Selamnu Gondar

Selamnu! We arrived in Gondar and set up our new home. It's beautiful (it belonged to a Doctor who was friendly with JDC and sold it to them when he left town) with an amazing view of the mountain side. We have two dogs, Sophie and Lilly, super cute smaller dogs. They're considered guard dogs, they're not allowed inside. Apparently, people are somewhat afraid of dogs, any size. Our first night was uneventful. We bought a kilo of coffee bean for her and she rinsed, roasted, crushed and boiled it into coffee. We had coffee (buna) with our housemaid, Asmara. She said it was our welcoming coffee ceremony (well, we said that, she shook her head yes), how nice. The coffee is good! We tried to leave to get some water but our security guard spoke no English and convinced us to stay inside by showing us his AK47. He was nice enough to share some of his water with us. We only realized today that he was being very friendly and sharing his personal supply with us, which is from a spigot in the yard, not something we should be drinking. But, we’re fine! We were exhausted and went to sleep early. 

It is now Tuesday evening and Max and I walked ourselves to the Kino Hotel nearby. Free wi-fi, cold beer, Adele, NSync and Britney Spears on the loudspeakers. We’ll be able to walk over here for internet as it is very close to our house. Otherwise, once we start working at the Fasilides school, the Lammergayer Hotel is nearby and a popular lunch spot for teachers, so we may be online more often.

We started our morning with incredibly frigid showers. We met our other security guard, Zelalem… who speaks more English than the one we met last night. We went to JDC’s clinic and met up with Menachem. We toured the grounds, it was a very quiet day there which I suppose is a good thing. It is an incredibly impressive site. We visited the construction site of a new technology and science center down the road. Fully funded by a Jewish donor (more info to come on this). Apparently, we’ll have the opportunity to be involved, possibly teaching students to use computers there. Construction overall in this area is booming. Everywhere you turn there is scaffolding (would be shut down in seconds in America, scary) made of wood sticks.  Men and women working side by side and speedily. The center will be done 2 months ahead of schedule, a total of 10 months (also something you don’t really see in America).  The development here is astounding.

We traveled to Goha Hotel for a wonderful view of the city and mountains surrounding Gondar. They are building a new pool themselves. We were met with a few obstacles on our way as the Chinese, who are here to build roads, were blasting dynamite.  This is where JDC houses visitors, so we will definitely return soon.

Enjoyed lunch at Lemmergayer Hotel which is nearby Fasiledes school where we will be teaching. We will likely have lunch here on school days and will be sure to bring our computers to take advantage of their wi-fi which is totally accepted and popular with tourists and visitors alike (SO unlike America. We learned firsthand after traveling cross country and being prompted to pay $15 for 20 minutes, ehem Intercontinental in San Fran). Menachem joined us for lunch and convinced me to try a new dish, Siga, and I loved it. We also enjoyed a coffee and tea spriss, which means mixture.

Afterwards, we met the Principal of Fasilides Secondary School. It was bustling with students eager to register for classes. He informed us that we would likely be teaching a class of 60! This is due to unfinished construction and therefore, they don’t have enough room so they cram the classes. We are going to meet with him in a weeks time, after their new year (September 11) to discuss our role further. Max and I have been brainstorming some things such as establishing pen pals in America to help the Ethiopian kids with their English.

We then traveled up to Fasilides castles. Our tour guide gave us a comprehensive history lesson and took us to the bathing pool that is only filled for Epiphany, Timkat, January 19-21. He also guided us through Debre Birhan Selassie Church, built in the 17^th century, which was stunning, really so impressive. “When the Mahdist Dervishes of the Sudan sacked the city of Gondar in 1888, they burned down every church in the city except Debre Birhan Selassie. According to local legend, when the Mahdist soldiers approached the church, a swarm of bees decended on the compound of the church and kept the soldiers back, and the Archangel Michael himself stood before the large wooden gates with a flaming sword drawn.”

Anyway, our first day was great. It’s still the rainy season but we didn’t feel a drop today. It was perfectly sunny and warm. Max and I are having the best time taking it all in. Don’t expect these huge blog posts every day and thanks for getting all the way down here. Just have to share every detail until you start learning Amharic with me. Also, everyone’s name means something here. We haven’t been asked for what ours means yet but we’ll be sure to come up with someone great. But they have their more common Bob’s and Emily’s too, they’re just not as easy to pronounce. A little girl in Rick’s home thought my name was the name in Twilight, Isabella. No, it’s not but they can’t really pronounce Elizabeth and prefer Liz, so I can deal with one more year of Liz.

If you’d like an idea of how much $ I’ll be spending this year, please check here and prepare to be jealous: http://coinmill.com/ETB_USD.html#ETB=100

Ciao!

(let me know if you want an invite to view our Dropbox photos!)