Wow, it’s been a long time since my last post! But things in Atsbi have been outstanding. I’m trying to keep busy with my research but if I get bored, there is always a pile of dishes in my kitchen to be washed in buckets on the floor. Be thankful for your dishwashers, people…
That’s as much as I can complain, though, because besides missing the little luxuries of America I’m settling in just fine. In fact, I just added a new member to my Ethiopian family: a chicken. Her name is Jazmine. So far she has laid an egg a day. Now, I can’t even think how one might go about buying a single, live, full grown chicken in the US, but here it’s kind of a fun adventure.
Every Saturday our town hosts a lively little market where you can buy everything from carrots to empty tin cans to scarves. It’s fantastic fun to just wonder around, looking at the odds and ends that somehow get sold by the end of the day, but last Saturday Chris and I were on a mission. After buying our fresh produce for the week (carrots, tomatoes, onions, bananas and potatoes) and checking out the shovel prices, we headed over to the chicken section. That’s right, there’s a special section of this chaotic open-air event specifically for chickens. Ironically it’s right next to the egg section.
There are chickens of every size, shape and color, all with owners who think their bird is the best. Besides the incredibly pushy salesmen, there are also usually about one hundred children following us wherever we go. Needless to say, the act of purchasing poultry is a full-blown show. So there I was, moving from chicken to chicken, trying not to get overwhelmed when I saw her. Jazmine was sitting in the dust, feet tied up and fast asleep. At first glance she looked black, but in the bright sun her feathers glistened with an iridescent green hew. I knew she was my girl immediately. Yeah, I’m talking about a chicken, but she’s my chicken now. I ended up paying seventy birr (about $4) for her, and if she keeps laying an egg a day she’ll pay for herself in a month!
Chris also found a chicken he liked enough to take home, and after we each paid we headed home. I carried Jazmine under my arm and Chris carried Spider Jerusalem (What kind of nerdy name is that?!) in a bucket. Both Jazmine and Spider Jerusalem seemed to have settled in since then, but only my amazing hen lays eggs. As it turns out, Chris picked a rooster on accident! He’ll eventually be good food.
Buying Jazmine is the most exciting thing that’s happened in a while, but thankfully there are other things going on, too. My “community needs assessment” is coming along just fine, I’ve started Tigrinia tutoring with one of the teachers in town and I’ve even begun planning a garden. Hopefully in a few months I’ll have a larger variety of vegetables to choose from. In just a few days we are having a Tigray reunion of sorts to watch the Superbowl in Makelle at an awesome American-style theatre. Preparations for party food have already started! And in just another month and a half and I’ll be heading to Addis for our first in service training.
I sure hope everyone is having as good of a start to 2012 as I am…Thanks for reading, friends.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Great looking chicken.
Jazmine is quite the little lady and I’m glad she’s a good “egg”!
hahaha THis made me laugh!
Jazmine is truly classy …
Love seeing the photos. We use to have a white chicken named Rooty. When people got out of their car and started to walked toward our front door the chicken would run full force at them and jump at them with it’s claws out. It was crazy! We use to keep a full watergun on the post. Friends knew to get out of the car and grab the watergun. They would run toward the door shooting water at the chicken. I miss all the action.
Take Care,
Kim
Definitely working on a plan for this summer. I’ll keep you updated. More than anything else it will come down to finances. But I’m doing my best. Luckily it sounds like being there is actually cheap!