Minibuses!

This is a minibus:

My wife especially knows my fascination with public transportation. When we go to a city like New York or London, she wants to shop, and I want to ride the subway. Well, Addis doesn't have a subway, so I had to settle for the next best thing... the minibus. Minibuses in Addis are basically converted vans that can carry about 15 passengers. They traverse the city in all imaginable directions and routes, and to get from A to B you simply ride a couple of minibuses in succession to your destination. Sounds easy right? Except here's how you may have to get on one:

Crazy, huh? (Imagine doing it with a family of 4!) Once you are on the minibus, you pay the cashier (that's the guy with his head sticking out the window in the first picture). It's usually around 3 Birr (about 18 cents) per adult, kids are free. Then, you try to act aloof as people cram in and around and over and on you. Even sitting on someone's lap is acceptable minibus etiquette. Here is the view from my seat in the back one day.

The minibus is okay, but we were still pretty excited to rent a car the other day and say goodbye to them for a little while. And of course, I still dream of a nice subway or light rail here. So imagine my excitement the other day when I saw a sign for this:

Under construction now with the expectation of being completed by 2014!

An ISTJ in Africa

Ever heard of the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator? Well, I'm an "ISTJ" - which basically means that I'm not real touchy-feely. When it comes to dealing with people, I tend to be pretty direct and uber-practical. If I have some business to do with you or a request, I will probably get right to it with little small talk. In fact, I believe text messaging to be the single best form of communication ever invented.

So how does this play out in a culture that values relationship much more than task? To say that I am task-oriented is an understatement. My whole life is one giant to-do list. Ethiopians (broad generalization coming) are much more personal and relational than this. In fact, one of the things we have been struck with is the importance of the greeting in Amharic when you meet up with another person - even a stranger. Ethiopians will easily spend 15-20 minutes just asking "How are you? How is your family? How is your week? etc. before ever getting down to the business at hand. And if as a foreigner you neglect this very important ritual, not only will you be rude, but you will have a much more difficult time getting your task done. Take the grocery store for example. Sugar is in short supply here, but usually available in the back. "Sikwar alleh?" you might ask. But if you skip the niceties ("how are you?" and so on for quite a while), you might not get any sikwar.

Even though this can be frustrating for an ISTJ like me, I am thankful that God is using this new culture to refine me and force me to be more relational. The "git-er-done" attitude may be valued in the US, but it also blinds me to areas that I need to grow in. "That's the just the way I am," I would often say in the past. What I am learning here is that I have to change in some ways - and that's a good thing. All of this is to make me more in the image of Christ, and that is far better.

Last week, a fellow student in language school told us about losing her purse one day. She said the thing she was most upset about - more than money, credit cards, or even her passport - was her Ethiopian driver's license. Why you ask? Well, because of the process it takes to get one. We just went through this over the past week, and I thought I would share it here...

Day 1: The first step is to go the US Embassy where you present your US driver's license. An official there notarizes a form stating that you have sworn that you possess a valid license. (Yes, you have to raise your right hand.) The Embassy is on the far opposite side of town from where we live, and thus it takes about an hour to get there and 3 bus changes. I felt a bit like Jason Bourne telling everyone that I was "going to the Embassy." This wore off pretty quickly when we arrived to find the embassy was closed. Apparently Friday afternoon is not part of the work week for our consulate.

Day 2: Made the trek back to the Embassy. This time they are open, but we find out the notary fee costs $50 for each of us and we don't have that much cash.

Day 3: Third trip to the Embassy. This time we have the cash. Step one accomplished!

Day 4: We take our notarized forms to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for "authentication". This is where an Ethiopian official puts a stamp on our form saying that the stamp from the US

Embassy is recognized by Ethiopia. This costs 300 Ethiopian Birr each (or about $20) which

we don't have. (You think we'd have learned our lesson.) Fortunately our driver loans us the money so we can get the stamp. Out of time today so step 3 will have to wait til tomorrow.

Day 5: We go to the Ministry of Transport to get our licenses. Here is what you need: your form, a passport photo, a copy of your passport, a copy of your US license, another form which they have there (that is entirely in Amharic), and a file folder for them to file it all. (Yes, you have to bring your own file folder.) We don't have the file folders, so we run to a stationary shop and buy those. Our driver helps us fill out the Amharic form (see above), and 2 hours later, we have our licenses!!

I feel like I'm 16 again...

No Electricity in Soddo!

Tonight we lost power for a little while, and it reminded me that I wanted to post here about what happened down in Soddo last week. In Addis, we lose power occasionally, but it’s usually very brief and doesn’t inconvenience us too much. In Soddo however, there was a devastating fire last week that burned the local power plant to the ground. What does this mean? Stephanie Hail, one of our colleagues there, said this:

“No power. No light. Without electricity you can’t turn on the lights, charge your cell phone, cook in the oven/stove (unless gas or open fire), charge your computer, use the fridge or freezer, use blow dryers, use water heaters, use washing machines, kettles, microwaves, coffee grinders, watch TV, listen to the radio, no street lights… Now that is the simple stuff.

The biggest issue is that getting water to the town requires electricity. The pumps for the wells require electricity. So if you don’t have electricity what are your options? Generators. Sounds like a simple plan, but it is an extremely expensive plan. It takes about 200-300 liters of gas PER DAY to run the government hospital or the Christian hospital for 24 hour period. So that comes out to about $235-$350 a day just for electricity. The good news is that the Christian hospital has a well, so there is water...”

The hospital is rationing the power from the generator to limit the cost. As a result, the docs that live on the compound are limited to 4 hours of electricity per day – 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. Water heaters are not being used. Currently it is believed that the electrical plant may be rebuilt in 1-2 months. That’s a lot of cold showers.

If you would like to donate to the hospital to help offset the costs of the generator, go to this link.

Happy 1st Birthday Taylor!

One week old

One year old

We thought Nate was a talker and then came Taylor. She babbles in complete sentences. She is a morning person like her dad and wakes up with a big smile showing all 6 of her teeth. She likes to play with her brother's toys and has even learned to make race car sound effects. She tries all types of food and hasn't turned anything away yet. She has mastered climbing up and down stairs and is speed crawling and cruising. No steps yet but she is thinking about it. Our little world traveler has adjusted well to life in Ethiopia and enjoys giving kisses to everyone who looks her way.