Ethiopia by E-mail
Subject: Hello everyone from Addis
We are doing well. James has gotten his Offical Letter from IFESH and has
signed it so he will be coming back in September for another year. The
students are really happy because they said James promised to come and make
sure they all graduate next July. The other good news is the hot water
heater is fixed and the power problem has been taken care of in our
apartment. They found a loose connection in the breaker box which caused
the breaker to blow and set off the breaker in the main switch down stairs.
During the day it is not bad to be without electric because of the big
window in the apartment but at night about all you can do is go to bed. We
have a couple of book lights so we could read. So hopefully everything will
be working for a while now. James signed a two year lease so we will be
coming back to the same apartment and will be leaving all household supplies
in the apartment for when we come. We will just be taking home clothes and
gifts from here. James talked to Ato Mamo and he will make sure our
electric bill and phone are paid as long as we leave the money and check on
the place while we are gone.
I hope this note finds you all doing well and getting ready for summer. We
went to the NGOs Bazaar yesterday and got a few more gifts to bring home.
We met Ato Mamo and Rose (another IFESH TFA) at the Bazaar and they are
planning to take the new TFA's to the bazaar when they get to Ethiopia.
Carolyn had wanted us to talk to Ato Mamo because we have been attending the
Bazaar regularly and it is a nice place to shop and help the NGO's. We
walked down Bole Road and bought a waste basket and a laundry basket from a
guy making baskets on the street then walked home with it. The rest of the
day we were just lazy.(Saturday)
Jim is trying to get all his work done and they are scheduling the exam for
the students wishing to join the new class. They have around 132
applications and can only take 40 students. So when Nathan and Alice get
here in a couple of weeks they will be busy with going over the exams and
applications. The good news is that Melese is now a full time Assisant Dean
in the Graduate School of Social Work. He won't have to divide his time
between two schools next year.
I am still at Gemini Trust. I still don't know if the students are learning
anything but at least they are learning that all Americans do not just sit
in their compounds and never find out anything about Ethiopia and the people
here. I have taken some pictures of the students and been able to give some
copies to the students. They have been teaching me a little Amharic and
hopefully next year I will get to Ethiopia while they are having orientation
so I can attend the Amharic classes. Ato Mamo said it was ok for me to
attend as an IFESH spouse. I will see what I can find next year to do or if
I will go back to Gemini. They still think they will have to move but maybe
in September. So I will have to see where they are located and if they
think I helped any of the students this year and want me back.
This last week the students were writing Jim letters. The students
asks me to show them how to write a letter so I did. I found out one of the
students who I have been talking to has a brother and sister living in
Phoenix. Dagnachew wants me to call his brother and see him while I am in
Phoenix so we will try to arrange that. At least we will talk to him and
maybe his sister too. So the next day he brought me his phone number in
Phoenix.
I lost my crown again on Tuesday and the dentist was able to reglue it
again. I am glad I have a dentist appointment in Michigan for the 5th of
July.
We are hoping to go to Awasa this weekend so I will write again after the
trip.
Bye for now
Pat
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 06:51:24 +0300
From: Pat Rollin