Posts

Has it really been that long?

“Has it really been that long? Did I count the days wrong?” These are two opening lines to the song “Patience” by Tame Impala, and in classic fashion, Kevin Parker seems to write songs for every emotion I feel. This song describes the passage of time and how you change as time changes. The person you were last year will not be the same person you are in the next, and is not the same person you are today. I have been in Ethiopia for almost 8 months and I can say for certain that I have changed in more ways than I ever thought I would. I have become so much more patient, I have become so much more empathetic, and quieter than I was before I came here. As time goes on, you grow, you learn, you adapt, and you begin to see things differently. It is clearer now that the world is so much bigger than I once before thought. There is so much to see and as Kevin Parker wrote in his song “Yes I’m changing”: “There’s a world out there and it’s calling my name, and it’s calling yours too.”  
1 comment
Read more

New year: new thoughts, new perspectives, same problems.

Even though I am living in rural Ethiopia, I am still able to stay relatively up to date with the goings on of the rest of world. There is such a lack of respect in the world right now. I live in a developing country that is being torn at the seams politically along ethnic lines. But within my community l have three major ethnic groups living together in relative harmony. No one cares where you’re from, all they care about is that you’re doing alright. I watched one person who is a known advocate for one major ethnic group go to a counterpart of his who is of a different ethnic group and ask if he could help him carry water to his house. Imagine a known Democrat leader having this interaction with a known republican leader. You can’t, because it would never happen. The people of my community have so many bigger things to worry about than petty political issues. Everyone loves their ethnicity here but at least in my community, it’s community first. The United States is just so divided a
Post a Comment
Read more

Heroes

I’ve had so many people tell me that they’re proud of me, and usually they thank me for my service. It’s such a weird thing to try and respond to because honestly, I’m not a hero. If you have a strong mind and don’t mind lowering your standards of life (to a still livable level) then peace corps is absolutely doable. I was told by one friend that what I am doing is heroic and that this world needs more people like me. I’m just not a hero for doing this, my hero is my director that is trying to pursue equal education for girls, my hero is my female counterpart at my school that goes out of her way to teach the girls at the school to pursue anything they want to do in life because they’re worth it. My hero is my male counterpart teacher that teaches the male students to be respectful to women to respect all people equally until given a valid reason to not do so. My heroes are the teachers and community memebees that come to me asking for advice on how to fix the issues that plague their
Post a Comment
Read more

Teaching takes time.

Right then, now just a couple weeks into class, I’m realizing there is a lot to learn and a lot of work to be done. Today was my instillation where my program mananger, whom we call affectionately, Dr. Dan came to my site and talked to my community. He answered so many of my fellow teachers’ questions and answered many of mine. I was expressing to him how I feel like I walk into the classroom and the students don’t learn a single thing. I mean, I walk into the classroom and I get so many blank stares. However, a couple of times a class I’ll get my students to laugh and to relax. Dan responded by saying “Marc, teaching takes time and you’ve only just begun.” I can always count on this man to calm me down when I’m nervous about my job. He truly believes in me and the peace corps as a whole. Side note, he also gave me a guitar so I owe this man my life. Anyway, if there’s anything I will learn from two years in Ethiopia, it’s to have patience with myself. There is an oromian proverb that
Post a Comment
Read more

“... And remember that the only time is now...”

Preface: Yes, the title is grateful dead quote.  If these past couple weeks have taught me anything it’s this: life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. This is a quote made by the character of Uncle Iroh from the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender (a show I highly recommend watching, it has aged so so well).  I was in a state of shock a couple weeks ago when I moved into my site. When I got into the house, I immediately got to work setting up my house and unpacking. After some time to reflect, I did this because I was sick of not feeling settled and I also was so nervous about moving into my new community. But after these couple of weeks those anxieties have melted away to make room for new ones. School starts Monday, I begin my job and I begin my journey of trying to make an impact in Illubabor. I was talking to a very close friend of mine and we were talking about all of our doubts and worries. We came to the conclusion that there was always going to a point where
Post a Comment
Read more

A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through.

So! Here I am, in Illubabor, at my home for the next waggaa lama (two years). It’s such a beautiful spot; i’m smackdab in the middle of yayo forrest which is a micro climate that is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. There are caves that expose geologic features that are only present here and in Iceland. The land is almost as beautiful people that live on it. This country and the people within it surprise me everyday, my compound family at my site was welcoming me with open arms into their family. They have given me a home that has two rooms,  that are 4 meters by 4 meters each. That is massive for peace corps standards. I really can’t say enough good things about my living situation. I’m in a compound with many c hildren that were just sitting in the threshold of my home watching me set up everything. I have concrete floors and nicely painted walls and electricity! Which is a lot more than what can be said about others in my cohort. I was also able to visit my hub town prior to my arri
2 comments
Read more

A week of truckin’...

This last week I was on site visit. I was placed in the Illubabor region within Oromia; my hub town,which is the main city in my Area is Metu. It is truly a beautiful piece of country. My permanent site is atop a mountain in the Yayo Forrest which is a UNESCO site. I was shocked at how beautiful the land was the first time I got up there. There is only one other volunteer in my area and he’s in my Group, I feel super lucky to have him near me because he’s only a couple towns over. However there are 8 of us from Group 21 in the region. My town is a Warreda town which means there are government offices in the town for the Ethiopian equivalent of a county. Therefore my town is fairly large all things considered. I can buy most things I need within my town but Metu is only a relatively quick ride away (about 2 hours). My school is great too and my fellow teachers are very open to having me in their school and apart of their staff. I also met my director who is just the nicest guy and has h
Post a Comment
Read more