the landscaping crew, hard at work

One of the nice things about life in Ethiopia is that you don't need to hire a landscaping crew, or even purchase a lawnmower. Just let your livestock take care of the work.

Pictured here are the sheep, calf, and mama cow that live on my compound. The previous PCV who lived in Bekoji, a Health Volunteer named Jen, called the big cow "Tractor" for how much vegetation she mowed down. That beast sure does some serious nom-nomming.

This crew as a whole is a primary source of daily entertainment for yours truly.

excuse me while i clean up my slobber

BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE SENT BACON!!!!!!!

Many endless thanks to my good buddy, Steve DeTurk, for this incredible care package. Nothing like a box full of goodies from DeTurkey. He even slipped in a little bit-o grandpa's medicine. Bravo, my friend.

If you wanna be cool like Steve, and be featured on the preeminent blog about a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bekoji, here's how: http://hewhoknowspatience.blogspot.com/2012/09/handle-with-care-updated-shipping.html

we don't need no water, let the meskal fire burn

The timing of our group’s swearing-in ceremony could not have been timed better. Rainy season is tapering off, kids are excited to be getting back to school, and it’s holiday season in Ethiopia. The latest celebration was that of Meskal, which marks the “finding of the true cross.” According to our handy-dandy, Peace Corps-produced Cross Culture Workbook, when no one would show [Empress Helen] the holy tomb, [she] lit incense and prayed for help. The smoke drifted and beneath it she dug to find three roses, one of which was the True Cross of Jesus,” part of which resides in a church north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The holiday is only recognized by the Orthodox Christian denomination, which is one of the major religious divisions in Ethiopia.

How is it celebrated? With fire, of course. Lots of fire. And bright costumes. And drums. And chanting. And lots of meat washed down with glass after glass of t’ella.

it just keeps getting better

Victories as a Peace Corps Volunteer tend to come in small doses, often in the form of what might otherwise fall under the mundane outside of this context. Current volunteers imparted this wisdom while our group was still in training, with examples such as, “They put us up in hotel X instead of hotel Y and my day was made.” I have very quickly found this to be true. Last week, I wrote about three small interactions that totally made my day. So when a series of events comes along that leaves a PCV absolutely dazed with awesomeness, he has no choice but to write about it.