Hello! This blog post is brought to you from my uncle Bob's office at the Ethiopian Center for Disabilities and Development in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. But first let me rewind.
MALI
I finished in my village on September 8th. About a week or two before I left, my replacement, Katherine, came to the village to do a visit for a few days. I helped to familiarize her with the village and the community members she should know and work with. She has a really good attitude and I'm really excited for her to be working in this most amazing village that has become my home the past two years!! On September 11th, after finishing my work and shopping up in Sikasso, I went off to Bamako. I closed out my projects, and finished my service without a problem. I was delayed in Bamako with problems with the airlines, and a sudden pretty serious cold. I guess that was my body's way of telling me to SLOW DOWN. I listened. I was supposed to leave on the 19th but because of the cold and bus scheduling (it was leaving on Friday instead of Saturday because of the end of Ramadan), I decided to stay until Tuesday, the 22nd. I bought my plane ticket leaving Accra, Ghana for Saturday the 26th because I saved about $700 by leaving from Accra instead of Bamako. Luckily I have a very nice friend in Bamako that has been willing to take me in over these past two years, and let me feel at home there. So, plane and bus tickets in hand I boarded a bus at 7 am Tuesday morning to Accra. Saying goodbye to Mali was difficult to say the least. Luckily I was met in Sikasso by a friend who dropped off some pictures we had taken Malian style the last night in Sikasso, so this brought my mood up.
BURKINA FASO
We got stopped for 2 hours on the Malian side of the Burkina border, and then again on the Burkina side for another 2 hours. We didn't get into Ouagadugu (the capital of Burkina) until after 1 am. By this time I felt as if I had fluid in my ear and got a Qtip - BIG MISTAKE! About 30 minutes later I was struck with the most intense ear pain I have ever experienced accompanied by deafness! Because we had stopped for the night, the bus was locked and the driver sleeping. I decided to let him sleep because despite the bus company saying there would be more than one driver, he appeared to be the only one, and we were leaving at 4 am!! Well, this pain ensured that I didn't sleep, but I sat with the women and helped them keep their restless children out of trouble. After no sleep, we got on a bus at around 4:30 am. I loaded up on ibuprofin and fell asleep shortly on the bus, all the way to the Ghana border.
GHANA
We didn't spend too much time at the border, and then we were off to Kumasi, about 5 hours from Accra. We made it to Kumasi by sunset, and I was lucky enough to find someone to help me out with a place to sleep and internet. I stayed on my regular sudafed and pain killer schedule so I could sleep. I stayed on that all the way down to Accra the next day, when I arrived at about 4 pm Thursday afternoon. I immediately went to a doctor who looked and said my ear was fine, no rupture, no earwax buildup, it was just water in the ear and it would go away. That night I couldn't sleep again with all the pain, and went to the doctor again the next day. She prescribed antibiotics, and assured me the pain would go away. By this time, it was Friday, and I was scheduled to be on a plane by Saturday morning!! With all this pain, the doctor told me I shouldn't fly and gave me a note. I went to the airlines, and they let me switch my flight to Tuesday, Sept 29th. So, I spent the rest of the weekend on a dwindling cash supply in Accra. Finally the pain subsided and I boarded a plane to ...
ETHIOPIA!
I was met in the airport by my uncle Bob. I spent two nights at his house in Addis Ababa and then went to Awasa with my cousin Myles to check out his newest restaurant that he's building. It's quite the place, there's a beautiful lake and lots of good food and night life. The food here is amazing! And the juice, I can't get enough of it, avocado, mango, pineapple, guava, orange, lemon. We're not just talking juice, we're talking puree. Like right from the blender. It's SO GOOD!!! A few nights ago we went out to an Oktoberfest party at a bar, and then went off to see a reggae show. It was fantastic, and I had a lot of fun. Yesterday, we celebrated my cousin's son, Michael's birthday, age 6. So, that brings me here. I'm still deaf, but luckily it's my already mostly deaf left ear. I'm hoping it will go away before I leave Ethiopia!! I'm headed off to Awasa again today with Myles, until Friday, when his mom, my aunt, Kitui, will arrive from Geneva. I'll keep you posted as events unfold, and hopefully I can get some pictures up sometime.
MALI
I finished in my village on September 8th. About a week or two before I left, my replacement, Katherine, came to the village to do a visit for a few days. I helped to familiarize her with the village and the community members she should know and work with. She has a really good attitude and I'm really excited for her to be working in this most amazing village that has become my home the past two years!! On September 11th, after finishing my work and shopping up in Sikasso, I went off to Bamako. I closed out my projects, and finished my service without a problem. I was delayed in Bamako with problems with the airlines, and a sudden pretty serious cold. I guess that was my body's way of telling me to SLOW DOWN. I listened. I was supposed to leave on the 19th but because of the cold and bus scheduling (it was leaving on Friday instead of Saturday because of the end of Ramadan), I decided to stay until Tuesday, the 22nd. I bought my plane ticket leaving Accra, Ghana for Saturday the 26th because I saved about $700 by leaving from Accra instead of Bamako. Luckily I have a very nice friend in Bamako that has been willing to take me in over these past two years, and let me feel at home there. So, plane and bus tickets in hand I boarded a bus at 7 am Tuesday morning to Accra. Saying goodbye to Mali was difficult to say the least. Luckily I was met in Sikasso by a friend who dropped off some pictures we had taken Malian style the last night in Sikasso, so this brought my mood up.
BURKINA FASO
We got stopped for 2 hours on the Malian side of the Burkina border, and then again on the Burkina side for another 2 hours. We didn't get into Ouagadugu (the capital of Burkina) until after 1 am. By this time I felt as if I had fluid in my ear and got a Qtip - BIG MISTAKE! About 30 minutes later I was struck with the most intense ear pain I have ever experienced accompanied by deafness! Because we had stopped for the night, the bus was locked and the driver sleeping. I decided to let him sleep because despite the bus company saying there would be more than one driver, he appeared to be the only one, and we were leaving at 4 am!! Well, this pain ensured that I didn't sleep, but I sat with the women and helped them keep their restless children out of trouble. After no sleep, we got on a bus at around 4:30 am. I loaded up on ibuprofin and fell asleep shortly on the bus, all the way to the Ghana border.
GHANA
We didn't spend too much time at the border, and then we were off to Kumasi, about 5 hours from Accra. We made it to Kumasi by sunset, and I was lucky enough to find someone to help me out with a place to sleep and internet. I stayed on my regular sudafed and pain killer schedule so I could sleep. I stayed on that all the way down to Accra the next day, when I arrived at about 4 pm Thursday afternoon. I immediately went to a doctor who looked and said my ear was fine, no rupture, no earwax buildup, it was just water in the ear and it would go away. That night I couldn't sleep again with all the pain, and went to the doctor again the next day. She prescribed antibiotics, and assured me the pain would go away. By this time, it was Friday, and I was scheduled to be on a plane by Saturday morning!! With all this pain, the doctor told me I shouldn't fly and gave me a note. I went to the airlines, and they let me switch my flight to Tuesday, Sept 29th. So, I spent the rest of the weekend on a dwindling cash supply in Accra. Finally the pain subsided and I boarded a plane to ...
ETHIOPIA!
I was met in the airport by my uncle Bob. I spent two nights at his house in Addis Ababa and then went to Awasa with my cousin Myles to check out his newest restaurant that he's building. It's quite the place, there's a beautiful lake and lots of good food and night life. The food here is amazing! And the juice, I can't get enough of it, avocado, mango, pineapple, guava, orange, lemon. We're not just talking juice, we're talking puree. Like right from the blender. It's SO GOOD!!! A few nights ago we went out to an Oktoberfest party at a bar, and then went off to see a reggae show. It was fantastic, and I had a lot of fun. Yesterday, we celebrated my cousin's son, Michael's birthday, age 6. So, that brings me here. I'm still deaf, but luckily it's my already mostly deaf left ear. I'm hoping it will go away before I leave Ethiopia!! I'm headed off to Awasa again today with Myles, until Friday, when his mom, my aunt, Kitui, will arrive from Geneva. I'll keep you posted as events unfold, and hopefully I can get some pictures up sometime.
