Friday, February 11

Did I say they installed the enjera stove yesterday? It was supposed to be installed but they discovered that the electric in the maid’s quarters would not support the stove. The installer said he would do the rewiring and finish up yesterday afternoon. He never came back. In the two-thirds world, time is a very relative, pliable thing. This afternoon may mean tomorrow or next week. This doesn’t mean that they lie when the say “this afternoon.” They intend to come back when they say it, but then something comes up. It’s just the way it works here. If you are a laid back sort, as Jane and I are, well no problem. If you are uptight, then you need to either take medication, alcohol, or go back home. You will not change it. Ever.

     Ethiopia keeps time differently by the clock as well. At 6:00 AM, it’s like our midnight. Therefore 7:00 AM is 1:00, 9:00 AM is 3:00, etc. At 6:00 PM it starts all over, 7:00 PM is 1:00, etc. Since the sun comes up and goes down at about the same time of day every single day, it makes sense. 1:00 is the first hour of daylight, etc. They also have a different calendar with thirteen months, but we’ll talk about that some other time.

     Remember the problem with the watchman? Last night, our boss Eyasu, the school Administrator Zakiros, the Principal Tseshome, and the driver Gebre came by when the watchman was scheduled to start and explained to him that he couldn’t stay in the maid’s quarters anymore. He agreed to stay there last night and take his bed with him this morning.

     When everyone left, the watchman called Mowcha, the maid, outside and talked to her. I waited a little while and after she returned to the house, I went into the kitchen. Mowcha was sitting in the corner, looking very sad. I asked if she was OK and she just shrugged. I pointed to the backyard where the watchman was and she shook her head “Yes.” I then pointed to the watchman and said to her, “Tomorrow I fix!” We will fire the watchman today.

     We have a wrought iron fence and stone wall around our house. It has rolls of razor wire on top. Our doors are very secure. We are considering not having a watchman, but there’s a problem. Mowcha may think she has to keep watch and not rest well at night. So if she says it’s OK, no watchman. If she is anxious, we will get a watchman with a better disposition. Remember, a watchman costs 350Birr a month or about $21 US a month. Not a big expense either way for us “Rich Americans.”

     This morning I left 500 Birr ($30 US) for Mowcha to go shopping for food. She will think that’s too much, but we want her to know that we can afford more than the typical Ethiopian family and that it’s alright to spend a little more. Even if she does, we will eat well for very much less than in the US.

     I’m writing this in Zakiros’ office at the school. At this moment, Tseshome has come in to use the only phone at the school that sits on Zakiros’s desk, there is an animated discussion going on between a student and a teacher, and it seems like the most unlikely place to find any quiet. I think I’ll go to the library to check out English curriculum.

     I’m back with news of the library. We need books, lots of books. Books are hard to find in Ethiopia because they all have to be imported. They weigh a lot and therefore cost a lot to ship here. I’m going to look for a way, no, I’m going to find a way to get books to Mekele. How can you teach kids to read if you don’t have books for them? Troubling.

     Shortly I’ll begin a list of items for a “care” package for Jane and me. Some things we really need simply do not exist here is Ethiopia. For example, we both have partial dentures and use Polident or something like it. You can’t find it at any price. I may try to make my own concoction made from baking soda and baking powder. When we do ask, of course we’ll reimburse you for your costs.

     It’s later and we just got word that our cargo has arrived and ended up at Eyasu’s brother’s store. We’ve been looking forward to it all arriving just like kids at Christmas. It’s been so long since we packed it up that we can’t remember what we shipped and what we left behind. This will be fun.