A New Experience: International Partnership Work in Ethiopia

Again, it's been a while since my last post... I'm having a new experience this week: I am working with an OSU colleague on an Int'l partnership development project and my college and I are visiting Ethiopia for relationship building, teaching, and fact-finding... I just figured this would be a good time to share a little of what I'm experiencing..

So as I write this, it's after 10pm here in Ethiopia! I've had an exciting day, but I'm completely exhausted! I only got an hour nap all day! Can you say jetlag?? LOL
Did you know that 1 US Dollar is equal to 17 Ethiopian Birr?? So when I cashed in 100.00USD for ET Birr today, they gave me 1700. ET Birr!! I spent 600 Birr today and here is what I bought: 5 pieces of handmade jewelry and a light meal for two which consisted of two bowls of soup, two beers, a super huge order of fries and a bottled water... I have 1100 Birr left! So I only actually spent roughly 35 USD on all that stuff... Unbelievable....
I learned that Ethiopia is actually known for its coffee and I had some of the best coffee I've ever had today. I also learned about the history of the University. The University was founded only in the 1950s or so. Their main campus building was actually the palace of their last King! This building houses their Institute for Ethiopian Studies and inside is a wonderful museum that chronicles Ethiopian life--showing notable history and rituals and customs, from birth through death. So interesting... and I've always been intrigued by different cultural norms, rituals, and belief systems, so I've been pondering lots of questions about this type of stuff  along the way. So many questions have come up (e.g., questions about gender relations in the university and in the culture in general, how meetings with university admins are approached/arranged, etiquette/decorum and views about the elderly, poverty and the behavior of panhandlers on the street, and so many other things)  I plan to share more of my relevations on this later.
I met with a few university administrators today to talk about the partnership. I met some doctoral students that are taking my colleague's class, too. I will be giving a few of them some guidance on their research proposals and I'm planning a brief workshop (on conceptualizing research questions) for friday morning--this idea just came up over dinner tonight when we realized some of the students needed help with this. So much to do!
I learned so much today, my mind is overflowing... well, I just wanted to share a little... I have a few pics to post, but I'm in bed now, so I'm gonna post them tomorrow. More updates to come!