Royal Blue Passport Privilege.

When I travel situations always arise that remind me the power in a royal blue American passport.
Not all passports are treated equally.
Its quite the opposite really.
While others undergo third degree questioning,
 in a language far from their mother tongue,
in accents so thick I can barely identify it as English,
my passport doesn't even warrant a second look.
What makes me different from the woman being repeatedly asked why she wants to enter the country?
The fact that I was born in the right place at the right time?
The fact that my passport is royal blue with that golden United States of America imprint?
Why does that provide me with automatic respect and a guarantee of a visa in most countries?
I bow down to those in developing countries who have worked incredibly hard to obtain that passport.
My dream of travel is not a unique dream.
It is however a dream that I can fulfill with little difficulty due to my nationality.
Most of the world will never get a chance to travel to their countries capitol city let alone another country.
I feel that often times we get wrapped up in our American Royal Blue Passport Privilege and forget how fortunate we are to be able to travel pretty freely.

Giving of The Thanks

After spending 7 months now in my small Ethiopian village there are many things in my life that have been brought to light. This might be due to all the sunshine I am experiencing or the copious amounts of time I have to think about things.  With Thanksgiving already here I really want to take this time to share with you how truly thankful I am for my education. You don’t realize in the states just how good your education is even if you grow up in not the nicest of neighborhoods.  Comparing the resources that are available to students and teachers in America to what they have in Ethiopia is not even possible. Teachers in the high school earn around 2,500 birr, or 125$ USD, each month.  Class rooms here are made up of desks and a white board. Teachers often time have to bring their own chalk to class. Class sizes range from 60-80 students and some teachers have to teach more than 6 sessions of their class. The school library consists of four bookshelves with books. This library is for all the students in both the high school and primary school. There are no children’s books and very few novels. As someone who reads at least one book a week this is heart breaking.  How can we expect students to do well in school when most of them cannot afford the textbooks they need for class? How do you encourage students to think critically when many of them don’t have food to eat at home?  

So this my friends is where I make a plea for you.  This holiday season while you are online shopping, purchasing that perfect gift for your loved ones can you take a second to think of the children of Chitu, Ethiopia? If you visit Betterworldbooks.com you can purchase a book and have it send anywhere in the world for free shipping and handling. Whats even better is that the books are extremely affordable. Take $5 and send me a book to have donated in your name to our school library. The process is simple. Pick out your favorite book, be it a childrens book or a novel, add it to your shopping card and when you go to check out enter my address as the address to have it sent to.  Can we solve all the world’s problems?  Not in one day. But we can take a small step in helping the education of students. This holiday season spread the love all the way to Ethiopia!

My address:

Andrea Spake

PO Box 306

Woliso, Ethiopia

Peace Corps Baby!

 I have now been in Itiioopyia for 9 months.

That my friend is in fact a Peace Corps Baby.

I have been attempting to think of a name for this beautiful experience thus far.

I think I shale name this Peace Corps baby Patience.

I also feel this is an important time to reveal my analytical, scientific, totally awesome theory on the similarities of Peace Corps service and pregnancy. Have I ever been pregnant? Well no. But I have Wikipedia (when there’s network) and that is a credible source right? So here it is ladies and gentlemen.

A Comparative Analysis of Pregnancy and Peace Corps Service.

Written By the Future Dr. Andrea Spake. Dr. Dre for short.

Peace Corps is described as the toughest job you will ever love. The person who coined this phrase was not lying. Service however is not difficult for some of the reasons you may think. Sure it is difficult to have to wash clothes by hand, and sometimes it would be nice to have electricity. But through this paragraph or so I will attempt to prove that the difficulties in Peace Corps service are similar to those difficulties that are experienced by one half the population of the world; Pregnancy. You are now thinking Dr. Dre how in the world are you going to compare your dirty hippy Peace Corps service to the beautiful gift of bringing life into the world? Also you’ve never been pregnant so how can you speak on its behalf? It’s true they seem very different at the surface level, but the similarities will surprise you. Yes, I have never been pregnant but I have seen pregnant women. Scientists often write about animals they have never been right? Trust me I studied biology. 

The first example in this super scientific paper is strange cravings. This is common knowledge about pregnant women they crave strange food. The same is true for Peace Corps volunteers. The difference is we PCV’s cant always cure this craving. Speaking from experience I even have dreams about food. Really vivid, wake up tasting it, dreams. This is something I never experienced in my life. I find myself having to physically close my eyes while watching TV shows or movies because the sight of food I can’t eat makes the cravings worse.

My second example is the constant mood swings of a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have been around plenty of pregnant women so this one I can say in confidence as well. Pregnant women change their moods just as often as I do. One day you are on cloud nine enjoying life and the next minute you are screaming in your house cursing every person you saw that day.

What other outrageous connections can I think of? Let’s see there is the constant change in weight, both loss and gain depending on the volunteer and the fact you can’t always control your bodily functions.

So to conclude this super dooper scientific paper I just want to say this: don’t judge yo.

#realtalk

The longer I am in service I realize how much we, as PCV’s, contort our journey in social media.   Don’t get me wrong some things that we post really do showcase the work we do. But the honest truth is that our daily thoughts may not be as interesting or profound as we make them out to be. This post is dedicated to the daily thoughts of a PCV.

Just killed three flies #lordoftheflies #killinem

9 months in service and I still haven’t shit my pants #shithappens #nottome

Retract that last status #shitmypants

Missing my one true love #chesseplease

I financially support my town post office with how much mail I send #hoesindifferentareacodes

Two weeks no water? Its cool I didn’t want to shower anyway #whatsthatsmell #ohthatsme

Best advice since arriving in country? Never trust a fart #preachit

Day 3 since I have left my house #doireallyneedit

Today I watched two seasons of Orange Is The New Black #prison #iunderstand

Its been a week since I shit my pants #onedayatatime

I admit it, sometimes I flirt with the fruit suuk guy to get a discount on my oranges #ballinonabudget

I love it when people forget my name so they call me foreigner in the local language #saymyname #saymyname

*For the record I, Andrea Spake, have not yet joined the cool kids club of shitting my pants. But it is a constant fear for many of us PCVs. No one should live a life of fear. I would like to ask you to take a moment of silence for all PCVs who have experienced this tragedy.

Let's talk about mud baby.

In my town there are approximately 5 types of mud and they are as follows:

-the thin top layer: this mud is deceiving and slick. 

-the thin puddle: easily confused with the thin top layer but this has the addition of being a few inches deep.

-what I like to call " make me taller" mud: this mud sticks to anything and everything. Most days my height ranges a few inches due to the build up if this mud on the bottom of my shoes.

-quick mud: also on the thick side but this one has similar effects to quick sand. Sinkage.

- The combo: thin on top thick on bottom.

Why am I telling you about mud? Well living in a town with no paved roads means that the severity of the mud has an impact on almost everything I do. The days when the mud is at it's worst buses are not able to go back and forth to neighboring towns. Or if they try they are bound to get stuck. And trust me walking  5 km first thing in the morning on inches of mud is not my ideal situation. But it happens.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now.

If I would have posted a blog last night it wouldn't have looked like this. It would of been angry and not a fair representation of the situation.

Am I hurt that some one broke into my hotel room and stole my laptop, camera, and my friends camera? Of course I am.

Do I wish any harm to the person who did it? No.

After living in an area of extreme poverty for a little over 6 months now I find myself  trying to look at things from both sides. Here in Ethiopia the punishment for theft is pretty hefty. For someone to be willing to risk that punishment for a laptop means to me that they must be pretty desperate. Life here is very difficult. Last night I felt very angry and hurt. Violated even. Upset that a someone from a country that I have grown to love so much would steal from me. And then today at my physical therapy appointment the ladies who help me figured out that I spoke some Amharic and oromifa. The usual clintal of the clinic are wealthy Ethiopians and foreign diplomats. The diplomats usually take a total of zero minutes to learn the language and so the ladies got very excited. They told me over and over agin how much they appreciate me trying to learn their language.

I'm not going to let little things like material possessions get in the way of why I am here. 

I was gonna clean my room but then I got shay.

I was gonna clean my room but then I got shay.

My room is still messed up and I know why. 

Because I got shay, because I got shay, because I got shay.

For those of you who do not and never have lived in Ethiopia then let me explain the concept of shay buna to you. Shay is the Amharic work for tea and buna the Amharic word for coffee. To say that here in Ethiopia shay buna is taken very seriously is an understatment. I don't think a single day has passed  that I have not been invited for shay buna at least once if not multiple times.  Often  while I am on my way to the office someone will stop me and ask me to join them. I will then get derailed spend an hour discussing nothing and end up going somewhere that is not the office.  In Ethiopia all true business is done over shay buna.  You can spend hours in meetings or simply invite people to join you and have something taken care of in a matter of minutes.  I can probably blame most things that I have not completed or done when I wanted to on the fact that I was pulled away from what I was doing ( sometimes quite literally pulled) and made to drink shay or buna. Now don't get me wrong these are usually great experiences. Yes there are times when I really just want to sit at my desk and work on a training or lesson plans but usually I am always up for free coffee. Really who wouldn't be? Especially if you have ever had Ethiopian coffee made in the traditional jibena.

 

On a side note this is my 4 year old friend Koki. I call him Koki monster.

 

Care packages part two? I guess.

Care packages. Little boxes of love that bring immense joy into my life whenever they arrive. I have been asked again to post some things I enjoy receiving in packages.

Sport Equipment:

                - Currently I have 3 soccer balls, a frisbee, and a jump rope. Other equipment to as we say "make sport" is great. I spend a good amount of time exercising and playing with children outdoors.  Here we have access to plenty of space, a soccer field, and a volleyball court. 

Games:

                -Games are a great thing to have laying around when other vols come to visit. I do have one deck of cards but besides that I have nothing. I also enjoy doing crossword puzzles and mind games.  Since there is a lot of time when the power is out it would be nice to have small activities to work on.

Art supplies:

                -I brought zero, zilch, notta in the way of art supplies.  It would be nice to have some for when the power is out. Which is out. All of the time.

Food:

                -Any PCV will tell you that getting food in care packages is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. Really any food is great. Spices, spice packages, and package mixes (like gravy ect) are awesome.  Dried fruit and nuts are nice to have laying around. Shakable parmesan cheese is great. It does not need to be put in a fridge and is a tasty treat. Anything that requires you to only add water is also nice. I do have powdered milk so if it requires milk no matter.  I am starting to train for a half marathon as soon as the rainy season is over. Here finding sources of protein is something I struggle with.  A decent tasting protein powder would be amazing.  Really any protein powder would be great. Maybe a shaker bottle to make it in?

Smelly good things:

                -Lets be honest. I feel dirty all the time. Even after showering I do not feel clean. To combat this I like things that at least smell clean. Scented candles, body spray, and maybe even fabric softener/ drier sheets just to put places would be nice.  It is also nice to have hair products. Since I am not able to wash my hair nearly enough I try to at least put a all in one product/ hair oil into it when I do.

As far as whimsical goes ummm I guess themed packages sound fun! Either themed for a holiday that I am missing or a different place.

  It is also nice to get pictures of things I am missing back home. Although they make me sad that I missed them I get to feel like I was a part of it. And it is nice to have things to decorate my walls with.

To be honest this post took be entirely too long to write this post. I feel really weird about asking for things.  I want you to know that anything and everything that is sent is really appreciated by me and the vols around me that I share with. 

Roll With the Punches.

One of the things that Peace Corps has really reiterated in my life is that you really just have to roll with the punches. When you let Ethiopia take you for ride you never know what will happen. Thursday of this week was one of the strangest and best days that I have had so far while being here.  I warn you now this post is a little wordy. It's a day that I feel for me is good to look back and reflect upon.  One thing to know about Peace Corps is that the saying "what goes up must come down" is very much applicable. For every good day I have here I may have one or two or a week of bad days.

I went to the office in the morning just like every other weekday morning. Shortly after being there my community liaison told me that today the office would be mostly gone due to a training in a rural kebele and that I could go home if I wanted to.   So of course I jumped up and said see ya monday.  I had almost reached my house when I stopped to say hello to a woman who was leaving the cooperative office.  She was instantly impressed that I could speak Oromifa and invited me to buna at what I thought was her house. ( Mind you this entire conversation and the rest with her were in Oromifa).  I dont always say yes when people invite me to their homes but she seemed very genuine in wanting to talk to me. I followed her for about 10 minutes until we reached a rather large compound. She knocked on the large metal gate and lead me inside. I realized as soon as we got inside the gate that this was not an average compound. She is the head of a orphanage here in Chitu. An orphanage that I didnt know existed until I was there. We sat down and she feed me 5 cups of buna while I played with two absolutely adorable babies who were recent orphans.  She explained to me that most of the children are adopted to parents in America though multiple organizations.  After leaving here I was almost home again when I ran into my friend Deebi who was concerned that he had not seen me in one day. This is very common in Ethiopia. If your friends or coworkers  do not see you for one day they all tell you that you have disappeared. I then followed him to his house where I got feed lunch and 3 more cups of  buna.

When it was time to leave I received a text  saying that PC might be here the following day. That means there is a good chance that I am getting a G11!  ( Another vol in my site). I returned home to clean up my house when my landlords called me, for ya you guessed it more buna. And of course in Ethiopia you cant have buna without eating first. My landlady turns a corner and is holding a bowl of melted butter with have a sheeps rip cage floating in it, a plate with two rolls of injera, and a glass full of farso. Farso is local beer that literally looks like the most disgusting thing ever.  I began to eat this bowl of butter and meat but after a few bites it was just too much. They handed me a spoon and told me to drink it. That it was good for my health. I drank about 3 spoonfuls of butter meat juice and just couldn't handle anymore.  The farso, besides looking utterly disgusting, actually isn't too bad. They began by telling me it was only 3% alcohol a claim they have no way of knowing since it is home made. After a cup or two my landlady told me she was to intoxicated to go to the market and that it was stronger than she thought.

After a few glasses I went home to make dinner. It started raining really hard, to the point my roof sounded like it might break, so I peaked outside.  Holy hail, it was hailing.

I will say it again. I really do love my community and this crazy adventure I am on. That is not to say that there aren't day when I hate the world. Those often happen too.

So it goes.

For a moment like this, some people wait a lifetime.

This week I experienced a glorious moment. It was as the sun was breaking out of the cloudy cage it had been imprisioned too , electricity was present, and the water was running. 

Now let me just say in my small town that is not an average day.

So I like to think that the stars were aligning for something great. And they did just that. As I was walking to my office that is a total of 5 minutes from my house it happened.

Are you sitting on the edge of your seat yet?

Wondering what could be so amazing that it has an epic build up like this? Well ladies and gentlemen I am here to tell you.  This week on the splendid day described above I Andrea Spake did not get called Ferenji once by a single child who passed by me. Instead I was called Andrea or nothing at all. Now to those of you back home this may not seem like a big deal. Youre like woah Andrea cool story. But seriously this is like me being the captain of a one woman army that has single handedly changed the mind of an army of 100’s. To lay down their weapons and become friends.  Being called ferenji everyday by the majority of the people you walk by starts to wear on you after awhile. But on this particular day during the 5 minute walk that usually has me feeling defeated before my day even begins I won. I was victorious.  I was Andrea. Not the random white girl who lives in their town. Not a source of money (even though I never give children here money). But a friend.

 

 

Sincere Apologies.

Last Sunday I showered for the second time in 6 weeks (baby wipes and bucket washing of hair is not counted in this).

I would like to make a public apology to the Peace Corps Gods. 

Since I showered we have not had water at site. 

I apologize oh wise and mighty ones for my wrong doing. 

Please forgive my sins and bring plentiful water back to the town of Chitu.

I promise to not waste your bounty on such silly things like good hygiene( can it be considered good hygiene at this point?).  

Your loyal and faithful servant,

Andrea  

This week in Paradise:

This week in Paradise:

-I got attacked by ants in the Shint bet.

-I pulled a rotting rat from my roof

-I got my hair done

 

 

-And I showered…. Hahahaha only joking about the shower we didn’t have water this week.

Hey hey hey goodbye...PST.

Three months,
countless hours of language training,
countless hours of cultural training,
countless rolls of injera,
countless moments spent laughing because you said urinefall instead of waterfall,
and countless conversations awkward conversations with our host families have come to an end.
PST is over.
Last week I swore in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer.
Now after a week of consolidation due to unforeseen issues I am finally going to site.
Living in a town of 2,500 people, where a fridge is not a thing, its a good day if the power is on, and I hope access to water is constant.
Never have I felt more ready to start this chapter of my experience.

My goals going into this:
-improve my language skills
-make true relationships with community members
-make a lasting impression in my community
-learn as much as possible from those around me
-teach one person something that will better their life
-help one person better others lives through shared knowledge

I understand that I am not here to change the world.
But if I can change one persons world, then I have change their world.

You want me to go where???.... And do what???

4- the number of cups of shay

(Tea) I drank.

14- the number of cups of buna (coffee) I drank.

33- the number of times I introduced myself formally. 

4- also the number of marriage people's I received.

6- the number of phone calls I received from people I don't know that I think stole my phone number from my bank records.

The number of times I was laughed at when I spoke oramifa?

Unquantifable.

These numbers represent a fraction of my two days at site for site visit. The town that I will be living in is called Chituu. Everytime I see the spelling it is different therefore everytime I write the name it will be different.

My new home is a small town about 20 minutes by bus from Woliso a larger town in Ormoia regin Ethiopia. I am the first volunteer that this town will have. It is also one if the smaller sites in Peace corps Ethiopia. So far I am extremely excited to move to Ciituu to begin working. All of the organizations and sectors of government at the woreda level seem to be extremely excited to work with me and have ideas of ways I can help the community. They all seem to understand that I am poor and in fact there to share knowledge and technical training which is fan-freaking tastic.

The woreda that I am living in is known to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Ethiopia. There is a crater lake near me that I will get the chance to visit when I return. I did however snap some photos of the views that I am forced to see everyday for the next two years:

My life sucks right?

God look at that terrible endless blue skies and land of trees. Rough.

If that isn't bad enough I have to play with baby trees. 

If you didn't pick up on the sarcasm of the previous statements this blog is not one you should be reading. 

Reality is I got extremely lucky and will be hugging my PCLV as soon as I see him. Not only is my site amazing but my counterpart is great and really excited to work with me. He spend a afternoon introducing me to his family and making sure I knew that they were now my family. He also has what is quite possibly the cutest 5 month old baby girl that I have ever seen. 

Moral of this story is that when you put good energy out you get good energy back. I cannot wait to begin working with the community on projects. 

In Amharic there is a saying " ichaloau" ... Which I most likely just butchared the spelling of... That means anything is possible. 

Ichaloau. It's the truth people.

Heres the mail it never fails it makes me want to wag my tail.

So I have gotten many questions about care packages and what I would like sent to me.
I would like to start this off by saying I am beyond grateful for anything that is send my way. Letters, packages, love, positive thoughts they are all appreciated.
As far as packages go please include a list of what you put in it. When filling out a customs form being general is not a bad thing. Also dont say that the package is worth a lot of money because it will get searched.

Things that would be great to get:
-cheese...if possible
-mexican food of every kind
-seeds
-spices (spice packages like ranch are also great)
-toms (size 11...ethiopia eats shoes)
-dried fruit
-veggies of anykind that can be send (freeze dried ect)( cough kale chips cough)
-protein powder
- lotions/soaps/shampoo/conditioner that smell good (for my weekly shower... and yes i mean i shower once a week these days)
-soccer balls
-chocolate chips
-Gatorade powder (dehydration happens. daily)
-mixed nuts
-mustard/bbq sauce things of that nature
-new music/ movies on flash drives
-holiday boxes that are themed are always fun


Please please please do not send the following. I can get them in country:
-toilet paper
-dish soap
-peanut butter


If you happen to send me anything even if it is a letter that just says hello I will be responding with a letter. Sending mail is not super expensive here but it will take a while to get to you. I will not have a post office in my town but it will only be 20 minutes away so I can easily receive and send things .

Home is where the heart is...or your backpack.

Are ya ready for this?
My site has been announced this past week. We were told the name of our town and given a little bit of information.
Whats in a name you ask?
Well not a whole lot.
The name of my town is Chitu. Go ahead try to google it.
You will not find a thing.
But thats okay let me tell you a little about it.
It is just over 2 hours west of Addis close to a town called Woliso.
With just around 2,500 people in the town it is one of the smaller sites.
The woreda that it is located in has a lake, hotsprings (can you say hot tub??), waterfalls, and trees.
That is pretty much all I know at this time but I will be visiting next week via our site visit.
Hopefully I will be able to post my new address shortly.

How is Ethiopia you ask?
Well Ethiopia is a roller coaster of greatness.
Even the days that seem down hill are not so bad after a beer or two....but never three...
Each day is full of  new acronyms and the words ferenji and china being yelled as you walk down the street.
When we arent sitting through 10 hour language days or peace corps powerpoints (PCP) we are often sitting around playing MASH, why yes we are 16 years old again, or making sport.

When learning another language your native language happens to greatly decrease within a week or two. I now speak about three paragraphs worth of Oromifa and broken english.

Hopefully while I am in Addis this weekend I will be able to do a post with the pictures I have been trying to upload for a month now.

PS: receiving letters is great... just sayin...

Let's start at the very beginning.

Pinch me. 

Somebody freaking pinch me.

I am currently sitting in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia writing about my first week in the Peace Corps.

Is this real life? 

Seriously though I cannot believe this is my life right now.

So lets start at the beginning. I landed right around a week ago in this beautiful country. The first few days were spent drinking copious amounts of buna (coffee for those who didn’t become fluent in Amharic over night….aka me) and learning the framework for our projects. The majority of the time we spend in lecture at the hotel. The first venture out was to walk to the Peace Corps office but it wasn’t too noteworthy. Friday night was the first night we were given the chance to go out to dinner with a few of the current volunteers. We were broken down into groups and given a choice where we wanted to go. Naturally I picked the group that when the farthest and required the use of public transportation. Now let me just clarify something real fast for you. Public transportation has no comparison in the states. The only way I can think to describe it is 20 people piled into a minivan that was made to seat 8-9 people at most. In Ethiopia it is an urban legend that opening the windows in a moving vehicle spreads TB. In the western world we know the opposite to be true. So just imagine your first time riding a bus where someone is sitting on your lap, its 70+ degrees, you only know how to say the word for coffee in the language, and the bus driver is yelling at the only Amharic speaking member of your group trying to charge her 3x the amount it should cost for the trip because we are all Ferenji. It was just a situation that you have to sit back and laugh. To make this trip even more adventurous the restaurant where a reservation was made for the group of us to eat decided to do a Valentines day special, meaning we couldn't eat there. So we moved on and got some food. The next morning we had to be up at the crack of dawn. THE CRACK OF DAWN is not an understatement. around 4:30 am we were eating and getting ready to head off to our demistification trip.

My group was one of the lucky groups that were sent to a region that was far enough away that we had to fly. A 45 minute plane ride got us to the city of Bahar Dar. In Bahar Dar we meet up with the girl whose site we would be visiting. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. 

This is where we will pause for a slight lesson on things that could happen in Ethiopia.

Although the people of Ethiopia are extremely kind and generous they also tend to be a bit shale we say..explosive. It wasn't until Kirsten (whose site we were visiting) was blocking my head from a chair that almost smacked me that I truly understood this. Our waitress had gotten in a fight with her boyfriend that went from yelling to a chair being picked up and swung in a matter of 45 seconds. Shortly after this fight broke out it was over and everything was normal again.  A short 3 hour bus trip later and we were in the city of Gimjabet. This is the town that we would be demistified about the Peace Corps experience in. Shortly upon arriving in the town I quickly grew to love it. The people were kind and there was virtually zero harassment. After eating some dinner we walked to the top of this hill side to watch the sunset. It was absolutely breath taking. 

The next morning we woke up and had some delicious pancakes. After that we ventured off to Lake Zengena for a hike. Lake Zangena is said to have the devil living in the water. All I can say is damn the devil picked an amazing spot. 

The first picture is of the lake that we hiked around. The second picture is the view from the hill of the lake looking into town. We spent the rest of the day returning to town eating some dinner, drink some Ethiopian beer and sleep. Breakfast the next morning was an interesting start to the day. We had breakfast at the restaurant next to our hotel. The owner came out and insisted on taking our picture. After taking a group picture of the 6 of us he insisted that he be in a picture and then walked around and room individual pictures of each of us. In Ethiopia ferenjis are movie stars. All ferenjis.

The last day of demist was spent visitng the ag office and a small NGO the was increasing fruit production in farms by means of using plants that will not only benefit the farmer but also the soil. After visiting the ag office it was interesting to see the effects or lack there of that NGOs have on a community. They often drop off expensive equipment without training anyone in the community to use it. After these quick visits we returned to Bahar dar. Spent the afternoon sitting by the famous Lake Tana with other voluteers from the area. 

This coming weekend we will meet our host families and prepare to move on with them.

We did it, we did it, we did it hooray!

This is real life.

I'm sitting here eating breakfast at the King hotel in Addis Ababa with 70 other Peace Corps Trainees. We will not be offical volunteers until we are sworn in three months form now. 

This is our group known as G10. After our safe arrival at the Addis airport. I am so incredibly impressed with the talent and travels that this group is made up of. Everyone holds such a different story but at the same time has a very similar mindset. I guess you have to in order to do this. Were all a special kind of crazy.

The hotel that we are staying at is absolutely beautiful and the staff is incredible. I can already see a glimps of the spirit of the Ethiopian people and it makes my excitement grow.

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face knowing that today I imbark on the greatest journey of my life this far.

This is a picture of the view from my room.

This blog post isn't my best writing but I am still kind of out of it from a lack of sleep. 

I will post more before we leave Addis for training :)

One sleep people.

So I officially leave for Philadelphia for staging tomorrow.
That is one sleep.
Not that I will be sleeping tonight.
If there were a math equation sleep would be an imaginary (i) number between now and the time I leave.

So what whitty and insightful things do I have to say about tomorrow?

Ummm I should start to pack.....

Yes, you guessed it I have yet to pack.
I'm moving to a different country you think I would have my ducks in a line.
I do feel however that any doubts or nervous energy I have, have passed.
I am in the "OMG IM MOVING TO AFRICA" phase again.

Now that the nervous energy is gone I am pushing good juju into the universe.
This has already begun to be one of the best years of my life and I am hoping to continue
the trend.

This is the final countdown

Picture this: 

Rocky, never feeling more on top of his game comes to that final staircase.

The staircase that had defieted him so many times.

He begins to make his way up the stairs and before he knows it he is standing at the top thrusting his fists into the air.

He was ready for the fight of his life.

In my story my suitcase is the stairs. 

With every item I pack I am making my way to the top of the stairs. In just a few short days I will reach the top. With fists thrown in the air I will complete a victory dance that will someday be a vital scene in the movie of my life. I am preparing for the biggest fight of my life, and I too will be victorious. 

T-minus 6 days and counting. 

Wind beneath my wings.

When I offically submitted my application for Peace Corps service one if the first questions that came to mind was how everyone in my life would react.

Would they think I was crazy?

Would they understand?

I can honestly say that from the day I submitted my application I have felt nothing but support and love from everyone in my life. I am less than two weeks from departure now and the amount of comments I receive increases everyday. People who I haven't spoken to in a few years are messaging me telling me I inspire them to follow their dreams. 

Peace corps service is so much bigger than I thought it would be. It really does touch everyone in your life.

Last weekend my friends through me a surprise going away party. Part of the surprise was this video.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JZg0l6KkRSc&feature=youtu.be&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJZg0l6KkRSc%26feature%3Dyoutu.be

If you are considering applying for the Peace Corps just know that it does effect every one in your life. You are not the only person who will change during your experience. 

I am so thankful for this experience and how much closer it has brought me to friends and family already.

I can't wait to see the effects when I return. 

I am because we are.

I should start off with the fact that I am not an attractive cryier . Hollywood can go fuck itself making people think that crying is an art. Well it may be an art but one I have yet to perfect.

This weekend was full of tears. Large, loud, heartfelt tears. Some of joy. Some of pure panic. 

Honestly though how many people can say they had a group if 15-20 friends who showed up to surprise them for any occasion? What did I do to earn these amazing people in my life? I don't understand it. I probably never will. Lord knows I'm not complaining one bit though. 

The suprises started moments after arriving to Portland and continued the whole weekend. It was honestly one of the craziest emotional roller coasters I have ever ridden on. If there was a warning sign posted on this ride it would look a little like this:

Warning: this weekend is not for the faint hearted. Riders will be subjected to extended periods of crying followed by more crying. It is noted that when the rider assumes the ride is close to over a second lap will occur. Panic attacks may occur at any time. 

In all serious though I have never felt so loved in my entire life. Do you know what it's like to be in a room with 20 of your closest friends watchin a video full of even more people who wanted to wish you good luck in life? It's the most overwhelming amazing feeling that anyone could ever experience. I wish I could take that feeling bottle it up and sprinkle it on the world. That is how true peace would be reached. 

These are two of the culprits behind this weekend. If it were not for these two truly amazing people I would never have had the courage or confidence in myself to embark on this journey. I owe it all to them and their love and constant support. They saved me. Plain and simple they are my people. 

To everyone who had a part in this weekend I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you all.

I am because we are. Without you I am nothing. 

Wine and waterproof mascara.

This weekend I am going to Portland for a last hoorah with a few friends. I am beyond excited to see them and get to hangout... But I also can't shake this over whelming sadness.

Don't get me wrong I am beyond excited for the next two years of my life and all that is going to come with it. It's just that I have finally found my people.

The people who get things about me that I don't even get. The people that can make every darkness in my world have a glimmer of hope. I have never had this before. Not like this. Being away from them for two years is scary. In all honesty it is the hardest part about leaving. 

This weekend is a reminder or what I will be leaving behind but it's also a reminder of what I have to come back to.

I am lucky to have found the most supportive and encouraging people in the entire world.

So this weekend I am packing a bottle of wine and my waterproof mascara. 

Time to leave with a bang!

Bring it on portlandia! 

This is crazy but here's my address, write me maybe?

Something that I have been asked about a thousand times is how can you keep in contact with me while I am off saving the world.

Well if you don't know smoke symbols here are a few simple ways to keep in contact.

First off you can follow this blog which I will be updating. I will warn you this blog is going to be my honest experience. I will be sharing the nitty gritty details about living in Ethiopia. If you can't handle the truth and possible TMI situations then you should probably just email me. I will update the blog as often as I can. So add it to your favorites and check it often. I will be updating Facebook but not nearly as often as this.

Skype: Andrea.louise.spake

I will have access to Internet if not everyday every once in awhile. Add me and if I am on I would love to talk :)

Email: aspake09@gmail.com

I will reply to all the emails that are sent to me.

Address:

Andrea Spake

U.S. Peace Corps Ethiopia

P.O. Box 7788

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

This will be my address for the first three months of my service. After I am moved to my site I wi have a new address. Any mail that is sent to this address after that time will eventually make it to me. I love getting mail and will respond to any I get. Just a heads up it may take up to a month for me to get something you send. 

I would looove you share my adventures with you and hear about what is happening back in the States.

Resolutions and Revolutions.

This year I will be pushing myself so far out of my comfort zone that one of two things will happen:
1) I will fall flat on my face in a puddle of Ethiopian mud or
2) I will become unstoppable.

So this year I am not making resolutions. I am making revolutions.
and no I am not saying I will be overthrowing a government.

I mean I am overthrowing my life.
I am making a dramatic and wide-reaching change in every possible aspect of my life.

I will be a better person. Not because I feel as though I am a bad person, but because I will be living in a situation so humbling that it leaves me no other option but to grow.

I will love more. Not because I don't currently show those around me how much I care but because I will have more to love.

2014 is a year of growth.
A year of love.
A year of improvement.
A year of friendship.
A year of adventures.
A year of travel.
A year of ups.
A year of downs.
A year of hope.
A year of change.

But isn't that every year?

So here's to revolutions in life this year, not just resolutions.