Igzeeabheir Yimesgen. Tines Talign.

Greetings from Ethiopia!

As Kristin is having difficulty posting to her blog from Ethiopia, I will be posting for her....so blame any typos on me! She is trying to figure out how to attach pictures but until then we'll have to use our imaginations! -Kim

I have arrived safe and sound and as you can see by the title of my post I am already learning the language. Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia) does not use the Roman alphabet, which has made language training very difficult. Instead of learning all 231 characters, they are choosing to teach us the language phonetically. This was very frustrating until we realized it didn't really matter how we spelled a word or phrase, just as long as we knew how to pronounce it. Each morning, 4 of my fellow PCVs and I gather in my front yard where we hold class from 8:30 am to Noon each day. Our teacher, Esey, has been extremely patient with us as we try to grasp the complexities of this language. Despite our limited resources (i.e. no textbook or English/Amharic dictionary) we seem to be learning something. After class, I often practice my new words with my neighborhood children as they are very forgiving of my many mispronunciations!

My host family has been fabulous. Although they don't speak any English, we are getting along just fine. I do a lot of pointing and shrugging of the shoulders when I haven't a clue what they are talking about, but somehow it seems to work. When all else fails, I simply smile. My enat(Mom) is 55 and widowed, my uhut (sister) is 23 and a college student, and my wondim (brother) is 13. He absolutely loves to play the role of astemaree (teacher)! The bet (house) in which I live is actually quite modern. My fellow PCVs are envious of my flush toilet and shower (most of them have pit latrines)! I fear, though, that I will not have such luxuries when I am on my own.

I will share more as I am able. Training is exhausting and what little time we have to ourselves is spent studying. Internet access in this town is fairly limited and slow, so my posts may be few and far between. I suspect that pictures may be impossible to upload, but I will do my best.