Ethiopia is, well, Ethiopia. It is unique.   We began In Addis where we spent only one day, but it was there that I got my first taste of Africa.

The first thing I saw after leaving the airport were the animals. For someone like me who  only has experience with  cities like New York, London, Paris, Rome, and various others, the presence of cows, goats, sheep, cats, and dogs running wherever they wanted across the central city streets was very strange, but somehow, it fit. Goats, sheep, and cows were kept off the road by their shepherds, who would throw rocks or whack them with sticks to make sure they weren't hit by cars. These animals understandably felt pretty free on the roads: there are not very many cars. Along with animals, there were people everywhere. In the middle of the road, on the grassy strip running down the center, on the sidewalk, in front of stores. Some were working in the stores or digging in the grassy strip while others just seemed to be hanging out, doing nothing.

The drive to the Silesian school did not take long. The Abbas were very nice, and we had tea before going outside. There were kids everywhere. They had a full size soccer field (made of rocks), volleyball, and basketball. We were almost immediately swarmed by the younger kids, all of whom grabbed, pushed, and kicked their way to a piece of my arms or legs, and then hung on for dear life. For however long we were out there I was never without about  five kids on my arms or holding my shorts. We discovered that they really liked to be picked up and/or swung around, but this was very tiring because if you did it for one kid, you had to do it for everyone. They also loved touching and investigating me  - pulling at arm and leg hair, pushing my skin to see it briefly change colors, and playing with my hands. We brought out  plastic frisbees, which they loved immediately. Next time we need to bring more. Soon, they had lunch, which was a plate of rice and a piece of bread. We watched them eat for a little while before going for our own lunch in the building where we were sleeping. It was the first of many traditional Ethiopian meals we would eat - injera (flat, thin, crepe-like bread) and sauce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, bananas, and maybe pasta too.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up by hanging out with the kids and playing frisbee.  A little later, we went on a driven tour of the city, and stopped to pay for our flights to Mekele. We also took a tour of a neighboring Catholic compound - the home of our driver. We had more tea. Later, back at the Silesians, we played ping pong, showered,  had dinner,  then  went to bed. We had to wake up at 4:15 to drive to the airport.

When we landed in Mekele, it was hazy. I would become accustomed to the African haze, and I learned that if it’s hazy in the morning, it should rain in the afternoon. It was also pretty flat. We were collecting our bags when Abba Thomas approached us, and we greeted him for the first time. He wore glasses and a clerical collar, and looked younger than his 40-something years. Outside, we put our bags in a Toyota Land Cruiser and climbed in. The first thing I noticed was that my seatbelt didn't work. I had been expecting this, and I think I was secured to my seat only once in the whole month. Abba Thomas noticed us trying to fix the seatbelt situation and said "Ah…it is good to ah…well, here, we are not so careful with our lives." This was encouraging. Two minutes later we drifted off the road and came very close to hitting a group of goats. It was the beginning of an interesting journey to Adigrat.

There were a lot of rocks. Everything was covered in rocks, dust, people, animals, or buildings. There was hardly any grass. What did the animals eat? , the car broke down not long after we left Mekele. Tom noticed the steam and hissing coming from the front end, and we pulled over to investigate. Three teenagers from further up the road walked down to watch as Abba Thomas worked under the hood. He poured water from a bottle into the coolant tank, and one of the kids was sent to get more. The car was thirsty: it drank all the water he brought back, and not long after we started going again, it started steaming and hissing once more. Abba Thomas went jogging off the side of the road towards a muddy pond 300 yards away for more water. The car drank it all again. This happened a few times, but we eventually made it to some town where Abba Thomas knew some of the priests in the parish, and we stopped for lunch before heading over to their compound. A mechanic was called to come up from Mekele, and we drank tea. Then we had a tour, and more tea. After a few hours, our mechanic arrived and said the problem was serious. We would have to have a new car to take us the rest of the way.

Finally, several hours late, we arrived in Adigrat. We put our stuff in our rooms, and got a tour from Hagos, one of the students. He spoke halting English, but more than enough to communicate with us and describe the area. The seminary was a very attractive building in a beautiful compound. Surrounding it were the cathedral, the minor seminary, the building where the Bishop had his office, room, and guest rooms, and various volleyball nets, basketball courts, and gardens.

The  next few weeks were amazing. I think it is very true that we learned more than we taught, and received more than we gave. The students and Abbas were easily the most genuinely kind people I've ever met. They refused to let me carry my own backpack or even a book. Every single person who already had a seat in the TV room would get up when I entered to offer me their seat. Eventually I gave up asking them not to do these things. They all taught me much more about their culture and way of life than I was able to convey to them of my own. We took walks in the surrounding area where I would struggle to climb the steep mountains only to reach the top to see the students were wearing heavy jeans and not sweating at all. Furthermore, these mountains were flat on the top, and people regularly lived up there, so the steep walk was a daily exercise for them. Older men and women did it every day.

I became a much better ping pong and volleyball player, as well as learning boules for the first time. However, almost every student and Abba was much better than me at these activities; I had to learn in order to keep up. I enjoyed not showering for a week straight, and it was fun to sit and read while taking breaks to kill flies or brush away ants. It was hot, but not uncomfortable. It rained almost every day, but towards the end of the summer it became rarer, leading to nervous discussions about drought. There was excellent thunder and lightening whenever it rained.

Classes were hard in the beginning because I had absolutely no idea how to go about teaching English. I didn't have to learn it the way foreigners do, and it was hard to answer questions that began, "but why…?". All I could say was, "it just…well, it just is!". In the early morning, I usually taught them new words. Then after thirty minutes of ping pong, we had discussions about politics or history or religion or girlfriends. In the afternoon, we did written grammar exercises for the first week, then started playing cards or watching movies as fewer students showed up for the afternoon class. Lucky for them, I didn't like the grammar exercises either.

In the end, I don't think I was able to teach them much, but it was still good to get them speaking English regularly. One month of my amateur teaching style was never guaranteed to accomplish a great deal. That just goes to show that the quality of the entire trip is not based on the amount of English they learned but what we collectively learned about each other and grew together. Both teachers and students learned more about each other's culture, language, people, weather, history, and geography, but I think I learned more than they did. I am so happy to have met such wonderful people. I want to go back, or, maybe even get them to come here. Ethiopia is a crazy country, about as far from what I am used to as possible. The trip was an amazing experience and cannot be appropriately described. It just has to be done.

Peter Mellgard