We have explored and learned so much in our first week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

We arrived not really knowing what to expect.  After a 23 hour adventure we finally stepped foot on Ethiopian soil.  We were greeted with warm weather and excitement from our contact/guide/new friend Hareg and her husband.  We had booked in to stay at the SIM Guesthouse but did not know much about it, not even where it was exactly located. Our first lesson: Addresses in Ethiopia are nothing like addresses in North America.  They rely on landmarks and do not have many street signs.  We took the first day to catch up on sleep and adjust to the 10 hour time difference. On Sunday we walked around the city, got lost a couple of times, got caught in a rain storm, and wore ourselves out!

Monday morning we met Hareg at Addis Ababa University. As we were still unfamiliar with the area, she graciously sent a card to pick us up.  We spent the day meeting some of the faculty of Education and Behavioural Studies Department, including the Dean and Associate Dean.  It was great getting to finally put a face to the names we have been emailing over the past few months.  We then travelled to our first primary school.  The setting was much different from the primary schools we are used to. This week in Ethiopia, some schools are holding government examinations and the students who were not writing exams did not have to attend classes. The first school we visited was an examination centre so there were not many student around.  Later in the day Hareg introduced us to traditional Ethiopian food and we of course ate too much! It was delicious.  The day went by so fast.

For the rest of the week we were able to observe and teach classes at Beherawi Bete Mengist Primary School.  We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to first observe a few different classes and then introduce the students to Canada and parts of our culture. The students were amazing.  As soon as a teacher walks in the room they all stand and say “Hello teacher”.  The teacher will greet them and ask them to have a seat – in unison they say “Thank you teacher” and silently sit down.  I was in awe of the level of respect the students showed to their teachers.  No students were talking out of turn and when the teacher had their back to them, they silently waited.

When it was our turn to teach, we excitedly asked ‘Has anyone heard of Canada?’ None of the students had.  We took this opportunity to showcase where we live and some of the similarities and differences between British Columbia and Addis Ababa.

Overall, this week has been a very humbling experience.  I can’t quite explain the rush of feelings that I had over the course of this week but I know that I am no where near ready to come home.  I am looking forward to the coming weeks and getting to explore, observe, and hopefully teach in the other local primary schools.