May 4, 2009

Today was our introduction to commercial life in Debre Zeit. The first stop was the local Bank of Abyssinia, where I needed to exchange some US cash for Ethiopian Birr. The exchange rate is around 11 Birr for every 1 US dollar. I presented my money to the bank teller, and after a while was told to come upstairs. There I had to witness the counting of the US dollars as they fed the bills through a counter. I was then offered a cup of coffee, which at first I declined graciously, but when I realized that I had offended by teller, I accepted. So, that makes two cup of coffee in two days. Once I received the 3,300 Birr, it was off to the grocery stores. In Debre Zeit the grocery stores are tiny. Some just sell dairy products, while others just sell fruit. Products are sometimes simply not available in any store, such as eggs.

Once we returned to the college it was time for the campus tour, and time to meet the staff. I spent the rest of the morning touring the library and meeting the staff.

I took the afternoon off and we went for a 90 minute walk with Ernie and Lois Hess. We walked to two more lakes and wandered through various urban and rural areas of Debre Zeit. A lot of the little children come running up and want to touch us. Some ask for money, but most are just curious. I just about got in to trouble with a cattle owner after I took a picture of his herd walking down the road. I managed to smooth things over. White people are pretty rare in these parts, so you get all sorts of hooting and hollering from people. You often hear the term “ferenje” which means foreigner, or you hear “money, money, money.” One of the more humorous scenes, besides me getting yelled at by the cattle herder, was coming across a small herd of sheep in the field we were crossing. For some reason, maybe because they realized Karen is a pastor, they decided to follow us down the road. Once we turned at an intersection, they stopped and after a while, crossed the road. We could not see that anyone was concerned about the sheep, so I guess they just roam around town and come back home eventually.