Subways, Puppies, and Crazy Trees!

Hey everyone!

I last left you right before leaving for America to go on a MUCH needed vacation. As much as I love Ethiopia, after nine months without leaving the country and 3 months at site with only small weekend trips, I was ready to get out. I was irritable with most Ethiopians, annoyed with pretty much everything that happened, and was even treating the cute dog in my compound with some disdain. Bernard how could you ever be mad at this beautiful face? I know it seems difficult, but at 330 in the morning when she's barking at ghosts.... Yea it's hard to love her then.

Nonetheless I was glad to get out and see my family! It had been WAY too long since I'd seen them, and I missed them dearly. I stopped in Germany on the way and got to see both my grandma and my older brother. Even thought I was just there for a day and a half, I was still really upset to leave. I love Germany with all my heart and am determined to move back there in a few years. Afterwards, I met up with my parents and younger brother in NYC. I spent just over a week with them seeing the sites in New York, Philly, and D.C. We don’t take vacations like this often, and I really enjoyed this one. Afterwards I spent a few days with my cousin in NY living it up, and I had a BLAST. What did I think about my family after so long away? Pretty much the same as before. My mom is as cute and as German as ever. My dad is as awesome and as stubborn as ever. And my brother is still annoying, still cooler than I could ever hope to be, and most shockingly STILL growing. I actually have to look up at him now. Michael what are you eating? I ate a lot of hamburger helper in college too and I didn’t grow this much.

After my two weeks break I came back to Ethiopia refreshed. I won’t lie to you: while I wasn’t upset I was coming back, I wasn’t happy either. I was basically like “Well this is where I live.” But what I love about Ethiopia is that even through the harassment, power outages, and moments where you just want to scream, “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?”, Ethiopia sneaks up on you and makes you love it again. And that’s exactly how I felt after only a week back. The little things like the cute little girl who always waves at you and says hello…. The ridiculous young kid who lives in your compound and entertains you with his antics…. The constant invitations to coffee, food and anything else they have at the time. I was super glad to be back.

And it’s only gotten better since then! I’ve finally gotten to the point with work where I am satisfied with how things are going. For a long time I was really upset. Everyone in Peace Corps strives to have this big project that

changes your community. And some of my friends have accomplished this. One is building a dairy and chicken farm to take care of orphan and vulnerable children in one of the schools. Another is making music videos that teach proper nutrition and care to youngsters. And the list goes on. While I tried for a long time to get one of these big projects, I ultimately didn’t for many reasons, some of which are definitely my fault.

But since I’ve stopped trying to do these dramatic big things, I’ve started doing a lot more smaller things that have all added up and have helped me to realize the impact I’m making and also to actually get bigger opportunities I didn’t have before. I LOVE my work now. I go to the high school twice a week where I help the environment club there get better and better by introducing all kinds of new ideas. I have started my own community environment club that meets every other week. We learn about composting, gardening, tree planting, dog training, and much more. I still teach English twice a week at a private language school, and have expanded this to include helping anyone out who asks, including if they just want to have tea and talk for a while. We are planning the next summer camp in my town, and I have had a big role in helping to prepare for that. Together my sitemate Lizzie and I will be starting a garden at the health center where we will give trainings in the latest permagardening techniques. And with Sam we also plan on painting a world map in one of the schools.

….And then there was Earth Day. I wanted to do something big. Something crazy. Something only I would do. And the perfect idea came to me: Why don’t I dress up as a tree!!! So that’s what I did. Yep, I dressed up as a tree and walked around my town telling people about Earth Day. I looked really ridiculous (more like a crazy farmer than a tree), but it was a really effective way of getting a lot of people's attention. I was able to introduce many of them to the concept of Earth Day, and give them eco-friendly advice (such as not to break branches off of trees, plant two trees for every one that you cut, etc.). While many thought I was celebrating some really strange American holiday and some thought I was simply crazy, most people got the point in the end that Earth Day was about the environment. News of my activities spread quickly and many of my friends told me how much people were talking about it and asking each other what the antics were about. This was a really fun way of getting people talking about the environment! I can’t wait to find out what crazy idea I come up with next.