Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Time has flown, I can’t believe I have been in Ethiopia for 6 weeks already. I have finally gotten settled into my apartment after being in the hotel for the first 30 days, made some friends, had friends leave, and gotten work figured out!

My apartment is ridiculous, thanks US government. I have a very spacious, 15 foot ceiling, 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom apartment all to myself. It is quite amazing really, but very unnecessary, I do have space for when guests come to visit. The place also has a very nice, large, relatively updated kitchen, which was one of my biggest selling points. Another nice point is that it is a relatively easy walk to work, minus all the beggars due to the proximity to the Medhane Alem Cathedral.

So far, my experience is Ethiopia has been a positive one. I have met some cool expats through previous colleagues as well as through current ones. I have also met some fun locals. The people here, including our staff, are very friendly, outgoing and good people.

I have had friends visit, including Tim and Patricia from IRD, Hannan from middle school back in Napa, and Yates from VT. It has been helpful in the transition of getting used to this place for sure.

I have been going out way more than I need to and the ‘no closing’ of bars until they feel like it really gets the evenings into the wee hours of the night.

My only major negative here is the lack of quality internet. We struggle at times to get a decent single as there is only one option, that is owned by the government. They have zero incentive to put out a super good product, so the rest of us suffer. Other than that, nothing too crazy bad here. Much nicer than living in Kabul.

Finally went out to the countryside yesterday and saw one of our construction sites. It was nice to see the work we are actually doing and what is going on. It was also great to get out of the city and breath fresh air again… the dust and smog in the city can be pretty bad at times.

Going home for Nikki and Greg’s wedding on Saturday and that is awesome, really can’t wait to see everyone and spend some time back in CA.

That is about the end of my ramblings and thoughts so far on my first 6 weeks here.

Ghana and Bangladesh Trip Reviews

I didn’t want to get too far away from just ignoring my trips to two awesome new places that I did get to visit during my time with Winrock.

Ghana was to help with the Comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (CMEP) development that USDOL requires all new projects to go through. My colleague Julie and I attended, along with a host of our local staff.

Arriving in Ghana was great, it was my first time to Africa (funny not 3 months later, I now call Africa home!) but damn was it hot. I was used to the heat from DC, but I really didn’t want to go to yet another muggy, hot place, especially a developing one that doesn’t have much for air conditioning.

I spent the first night in Accra while waiting for Julie to arrive, we took different flights as she had to leave earlier. The first night was uneventful, but it was nice to have a hot shower and a hotel before going up to Kumasi the next day.

Once we arrived in Kumasi our Project Director, Kwaku, picked us up and we went to dinner. It was good to see Kwaku again, as we had met first when he came to DC for orientation and training with US Department of Labor when we first were awarded the project.

The rest of the trip was a lot of jolof rice, hot rooms, working with our staff on getting up to speed on Winrock processes and procedures, and shitty internet service. The only thing we did get out to do was go see the Ashanti compound in Kumasi, which is where the Ashanti King (the original people of Ghana) still resides. Obviously we didn’t get to see the house/home that he currently lives in, but we toured one of the older ones that has been since turned into a museum of such. It was pretty cool to see and learn some of the history of the area and the people of the country.

Overall Ghana was a good experience, but much different than going on vacation, obviously. I would have liked to spend more time in Accra and get out to the beach, but it didn’t work out. Meeting the staff, eating millions of mangoes, and finally making it to Africa were definitely the highlights.

About a week after I got back from Ghana, I was slated to go to Bangladesh. If I were to do it again, I would have definitely given myself a little more time. I was trying to figure out a lot of things with my relationship with Caitlin, with work, and just life in general, and turning around and getting on a plane to go back across the world wasn’t exactly what I needed.

Bangladesh too was hot as hell, but luckily the internet and air conditioning situations were much better in Dhaka. Dhaka was hot, crowded, and overall a crazy place. The staff on WEA run that project like a well oiled machine, so going out there was a lot less ‘work’ and much more of meeting the staff and seeing how things run from the field level. At this point, I also had a pretty good idea I would be leaving Winrock in the near future, so I wasn’t as concerned, for better or worse.

In terms of work, I really really enjoyed our staff, especially Saiful, whom I went to a field visit with my first weekend there. We went out to Khulna in the SW of the country to see the work we were doing. It was really cool to see the countryside and to meet some of the people that we were working with and hopefully helping. The site visits were cool, but after about a few words from Saif translating things, it became him talking for half hour and me having no idea what was going on. After about 2 sites, I was ready to go.

The rest of the highlights of the trip were the other folks I met. The WEA building shared office space with another Winrock project, BCTIP, and their COP was an expat from Romania. Irinel was SUPER helpful in getting me to a better hotel and to hanging out. I had a lot of fun with her and meeting her friends and going out to see things. She also introduced me to a couple, Anne and Chris, who had just moved to Dhaka from Ghana. Chris was a big soccer fan and at the time the Euro Championship was going on, so it was cool to have someone to watch the games with.

Overall, Bangladesh was also a cool spot, but definitely not somewhere I would need to visit again. The ban on alcohol and overall cluster-fuck of crowds that is the Dhaka is enough to keep me away.

The final note about my Bangladesh comes to the terror attack in both Turkey and Dhaka. I was slated to go home the day after the attack at the Turkey airport, and left the day before the hostage situation at Holey Bakery. I for sure thought my flight through Istanbul would be cancelled, but to my surprise, they had the place up and running like nothing had happened. It was very nice to see, as it was a fuck you to the terrorist, letting them know they weren’t going to disrupt the daily lives of the Turks or the people trying to fly.

As I was traveling home, I heard about the situation unfolding in Dhaka, that was not more than a block and a half from where I had been staying at the Dutch Club. It was very scary to hear, as Irinel had talked about it many of times, and I had intentions of going to eat there while I was in town. I reached out to Chris and Anne and they had been there for dinner not 2 hours before the attacks started. It was very crazy to think that I would have almost guaranteed been there, had I still be in country. Chris and Anne were the only people I had been hanging out with, Irinel was out of country, and it would have been a Friday night, so clearly I would have wanted to do something. I was very relieved to hear they had not been harmed, but Irinel did know some of the people who didn’t make it unfortunately.

Missing both of those attacks by one day each really was scary, but also made me realize it wasn’t my time. It also helped solidify that I needed to start making some changes to make myself happier, because you never know when your time will come. So hear I sit, newly single, with a new job, and starting my second week living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a 2 year contract until September 2018…

My How Times Have Changed….

Well it has been over a year since I last did anything with this blog. I am not sure if that has been a good thing. Since returning from my trip to Ireland and Israel, I spent the last few months of Summer 2015 finishing up my contract in Kabul, with a nice trip to DC and California to see family and friends. I returned to the USA in early September once the ARTF contract had finished with no job, as IRD had nothing for me.

Luckily, I had some money saved, a new apartment with Caitlin, and no major worry of getting right back into a new job. Decompressing after spending time in Afghanistan is a real thing, and I definitely needed it. It was nice to walk around outside again, go out to dinner with friends, or just not have to worry about being blown up, kidnapped, or shot at. After a lot of applications and a few interviews, I landed a sweet gig with Winrock International, in Crystal City, which was super close to the awesome new apartment. Things were looking up! I took a trip to Oregon to get some hunting in with my favorite hunting buddies and then came back rejuvenated and excited to start work in the beginning of November with Winrock.

The position with Winrock was a position I was very excited about. I was going to actually be learning HQ processes and procedures (unlike what I got at IRD) and was going to be working on projects I felt passionately about. As much as I understand and know the work of building roads, hospitals, and schools in Afghanistan is helping people, it was much higher level work. My position within the Education & Empowerment unit at Winrock was going to be much more ‘grassroots’ level, working directly with people and the communities they live in.

My first couple of weeks was a whirlwind with us winning a new project, Ghana MOCA, working to remove child labor from the cocoa supply chain in Ghana. This project was funded by USDOL, which was a new donor for me to be working, so that was a fun and exciting new challenge. My manager was out of the country working on another project when this project was first awarded, so I had to do a lot of learning on the fly in terms of Winrocks’ internal processes as well as how to get a project up and running. Needless to say, this was a lot of baptism by fire.

Ghana MOCA took a lot of my time as well as it leading right in the holidays. Things were going great, was able to watch football and spend Fall in the states, which is far and away my favorite time of year, hang with my girlfriend and friends, and I had a cool new job. Thanksgiving was a bittersweet time for me, as my grandfather had become very ill and wasn’t doing so hot down in Wilmington, NC where he and my Omi lived. Thanksgiving morning, my cousins (Bo and Meredith) and my self drove down to spend the holiday with our grandparents and some other aunts and uncles. It was a great chance to spend the holiday with loved ones. Though the trip was short, it was great to see everyone and spend the time together.

Christmas was next up and though Caitlin and I had originally planned to spend it in CA with my family, I didn’t end up spending Thanksgiving with her family and I wasn’t sure if I was going to need to go to Ghana for work around that time, so we decided to stay in DC and spend the holiday with her family. We had a great time for Christmas, watching movies, hanging with family, having our little Christmas tree in our apartment, and all sorts of other fun activities. Christmas is really is a great time of year and I will always be grateful for the time with loved ones and family.

One other extremely fun memory from this previous winter was that of SNOWMAGGEDON! We got about 14 inches of snow (fact check please) in a short period of time that DC was just not able to handle. While Caitlin was very smart and used the time to study for her CPA, I decided to go out for a wonderful day of snow drinking with Danny and Chris. Man was it fun, we got hammered, drank lots of beers, and ran around the snow like a bunch of kids without a care in the world, it really was a great time.

After the holidays, work and real life settled back in. I did take a late season snowboard trip to Park City, Utah with Braden and we stayed at my buddy Julian’s. It was a lot of fun even though the snow was definitely spring skiing, but it was a fun first time to get to ride Utah.

The rest of the year kind of was a blur. Caitlin studied and passed her CPA exams, very very proud of her for that. While many her age, and even her supervisors still don’t have their CPA’s, she buckled down and got it done. I settled in at work and prepped for upcoming trips to Ghana and Bangladesh. The trips unfortunately kept getting pushed off and life in the office became stale. I realized more and more that the grind of commuting and sitting at my desk for 10 to 11 hours a day and living just for the weekend was not the life I wanted to lead. DC was beginning to grow on me and I was enjoying my time with my friends and going out, but not enjoying spending over half my take home on rent and barely making interest payments on my student loans. I needed a change.

That idea of change really came to a head when my grandfather passed away. My mom had thankfully been out in NC with my grandparents for a good period of time to help with the process and I did get a chance to get down there and see him before he passed. He was a shell of himself, but it was great to see him and hear stories from others about how he had impacted so many people. I didn’t know the man well, but I know he was a great man and really left a mark on all those that he encountered.

I have always known I want to leave a mark and sitting in an office in DC and barely getting bye wasn’t going to be the way for me to do it. I know it was a good step in the direction of my career, but I needed more. I had been in talks with my old boss Dan from Afghanistan who was running a project in Ethiopia. I had always known I wanted to get back to the field and when he offered a chance to go, I knew I had to take it. Sitting in DC, paying a boatload for rent and making $400 payments for the next 30 years on my student loans wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to be.

Shortly after returning from my trips to Ghana and Bangladesh, which were both great btw, and some very difficult conversations with Caitlin, I quit my job at Winrock. I packed up my things, unfortunately ended my relationship with Caitlin after 3 years, and moved to Ethiopia.

So here I sit, writing my first post in over a year, wondering yet again, what have I gotten myself into?

 

Israel & Ireland… Working my way through the “I’s”

Finally took a real leave from Afghanistan after being here since mid March. Outside of my trip to India, I had been in country the entire time, which can get a tad boring. We really don’t have a ton of options to keep ourselves busy outside of watching movies/tv, working out, playing cards, and drinking; and even those get old.

I planned my vacation to go meet up with an old buddy from college, Tamir, who has lived in Tel Aviv pretty much since we graduated U of Oregon. Israel had always been on my list of places I wanted to see, but it was again one of those places that was always so expensive to get to. Luckily from Kabul, it really wasn’t that bad of a flight.

I set out to Israel knowing that it was probably going to be a pain getting into the country coming from Kabul, and man was I right…. Sitting in the airport for 4.5 hours and getting drilled about what I was doing there and where I was going was emotionally draining and very stressful. I at one point was just about ready to say ‘fuck it’ and hop on the next plane out of there.

I finally got through the immigration and made my way into Tel Aviv and the rest of the trip was uneventful in that sense and was really a lot of fun.

Highlights were:

– Beaches in Tel Aviv, the Mediterranean really is a gorgeous body of water.

– All the history and culture that is in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. Seeing the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, the Church of Nativity were all really powerful places and very important to history, no matter your feelings on religion.

– Going to the Dead Sea was quite the experience. It was beyond hot the entire time I was in Israel, especially when you got out into the desert. The Dead Seas was not much reprieve… It was hot, buoyant, and sticky. Definitely one of the weirdest places I have ever taken a swim.

Above those three items though would be seeing old friends. Seeing Tamir in his “home” was great for many reasons. One, I miss my friend, but more importantly, it gave me a sense of what he has been doing for the last 8 years. It is always interesting to go see where people call home and what they are doing with their lives. You are never going to fully understand until you visit and live it, and now I have a much better understanding of what not only life in Israel is like, but what my friends are doing.

Another friend I got to visit was Mayan, whom I met while traveling in South America. We met at a hostel in Peru and continued to stay in touch to this day. She always asked about when I was going to come to Israel and I finally had  chance to go see her. I went to Be’er Sheva, a two hour train ride south of Tel Aviv, and spent the day/night hanging with her, her bf Guy, and her roommates. It was cool to see her after so much time, but also get out to a non-touristy part of Israel and see what that was like. We went to a cool local restaurant and then a bloc party that was put on by their university. It was a good time all around and I was really happy to see a different part of Israel.

My friend Jillian from Napa has also since moved to Israel and lives there now with her husband. I went out to dinner with her and Josi and Tamir and his gf one night and had a great time. I hadn’t seen Jillian in ages, so that was also a nice treat.

Lastly, I saw a buddy Ari, who I had met through Tamir in lacrosse while we were in college. He went to Cal Poly, but Tamir knew him through a camp that they would always go to in the summers. Hadn’t seen Ari in a long time, but again, it is always nice to see a familiar face while traveling….

Speaking of familiar faces, after about 8 days in Israel, I took off to Dublin, Ireland to meet up with my sister and girlfriend. I got in a day before Bonnie and two days before Caitlin and her family, so it was nice to have a day to explore alone and relax.

I also took the day to meet up with yet another friend whom I met in Ecuador and stay in contact with. Melissa, who is from Dublin, and I were on the same Machu Picchu trail hike and continued to stay in touch as well. We went and got dinner on the first night and I had a bunch of bacon, that’s all that really matters…. Leaving Afghanistan, an Islamic country, to Israel, another country that doesn’t consume much pork, was a tease to myself. So when I finally got to Ireland, I wanted some pork, specifically bacon, in the worst way.

After dinner, we went out with some of Melissa’s classmates and we got a nice treat to meet up with mine and Caitlin’s friends/old roommate Rebecca, Bobby, and Mike. Rebecca was working in Spain for the year, teaching English, and Bobby and Mike went over to visit her after the year was done. On their way back to the states, they stopped through Ireland. It was great to see them as I hadn’t seen Rebecca in over a year and Mike and Bobby for awhile either.

The next day Bonnie and I hung out, got some food and relaxed before Caitlin and her mom showed up.

From there it was a whirlwind of traveling around Ireland. Bonnie hung with us for the first day as we did a “walking tour” of Dublin and hit up the Guinness Brewery. I did the Jameson Distillery the first day on my own as I knew we probably wouldn’t have time and everyone else would probably like beer more than whiskey. After that Bonnie hung in Dublin and did some day trips on her own as Caitlin, her mom, and myself went out towards Tralee to meet up with Caitlin’s dad and his brothers.

We did:

A day in Cork, including the Blarney Castle and Blarney stone.

An afternoon in Tralee where I golfed with the guys and the girls went to the beach to explore. The golfing was a beautiful course and I had a great time even though it was the first time I had picked up a club in almost a year. It was a tight links course, right on the coast, so the views were great, but it was windy and tight. I only lost a handful of balls and actually played pretty well, all things considering.

A beautiful driving day of the Ring of Kerry… We saw castles and some spectacular views, we really lucked out on the weather.

A not so lucky day of weather trying to see the Cliffs of Moher, the fog was so socked in, you could barely see 10 feet in front of you. Fail.

A day and night in Galway where we went to a local Irish bar and met some locals and had a blast listening to music and drinking.

Finally back to Dublin and a more relaxed evening before leaving the next day.

It was an awesome experience to have with Caitlin and her family and it was really just nice to see her even if we would have done nothing. Being out here in Kabul makes me realize how much I miss my loved ones.

Overall both Israel and Ireland were amazing places to visit. It was great to see old friends and family and make new friends along the way. After immigration in Tel Aviv, I found all the people I encountered in both places to be more than accommodating and very friendly, especially the Irish. Definitely recommend both countries to everyone to go visit, even though for much different reasons. Israel wins on beaches and history and Ireland wins on scenery and hospitality. The food really is a toss up because they are both so different. Loved the fresh fruits and veges and Middle Eastern food of Israel, but Ireland automatically gets a huge bump for bacon and Guinness.

I sit here back in Kabul reminiscing about my trip and the fun I had, but also glad to not be constantly on the move. Traveling is great, it brings me great joy, but there is definitely something to be said about not living out of a suitcase and having your own bed.

But that doesn’t keep my from trying to figure out how to plan trips to Italy and Iceland.

Easter Sunday

Easter, doesn’t get much love around here, though I am not entirely sure why…. Who doesn’t love a good ham, some deviled eggs, mac & cheese, wine, and friends? Even though it was very hard to come by, I managed to score a sweet ham for only $75 USD, a bargain really if you think about it….. The thing fed like 12 people and we had tons left over. Dinner was awesome and the company was great. Bummed I couldn’t be at home to see Mason and Aubrey do their Easter egg hunt, and because Napa is always gorgeous in the early Spring. Hopefully next year I can make that one happen. I hope everyone else out there had a good Easter and got to enjoy it with their friends and family.

Also! Big news, booked my travel for my Regional Rest Break (RRB). Going to Israel and Ireland. Very excited to go to Tel Aviv to see my friend Tamir who I haven’t seen in years. Also excited to see my friends Ben and Mayan whom I met while traveling in Peru, also been years. From there, going to Ireland to see my lovely girlfriend Caitlin and travel around with her family. Will be a great little adventure and a fun time to explore new places!

Just a little bit of home….

Today is April 1st… or April Fool’s Day as it is more commonly known in the US, and apparently in Afghanistan as well. I have never been much of a prankster, could never come up with good enough pranks that weren’t just downright mean, but today I got pranked.

After lunch got called into one of the manager’s offices as “I was needed by the Ministry for something very important” and it was urgent. I get up and head to Noor’s office and he asks me to please come in and sit at the desk to answer the Skype call with the Ministry… I sit down to a blanks screen that says “Happy April 1st, this special day” hahaha

It was pretty funny and I got a good laugh out of it, especially because I had no idea what the Ministry would actually want to talk to me about anyway… Jatender on the other hand got the same trick pulled on him and was much more concerned as he had thought something was wrong at the Ministry and he was in trouble or something… Maybe I should be more worried about future imminent calls from the Ministry?

Also, today I realized that Sunday is Easter! I am far from a religious person, as most know, but I do love me a good Easter Dinner. I have made it my mission, and by that I mean I have asked Umesh (our equivalent to Red from The Shawshank Redemption; a man who is known to locate things from time to time) to try and find us a ham so that I can put together a traditional Easter Dinner. Pork is hard to come by in this country, go figure, so I need someone to help me out. I have also put together a menu, which includes mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and some rolls or bread. Also there will be a shrimp scampi dish for our vegetarian/pescetarian diners (there are 3 out of 7 of us). So hopefully this works, cause I want some ham and just a little bit of home.

Not in Kansas anymore…

Yesterday was a day of firsts….

It was the first time I really went out into Kabul for work. We went to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) for a meeting. It was cool to drive through the city and see it during the day. There is a lot going on, lots of people, lots of cars, just action all over. We drove by the Ministry of Finance and many of the Embassies. We went by the zoo and the mosques, we got to see all sorts of sites.

The meeting was great, the people were nice, and even spoke in English much of the time so i knew what was going on. I got some cool pictures from the roof of the building of the city below. We went home, everything was fine.

The windows rattle, I think it’s a helicopter flying low overhead. The windows are single pained, they always rattle with the helicopters. Skype starts to chirp, text messages come in, a knock on the door from security; “is everyone ok?”…. Clearly it’s not a helicopter.

A suicide car bomb went off near the Ministry of Finance, killing 7 people (as of now) and injuring countless more. The smoke cloud can be seen from our office. After all the fun we had last weekend and the safety I have felt here, it’s just a quick reminder that we are in a war zone and you can never let your guard down.

Relationships…

Man I don’t know what it is about this time of year but I am hearing a lot about relationships, both good and bad. I am happy that I looked at by friends to be an ear to listen to and talk about relationships, but it is hard to do. In the last week I have dealt with talking and listening to two different relationships that have broken apart or are falling apart, from both sides, so 4 people. This has got to be the hardest because I am friends with both sides and don’t want to overstep any boundaries, but want to be able to give sound advice. I just wish it didn’t have to be so sticky and everyone could be cordial. It is just saddening to hear these stories of why the relationships don’t work or what went wrong and you wish you could help. It also makes me very cynical and sadly reminds me of why I don’t partake in many. I know it is a cop out and an easy way to do it, but I don’t like being hurt and so I think I would rather just have base level, on the top friendships with a lot of people rather than allowing anyone to get close so I can’t get hurt and I can’t hurt them. Lots to ponder…. back to writing grad school essay

Well that was a fail…

Not drinking lasted all of one day, nice work idiot. Oh well. I wasn’t pressured into it and didn’t get wrecked, but wanted to go out. There is only so much TV and internet that one can watch while at home. Though it may take a social beer or 4, it is more entertaining to go out with friends that sit at home alone, for what are we without our friends?

Work was slow and lame, I am beginning to tire of it. I need to really figure out my next life move. Many options, but all coming on so fast. I really need to get on applying to school and to volunteering in Ecuador. I hope something works out, otherwise I am just going to travel. I love Austin more than anywhere, but I need to start doing something. STRIVE TO BE BETTER!!! I can’t just pick up and move again, I need to start adding something to the story that is me. Tomorrow we make moves before golf and bbq and pool.

It starts now…

So yesterday I didn’t want to go out after work. I have been out a shit load since I have been having so many friends in town and just spending a lot of money, but I am a sucker for booze and friends. So I went out with the KY crew and had a blast per usual and saw/did things only possible in Austin.
Swan Dive – sweet ass bar. Was the original Barbarellas but has the most ridiculous 50’s swing bar feel to it. Last night there was a traditional Russian band playing and a dude that I swear was 7 feet tall dancing polka and swing. We never did figure out how tall he was cause no one would ask, but I still think he was 7 even though Log says he wasn’t. The music was rad and then one dude was playing a balalaika, look it up, it is a ridiculous instrument.

The night was made though by a mouse or maybe it was multiple scurrying across the floor. While this freaked out most of the girls and made them scream, our dear friend Gretchen wanted to catch it and keep it as a pet. She was down on all 4 drunk as shit in the bar trying to catch a mouse. It is hard to explain, but picture a chick, on her hands and knees, with two cups in her hands, crawling around to catch a mouse, in a bar! Awesome. Thank you Gretchen.

Oh and so the point of this “it starts now” I am going to only drink on the 9-5 schedule, Friday and Saturday nights. Should help the wallet