I still have anyone reading thank you for putting up with this and...maybe you should pick up a hobby ;)

P.S. Two weeks till we will be in Addis and should be able to chat a lot better.

7/10

Things that go bump in the night.  Thankfully I have the gift to sleep like a rock.  In some cases, like trying to wake up to an alarm, this is a problem.  But, in Ethiopia it is most definitely a gift.  Since I live in a rural area there is not a lot of traffic, still, I do live off the main road so there is some traffic, and there have been several instances where a truck will drive by.  Once there was a dump truck bringing a load of rocks that they dumped at the house across the street from me.  Now, that wouldn't be so weird, except they did all this at two o'clock in the morning!  On a rare occasion I will have trouble sleeping, sometimes it is because I was asleep and had to wake up at midnight to go get water, since it often only comes in the middle of the night, or the rare bout of random insomnia.  This post is so I can tell you the strange and unusual noises of Ethiopia.

Shortly after the sun goes down, 8 or 9 o'clock pm:

This is the hour of the hyena.  Now my landlord swears there are no hyenas in Gassera.  I think she must have been being too literal, because while living in Butajira you become more than familiar with the noise of the jib (Ethiopian name for hyena).  In Gassera there must not be a big population, because only occasionally do you hear them.  Regardless of if the job is out though, this is a common time for the feral dogs to start up the howling.  The dogs can go anywhere from a few minutes to the early hours of the morning.  It is also common that when the power is on the local shops and, for some strange reason, the barber shop will play music loudly.  Both Ethiopian music and older pop music.

Between 9pm and 4 am:

This is the random time.  Sometimes there will be the random bus or truck who, of course, feels the need to honk their horns and wake everyone up.  Or the dogs will randomly start howling, I have several times opened to door to fuss at the compound dog, who for some reason thinks that when he howls he should literally do it on my door step.  For those of you who are not familiar with goats, you should know that they make some strange noises.  There was one morning I almost ran out the door because I thought someone was yelling HELP over and over again.  When I woke up enough I remembered that "help" is an English word and is not something an Ethiopian yelled.  I quickly figured out that it was a goat after that.  They also make a weird belching noise, and VERY loudly.  This seems to be the noise they make when they want to impress a lady goat.  They also have a tendency to rub against the corrugated metal fence that surrounds my compound, making it sound like someone is trying to climb the fence.  All of these are some of the random noises that happen in a typical night.

Between 4am and 6am:

My favorite time of the morning (sarcasm).  I don't know how Ethiopians feel, but to me this is the worst time to be woken up.  But, it seems like every Ethiopian who likes to make noise is up at this time.  Around 5 am every morning someone walks around with what I assume to be a tire rim and a piece of steel and bangs it to make a bell.  I am not sure what that noise is supposed to signal, but I assure you if I had to get up to it every morning I would have words with the person making the noise.  Then at 5 or 5:30, I thankfully have not been up enough to remember exactly what time, the Muslims have a call to prayer.  Now if you have ever been in a predominantly Muslim town you know that the noise produced from the speakers placed strategically around the mosque to get the furthers and widest possible effect is other worldly.  I am not sure what they are saying, but it is said very loudly.  Since there are three mosques in my town all shouting this call from different directions it is impossible to miss.  At 6 o'clock every morning there is my compound wake up call.  Someone comes and bangs on my compound door and wall every morning.  Since no-one gets up at this time I am really not sure the reason.  Finally at 7am sharp, if there is power, the music starts up again, even if there is not the buses start honking the horn and the buses door guy starts calling out ROBE ROBE ROBE, the name of the town they are going to.  I am not sure why they feel they need to shout, since it is the only bus that leaves Gassera at 7 am it is hard for people not to know where they are going.  On the rare occasion one of the shops will feel the need to start the music a little early, maybe six or six thirty.  Those are the days that really start me out in a bad mood.  Then there are of course the goats again, they are waking up, and the fence faces the morning sun just right to reflect the sun perfectly to warm them in the morning.  One goat and I know each other very well because as I open the compound door every morning I have to step over him as he suns himself in front of the door.  And keep in mind all the random noises; this part of the morning is fair game for any and all of those as well.

So tonight when you go to bed, just stop and listen.  Chances are you won't hear anything, and just stop and thank the city ordinances for their amazing use of noise nuisance laws that keep you asleep and comfortable through the night.

In ways of just a general update, the rainy season has started.  It has not been bad so far, only a few afternoon showers.  The farmers are upset because their crops need water, and since the rain is the only source for people in my town no water means crops may fail.  The power has been more consistent lately.  We have had power for the late morning and late afternoon every day since Sunday.  However, the water is another story.  Last Thursday the water went out.  It did not return until late last night.  I ended up having to send a jerry can to be filled from the local well.  That means the guys going around town with a donkey cart came to our house, got the jerry cans from my landlord, took them to the well, then returned them filled later in the afternoon.  This has been the only source of water for the town for over a week, and it has been common to see three or four carts every few hundred meters loaded down with jerry cans.  The price of the jerry cans has also gone up at the market, because people have been buying them all up to fetch water with.  It has been my first real water shortage and a learning experience.  As soon as the price goes down I will be buying several more jerry cans. 

I have been doing a lot of work getting some bee keeping stuff in order.  I gave some instructions to be relayed to the apiary in the gorge, and have brushed up on all the documents I had.  I am almost finished typing up the training manual I plan to use.  All I need now is to get the visuals added.  Next I need to get permission to set up a personal apiary at the FTC (farmer training center), and permission to do some inspections at the local farmer cooperative apiary so I can see the state of the hives there.  Next Monday I have a coworker scheduled to go to the gorge and collect a sample of the diseased bananas.  When he gets back I am going to prepare a gram stain of the sample and attempt to determine if there is a bacterial or fungal agent infecting the plants.  If there is the next stage will be to get permission and funds to take a sample to a lab to get it grown out and the species identified so we can form an appropriate treatment for them.  Finally I am also working on my CNA (community needs assessment), I have created a survey, and now I need to start polling the community to see what my future projects should be.  So far all the things they want fixed are far out of my reach for me in the two years I will be here.  Things like the intermittent power, and lack of water, are not my specialty to be sure.  But, it is nice to finally have things to do; keeping busy has absolutely improved my mood and made the days go by faster.  In a few short weeks all of G10 will return to Addis Ababa to attend out in service training.  It will be nice to see all my friends I have been more or less out of contact with, and I cannot WAIT to get some good forenji food!  Until then I will keep trying to get things together for the bee keeping project, work on my CNA, and enjoy the power while it lasts!

Another Update

7/3
So this week has actually been pretty interesting for a change.  First let me say that the utilities here are crazy!  Last week I went a week (speaking litterally here) without water.  Now it is only coming late at night, and for the last two nights it hasn't come at all.  Then last Thursday the power transformer down the road fell, not sure if it was hit or if it just fell from the wind, but also the power line at my house somehow got disconected and even though the transformer was fixed on Saturday, I just got power back at my house.  My cell phone died on Monday, so I eventually had to send it to one of my co-workers houses to be charged because I was tired of not having a charged phone.  Honestly my kindle was about to die, my phone was dead, my computer long dead; if it had not come back today I would have died from nothing left to do.  Anyway, that aside, it has been an interesting week.  I finally got the problem with the office sorted out, so I am allowed to go into the rural areas again.  On Sunday I went on my first hike here and it was beautiful.  I am going to try to upload some pictures, but even they don't nearly do it justice.  As I think I have said, my town is situated on a gorge caused by the Wabe river, picture the grand canyon and that isn't that far off.  So I hiked around the rim of the canyon for a few hours, the view was amazing, I even saw a few of the local deer.  Then as I was sitting on the edge a hawk caught a thermal right in front of me and circled all the way from the bottom of the canyon to about a hundred feet over my head.  It was really an awesome way to relax.  I know it doesn't sound like I have much to relax from, but honestly sitting and doing nothing all day is probably more stressful than being crazy busy.  Then on Tuesday I FINALLY got to go into the gorge.  The Kabele is called Balle Habebe, and one of the two people who went with me family lives down there.  It was about an hour walk down, originally we started on the road, but quickly veered off onto the locals trail.   It was a switchback trail that ran down the side of the mountain.  In some places it was a few feet wide only, and most areas were at least a thirty degree angle.  On top of that it was mainly loose dirt with rocks so there was more than a little slipping and sliding.  Still, it was a fun trip and the views of the valley were incredible.  Sadly the whole area is beginning to be effected by erosion.  The road was not planned well when it was constructed and now a large portion of the mountain has begun sliding into the valley, the wall of rocks runs for several hundred feet and is almost at the doorstep of the closest houses.  But, the most shocking part to me was the change in environment as we walked.  In just the few kilometers it would change from mountainous terrain and flora, to arid almost dessert in just a few steps.  I litterally saw the local flaura one second, then the next it would be nothing but cactus and agave, just to switch from that to almost tropical with elephant ears and natuarl springs.  Still, it wasn't all fun and games, well it was pretty much all fun for me, but we also went for a reason.  The local famers mainly depend on fruit crops in the gorge.  This included: banana, avacado, mango, guava, coffee, and a plant I still do not know what it is.  However, some of the fruit crops are having diease problems that are threatening the livelihood of the farmers.  So I took a look, some pictures, and got some ideas about how to go about finding out the source of the problems.  Also the Wareda office is trying to start an improved bee keeping project, but with no expertise and only some small training the project is failing completely.  As This is the project I am most interested in I was only a little sad that they were having such a hard time, because, they are more than happy for me to step in and try and make the project work.  After all that was done, and we had spent a while at the springs, we went to my coworkers house for lunch, coffee, and to chew on some sugar cane while we waited for the heat to die down a little before the walk back.  They gave us around twenty avacados they picked from the trees while we watched, and even tried to get us to stay the night and walk home in the morning.   We decided to go home of course, but I will admit the walk back was HARD.  I mean, I have hiked mountains before, but this was intense.  It took over an hour and a half, compared to the hour to go down, and we had several breaks.  I was breathing hard and exhaused by the time I got home.  I drank two glasses of water, and laid in bed for a while before I would do anything else.  Now I have to look forward to it again next week.  I have been asked to return so I can see the changes they make to the bee hive site so we can work on getting the project up and running.  I can't wait to see what I can get going there, and with all the trips down I am bound to make I will be getting more cardio than ever!
Wishing you all a happy fourth of July
Love, Trey
6/18
As usual I am not doing a lot.  I have read two and a half books in the last two days, if that gives you an idea of how busy I am.  I have decided to quit trying to tell you when I am going to the gorge.  I can see it daily, but have still not been able to get down into it.  I had a set plan with a coworker to go this Tuesday.  But yesterday came and I met the person I was going with, only to find there was a problem.  I am not sure how it came up, or how the office even realized I was here.  But, it appears that the zonal agricultural office found out I was living in Gassera and had not been told I was here.  They were apparently a little pissed at having been left out of the loop and my liason called PC to sort it out.  From what I can understand, and that isn't a lot, there was a letter that was supposed to be delivered to the zonal office but either someone at my office or someone at the PC office forgot to deliver it.  So now I have been told I am not allowed to go to any of the rural areas until it is sorted out.  That means that the few breaks I got to go explore with someone are now on hold until this is over.  So sitting at the office is the only thing I can do at the moment that is work related.  So for now I wait.  I do have faith that SOME DAY I will make it down there to see all the cool stuff I have been told is down there.  Last weekend was pretty interesting though.  I was in Robe to get some supplies and Devin and Jill were kind enough to let me get into their beehive just to get some experience.  It was a really interesting experience to see how they work to protect their hive and the progress they had made in making new combs.  Sadly we were not able to do a lot because they were too active from the relativly high afternoon temperature.  But, it was still a really interesting experience and made me even more interested in getting a beekeeping project going while I am here.  And hey, I only got stung twice, I am also sure I am not allergic!

Update

6/18
As usual I am not doing a lot.  I have read two and a half books in the last two days, if that gives you an idea of how busy I am.  I have decided to quit trying to tell you when I am going to the gorge.  I can see it daily, but have still not been able to get down into it.  I had a set plan with a coworker to go this Tuesday.  But yesterday came and I met the person I was going with, only to find there was a problem.  I am not sure how it came up, or how the office even realized I was here.  But, it appears that the zonal agricultural office found out I was living in Gassera and had not been told I was here.  They were apparently a little pissed at having been left out of the loop and my liason called PC to sort it out.  From what I can understand, and that isn't a lot, there was a letter that was supposed to be delivered to the zonal office but either someone at my office or someone at the PC office forgot to deliver it.  So now I have been told I am not allowed to go to any of the rural areas until it is sorted out.  That means that the few breaks I got to go explore with someone are now on hold until this is over.  So sitting at the office is the only thing I can do at the moment that is work related.  So for now I wait.  I do have faith that SOME DAY I will make it down there to see all the cool stuff I have been told is down there.  Last weekend was pretty interesting though.  I was in Robe to get some supplies and Devin and Jill were kind enough to let me get into their beehive just to get some experience.  It was a really interesting experience to see how they work to protect their hive and the progress they had made in making new combs.  Sadly we were not able to do a lot because they were too active from the relativly high afternoon temperature.  But, it was still a really interesting experience and made me even more interested in getting a beekeeping project going while I am here.  And hey, I only got stung twice, I am also sure I am not allergic!

Missing and markets

6/13
So it seems like all PCVs do this at one point or another on their blogs so I figured I would get it over with.
Things I take for granted in the states.  Hopefully you will use this to take a second and think about all the little things that you take for granted on a day to day basis.
1.  You would think that the daily (and sometimes week long) power outages or the water that only works during the first few hours of he morning would make my list.  But honestly that doesn't really bother me.  What gets me is the cell reception, or rather lack there of.  We have two cell towers in the town, but despite the fact that I can see them both out my front door, I have no cell reception at my house, only certain areas along the road (and beside the bathroom at work) have cell reception, and often even those spots do not work.
2.  Pizza, you can get it at almost any restaurant in the US, but here even the places that have beautiful pictures of it on the wall are only really teasing you.  I have taken to pointing at the picture and ordering it, just so when they say they don't have it I can ask them why not.  Maybe one day they will get the idea and learn to make it.  But honestly, this goes for all food.  There is really only foreiner food in Addis and I am a day bus ride from there.
3.  I know I already mention food, but food DIVERSITY.  In Ethiopia they eat the same thing EVERY DAY.  I am not kidding.  They cook about three types of wat, but it seems that each family usually only cooks one type.  They occasionally have chopped up bits of meat cooked called tibs, and fir fir (the cooked remains of what ever injera they had left over).  There are a few special occasion dishes, but in general there really isn't a whole lot more.  Even when I try to cook something new for myself there isn't enough food diversity to do much new.  To get a different selection of vegetables I have to go to the special place in Robe, and then most of the squash, peppers, or egg plant are over ripe and wilting.
4. Privacy, not like at my house, when I am here I am in my own space.  Just out and about.  I have gotten used to the stairs and people yelling at me.  Thankfully here it is just a couple groups of kids in a few places.  But sometimes it is just too much.  Last weekend I went to the gorge to sit and relax while reading.  But first I had a kid come up and stare at me, then that kids (I assume) grandad came up and tried to get me to give the kid money.  I refused and told them to go away (not rude here), then a few minutes later another kid came over and started staring at me.  I ignored it, until her parents and some more kids created a crowd around me and started trying to look over my shoulder at what I was reading.  At that point there was no relaxing and I just had to go home.  As I said, I am used to it and usually it doesn't get to me, but some times you just want your personal space and having people come take the thing out of your hand to look at it gets on your nerves.
5.  Things to do.  I have read twelve books since I have been here, and during PST I think I only read two or three of those.  I have watched about nine different seasons of various TV shows.  There is truly nothing to do on the weekends in this town.  I try to make a trip out during the weekends to get coffee and read in public so I can at least say hi to the people I know that I see on the street.  But there is no movie theater, mall, public park, I don't have my dogs, or any other thing that you would normally do on the weekend in the states.  I have not even gotten a feel for where I can and can not go hiking yet.  Everything around me is crop land and I haven't been to the gorge yet to get my bearings down there.  (right now that trip is planned for Tuesdays)

6.  Junk food.  Ya it is another food one, so I miss my American food OK.  I was watching a show the other day and the people where eating ice cream straight from the carton.  I almost had to turn the show off.  I have sadly been eating more candy than I care to admit.  It is hard to save the candy for the kids when I can hardly ever give it out, and it is the only real junk food I can get in my town.  (If I try to give out candy every kid within a mile seems to know and show up by the time the second piece is handed out.)  I am going to add cheese in this one too because GOD I miss cheese.
I think friends and family go without saying, but I do miss you all.
Honestly it has not been that hard to adapt to life here.  It is far different that what we are accustomed to in the US.  But the things that we find indispensable in the states are really not that big of a deal.  I could add hot showers (I take a shower about once a week, and it takes me about half an hour to boil enough water to make the shower water not icy), but really it doesn't really matter to me.  I could add cars, everywhere I go I walk.  Once every two weeks I take a bus into town, but otherwise my feet are my ONLY transportation.  I could add supermarkets...well I do miss those, just not enough to make my top few.  I could add being able to microwave a meal right out of the freezer, but I have gotten pretty good about planning my meals and heck, all my ingredients are fresh, how can you beat that.  So really, there are a lot of things to be thankful for in the US.  But I challenge you to stop your day, and think about a couple things you take for granted.  And if you are the adventurous sort; actually go without something for a week.  Anyway, obligatory post out of the way.
On a more normal note.  This week has been as slow as every other one.  Only real difference is I finally got the material together for my garden.  I have finished two of the three beds.  Using a hoe on the end of a eucalyptus handle I had to assembly myself, I have single dug one ~6meter bed, and double dug another ~5meter bed.  I have ten large blisters on my hands, and still one more bed to go.  Once I find something I can use as a watering can I will start planting, but for now not only do I not have anything, but the water source is about forty feet away from my garden so I have to figure something out.  This weekend I am going to start working with another volunteer getting some hands on experience working with some bee hives.  Next week I am going to try to start really working on my community needs assessment.  It is not do for another two months, but I am bored, so might as well start working on it.  That is about it.  A whole week summed up into one small paragraph.  I have a couple plans for possible projects.  So lets hope one or two of them pan out.
Trey
6/8
So as I said I was supposed to go into the gulch last week, however, because I had installation visit by Peace Corps I wasn't able to find the time.  I do plan to make it this week though.  I also am planning on going to the Sulfumar caves in the next few weekends.  Installation went well.  Because of a bunch of unforeseen events I was not able to pass out the invitations until the day before.  I expected only a few people to come, but out of about 45 invites, almost 40 people came.  (Installation is where PC comes out and explains to the community why we are here and what as volunteers hope to accomplish, etc.)  After I was getting even more greeting on the street and people telling me they want to work with me.  Otherwise it has been the same old same old.  I reaffirmed there is NOTHING to do in this town just to relax.  The pool "hall" is one table where the teenagers of the town play a game I have never seen, and gamble.  So I will be reading a lot of books and getting really good at doing nothing.  But my landlord the last two weekends has invites me over for coffee and breakfast, and I will probably be getting a horse after the next two months so I will have some places to visit on horseback.  Anyway, yesterday my counterpart and I went to the market to pick up some supplies.  He LOVES playing with my camera so I have a lot of pictures of it.  I am going to try to upload them with this blog post and give some explanations so here goes.
Market day:
In every town (pretty much) in Ethiopia there is a day or a few days where people come together to show of their products and sell supplies to the local community.  For example my town has two, a small one on Wednesday, and a large one on Saturday.  They sell everything from fruits and vegetables, to livestock, to clay pots and even manure.  Usually depending on what the product you can save as much as 1/3 the price you would pay for things in town.  Eggs in town are 2.50birr, at the market they are 2.00birr.  Most of the town will at some point on Saturday end up at the market.  It is where most people buy their weeks supplies of food.  For me it is an excellent opportunity to see the local culture and my counterpart was in a very sharing mood this weekend.  He pointed out different things that meant people were looking to be married and explained different styles of dress among other things. The first picture is of some hand made clay pots, as well as hand made Jebanahs (coffee pots).  These are made from the local clay around the river.  The second is of spices, these are mostly collected locally, although some of them are imported from other parts of the country, as you can see some of these are very familiar to Americans, I can get cumen seeds, mustard seeds, rosemary, among other things.  The third is some traditional Orthodox wraps.  These are draped over the shoulders or wrapped around the heads as a traditional part of their religion.  Next is some home made baskets, these are made to hold decorations as well as to use in sorting t'eff.  It is required that as a way to symbolize a women is ready to marry that she be able to make these.  Finally the last picture shows some Sudanese women.  In the very bottom of the gulch some Sudanese have migrated, they are prominent for their clay making.  They bring everything from pots, to injera pans for the injera making machines.  They are easy to ID because of their different style of dressing.
Family: I know you want pictures of me, but there are none.  The only one he even tried to take of me was of me eating a prickly pear and that wasn't about to happen.  Sorry.  So I hope from this you can see a few similarities as well as differences, not only between America and Ethiopia, but also between the different people of Ethiopia.
Trey

Been a while

5/18

Finally at site!  We finally got the OK to leave Addis.  Last Tuesday most of the new volunteers headed out to site.  There was a lot of confusion and work to figure out how we were getting there, thankfully though I was one of the lucky volunteers who got to ride in the PC vehicles to get there.  We dropped of the first person that Tuesday, then spent the night at a hotel in one of the larger cities on the way.  On Wednesday the other two people got dropped off.  The driver was really nice with me and took me to a city a little out of the way were I picked up some things from a volunteer who is about to complete her service.  I was able to get some kitchen stuff, a bed, and table.  Then it was on to my site to drop me off.  He made the drive in nearly half the time it takes the big busses and it was so much more comfortable.  I arrived at site, went into the compound, and found that my room had been turned into a tea house.  My landlord cleared out quickly and it was no problem, she did give me a chair after also so I have a desk set up in my room.  Finally the driver and I went out to lunch, he absolutely refused to let me pay even after all his help though.  That is just the Ethiopian mentality though, even when they are doing you a favor they still think they are the ones that need to be generous.  Even though we got to site pretty early I still decided to spend the rest of the afternoon setting up my room, reading, and watching movies and just enjoyed a lazy day.  The next day was my first day of "work".  The cell network here is terrible and I wasn't able to call my counter part so when I just showed up to work they were a bit surprised.  Still they let me go out in the field to work on a survey they were doing.  On the way I got to see the results of my counterparts permagarden training, even for him it is difficult to get people to understand the benefit of doing a small sustainable garden, he was able to find some people who had taken to the practice though so that was very encouraging.  After we finished we went back to town and had lunch to finish the work day off (there had been a chemical spill in the office so we couldn't work in the office that day).  Finally on Friday I went in for half of the day, they were having a meeting and invited me to attend.  I wasn't really able to input anything, but it was still interesting to see how the office operates.  About half way through the meeting someone came in and interrupted to tell me I had received "supplies", after a few minutes I figured out that I had a package at the post office.  I assumed that this person worked at the post office since he was walking me there.  Halfway there I found out he actually worked at the AG office and was just being nice and walking me to the post office.  I doubt I will ever find out how they knew to contact me at the office, or how that particular person knew I had a box, but it was really nice of them to make sure I knew as soon as it got in (also they did not charge me a customs fee even though they are supposed to). 

So far the people have been very nice and the harassment has been very minimal.  I really hope that I can keep it that way for whoever comes to Gasera next and they will be pleasantly surprised

5/22

Well first of all as I expected the network here has been horrible.  So for those of you trying to call me I am sorry but I don't expect it to get better any time soon.  On the bright side apparently there is a plan to build up the infrastructure in town...starting in a year and a half.  So maybe a month or two before I leave it will get better!   I know that I also haven't been online to chat with anyone.  Please remember though that I have not even been here two whole weeks yet so I haven't had much opportunity.  I was able to go into town today to pick up some supplies.  Sadly though the internet was not working while I was there so no way to get up with everyone.  Suffice it to say I am fine.  I have been sick once again but it seems to be self limiting and I am feeling better after only a day of being out.  I will say this country seems to be fighting with me and I only hope my immune system gets it's second wind soon. 

Well before the call got dropped my mom was asking me how things are going and what I have been doing.  Honestly, the answer is not very much.  As per PC tradition/recommendation the first month or two is used to build relationships in the community.  The best way usually is sticking with a counter part (or if you have one a site mate), and meeting the people they know.  For me this involves long walks to and from the Ag office for various reasons and stopping every few feet to say hi to more people.  In the Ag office I have been trying (maybe not as much as I should) to communicate with people using Amharic or Oromifa.  The office staff are very nice and maybe too eager for me to start working.  They have been having me read manuals, attend meetings, and (on the once instance) go out for field work.  They even tried to pay me per diem for the field visit which PC forbids me from accepting.  I admit to being a bit overwhelmed.  They are in the data collection and analysis phase of the yearly training needs assessment.  The things they are bringing up are far out of my experience field and I am not ever sure how I would go about gaining sufficient knowledge on them.  I think that is probably often a concern of new volunteers but that doesn't make me feel any better.  I have realized that a lot of what they seem interested in me doing is out of my reach though, and I have been working on some plans to get other things equally useful and more attainable going.  First I am very interested in bee keeping training programs.  Currently the most widely used method of bee keeping is the traditional hive.  Basically the keeper captures a colony, places it in a hollowed out log, then at the end of the season harvest the honey.  I would like to start teaching on the transitional hive where the hive is monitored, cared for, and altered as needed.  It seems like a simple thing, but really to get the full benefit out of bee keeping it is imperative to properly care for the hive.  This can then lead to the next step of the more expensive, but higher yielding, modern hive.  This may sound like an easy task, but as we see in America, it is difficult to get people to see that there are better ways of doing things then the way they have always done them.  I hope to just change the mentalities of a few people, and maybe just maybe start a chain reaction of people seeing the benefit and making the effort to change.

The second thing I am working on is school clubs.  Currently all schools in Ethiopia are required to have certain clubs, these include English clubs, and Environmental clubs.  I have gone to two schools as well as the woreda education office and requested to be allowed to participate and help direct the clubs that are already in existence.  In addition my counterpart is very interested in also working with the gender equality clubs, and having access to some very good material I am happy to help with this as well.  I have spoken to the director at one school and he was very excited to have me, I also have a meeting set up with the director at another school, and I do not expect any resistance.  The education board seems extremely excited to have me as well, although they are requiring me to submit a proposal for the project.  If I do get the final approval, that would put me at six clubs in two different school each meeting at least once throughout the week.  It is going to be a heck of a lot to juggle along with any other projects that I get into.  Not to mention having to find at least one more counter part that is willing to help me with the clubs.  All in all I know that sounds like a lot, but I assure you, it was enough work to MAYBE fill a day and a half, all drug out over a week and a half. 

Otherwise it has just been getting my house as in order as I can, I made it to the market yesterday; after getting caught in a torrential rain storm for about twenty minutes I managed to make my purchases (only slightly getting ripped off), and get home in the rain without getting too wet.  I was able to make my first real meal at home after that.  I have not had power except for a half day since the day after I got to site, so I made a simple salad out of habesha cabbage, and a few toppings, my landlord also gave me some bread that went pretty well with it.  It is a simple thing, but having something that is at least a little forenji went a long way to feeling more at home.  Today as I said I was in my hub town.  I went to a COSing volunteers house and bought a bunch of things from her as well as getting a bunch of donations from the volunteers there.  It was a nightmare getting to and from town today because it was the big market day, but I finally made it home to make my first REAL meal and it was FANTASTIC!  Tomorrow it will be back to the usual.  I will go to the office, sit around and read some manual or another.  If I get a free second maybe read my language manual some more, then home for leftovers before they spoils since I will likely not own a fridge while I am in this country. 

As soon as I get a chance to upload this I will get online and hopefully be able to check email and FB.  For those of you who may have tried to reach me please know I am not ignoring you, I will do my best to check as often as possible, just be patient.

Side note, I just got a small taste of how the soon to come rainy season might be like.  It started raining and within minutes got so loud that with just the rain, no thunder or anything, I could not hear the movie I was playing even with headphones on.  When the rainy season gets here it will likely be like that, but for much longer, and every day.  It will be an interesting experience, and I REALLY hope I get my rain boots in the mail before it hits!

Love, Trey

5/30

Not much has happened in the last week.  I have been cooking for myself which has been great.  I have a lot of spices and things from the volunteer who just left so it has been really nice.  On Wednesday I went to the market to buy charcoal for my garden and there was none there, then I walked to the office.  Now to put this in perspective, my town is not very large, my house is more or less in the middle but the market is one one end about a 15 minute walk, then my office is on the other end, another 15 minute from my house.  So from the market to the office it is about a 30 minute walk.   When I got to the office I found out it was a holiday and it was closed.  But the people there told me the charcoal was definitely at the market so I decided with my free day I would walk back and double check.  Sure enough it was not there.  I asked a kid who had walked back with me about it and he said I could get some at the edge of town so we walked the extra 5 minutes and waited there...no luck.  So I walked home and proceeded to read all day.  Other than a short walk to a cafe' I literally read all day.  I finished half of one book, a document, and half of another book.  So minus the walking that is pretty much how I spend any weekend, day off, or holiday.  Glad I brought a lot of books because by the time I am finished here I will be VERY well read.  So basically I did not do anything this week, I couldn't garden because I am still trying to get the material.  Most of my coworkers have been in the field all week, and they have said I DON'T want to join them.  On top of that the power has been off except for a few short bursts all week, the network has been practically inoperable, and the water has been sporadic at best.  Honestly though, I don't mind any of the utility outages, I would just honestly like to have a working cell network.  But tomorrow I am going into town for my first Ethiopian wedding, at least one that I have officially been invited to (I may have crashed one already), and hopefully the internet will be working while I am in town.  Today I found out not only that I may be able to get a land line installed for free, but also that within a few months we may be getting some form of internet in town.  Honestly though I will believe it when I see it. 

Next week sounds promising though.  I have been recruited to participate in a training with USAID, and also to go into the rural area in the gorge to look into some projects.  In the gorge they not only have a high fruit tree production, but a high number of bee keepers that I might be able to meet.  It is going to be a hard walk though since I am not allowed to ride motorcycles.  Anyway here's hoping that I am able to get internet in Robe.  (The first time in 3 weeks)

Stuck in Addis

4/8
Why is there so much forenji food!  But seriously I enjoy a lot of Ethiopian food, but having the selection of so much variety is really nice.  In fact yesterday was the first time I have had traditional food since being in Addis Abab and I proceeded to vomit it all up shortly after.  For those of you who don't know all of the new volunteers who were supposed to go to the Oromia region (think state) were held in Addis due to protests and riots happening.  While the volunteers from SNNPR, Tigray, and Amhara regions were (all but a few along the borders) allowed to go to site.  I can not go into detail about why they are protesting, but it has caused several volunteers to be recalled from site for safety concerns.  Before you all get worried, Peace Corps is being cautious and not letting us go to site until they are sure everything has died down.  I have heard of no volunteers being in unsafe conditions and everyone is ok and accounted for.  Those of us in Addis are going a little crazy though.  There is only so many restaurants to go to, only a few movies are in the theater, and we have been asked not to be so loud when a lot of us hang out in the rooms.  So for most of us we are about to pull our hair out we are so anxious to be able to go to site.    But being in Addis gets expensive quickly, a lot of people have had to pull from their moving in allowance to pay for being in Addis and all the money I have saved up until now is gone.  I will admit that some of it is due to excessive luxuries though.  Two days ago a couple of us went to the Sheratan and spend the day at the pool.  I personally spent 6 hours straight in the water, BUT it did cost almost an entire days pay just to get into the pool.  It was worth it though, being able to sit in heated water that is not infested with shitosoma is an amazing feeling.  So for now we will sit at the hotel, or find things to do as much as we can.  There is still one museum I have yet to go to so that is on the agenda for the next couple of days.
Just for those of you who are interested I will touch on the swearing in ceremony quickly.  Last week we swore in as official volunteers (the next day a lot of us were told we didn't get to go to site), we went to the US embassy, although we were only allowed in the ambassadors garden the whole time we were there.  The PC director Greg Engle gave a speech, then the US ambassador, finally the heads of the two programs PC is working with.  We then were called individually to receive our certificates from Greg and the ambassador, and when it was all finished there was a small buffet.  All together the whole thing took probably 4 hours including eating time, but in the end we finally got to drop the trainees title.
That is about all I can think of, I am not sure when I will be able to upload this, but I have yet to receive any questions or anything, so please feel free to ask.  At least right now it would give me something to do.
4/10
So latest news is that we will likely be moving out on Monday/Tuesday.  We are waiting on the assessment from the PC East African security head to give the OK.  But some people in the Amhara region are already being able to go back to site so it is looking good for us.  Everything recently seems pretty calm.  There have been a few more protests but everything seems to be going peacefully.  PC is of course going to be on the look out for a while, but it looks like everything is calming down again.
On a side note I want to wish my grandma a happy birthday!  I love and miss you!  And to all the mothers reading this blog happy mothers day from all of your PC kids.  We will all be thinking about you tomorrow even if we don't get to speak to you.

BTW my new address is:
Trey Foerster
PO box #12
Gassera town, Bale Zone
Ethiopia