10 Things that Only Happen in Awash, Ethiopia

1.  The electricity goes out multiple times in a day, and no one is ever surprised.

We’ll be sitting in our rooms, and the electricity will go out. Maybe for thirty minutes, or maybe until the next morning. What an adventure.

2.  When invited into someone’s home, expect that they might feed you.

Literally, they will take the food that’s on your plate (or theirs) and put it in your mouth for you. Very hospitable, but still very awkward if you come from a culture where that is not the norm.

3.  When you walk down the street, people just yell “I love you!” when they don’t even know you.

I never know how to respond, because I can’t tell if they are just being nice and are glad to have visitors in town, or if it’s meant in a creepy way. Best to just keep walking.

4.  When you walk down the street, people say, “Hello! Are you fine??” because white people are pretty rare in Awash.

As a group of seven American girls walking through town, we always draw attention. A lot of locals seem worried that we must be lost and are in need of assistance.

5.  Canned tuna has taken the place of peanut butter as our tasty treasure this month.

With only $5 per day for food and very limited food options, the protein contained in a small can of tuna is sort of a necessity.

6.  You cannot find ice cream or a plain chocolate bar literally anywhere.

Two of the things I miss about Europe– I had very easy access to both items, and not having either them has been trying. Is it obvious yet how much I love comfort food?

7.  It’s a real treat to have vegetables that don’t make you sick.

Beware of food or water that could be contaminated. I got food poisoning on our third day in Ethiopia, and it was awful, so I’ve been very careful around food ever since.

8.  You become exhausted from heat and extreme lack of physical activity.

We are in supposedly the hottest region on earth. Yes, it’s pretty darn hot, but thank goodness we have A/C where we’re staying– until the electricity goes out. Most days the only physical activity we get is walking to and from church, about 15 minutes each way once or twice a day, since the heat makes trying to do anything else pretty difficult.

9.  You can fit seven World Racers plus a driver into the local transport, called a bejaj, which is basically a motorcycle cart meant for like three passengers.

“It’s fine.” My favorite catch phrase. We almost tipped the thing driving over a curb, and it was definitely a tight fit, but we made it, don’t worry. Things like this are normal on the Race.

 10.  You can’t control the water temperature when you take a shower, but that’s okay because cold-ish showers are actually a huge blessing.

Not having a hot shower for the first month since I’ve been on the race honestly made me really happy. Even if we could have hot water, I would still take a cold shower just because it feels nice.