The A to Z's of Living in Ethiopia

THE ETHIOPIAN ALPHABET

Here is a 26 point quick update of our first few weeks here in Ethiopia. Now that we are getting our feet on the ground we hope to get a few more pictures and other items posted to the web. Stay tuned for more in the weeks to come. Thanks for your emails and phone calls as well.

Read on for some insight into our life in East Africa.

A - AMASEDGENALLOW. Thank you in Amharic. In Tigrinya, the word is Yekinyaylay. Our heartfelt thanks go to all of you for your prayers and financial support in helping us be here right now.

B - BABY. This is what all children are called, regardless of their age. So as we walk down the street, passersby will touch the children’s heads and faces and grab for their arms and say, “Baby!”

C - CHEESEBURGER. This is what Curtis excitedly ordered from the menu at a local restaurant. Later the waiter came out and said, “beef done. Burger done. Cheese yes.” We said, “ishee” thinking he meant curtis’ burger was already done and they could bring it out early. Nothing came but rolls, then finally our food arrived and Curtis was handed a pair of buns with 3 thick slices of cold cheese stacked inside. We stared at the meal and then looked at each other and then asked, “Where is the Beef?” “Beef?” “Burger?” The waiter replied, “Beef is Done..all done.” Oh….that was what he was saying, we figured out, it had run out apparently…no more beef…only cheese. Hmmmm….interesting.

D - DOGS. Wild dogs and guard dogs of every variety make their home in Ethiopia. Our first night in our home, we enjoyed NO sleep due to the guard dog who was graciously left by the landlord for our benefit. The next morning, we phoned to say, “Fido the barking rabies maniac dog MUST GO.” Okay, we didn’t really say that, but we did say…”woosha go bye bye”. Now we enjoy the distant sound of barking dogs in our neighborhood and all across Mekelle. It sounds like we sleep in a kennel. Oh well…we are getting used to it. But the donkeys making their sounds…now that will take some getting used to.

E - E.T. This is the code word we decided to use when we are having a momentary adjustment problem to living in Ethiopia. You know, like “E.T. Phone Home?” When the culture or the adjustments or the frustrations seem overwhelming and one of us has a mini-melt-down, we say, “E.T. moment please…” and the rest of the family knows JUST what we mean. We had these often during the first 16 days living out of our suitcases and eating out every meal and not having a bed for 3 of our children.

F - FERENJEE. What they call foreigners here. Apparently, very few Ferenjee bring their children to Mekelle. There is one other family here with kids but they have been gone on break for 6 months…so, we are quite the novelty. We are watched EVERYWHERE we go. We are moved to the front of every line, despite our objections. Children fight for the chance to sell “soft” (small packages of facial tissue) to us on the streets. Everyone laughs at our attempts to speak Tigrinya (but in a nice way).

G - GROSS. This is how Curtis described the experience of taking Nati to the bathroom in one particular restaurant, ironically called, “The Modern Restaurant”. The hole in the ground wasn’t quite big enough, you see, for what Nati needed to deposit. Others had apparently had the same problem. No more words are necessary here.

H - HABESHA. What they call an Ethiopian. When others are brave enough to approach us on the streets, they often say, “Habesha?” pointing to Nati and then say, “All yours?” pointing to our four children. We are getting to educate the community about adoption, which is fun, as they simply can’t imagine Ferenjees loving a little Habesha the way we would love our other little Ferenjees. They don’t seem to mind the idea, it is just a new one.

I - INJERA. This is the spongy pancake textured bread with a sour taste that all of the traditional meals are served with. You get a round tray with a round piece of injera unrolled on it and then several different sauces or WATS are in piles in the middle. You tear off injera from the edge and then use it to pick up the WATS with your fingers and eat it.

J - JAMA The word for shoes here, which are very necessary because of the rainy season. The streets are filled with red mud and when it rains, you track it inside everywhere with your feet. So if you walk inside on the tile floor without shoes, your feet get filthy. And there is only hot water enough for a shallow 2 inch bath which we do about every few days…interesting.

K - KAMAY HADEERKHA. Our first greeting in Tigrinya we have learned ….it means Good Morning. When you say it, others reply, “Dehana…Exjhaber Yemesgen!” which means, “Good, May God Be Praised!” We are working on saying things with that Arabic German kind of hacking sound that is used in Tigrinya frequently….its Hadeeeerrrkkkkuh” They laugh, we keep trying.

L - LOOKS. From everyone, all the time, everywhere we go. “Ferenjee and Habesha”, they say, as they point and stare and children come up to reach out their hands for a chance to touch REAL white children. Adoption is not part of the culture here so the people are really puzzled as to why we have this little Ethiopian child in American clothes holding our hand and calling us “mommy” and “daddy”.

M - MOANING. Every morning starting at about 5am, we hear what sounds like moaning from the loud speakers blasted all over the city of Mekelle. It comes from the Orthodox church and is prayers or praise or spiritual teaching in the ancient language of Ge-Ez set to music. I asked someone what they were saying/singing once and they said they didn’t know, as it is in Ge-Ez, which no-one, not even some of the priests, knows.

N - NECKLACE. The only thing we have had stolen so far…unfortunately this was yanked right off of little Cailyn’s neck when we were on a busy corner in the center of “market” trying to figure out which way to turn. She was devastated, a crowd immediately responded to her tears to try to help, but because we didn’t know enough Tigrinya, we couldn’t tell them what happened. It was an inexpensive necklace, and a “cross” , interestingly enough. We told her maybe God will use it to change the heart of the teenage boy who grabbed it.

O- ORANGES. Can be found growing on trees and also at nearly every street market, as well as Papaya, Mangos, Bananas, and sometimes apples.

P - PRETTY. What the older men and boys will say about our girls as they pass us on the streets. Sometimes they stop to ask if they are twins, sometimes they don’t even look to the side as they pass, but they say under their breath, “pretty” or “beauty”. They like to practice the English they know, as English is the gateway to education, good jobs, and income.

Q - QUIVERING. This is what we did when we arrived in Addis to the 55 degree weather after leaving Kansas’ 105 degree days. Curtis stated, “I feel like I am laying naked in the snow”, no matter how many layers he was wearing. It actually felt good to quiver.

R - ROOSTERS. The other sound we wake to is roosters doing their thing starting about the time the sun comes up.

S - SOFANI. The name of our day guard, who is also coaching us with language and goes to market with us to help translate and get us Habesha prices instead of Ferenjee prices (they are very different!). He is 20 years old, has 10 siblings, and he and all of his siblings except for one married sister live with his 28 year old brother who has raised them since his mother died five years ago. He has completed grade 12 and hopes to get a chance to go to college.

T - TINNISH. This means “small” or “a little”. It is what we say when others ask if we know Tigrinya or Amharic.

U - UMBRELLAS. This is necessary whenever you head to town on foot (our only means for transportation other than the University car which can take us some places when we call for it). The rains usually hold off until 2 or 3 and then go for a couple of hours. Sometimes, they go all night. Today, they poured in our windows and doors filling our tile floors with water. Good thing we havent got any furniture other than beds yet. God is good.

V - VIEW. The view from our 3rd floor veranda or patio where we do our laundry is gorgeous. Mekelle has green (right now, because it is rainy season) rolling hills or small cliffs alongside the edge of town where we live. We are right next to a wheat field filled with ladies picking weeds every morning. Our address is Kebelle 07, past the Mobil Station, take a right at the Zemanawi Restaurant and it is the green house. Who really needs a house number anyway?

X - XYLOPHONE. This is something we haven’t seen here, though we have heard some wonderful local music played on instruments unique to Ethiopia.

Y - Yellow Stuff. This is what we call the kind of split pea Wat we really like here - but no one can tell us what it is universally called. So, when we would go out to eat our first 3 weeks here, we would say, “um….yellow stuff…um…yellow? Um…split peas, ginger, garlic?” What arrived on our table was anything from the actual dish we desired to spicy meat to something we later named “Alpo” as it seemed so similar in odor and form.

Z - ZZZZZZ. What we heard in our ears every night when we tried to sleep until we got our mosquito nets configured over our beds and starting spraying our rooms an hour before bed and duck taped all the cracks between the windows and the concrete house. Curtis was the “winner” with 38 bites by the 3rd night in our house.