Expect the Unexpected: Things I Didn’t Know Before Coming to Ethiopia #BloggingAbroad

Blog Challenge Day #5

Prior to moving to Ethiopia, I had visited a few other third world developing countries.  One of which was Uganda (another African country just slightly south of Ethiopia).  With how different each country was, I told myself to try not to have any expectations when beginning my Peace Corps experience in Ethiopia.  Despite this, it can be very hard to begin any new experience without having any expectations at all.  To be honest, I really didn’t have many expectations prior to coming to Ethiopia.  The only expectations that I really had were (1) that it may be similar to Uganda in the way of the poverty that I would see and (2) of the food based on food I had eaten once in an Ethiopian restaurant.

Okay… so here are some things that I was not expecting, things that were new to me upon arriving to Ethiopia:

1)  The food: 

I did know to expect injera, a spongy food that is eaten with all foods.  I do remember how spicy the Ethiopian food was that I had eaten back in America.  Surprisingly enough, the food that I have eaten in Ethiopia has not been as spicy as I remembered it being that first time trying Ethiopia food.  I also did not expect the variety either.  With many African countries, there is a set and basic diet.  For example, in many of these countries, beans and rice are staple foods and not much is eaten besides this.  In Ethiopia, injera is the staple food but it is traditionally always eaten with other food.  There are different meat dishes, different dishes based on a sauce called a wat.  Even wats vary a lot based on what type of vegetables are being used.

2)  The diversity: 

I did not expect the diversity of Ethiopia (I wouldn’t say that Ethiopia is diverse in the same sense that America is though).  Ethiopia is diverse in the sense that there are eight different regions.  There is the national language and almost each region has its own regional language.  These regions are divided even further into zones and many zones have their own languages.  If you want to go even further still, there are many tribes throughout the country with their own tribal languages.  In Ethiopia, there are 80 plus tribes and just as many if not slightly more languages.

3)  The religion:

In regards to religion, I did know that Ethiopia is predominately Orthodox and Protestant.  When coming to Ethiopia, I learned that there is also a large Muslim population.  One thing that really surprised me was when I learned that there is a small Jewish Ethiopian population present within the country.  Many are divided between the Amhara and Tigray regions.

Despite coming to Ethiopia trying to be as open-minded and with as little expectations as possible, I have found that there are things do not meet exactly what I expect.  I had an expectation that majority of Ethiopian food would be very spicy.  I did not expect the country to be as diverse as it is in the way that it is.  Coming to Ethiopia, I knew that the national language was Amharic.  What I did not expect was that there are many, many Ethiopians in the most rural and far corners of the country that can only speak their local language.  During my two years in Ethiopia, I have come in contact with Ethiopians whom I am unable to communicate with at all because they are unable to speak any Amharic at all. 

I have learned that even when you try not to have any expectations at all, that it is impossible to not have at least one (whether intentional or not).  To be honest though, I don’t think there is anything wrong with this though.  I think it can be very good to go into a new experience trying to have little expectations.  In my own personal experiences, having as little expectations as possible has allowed me to be more open to trying and learning new things.  I have learned that despite how hard you may try to go into an experience with no expectations, you are bound to end up having at least one or two.  The good thing about this though is that it shows that you do expect to get something out of an experience.  And at times, these expectations, as well as things you learn once beginning these new experiences, are what allow you to grow as a person.

#BloggingAbroad

http://bloggingabroad.org/blog-challenge