Ive got a handful of kolo, you should have a handful of kolo

In Ethiopia food is a big part of culture.

Anytime you go to someones house for the first time you will get feed. Often times way more than you want.

On holidays this is especially true. Everyone wants to celebrate with you which means you are going to get fed about a thousand times. The famous double lunch.

There is a word in Amharic “ inebla” that you use to invite someone to eat with you. This isn’t just used on holidays or at peoples home but often while you are out and about.

If you are on a bus and are eating something it would be considered very rude to not offer those sitting around you part of what you are eating.

My personal favorite example is when you are walking around the market or out in a rural area and a merchant or farmer has a pocket full of kolo ( the only real snack food in ethioipa that is made up of roasted barley, chickpeas, and peanuts). If you greet the merchant or farmer you are going to get offered kolo. And who doesn’t want to take a handful of kolo mixed with dirt and pocket lint? I’m sure as heck not going to say no to free food. Even if that food is mixed with a little dirt.

This is one of my favorite parts of the culture here. It really shows how giving the people of Ethiopia are. They may not be rich in birr but if they have a handful of kolo you are sure to have a handful of kolo.  

Musical Journey

Ethiopia is one of the most diverse countries in the world. If you drive five minutes you might be in a area that speaks an entirely different language.

Each region and sub-region has a unique culture. One of the ways that I have explored each of the regions is through music. Whether it’s the steady heart beat of Tigraian music or the hip shaking of the south each is distinct.

I’m going to take you through a musical tour of the regions of Ethiopia that volunteers serve in to show some of the differences.

Lets start up north in Tigray. Tigray is one of the easier regions to identify by music. The back ground beat reminds me of a steady heart beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxCB354Druo

Amhara is a large region with many different types of music.  Amhara is best known for the Eskista , a type of shoulder dancing. This song comes from the Gondar region or Amhara.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHqTpW1UcnQ

Oromia is the largest region in Ethiopia. It also happens to be my home so I have quite a bit of pride for this region. The women wear beautiful beaded jewelry and the dance is more in the chest then shoulders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Loqn07wBo

SNNPR is an extremely diverse region. The music from this region is some of my favorite to dance to. The first song is from the Gurage region where I first lived when I came to Ethiopia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwynWZSTukc

 This second song from SNNPR comes from an area called Wolayta. This regions dance is mostly in the hips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFdyk6XW0HQ

There is even more diversity than this but I would be here all day if I were to show you them all. To be honest when I first came to Ethiopia it all kind of sounded the same. But I have found myself in love with Ethiopian music. I find that being able to sing along and knowing the dances is a great way for me to integrate with this amazing culture.

Just because I love them so I am leaving you with a modern Ethiopian rock band that I love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umKVifpVLZc

Sending you all the love from Ethiopia!

Finding the light.

As a female you are told that you have a 50% chance of it happening to you at least once in your life.

I am now another statistic.

A few days ago after returning to my site I went to purchase vegetables after missing market day.

During the week there are sometimes ladies who sit on the street to sell fruits and vegetables. While I was buying goman (a dark leafy green that is common in ethiopia) a man started to harass me. I ignored him and continued my conversation with the women I was purchasing from. 

The man approached me and when I ignored him he reached his hand down my shirt and grabbed my breast.

I don't know the words sexual assault in the local language. I don't know the man who assaulted me.

What I do know is that I have never been more proud of my town. Two men jumped up and pulled him off of me so I could walk home. When I told my compound family the following morning they treated me as their daugher. They made me buna gave me lectures on safety and offered to take me to the police.

At the end of the day I don't feel like a victim.

I feel grateful that I have a town that protects me, many families that love me, and a Peace Corps family to help put me back together.

This is my super precious ethiopian family. They are my light. 

Droppin Knowledge: 10 Lessons I have Learned in my First Year of Service

It is official ladies and gentlemen:  One year in the books.

One whole year.

This has been the toughest and most amazing year in the 24 years of my life.

Having this opportunity really allows you to get to know yourself. I feel like I have learned so much about life. By the time this service is over I will pretty much be a Guru. People will write great leather bound books to share all that is in my mind.  To help out these future authors I wanted to share a little knowledge with you today. I have compiled some of my greatest insights for life.  I title this

“10 Lessons I have learned in My First Year of Peace Corps Service”

1. “Always Say Yes”. Even if you aren’t entirely sure what people are asking you. Nod, Smile, and just say yes. Who knows how many old women think I am willing to marry their son or how many times I have told people that I in fact know Barack Obama (PS Barack if your following my blog , I’m still waiting for that care package!)

2. “It’s Okay to Say No”. It really is okay to say no to that second cup of coffee with salt and rancid butter. Unless you really like it, in which case see “Lesson 1”.

3.  “Just Ask”. This really has nothing to do with my service but more so a chance for me to rant about the downfall of humanity. This year I became aware of the newest craze for tourists. The “Selfie Stick”. The “Selfie Stick” is everything that is wrong with the human race. If you want a picture with you in it get off your butt and ask somebody.

4. “ Treat Yo Self”. Ya just gotta treat yo self. Your town just got a new suk with a fridge full of cold soda? Treat yo self. You went to your hub city and they have toilet paper (which you can’t buy in your town!)? Treat yo self.  You have water and electricity at the same time? Treat yo self.

5. “Mamas Know Best”. The first thing you want to do when arriving to site is find yourself a mama. A mama will be there when you need someone to tell off creepy guys, when you are too sick to go to market to buy food for the week, and when you need to day drink local beer. She will be there to tell you that your house is dirty, that it’s a hot day so you should probably shower, and that you need to eat because you have lost too much weight (but then describe you as fat). There is nothing like the love from your site mama.

6. “Take a Deep Breath”. Through your mouth. Breath through your nose as little as possible. Just trust me on this one.

7. “Shit Happens”. And most likely will happen in/on your pants. There is nothing you can do but laugh/cry/vomit possible all at the same time. Then get up and wash your pants.

8. “Let your Freak Flag Fly”. There is a 98.75% chance that as a foreigner people will group you with the crazies. You know there’s the crazy pant less man dancing in the street and the foreign girl. We are practically the same person! I like to use that to my advantage.  Shoot if I could take it as far as not wearing pants I would. But I think that is pushing it.

9. “Sharing is caring”. It’s the law. You got a lovely care package from back home? The only kind thing to do is share. Not sharing is just cruel. Really, really cruel.

10. You can’t triple stamp a double stamp!

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.