Adjusting to Life in Dilla

Leaving Addis early Saturday morning with Sr. Agnese.  

Today marks one week since I first landed in Ethiopia (it’s not the moon, but it certainly feels as far away from home!).  It’s been several days since arriving to Dilla after a day-long ride from Addis, the last 75km of which was on a bumpy road under construction.  The roadway is being modernized and it will connect the capital with the Kenyan border.  However, rather than working on small sections, a large swathe of the roadway has been ripped apart, thus turning a two-hour drive between Dilla and Zway (half-way point from Addis) into a four-hour long trip.  

The "akacha" trees that can survive this arid climate.

The road from Addis to Zway leads southward from the cooler temperatures of the highlands, to a drier and warmer climate.   Along the way we saw small dust devils and a herd of camels (of the one-hump variety).  The landscape from Zway to Dilla then changes from arid brown to lush green, which reminds me a lot of Curacao and the Colombian / Venezuelan countryside.

Popcorn is served while the coffee is prepared.

The Salesian sisters live on a large compound at the entrance of Dilla that houses several school buildings, a bakery, a clinic, a library, and a tea/coffee shop for the students.  Mangos, papayas, and avocados grow in abundance, and the coffee bushes are in bloom. The coffee is delicious and I was fortunate to be welcomed by the school staff with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.   

The traditional layout of the ceremony.

Adjusting to Dilla has not been too difficult, as these surroundings feel very familiar to me.

The one thing I am probably still adjusting too is sleeping with a mosquito net although at the moment, there aren’t too many mosquitos since it is the dry season. But I can’t really complain about anything else as everyone has been very hospitable and friendly.  I have also enjoyed being immersed in their everyday conversations, even though I don’t understand much, but I am quickly learning Amharic phrases every day.

Today many of you celebrated Ash Wednesday but for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Lent does not start for another two weeks.  For those of you celebrating Lent, I leave you with a quote from Pope Francis, which I am going to take to heart during the Lent season in Ethiopia: "Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy."