Black and Yellow

I have started listening to my iPod on the streets every time I go out in order to drown out the relentless barrage of "CHINA, YOU!" or "HEY CHING CHONG HONG HOINGY HONG."

I write in all caps because these phrases are screamed at me. It's most ironic because I'm not from China and I probably know more about Ethiopia than China at this point. The longest I've ever stayed in China was maybe 2 weeks?

Anyway, honestly it's extremely rude but there's nothing you can do about it unless you want to write to the Ethiopian government and ask for them to improve the education system. Which I would not advise. 

Ethiopia has taught me a lot about tolerance and self-control. Mainly in the form of resisting the urge to throw the nearest rock at the racially confused. There's just too many of them and there's no point wasting time and energy attempting to reform an entire culture.

Below are some of the most absurd phrases that I have been the recipient of and the subsequent thoughts that ran through my head, respectively. 

"Hey JIMMY CHONG!"

Did  the man mean Jackie Chang? Jimmy Choos? Maybe Choo Choos? I will never know.

"CHINA KONICHIWA!!!!!"

...............

"HEY YOU CHINA, WHERE IS THE BANANA ??"

Sir, if I knew where there was an unbruised banana, I'd be eating it.

"CHINA SO SEXYYYYY."

Wow, a country that is sexy; that must be a first.

"CHINA, GET IN TAXI YES."

HAH. Mister, if I could afford a taxi why do you think I am still walking to the mini bus stop?

----------------------

Anyway, so mostly these guys don't mean much harm I don't think but I know there is some resentment against the Chinese here. Mostly the older generations are upset that the Chinese donated the roads here and hired the Chinese to do the construction and not Ethiopians. Additionally, the Chinese  have flooded the Ethiopian market with cheap products so obviously the manufacturers and local producers here are bound to be unhappy.

Oh, globalization.

Anyway, for the most part the Ethiopians are just bewildered to see an Asian woman walking around on the streets. Ironically, I am surprised every time I see a farenji roaming around. It's just not common. I have yet to meet another Asian woman on the streets honestly. One time actually, it's pretty funny, I was walking on the street and this little girl, maybe 3, was walking with her mother and the mom is tugging on the girl to keep moving but as soon as she saw me her jaw literally dropped and her eyes basically said, "Who is this yellow creature?"

Well, I laughed anyway.

I don't mean yellow offensively by the way. Some Ethiopians here literally call me their "Yellow friend."

Better to be yellow friend than no friend anyway.

For the most part, being a farenji is pretty useful transportation wise. Some days, okay most days, if my partner and I are feeling low on funds then we hitchhike. We have minibus option in daytime but usually if the place is ten minutes away by car and takes 3 minibuses and an hour to get to (the routes are never straight) then we opt to "make new friends." 

Yes, we hitchhike in Africa.

It's like carpooling except we never return the favor. We do however, make explicitly clear to every kind stranger that picks us up that he can call on us if he is ever in North America, and we will drive him all around the town.

Anyway, a typical hitchhiking encounter.

Us: Excuse me sir, are you possibly headed towards ____________.

Man: No sorry. But you can take taxi, there's one right there.

Us: We are poor farenjis -insert puppy faces- We seriously can't afford the taxis.

*A taxi, or compact, is different from mini bus and the driver always charges a farenji 200 birr to go anywhere. That is 90% of a week's salary for us.

Man: Okay okay, here do you want me to pay? I can pay no problem.

Us: Oh noooo we feel so bad, please don't.

Man: Okay okay, get in I drive.

----

And, just like that we've saved 200 birr! And made new friends! The strangers are always interested in where we come from/what we're doing in Ethiopia, so I like to think they don't mind driving us around for 10 minutes.

**REAL TIME UPDATE**

This incredibly kind waiter at this incredibly expensive hotel just gave me free peanuts because I think he overheard my conversation with my partner about how I need to eat ramen tonight and can't afford the 2 USD pizza....Embarrassing.

But, FREE PEANUTS! I'm so excited, this is going to be at least half my dinner. 

See, Ethiopians are totally the best, despite the racially vocal ones on the street. 

So as you can tell, living here has already truly changed me. For one thing, I will probably go home and just sleep in my pantry and stuff my face for a week straight. But, on a serious note, I have come to appreciate everything in life so much more. I appreciate the random circumstances that have led to the life that I was born into. I appreciate running water, plumbing, electricity, sidewalks, and soap. I appreciate that my parents  and government have supported me so long and allowed me to live such a life freed of physical hardships.

So cheesy, but I mean this stuff.

Also, I love but can never buy cheese because donuts are the cheaper breakfast option. Just saying cheese pains me so maybe from now on I will just say Sooo Holey.

By the way, my birthday is August 3 and if you're thinking of buying me a present I just want cheese.

Hint hint hint.

Just kidding.

Or am I ?

China out.

Living Without

As foreshadowed in the last post, our building has not had water in a week.

A pipe burst, and they have thus far not fixed the problem.

Well, to be fair they dug a hole under the leaking pipe and if you are lucky you can sometimes scoop water out of this hole. I personally choose not to because the hole is located dangerously close to the dumpster and I believe people are now confusing the hole with an augmentation of the original dumpster.

I digress.

This week has taught me just how much we Westerners take for granted.


Did you know to wash your face and brush your teeth it takes almost a full liter of water?

This is insane.

Since I have been here the toilet has not actually flushed on its own so we have to manually fill bucket, flush, cheer, etc.


To flush a toilet takes almost 5 liters of water!

The next time you brush your teeth, for the love of the god you worship, PLEASE turn off the water!

This is not to say I have become a total hippie. Far from it. I alone in the house refused to go without a shower. I got extremely lucky most nights and there was a trickle of water...enough to fill a bucket and wash for 3 days. On the fourth day I succumbed to the will of the pipe gods who refused to emit even a trickle of water and showered elsewhere.

Anyway, since coming to Ethiopia I have discovered a whole new trove of ways to save and skimp. Below is a list of my favorite methods of conservation.

Hangers

Contrary to popular media/advertisement, a clothes hanger will actually hold up to 5 -10 clothing items depending on the clothes of course. When I came here, there was one clothes hanger for me. I came with I believe...10 dresses, 7 skirts, 1 pair of jeans [my stupidest move by far] and at least 5 jackets.

Yeah, you really figure out ways to teach that hanger who is boss.

Free linens!

I know many people in America who take napkins from restaurants. But, how many take toilet paper? Well, this one does now. But only from the five star hotels which demand that you buy outrageously overpriced tea in order to use their internet.
*Dear Ethiopian government if you are reading this, your internet and tea services are great! Super! I love very much!!!

Chile Peppers

If you're feeling particularly broke someday and can't afford to eat expensively, ask for lots of chile peppers with your meal. They're free and count as vegetable quota of the day.

Water Bottles

There is no recycling system here but why throw away those bottles when you can use them to build rockets for kids or when you can turn them into trash cans?

Phone Credit

If you're really out of money and credit, don't stress out. Just dial *807*yourperson'snumber-poundkey. This sends that person a lovely text message requesting they call you back...for free! My favorite discovery of Ethio Tel.

Reuse, you fool

A tissue can be reused at least 3 times. I don't care how gross that sounds.

Hygiene 

You learn quickly to use a fraction of your soap and shampoo during showers when you discover that you only have half a bar of soap left and 2 months to go.

----------------

Told you guys I was Chigarum.

Anyway, I sincerely hope this helps you guys with any future travels of  yours to a third-world country.

---------------


Oh my god. I have racked up 12 birr at this internet cafe. I must go if I want to eat fruit with dinner...by the way, the mango banana juice here? TO DIE FOR. Literally, if nothing else I wouldn't mind getting hit by a taxi just for having been in the company of this godly drink.

K. Bye.

Cutting the Crap

Hello.

If you are reading this then that means you must remotely care about me or at least are curious as to whether I have expired in Africa or not. By Alice Yang logic this means that you would be happy to write me a letter!!!

This is my address. Don't bother sending food. It will cost you like 32432473298742397 dollars.

Alice Yang
P.O. Box 7392
Addis Ababa U.N.V. Institute of Technology
ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA

Anyway, I truly apologize for blogging so infrequently, but I like to think that I make up for it with these monstrous mammoth posts. Each post really takes me like a week to write since I want to say so much and the internet is so Anti-Alice. So, this post is pretty much about everything Ethiopia and then some. Have fun.

Truth is, Ethiopia has problems too.

Sometimes Westerners have this tendency to patronize the developing countries they travel to.

They gloss over the bad, the ugly, the smelly and rush excitedly to spew about how quaint and rustic or relaxing their respective pet country is.

In this way Westerners are really akin to the tourist brochures and books.

I want this blog to be completely honest and reveal Ethiopia for all its beauty and flaws.

It just wouldn't be fair otherwise. How can you really give a country any respect if you just caper on like an idiot tourist about the great weather and adorable kids? No, to really respect a country is to love it despite the flaws. 

So, to begin! I recently leafed through tourist books and brochures actually. Here are my favorite quotes and my personal translations. And yes, I pretty much memorized them. I know what you're thinking and I too am impressed with what I am using my college education memorization skills on. Who cares about organic molecules when you can gleefully memorize and take a perverse joy in the absurd quotations from a silly overpriced tourist book that is clearly written by someone who Wikipedia'd Ethiopia and never actually set foot in the country.

Here we go.........

"Visit the vibrant and bustling Mercato-the largest marketplace from Cairo to Johannesburg! The eager shopper can find everything from genuine silver to injera!"

Read: Duct tape your belongings to your body or swarms of thieves will have you stripped in about 2 minutes. Watch your step too or you will end up in a pile of goat poo. Also, do not be the stupid farenji [foreigner] and pay 5000 Birr for an "authentic african silver necklace" that is really made out of nickel and plastic beads from China. Also, do not eat injera [traditional dish] off the street. You have to be a complete moron to inflict that kind of two day diarrhea upon yourself. 

"Take a stroll through Piazza, the Italian influenced square with a historic church just around the corner. Kick back with a macchiato in a cafe after a day of shopping!"

Read: Battle your way through the streets of Piazza, taking special care to avoid getting squashed by the many vehicles hurtling down with absolutely no intention of braking. Wear long sleeves and pants to the church or the security will follow you the entire time. The people will stare. It will not be a spiritual moment. 

*Side note: The macchiatos are delicious. These incredible concoctions left behind by the Italian invasion. A mixture of milk and espresso, you couldn't spend a better 5 birr. However, I have yet to bear witness to anyone actually leisurely "shopping" in Piazza. Shopping is probably not even an accurate word. Bargaining and haggling...shouting and yelling...these are all suitable substitutes.

Okay.

You want to know what Addis Ababa is really like?

So, first off people pee off the side of the streets all the time. The streets are paved not in gold. There are no cobblestones baked in the warm bask of sunshine. No, they literally are running with human waste. Most streets bear no sign of such waste but let's just say you should watch your step if you are trekking for awhile. 

The smell in some parts is overwhelming enough to send tourists running around with their tshirts around their faces. I've actually seen this happen to a group of Asian women. 

The city is under construction. The dust and fumes were maddening at first. You get used to it because if you wore a surgical mask like you probably should then you would be an even farenjier looking farenji.

Most restaurants and public toilets will water down everything from ketchup to soap in order to save money. I don't blame them. Except when I want to eat fries or wash my hands. 

Very few people speak English well. The most common response to any frantic question from a  lost foreigner is "okay okay" or "yes yes get in taxi." This kind of exchange usually leads to the lost foreigner getting more lost and possibly breaking down in tears. Yes this happens to me all the time. No, I don't cry.

The locals, mostly the men and boys, will yell "CHINA CHINA NI HAO CHING CHONG" at you if you even remotely resemble an Asian in their eyes. You can't make it 50 meters down the street without this happening and in between the "CHINA CHINA" you can often here, "HEY YOU! YOU!" or worse, "MONEY MONEY YOU GIVE ME MONEY." At first, I was extremely aggravated and insulted at this barrage of verbal attack every time I walked down the street. Honestly, I'm still bothered by it deep down but another intern told me that it's stupid to take it personally. The government honestly controls everything here--from telecommunications and internet to education-- so the people really don't know better. On the upside, sometimes, I yell back "HELLO AFRICA" and this causes the boys and men to erupt in peals of laughter. 

END OBVIOUS OBSTACLES OF A DEVELOPING CITY.

So, these are the flaws of Addis that I wish you to be informed about so that when I talk about the great things, you know I'm being for REAL REAL. 

So, on to my favorite part of my week...


Montage of Humorous Short Stories that if you don't find humorous you should stop reading my blog.




Most Likely to Trip at Graduation...and Africa

So, the other day I was rushing to get on this mini bus that rarely comes by my home. It was through the sheer grace of the minibus gods that this one happened to roll by as I was approaching.

*SIDE NOTE: Yes, I have developed a very polytheistic religion of my own since coming to Ethiopia. Every time a taxi ride goes well, it's because the minibus gods willed it. Every time we have electricity.......well the electricity gods were pleased for the day. I have yet to develop sacrificial tendencies but that may happen soon seeing as there are armies of goats in the city anyway.  

Anyway, so I am trying to rush to get on this bus that is waiting for me. An agonizing 30 seconds are wasted trying to side skirt this car manned by an amateur woman whose intellectual capacities are questionable at best. Upon arriving at mini bus, I effectively rush up the step and smash my head into the sharp metal roof. The only way to describe the moment appropriately is to imagine a Tom and Jerry cartoon where Jerry tricks Tom into running into a wall/frying pan/train/etc. Jerry was the minibus gods. Tom was me. I now know why cartoons always depict sparks and stars with their crash scenes. I am genuinely concerned about how the shape of my head will be affected by this incident. I have a lump the size of a chocolate egg on my head and a bigger lump in my ego. Everyone laughed. I think even the baby laughed. Throughout the 5 minute ride, people were cackling and pointing at me and reenacting my incident. Talk about humiliating.

Poor Farenji


If you haven't already deduced so yourself, farenji means foreigner in Ethiopia. Many of the local beggars and shoe shine boys are under this delusion that I have a lot of money. Let me clarify right now that I recieve 250 birr a week. Since I have no culinary skills to speak of whatsoever, I have to eat out. Each meal I eat is around 30 birr. I have to buy phone credit every week- 100 birr. Bus rides- 20 birr a day. You do the math. So anyway, I've started responding to the beggars and boys when they ask me for money or to buy some useless item or another. Now I reach MY hand out and say, "You give me money???" "Me POOR farenji. CHIGARUM farenji.You have MORE money than me." Usually, they just laugh. Never does anyone actually give me money, unfortunately. One time at Sheraton Addis, a 6 star Hotel or something insane, the waiter asked me what I wanted and I was like "dude, can I  have boiling water for free? I literally can't afford anything on this menu at this place that my friend dragged me to..." The man came back with tea and cookies for me!!!! I am proud to say I am pretty confident I am the only farenji to ever get free food at the famed Sheraton. [This is an insane place where one night in a suite costs thousands of USD. There are 13 pools. 5 metal detectors upon entry. These metal detectors however, failed to catch the knife I snuck in my boot to go to the club. For safety purposes, of course. It was just another girl and I!!]

Business Meetings

I'm convinced Ethiopia is the only place where one can sign a business proposal....after multiple beers and watermelon vodka. Yes, I mean literal watermelon soaked in vodka. No, of course I did not engage in this behavior, I merely observed the happenings of such events.

Hitchhiking 

I have discovered a cheap alternative to riding the hellish mini buses. My partner, Angie and I, now hitchhike.. Mostly in the day time of course. You'd be amazed how willing people are to help a couple of farenjis. This is why I carry my knife everywhere though. Anyway, they always first ask, why not take a taxi? To this Angie and I always respond with glum puppy eyes and mournfully talk about how our salary does not allow for such luxuries.

 -----------------------------

So anyway, that's all for right now. I may or may not post again very soon. It depends how much I want to eat for dinner. The whole paying for internet is constantly in rivalry with my stomach.

Peace out. Say Thank you to the god of your choice for having running water and electricity today....I haven't had running water in a week.

More about that later...


Alice.  

Mission Improbable

Hello.

Listen, you know how crowded Orbit becomes at Tate?


That's nothing.

Prepare for your mind to be blown.

We once fit 25.4 Ethiopians and Foreigners on a mini bus designed for SEVEN.


The 0.4 accounts for this one infant.


Bodies were hanging out of the windows.

I was lucky. I got to share a seat. With 3 other girls.


In comparison, Orbit practically  provides first class seating.

So, anyway 10 days into the Ethiopian adventure and I can safely say that I have run out of clean clothes.

It is a freedom like no other to wear dirty clothes.

You can't even imagine.

Okay actually maybe you can.

Picture yourself as Pocahontas in that cliff scene when 'Colors of the Wind' or whatever is playing and there are those weird rainbow feathers drifting around.

That is pretty close to how I feel.

I have conquered the impossible! Alice Yang who used to wear shirts and jeans only once before washing has now worn the same jeans for 10 days.

In retrospect, I should have packed more than one pair of jeans. Ignorant American that I am I assumed summer in America meant summer everywhere! And yes, I still think the Australians must duct tape themselves to the ground to avoid falling off the planet.The Ethiopian weather is actually approaching its "winter" season or "monsoon" season. The word monsoon draws up horrifying images of tidal waves and cars and houses floating in lakes. Thank god for my ankle high rain boots...

*That last remark was only 50% sarcasm. Besides, I bought a mini umbrella too.


So back to the subject at hand.

I have learned that the only way to survive in Africa is to let go of Western expectations and ideals.

It's sheer stupidity to assume you can wear clean clothes every day. When I first came here my laundry hamper (a Kroger plastic bag by the way) started overfilling. Eventually I realized I was going to have to either run around naked or compromise some expectations.

By the way in case you are wondering, I ruled out the nudity option.

Giving up clean clothes was helped by the fact that the attitude here is so carefree and wonderfully simplistic.


You start to wonder why you don't just wear a burlap sack everyday.

* By the way burlap would be a terrible color on me so of course that option was always ruled out.

And oh how happy I've been to make this marginal change in my life.

Ultimately, Ethiopia has made possible the elimination of self consciousness that would be improbable in the judgmental and highly peer pressurized America.

When you have separated mind from insignificant matter, the mind thanks you.

And you also save like 50 birr by avoiding the laundromat.

So America, I have been truly humbled by Ethiopia and consequently discovered the secret to happiness...


DIRTY CLOTHES!

Supersized Slice of Humble Pie

Today, when you plop your bottom onto a toilet I want you to be thankful for every cosmic movement in this universe that has thus allowed you the luxury of sitting down to relieve yourself.


It has been about a week since my arrival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.


It might as well be a lifetime.


How do I start to describe this miniature lifetime within a lifetime?

From the beginning of the beginning I guess.

WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY LENGTHY POST. I AM TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR A WEEK'S ABSENCE. IF YOU ARE THE TYPE THAT IS BORED EASILY PLEASE PROCEED TO ENGAGE IN THE OFFERINGS OF YOUR SMART PHONE AS I WILL NOT BE OFFENDED IF YOU ONLY FEIGN INTEREST/ATTENTION AT THIS PARTICULAR POST.

So on May 12, 2012, my eager 18 year old self finally got my stuff together and headed towards Hartsfield Jackson. After a hasty goodbye to the family, I found myself in a most unpleasant, heated exchange with the baggage checkers. It started like this: They took apart my delicate purse handle. Completely unnecessary by all counts. They then proceeded to stop me and manually open my laptop case and treat my fragile laptop like a bomb. Sprinkled in between is me frantically whisper shouting for the man to please for the love of God be more gentle with my belongings.

*Side note

A list of the people I would most want to dunk in a volcano


Baggage checkers
Gynecologists
Dentists
Salesmen

So, after this bump in the road I uneventfully boarded the plane. It was very nice. Through some luck with the airplane gods I got promoted to the front of the economy seats. Leg room like no other.

Brief run down of semi eventful ride to Ethiopia

Excitedly hoard all postcards offered on plane.

Get bored.

Take advantage of free cheap wine.

Watch confusing movie which turned out to be in French.

Got off in Frankfurt, Germany.

Buy scandalously overpriced water. 3 and a half euros! I could start my own taxi company in Ethiopia with what I had to fork over for a quarter of a liter of water...

Terminal changed, unbeknownst to me.

Thirty minutes to take off: Panic attack ensues.

Frantically run to other side of airport.

Board plane.

Crying babies everywhere.

More cheap wine.

Meal with hidden pine nuts. Which I am deathly allergic to.

Panic Attack Number 2 of the day ensues.

Resemble crack addict as I desperately pop some benadryls.

Cute boy across the aisle looking on in shock/possible revulsion as I frantically spit out food.

Hazy period of my life..........

Awaken to find that we are descending in KHARTOUM, SUDAN.

Completely shocked.

How do I describe Sudan?


Khartoum was honestly a little frightening. Everything had this dusty post-apocalyptic glaze. No colors as far as the eye can see. Just this khaki color. No human beings in sight. No cars. Maybe one other plane.

Intercom system goes off: "We are stopping in Khartoum now. If this is your final destination please collect your belongings now."

No one gets off the plane.

"Pictures are not allowed in the airport."

Two hours of forbidding silence ensue before we leave.

I'm still not totally sure why we stopped in Sudan. Presumably to refuel.

On wards!

Adorable toddler screaming like a banshee.

Decreases adorable factor.

Mother delegates me as babysitter/clown/entertainer of the baby.

This is okay with me. I teach the baby peek a boo and other such nonsensical baby things.

Finally descend upon ETHIOPIA: CITY ON FIRE.

Let me explain.

I did not know at the time but Ethiopia is composed on subtle hills.

Since it was nighttime, the city's street lamps were all lit and Ethiopia looked like this endless black velvet blanket sparkling in lights.

Completely breathtaking.

Collect baggage. Side skirt the baggage checking. No one stops me. No one cares.

Meet up with two Aiesec Ethiopia members.

Haggle with taxi drivers.

Head towards my condomonium/home for the next 3 months.

Dream of Ethiopia as an advanced "Shanghai of Africa" completely crushed.

What I mistook for a city on fire was actually very minimal lighting for such a sprawling capital city. On our drive the only lights came from the streets. It was only 10 P.M.

Bring bags up to condo in complete darkness.

The darkness really hits you in Ethiopia. This is the capital city too, so you can only imagine what it must be like in the country. It's a darkness that attacks quickly at 7 pm every night and completely  fills in the spaces between shops and main streets.

I digress.

So, I meet my five other roommates. Two are from Kenya and one is from Indonesia and one is from America. All friendly. All healthy.

The juicy gory details: I step into the "restroom" and find myself in a perpetual lake. There is no drain on the floor and the shower is open. So anytime someone wants to shower they must manually scoop water off the floor and back into the shower.

Venture nervously across lake.

Behold THE TOILET.

The toilet really deserves its own blog post and if you are still reading and you are of the sensitive stomach type I would not read the next paragraph.

Our toilet has no seat. Someone broke it earlier and the other interns have not been bothered. There is no flushing mechanism. You must manually fill a bucket twice or sometimes three times and pour into the toilet in order to flush.

Since the first day I have endlessly campaigned for Aiesec Ethiopia to fix up the bathroom to little avail.

Simply put, the others have adapted and I am expected to do the same.

I'm sure in two months I will not even think about it but for now a feeling of horror passes over me every time I enter the bathroom.

Oh by the way, our doors don't close. There are no lights in the bathroom or kitchen and now we are prohibited from using the sink because it is leaking quite profusely.

There is no internet for miles. In part this explains my inability to blog often.

I begin to mentally breakdown on the inside.

I go to sleep and dream of toilets that night.

END DAY ONE.


So after a slightly traumatic start, I am really growing accustomed to Ethiopia but quite frankly it is the most difficult living situation I have ever been in.\

FUN FACTS:


The national language is Amharic which I don't speak. I only know the phrases necessary for deterring strangers and for haggling.


Everyone is so kind. Ethiopian hospitality puts Southern hospitality to shame. Complete strangers will help you when you are lost. They will literally walk you to the right taxi even if it is a kilometer away.

The food is amazing. Everything is relatively cheap due to the exchange, but be careful what you eat. I have had a downright miserable last three days after eating some bad injera which is their traditional dish.

The main mode of transportation for Ethiopians and cheap foreigners like me is the minibus system. This is a nightmarish maze of tiny vans that people will squeeze onto past seemingly physical capacity. There are no street names, no addresses. Only common stops for these buses. The taxi driver maneuvers the lane less streets while a boy or teenager shouts out the next stop to the people waiting outside. To get to most places you need to take around 3 taxis and God help you if you don't know which stop to go to next.

The street is a pedestrian trap. There are few crossings, no lights. It's an absolute free for all. Vehicles don't stop for you so you have to be careful. I've already had a taxi brush my jacket as it rumbled by.

Montage of Humorous Short Stories Depicting how Chigarumn I am


The other Aiesecers here are wonderful. They are mostly Ethiopian male students in college. They call me Ms. Cheapness or in Ethiopian , Ms. Chigarumn. I am really quite proud of how cheap I am. I have to survive three months on 60 dollars a month. Of course I am going to be stingy. In the National Ethiopian Museum I tried to convince the security that I was Ethiopian so I should only have to pay 2 birr, not the 10 birr a foreigner must pay. (1 dollar=17 birr) My Ethiopian friends laugh and laugh at this.


I smuggle toilet paper from the nicer hotels. My Ethiopian friends also laugh at this.

I haggled for an hour to get a cheaper taxi one night. The security of the hotel I just exited from was laughing at me. His friend came up and tried to tell me that my asking price was most unreasonable. With both of them cackling at me I only grew more stubborn. Finally, out of pity, they had to haggle with the taxi in their language (Amharic) in order for me to get a cheaper taxi.

...


So in sum, I am having the roller coaster ride of my life.

I will post more about the project itself later, but basically I am creating events and looking for partnerships/sponsors to promote this school Fresh and Green and its kids and their mothers.


Ethiopia is crazy. But it is the kind of crazy that grows on you. Sure, the infrastructure is insane and the accommodations are a Western nightmare, but you can't help but totally love Ethiopia. You realize how much you used to take for granted. Materialistic attitudes come here to die. The people are so carefree and wonderful, you begin to wonder why you bother to stress at all.


So here's to three months of new experiences like no other. To making lasting friendships. To changing a little pocket of the world.


May I not get hit by a taxi and live to see  it.

Adventures Away!

Hello everyone.

I'm sure you are reading this blog because you are dying to keep up with whatever awesome things happen to me this summer.

And not because you are forced to judge hundreds of blogs for AIESEC.

If however, you do fall under the latter category, I shall find it in my heart to forgive you if you promise to read this blog and at least chuckle from time to time. Maybe let your heart quaver under the intensity of this blog. Maybe allow your soul to be exposed to the sheer humanity within this blog. Perhaps even allow yourself to cry a little.



I have not even boarded the plane yet so this last bit was mostly joking.

To be honest, I haven't even finished packing.

....


So, all joking aside, WHO AM I?


Great question, I ask myself that quite often.

My name is Alice Yang and I am a freshman at UGA. I suppose I am now to be considered a sophomore, but the imprint of "freshman" shall carry over until the Fall 2012 semester officially commences. I am an International Affairs major. Yes, we do all think we can change the world someday. Yes, we are always buried under essays and readings. No, we do not all want to be spies.


I have the great honor this summer of being an EP in AIESEC at the University of Georgia (GO DAWGS!)

I am going to Ethiopia for three months (May 13-August 7 if you must know the dates in order to come surprise me at the airport/throw me a surprise party/make me signs/etc..) to work on a Women Empowerment project. For these three months, I will be stationed in the capital city, Addis Ababa, and will be coordinating with various NGO's and Embassies in order to promote the small scarf businesses of the Ethiopian women. The idea is that international coordination and sponsorship will increase the success and sustainability of these businesses. Basically, I will be creating events for speakers and attending meetings all in the hopes of helping these women help themselves and later their communities.

As an Int'l Affairs major (from here on out referred to as IA because I am lazy) this internship will be a wonderful opportunity to learn about development, policy, and worldwide issues. Similarly, it will present a chance to meet great people who actually change the world every day.

These job descriptions are always mildly dull, so I promise in my blog I will make it seem like a James Bond movie every day.

So, now it is 2:33 A.M. I must continue the battle against the suitcases.


But, first a list of things I will miss in America:

McDonalds
ChickFilA
Panda Express
Sushi
(I am obviously obsessed with food)
My Dog
My Family (My dog gets precedence because she is the least annoying)
My wonderful friends
Swimming at the pool

Do not be alarmed that my deepest attachment is to food.


Things I look forward to in Ethiopia


Airplane food

Ethiopian food


Wearing my fancy "I-mean-business" blazer


Coming back 20 pounds lighter  (I have to cook for myself. Let's be honest, I'm no Iron Chef. Unless it's the Ramen Iron Chef. Without the delights of meal plan or home cooking, I deflate like a balloon.)

Meeting fantastic new people, local and international

Changing the world in my own way

Embarking on my first international development experience

...


So, here's to me safely arriving in Ethiopia at least for the sake of continuing this blog. And here's to the greatest adventure of my lifetime. May I come back a kinder, stronger, and wiser individual.

PEACE OUT.

My incredibly attractive Visa photo. I am just reeking of the photogenics. 

Alice