I'm in London now on my friend Jessica's computer. I was a little too busy during my last days of Ethiopia to post from there however I said my goodbyes and left without incident. I even got through customs on both sides of the airplane ride quickly! Hooray!
I spent sometime being touristy in London, but since this is a blog about Ethiopia, (it's in the URL and everything) I'll write something about that. So getting back to civilization on the first day was a little surreal, especially the trip to the grocery store near Jess's apartment. Living in Gondor has been a big change in the consumerist/shopping vein. I lived in a place where you didn't have much in the way of choice in foods and while you could find a nice choice of dry goods, pretty much anything that could rot was in short supply. Meats were limited, as were veggies, fruit, and dairy... frozen foods were unheard of. With this in mind shopping became a little bit of a different experience. I'll go with vegetable shopping for an example. In Gondor you could regularly find potatoes, tomatoes, chile peppers and onions. On good days you could also find avocados, spinach, carrots and pumpkins. I might be forgetting something, but you get the drift. If you see one of the rarer vegetables you buy it immediately (except the pumpkins, they were just too big). If you don't you might not see them again for weeks if at all.
Now take this new mentality and go into your average grocery store. It doesn't work! You sort of flop between wanting to buy everything and just staring blankly at the selection and trying to work out all the combinations of choice into something that makes sense. My shopping brain has essentially been destroyed and I'll have to rebuild it from scratch to make sense of the variety of foods (and probably everything else) available again. You think about culture shock, but you don't really think about reverse culture shock. Admittedly it was only a few months so I'll probably get back into the swing of things pretty soon, but if I ask you to hold my hand through a shopping experience you know why.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Almost done
I'm so busy, but I thought I'd just say that I'm almost done my job! Woo! I'll be in on Saturday to finish up, and possibly post something more substantial than this.
Jordie
Jordie
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Departure (coming up)
Leaving Gondar seems fraught with paperwork. In addition to the recommendations and reports I have to submit for work I also have to finish up my goodbyes to people here.
Yesterday (or maybe the day before) I said goodbye to an unusual young man named Waretow who is a student at the college. He is perhaps the most devoted scholar I've ever met. He reads the dictionary every day attempting to improve his vocabulary. He used to be a shoeshine boy when he was younger and claims this is how he first learned English, talking to tourists for tips. His friendship with me seemed a little forced as I'm fairly certain he me with me mostly to practice his English. Nevertheless I certainly had some interesting conversations with him as I drank beer (because I was usually going out after) and he drank tea (because it was the cheapest thing he could order). I've never really had people come up to me and ask me to explain isms (minimalism, atheism, etc) to them, which he did quite regularly and he sorely tested my knowledge of some of them.
I don't think I'll miss him much, but knowing him was an odd experience. We've exchanged mailing addresses, as he doesn't have any access to a computer or phone. I gave him my copy of the Brothers Karamazov which I never actually finished, but I'm certain he'll get some use out of it. He'd actually heard of Dostoevsky when I handed it to him and he seemed excited so that's a vote in favour of him actually finishing it.
Yesterday (or maybe the day before) I said goodbye to an unusual young man named Waretow who is a student at the college. He is perhaps the most devoted scholar I've ever met. He reads the dictionary every day attempting to improve his vocabulary. He used to be a shoeshine boy when he was younger and claims this is how he first learned English, talking to tourists for tips. His friendship with me seemed a little forced as I'm fairly certain he me with me mostly to practice his English. Nevertheless I certainly had some interesting conversations with him as I drank beer (because I was usually going out after) and he drank tea (because it was the cheapest thing he could order). I've never really had people come up to me and ask me to explain isms (minimalism, atheism, etc) to them, which he did quite regularly and he sorely tested my knowledge of some of them.
I don't think I'll miss him much, but knowing him was an odd experience. We've exchanged mailing addresses, as he doesn't have any access to a computer or phone. I gave him my copy of the Brothers Karamazov which I never actually finished, but I'm certain he'll get some use out of it. He'd actually heard of Dostoevsky when I handed it to him and he seemed excited so that's a vote in favour of him actually finishing it.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Simiens part 3
The rest of the trip was felt feeling ill. Not that I didn't get some hiking in, but it wasn't really as much fun now that I was suffering from chronic fatigue. The next day I took the short route along the road with our cook and the mules. Our cook Sisay, who seemed to have experience with sick people in the mountains secretly hired a mule for me. He didn't say it was for me until he caught up with me panting my way halfway up a steep slope. He'd ridden the mule from the bottom of the slope after letting me go ahead and politely suggested that maybe I'd like to ride part of the way. Gratefully I accepted and rode a placid mule the rest of the way up the hill through barley fields and animals grazing. That mule was the best animal ride I've ever experienced. Unfortunately, it was just to the road and then it had to go home. I walked from there with frequent breaks, but made it more or less intact to our final camp. Chennak (sp?).
Chennak is situated in a sheltered valley full of gelada baboons, with a picturesque stream running through it and small palm tree-ish plants growing throughout it. We didn't hike much once we got here, but we didn't really need to as right next to the sheltered valley is a huge dropoff that has some breathtaking views. Between these and the least worried baboons we were pretty entertained for the remaining time we stayed in the Simiens. This turned out to be a lot longer than we'd intended because our driver was 6 hours late. There had been a gas shortage in Gondor and we were all quite annoyed with him for not thinking to fill up the day before. It's hard to get good help. Getting in at midnight I was too exhausted to shower and just fell straight into a stupor that would last a couple days until I eventually got better.
The Ethiopian government seems to have backed off on their attempts to block access to Blogger so I'm able to do my own posting again. Thanks so much to Michelle for her help while I was unable to post. If you're interested in donating to VSO, but have been too lazy to do so up until now, please click up on the left to make a donation. VSO is run on a combo of government and donor support, so every little bit helps.
Chennak is situated in a sheltered valley full of gelada baboons, with a picturesque stream running through it and small palm tree-ish plants growing throughout it. We didn't hike much once we got here, but we didn't really need to as right next to the sheltered valley is a huge dropoff that has some breathtaking views. Between these and the least worried baboons we were pretty entertained for the remaining time we stayed in the Simiens. This turned out to be a lot longer than we'd intended because our driver was 6 hours late. There had been a gas shortage in Gondor and we were all quite annoyed with him for not thinking to fill up the day before. It's hard to get good help. Getting in at midnight I was too exhausted to shower and just fell straight into a stupor that would last a couple days until I eventually got better.
The Ethiopian government seems to have backed off on their attempts to block access to Blogger so I'm able to do my own posting again. Thanks so much to Michelle for her help while I was unable to post. If you're interested in donating to VSO, but have been too lazy to do so up until now, please click up on the left to make a donation. VSO is run on a combo of government and donor support, so every little bit helps.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Simiens pt 2
So the second day on the Simiens we got up early to go see some of the more amazing viewpoints. I woke up to the raspy cry of the thick-billed raven, which are the biggest crow relative I've ever seen. We didn't have a lot of hiking to do today which meant we would have a lot of time to kick around and admire the views. Heading towards Mount Gogol (sp?) we saw a Lammergayer which is the biggest bird available to find in Ethiopia and it really is quite huge. It was trying to break open a bone it had found for its marrow by dropping it onto the rocks near the path we were walking on. We watched for awhile and then moved on to the narrow ledges that led to the viewpoint which stands at a 3990m which is higher than I'd ever been before.
At this point I started to feel the altitude in the form of dizziness and a slight headache. It wasn't enough to stop me, but it was destined to get worse. The viewpoint is hard to put into words so I'll put pictures up later, but let me tell you that 4000m is really high. We headed back to camp and on the way it started to drizzle, then pour and finally hail as we ran into the shelter of camp. It didn't last long, but we were all freezing by the time we got there. This is about the time that the altitude sickness decided to kick in. Altitude sickness is what hits you when your body decides it isn't used to the amount of oxygen it's getting. It's not fun and involves, dizziness, nausea, fatiguem, a splitting headache and a loss of appetite on top of your lungs constantly complaining. I vomited and then went to sleep for 14 hours skipping out on dinner. It was the best sleep I got while in the Simiens, but it wasn't exactly something I wanted. I still had 2 days left in the mountains.
Don't forget to donate!
At this point I started to feel the altitude in the form of dizziness and a slight headache. It wasn't enough to stop me, but it was destined to get worse. The viewpoint is hard to put into words so I'll put pictures up later, but let me tell you that 4000m is really high. We headed back to camp and on the way it started to drizzle, then pour and finally hail as we ran into the shelter of camp. It didn't last long, but we were all freezing by the time we got there. This is about the time that the altitude sickness decided to kick in. Altitude sickness is what hits you when your body decides it isn't used to the amount of oxygen it's getting. It's not fun and involves, dizziness, nausea, fatiguem, a splitting headache and a loss of appetite on top of your lungs constantly complaining. I vomited and then went to sleep for 14 hours skipping out on dinner. It was the best sleep I got while in the Simiens, but it wasn't exactly something I wanted. I still had 2 days left in the mountains.
Don't forget to donate!
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Simiens Part 1
So censorship issues aside what I'd meant to tell you about last post was my trip to Simien mountains. The Simien Mountain National Park is four hours north of Gondor and houses some of Ethiopia's rarer/more interesting species of life.
We drove in starting early early in the morning. Our driver needed to get gas and had trouble doing so (foreshadowing) and then we picked up our cook and a Belgian couple who had asked to tag along the day before. Upon reaching Debarc we picked up our scout, Tesfan who would be with us the whole trip and headed into the park. Tesfan is an older friendly gentleman who wears his toque like a sailor with the edges folded up. He walks with a limp and carries a Lee-Enfield rifle straight out of World War 2, as opposed to the more common automatics. Even with his limp he out distances us with little effort and we are constantly calling him to rest. He has been walking these mountains most of his life and lives in fact in the town next to our first campsite, which both share the name of Gich. We hike for awhile before stopping for lunch at a viewpoint. We are now quite high above our starting point and on our way we saw an 800m high water fall dropping off onto an unseeable valley floor. Can't stay here all day though so off we go. On our way to the camp we see some amazing wildlife at a distance we have never seen before. We spend an hour walking through a valley full of gelada babboons who are for the most part unafraid of us. I try and count how many we can see from one particularly good viewpoint where we can see a huge troop just across a river from us and give up at around 80. There are probably over a hundred though. Some get within metres of us and I have some good pictures to post when I get copies of them. We reach the camp with time to spare passing through Gich and we're all starving. Our cook has set up the food for us though and we all get to chow down pretty quickly.
Children from the nearby village stand around and stare at us shyly (sometimes creepily in the case of the one child who insisted on following people around and whispering "Hello" to them"). They hold chickens and beer which they'll sell to us if we're interested, we're not really though so they stand there with there chickens and beer and stare at us until night falls.
That night is the coldest most uncomfortable night of my life. Thinking that it wasn't so cold when I went to bed I crawl into my sleeping bag wearing a T-shirt and underwear. I wake up at night and am hot and sweaty as usually happens to me in sleeping bags. So I take my shirt off without leaving the bag. Still hot and sweaty I decide to get a drink of water. My water bottle is at my feet so I get out of the sleeping bag to get it. I have a couple sips of water and realize that it is REALLY REALLY cold out. I get back into my sleeping bag and spend the next hour shivering until my body heat is restored. The rest of the night is spent sleeping very lightly.
Next up Part 2! Don't forget if you want to donate to VSO you can click up in the top left link to VSO Canada's page to donate in my name. Tomorrow's my dad's birthday too, so happy birthday Dad!
We drove in starting early early in the morning. Our driver needed to get gas and had trouble doing so (foreshadowing) and then we picked up our cook and a Belgian couple who had asked to tag along the day before. Upon reaching Debarc we picked up our scout, Tesfan who would be with us the whole trip and headed into the park. Tesfan is an older friendly gentleman who wears his toque like a sailor with the edges folded up. He walks with a limp and carries a Lee-Enfield rifle straight out of World War 2, as opposed to the more common automatics. Even with his limp he out distances us with little effort and we are constantly calling him to rest. He has been walking these mountains most of his life and lives in fact in the town next to our first campsite, which both share the name of Gich. We hike for awhile before stopping for lunch at a viewpoint. We are now quite high above our starting point and on our way we saw an 800m high water fall dropping off onto an unseeable valley floor. Can't stay here all day though so off we go. On our way to the camp we see some amazing wildlife at a distance we have never seen before. We spend an hour walking through a valley full of gelada babboons who are for the most part unafraid of us. I try and count how many we can see from one particularly good viewpoint where we can see a huge troop just across a river from us and give up at around 80. There are probably over a hundred though. Some get within metres of us and I have some good pictures to post when I get copies of them. We reach the camp with time to spare passing through Gich and we're all starving. Our cook has set up the food for us though and we all get to chow down pretty quickly.
Children from the nearby village stand around and stare at us shyly (sometimes creepily in the case of the one child who insisted on following people around and whispering "Hello" to them"). They hold chickens and beer which they'll sell to us if we're interested, we're not really though so they stand there with there chickens and beer and stare at us until night falls.
That night is the coldest most uncomfortable night of my life. Thinking that it wasn't so cold when I went to bed I crawl into my sleeping bag wearing a T-shirt and underwear. I wake up at night and am hot and sweaty as usually happens to me in sleeping bags. So I take my shirt off without leaving the bag. Still hot and sweaty I decide to get a drink of water. My water bottle is at my feet so I get out of the sleeping bag to get it. I have a couple sips of water and realize that it is REALLY REALLY cold out. I get back into my sleeping bag and spend the next hour shivering until my body heat is restored. The rest of the night is spent sleeping very lightly.
Next up Part 2! Don't forget if you want to donate to VSO you can click up in the top left link to VSO Canada's page to donate in my name. Tomorrow's my dad's birthday too, so happy birthday Dad!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Don't worry I'm not dead
So on Thursday I attempted to post a heads up to let everyone know that I'd be going on a four day mountain trek in the Simien Mountains far away from computers and my contact with the outside world. However when I attempted to post this my connection continually timed out. This was unusual, but hadn't happened before. I was certain my parents would worry about my lack of internet activity, which is how they make sure I'm alive. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to wait out the problem (which is how most internet problems are fixed here), so I went home to pack.
I just got back to find the same problem and an inability to login to my blogger account through proxy services like The Cloak or Proxify. I couldn't get through to the nearby Kenyan anonymous proxy service either. The Ethiopian government had finally cracked down on blogging and shut everyone in Ethiopia effectively out of the service. Facing defeat I was about to give up the blogging when the excellent Michelle Mayne offered to post for me in exchange for the illicit thrills annoying a government would offer. There is a brief and vague story in which the Ethiopian government lies profusely about their censorship here. If you are interested in knowing more I will attempt post more on it as I learn it. Until next time give thanks to Michelle and wait for an exciting account of the Simien Mountains.
Oh also I keep meaning to start a fund drive for VSO before I go. I really do believe that VSO is one of the better and more effective volunteer organizations operating in Ethiopia and a lot of the work they do is because of donors. So if you have some money floating around (tax receipts available upon request) please click that link up on the left hand side of the page that is for VSO Canada and at the bottom of the page there's an online form you can fill out to donate.
I just got back to find the same problem and an inability to login to my blogger account through proxy services like The Cloak or Proxify. I couldn't get through to the nearby Kenyan anonymous proxy service either. The Ethiopian government had finally cracked down on blogging and shut everyone in Ethiopia effectively out of the service. Facing defeat I was about to give up the blogging when the excellent Michelle Mayne offered to post for me in exchange for the illicit thrills annoying a government would offer. There is a brief and vague story in which the Ethiopian government lies profusely about their censorship here. If you are interested in knowing more I will attempt post more on it as I learn it. Until next time give thanks to Michelle and wait for an exciting account of the Simien Mountains.
Oh also I keep meaning to start a fund drive for VSO before I go. I really do believe that VSO is one of the better and more effective volunteer organizations operating in Ethiopia and a lot of the work they do is because of donors. So if you have some money floating around (tax receipts available upon request) please click that link up on the left hand side of the page that is for VSO Canada and at the bottom of the page there's an online form you can fill out to donate.
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