Hippo hunting

Another week has passed in Hawassa and I continue to learn and adjust to my new life here. There are challenges for sure, but they pale in comparison to the amazing opportunities to learn and try new things. I went out on a hippo tour with some friends on Sunday. I have seen hippos before, but have never been that close to them and managed to get a full understanding of how massive those animals really are. Pictures simply can't do justice to the size of them. We finished off our day with some "tibbs" (fried meat) with "injera" (Ethiopian flatbread). The food really is delicious, but after a while you always find yourself craving the "ferengi" food you are used to.

Also, there are storks all over the place by the lake.

 

 

The Amharic word for foreigner is "ferengi" and when I walk down the street there are continuous shouts of "ferengi! Ferengi!" or "you! You!" All of the shouts are more out of kindness and curiosity than anything else. The kindness of the Ethiopian people cannot be understated. If you are lost, or need something, people will go out of their way to help you. They will walk with you if they can't find the language to explain the directions what they are trying to tell you.

I am settling into the work routine as well. There is a large teacher training project about begin that is a joint initiative of the British Council and the Ethiopian Education Ministry and I am very excited to be a part of it. The level of English language instruction in Ethiopia needs to improve in many ways, but the changes are happening and the future is promising. The crux will be getting adequate training and materials to the rural areas of the country as some areas of Ethiopia are still quite wild and road access doesn't exist in some cases. I am pretty sure that I am going to visit some of the more remote areas of the Southern Region as part of my work here and I can't wait for that.