Last week I was really spoiled by my sweet housekeeper Yeshi with an amazing Fasika (Easter), and if it’s possible, I was even more spoiled by her, my friends and colleagues for my 26th birthday on Thursday, April 8th. Birthdays are a pretty big deal for me, and during the days leading up to it, I wrote out my life goals and values, and what I hope to accomplish over the next few years. I was pretty psyched to realize that I have a plan till I’m 30—grad school for 2 years, then work abroad for 2 years. So the fact that 26 rounds up to 30 doesn’t seem that bad now! :) And besides, being closer to 30 means being closer in age to dating men in their 30s, which is something that seems more and more appealing as I’m meeting awesome 30-something men throughout this trip.
So when midnight struck on my actual birthday, I was walking home in drizzly rain, having stayed at the office super late to update my blog and do some fundraising emails and facebook messages for PHE Ethiopia and the projects I’ve seen. My passion for these issues certainly hasn’t worn off since my Gedeo visit, and I’m constantly filled with positive energy, so it was a good way to turn 26! :)
The next morning, I woke up to an amazing breakfast, flowers and face lotion from Yeshi as a gift. So sweet! Then at the office, my friends Mery and Mesy wished me a happy birthday, and Negash brought in catered injera with konsul (dried meat like jerkey) for lunch. They were clearly speaking about me in Amharic, and I asked what it was about and they said “nothing…” and at the end of our lunch, the Engender Health Social Committee surprised me by coming into the office singing happy birthday, wearing party hats and bringing a chocolate cake! It was so unexpected and wonderful! In the past, I’ve always enjoyed wearing a tiara on my birthday, so in true Cassie form I happily wore my party hat all day. ;) Then when the power went out at 6pm and I was finishing a report, Negash started a lengthy discussion with Mesy and Mery in Amharic. Only 20 minutes into it did I realize that he had approved them to come on a 5-6 day vacation to the northern historical sites with me the following week! We had been stressing about asking him the whole time I've been here, because they thought he wouldn’t let both of them go, especially so close to big Earth Day activities they're planning. But apparently he brought up the subject of them needing to accompany me so I could do the trip while I’m here—we didn’t even have to beg! It was the best birthday gift I could have hoped for!
After work, Mesy, Mery, our Engender Health staff friend Nardos (Nardy), and I went to Kaldis Coffee (Ethiopian Starbucks) for ice cream, then they took me to a cultural show. I LOVED it! At first we sat in terrible seats by the bar since we didn’t have a reservation and the place was packed, but after 10 minutes they moved us to front and center. (I think it’s because we're such attractive ladies, it helped them to get more business with us in the limelight). :) The audience was mostly white, and I surprisingly felt SUPER out of place! Haha, it’s interesting to think how much culture shock I’ll have when I go back to LA! But it was seriously the best dancing I’ve ever seen, as groups of 3 women, 3 men, and a solo male/female singer alternated performing dances from the different regions of Ethiopia, all in traditional clothing and hair styles. My favorite was the strangely sexy Guraghe dance, where the men and women rapidly run in place and do a jack-hammer move with their arms in a prayer position. Apparently Mesy knows how to do it because her father’s from that region, so I’m going to beg her to teach it to me on our trip next week!
Near the end of our dinner and my 2 delicious whiskey cokes, I decided that I needed to get in a birthday dance, preferably in front of as many people as possible. ;) I felt pretty good about my shimmy moves after all the practice at Yeshi's house, so with Mery, Mesy and Nardy’s urging, I walked to a nearby dancer at the table next to us to challenge him to a shimmy-shake-down. It was so much fun! The other dancers were a million times better than me, but my friends said that just the fact that I’m a ferenje (foreigner) who’s up there shimmying is really good. Hopefully they’re telling the truth and not just being nice!
After that, Mesy went home, and Mery and Nardy took me to 3 super hip bars right around our office. The first had plush red velvet couches and mood lighting, the second had a hipster feel with candles, and the third was a full-on club with a live rock band, a blue-lit bar, and probably 75 tall beautiful people shaking it. It felt exactly like LA or DC, except that I was the only white person and pretty self-conscious because everyone around me was so damn attractive in a completely different way than me. Still, I had so much fun, and was super impressed with how modern everything was. I couldn’t believe that I’ve been here in Addis for 6 weeks and missed out on all this, but Mery and Mesy assured me that more people were out than usual, since it was the first Thursday night after Fasika. We ended up dancing till 3am before taking a taxi home and CRASHING!
I have to say that it was a shockingly fun night-- not only a better birthday than I expected, but really rewarding to see the fun and beautiful parts of Addis and Ethiopian culture. I think it’s because while I’ve had a wonderful time in my 6 weeks here, I’ve mostly been exposed to Ethiopia’s problems and poverty, as opposed to fun cultural touristy stuff. It’s been intrinsically rewarding to learn about development challenges and solutions, but it’s also weighed heavily on my heart and mind. It was lovely to kick back and just enjoy a night out with my friends—and very much needed!
Since then, I’ve been busily working away with my friends, colleagues and fellow activists back in the states, intent on my idea to “build an international youth movement” around supporting sexual and reproductive health and rights as a just and equitable climate change solution. Although I’m strapped with a million projects to finish right now, Negash had me start writing a proposal for his organizing to get more involved with empowering youth leaders, and I couldn’t be more excited to help him with this, since it’s my area of expertise and what I’m most passionate about with regard to these issues. The other day he introduced me to these AMAZING youth activists, Tinbeb and her sister Liyunesh, who were the only Ethiopian youth to attend the Copenhagen Climate Change negotiations. Hearing their stories about galvanizing 20,000 students last year to march for 350.org’s day of action, and then taking these messages to their decision-makers in Copenhagen, was so inspiring! The organizing environment here is SO challenging, with SO few resources and education, with SO many challenges, that I just can’t imagine all the work these ladies must do and how committed they are to advancing solutions for their country. In the next few days I’m going to more fully interview Tinbeb and Liyunesh, to write some articles about how amazing they are! I’m also thinking of possibly getting in touch with other youth climate leaders in the global south countries I’ll be visiting over the next 5 months to interview them too, and maybe making a video… we’ll see how it goes and hopefully whether I have enough time! Wish me luck in getting everything done before I leave for the North on Thursday! :)
So when midnight struck on my actual birthday, I was walking home in drizzly rain, having stayed at the office super late to update my blog and do some fundraising emails and facebook messages for PHE Ethiopia and the projects I’ve seen. My passion for these issues certainly hasn’t worn off since my Gedeo visit, and I’m constantly filled with positive energy, so it was a good way to turn 26! :)
The next morning, I woke up to an amazing breakfast, flowers and face lotion from Yeshi as a gift. So sweet! Then at the office, my friends Mery and Mesy wished me a happy birthday, and Negash brought in catered injera with konsul (dried meat like jerkey) for lunch. They were clearly speaking about me in Amharic, and I asked what it was about and they said “nothing…” and at the end of our lunch, the Engender Health Social Committee surprised me by coming into the office singing happy birthday, wearing party hats and bringing a chocolate cake! It was so unexpected and wonderful! In the past, I’ve always enjoyed wearing a tiara on my birthday, so in true Cassie form I happily wore my party hat all day. ;) Then when the power went out at 6pm and I was finishing a report, Negash started a lengthy discussion with Mesy and Mery in Amharic. Only 20 minutes into it did I realize that he had approved them to come on a 5-6 day vacation to the northern historical sites with me the following week! We had been stressing about asking him the whole time I've been here, because they thought he wouldn’t let both of them go, especially so close to big Earth Day activities they're planning. But apparently he brought up the subject of them needing to accompany me so I could do the trip while I’m here—we didn’t even have to beg! It was the best birthday gift I could have hoped for!
After work, Mesy, Mery, our Engender Health staff friend Nardos (Nardy), and I went to Kaldis Coffee (Ethiopian Starbucks) for ice cream, then they took me to a cultural show. I LOVED it! At first we sat in terrible seats by the bar since we didn’t have a reservation and the place was packed, but after 10 minutes they moved us to front and center. (I think it’s because we're such attractive ladies, it helped them to get more business with us in the limelight). :) The audience was mostly white, and I surprisingly felt SUPER out of place! Haha, it’s interesting to think how much culture shock I’ll have when I go back to LA! But it was seriously the best dancing I’ve ever seen, as groups of 3 women, 3 men, and a solo male/female singer alternated performing dances from the different regions of Ethiopia, all in traditional clothing and hair styles. My favorite was the strangely sexy Guraghe dance, where the men and women rapidly run in place and do a jack-hammer move with their arms in a prayer position. Apparently Mesy knows how to do it because her father’s from that region, so I’m going to beg her to teach it to me on our trip next week!
Near the end of our dinner and my 2 delicious whiskey cokes, I decided that I needed to get in a birthday dance, preferably in front of as many people as possible. ;) I felt pretty good about my shimmy moves after all the practice at Yeshi's house, so with Mery, Mesy and Nardy’s urging, I walked to a nearby dancer at the table next to us to challenge him to a shimmy-shake-down. It was so much fun! The other dancers were a million times better than me, but my friends said that just the fact that I’m a ferenje (foreigner) who’s up there shimmying is really good. Hopefully they’re telling the truth and not just being nice!
After that, Mesy went home, and Mery and Nardy took me to 3 super hip bars right around our office. The first had plush red velvet couches and mood lighting, the second had a hipster feel with candles, and the third was a full-on club with a live rock band, a blue-lit bar, and probably 75 tall beautiful people shaking it. It felt exactly like LA or DC, except that I was the only white person and pretty self-conscious because everyone around me was so damn attractive in a completely different way than me. Still, I had so much fun, and was super impressed with how modern everything was. I couldn’t believe that I’ve been here in Addis for 6 weeks and missed out on all this, but Mery and Mesy assured me that more people were out than usual, since it was the first Thursday night after Fasika. We ended up dancing till 3am before taking a taxi home and CRASHING!
I have to say that it was a shockingly fun night-- not only a better birthday than I expected, but really rewarding to see the fun and beautiful parts of Addis and Ethiopian culture. I think it’s because while I’ve had a wonderful time in my 6 weeks here, I’ve mostly been exposed to Ethiopia’s problems and poverty, as opposed to fun cultural touristy stuff. It’s been intrinsically rewarding to learn about development challenges and solutions, but it’s also weighed heavily on my heart and mind. It was lovely to kick back and just enjoy a night out with my friends—and very much needed!Since then, I’ve been busily working away with my friends, colleagues and fellow activists back in the states, intent on my idea to “build an international youth movement” around supporting sexual and reproductive health and rights as a just and equitable climate change solution. Although I’m strapped with a million projects to finish right now, Negash had me start writing a proposal for his organizing to get more involved with empowering youth leaders, and I couldn’t be more excited to help him with this, since it’s my area of expertise and what I’m most passionate about with regard to these issues. The other day he introduced me to these AMAZING youth activists, Tinbeb and her sister Liyunesh, who were the only Ethiopian youth to attend the Copenhagen Climate Change negotiations. Hearing their stories about galvanizing 20,000 students last year to march for 350.org’s day of action, and then taking these messages to their decision-makers in Copenhagen, was so inspiring! The organizing environment here is SO challenging, with SO few resources and education, with SO many challenges, that I just can’t imagine all the work these ladies must do and how committed they are to advancing solutions for their country. In the next few days I’m going to more fully interview Tinbeb and Liyunesh, to write some articles about how amazing they are! I’m also thinking of possibly getting in touch with other youth climate leaders in the global south countries I’ll be visiting over the next 5 months to interview them too, and maybe making a video… we’ll see how it goes and hopefully whether I have enough time! Wish me luck in getting everything done before I leave for the North on Thursday! :)
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