Step by Step

October 27, 2011 · Filed under Uncategorized

I make a total fool of myself every day at least once a day. Whether it’s tripping and almost eating the ground or accidentally saying Dehna nesh? to a man instead of Dehna neh? Mistakes however are great ways to learn and make friends. A lot of Ethiopians know more English than they think they do but are self conscious to try and speak it with me. Once they see me trying my best with their language they feel more comfortable to practice English with me. In Gondar most tourists barely know the word for buna let alone all the greetings and such that I know. I think it is easier for me to make Ethiopian friends because they appreciate me trying to speak Amharic. The women on my compound tell me my Amharic is perfect (it’s far from it) and when I bring a new ferenji friend over they brag about me, which is adorable. When I say a sentence or try a phrase I haven’t used before instead of giggling at me now they beam with pride and correct me if need be. I haven’t had language class since moving to Gondar and I haven’t gotten a tutor yet but in the past month or so my ability to speak and understand Amharic has seriously increased. I think the key to learning a new language is not being afraid to look stupid. We have another new IFESH volunteer, Shameka, and I took her down to Arada to help her buy some things. Not to be full of myself but I was a rockstar. Not only did I bargain I was able to understand the shop owners when they tried to spit numbers at me fast thinking I wouldn’t be able to comprehend. I got Shameka better prices on items than I got for myself when I first moved here.

Learning a new language was one of the scariest parts of joining Peace Corps. When we first got to country and they tried to teach us some survival phrases I thought there was no way I was going to be able to even say thank you. When I first got to my host family stay and listened to my host parents talk I thought there is no way I will be able to understand a conversation. But kas bi kas (step by step) I am understanding and speaking more and more.

Onto a different topic, Halloween is an extremely difficult holiday to try and explain. Especially since the only holidays here are religious. I made the mistake of trying to explain it by using the names of Ethiopian religious holidays and for a few minutes they thought Halloween was some Catholic holiday. I told the people on my compound when I first moved in that I was Catholic because explaining that I was raised Episcopalian would have been too much. Anyway so after I cleared up that Halloween is in no way related to a Christian holiday and a couple interesting attempts at sound effects later I decided it would be better to just show them. Liz and I are going to get pumpkins (yes there are pumpkins here! but they light green) show them how to make a jack-o-lantern and then watch The Great Pumpkin because it is the best Halloween movie ever. Pictures to come.