Ethiopia!

My invitation arrived Monday night, much sooner than I expected!

Over the weekend, I'd compiled a list of the countries I was hoping to get. Burkina Faso was at the top, followed by Ethiopia, Senegal, and Benin, all for various reasons. My dad had been making fun of me over Ethiopia: he says that in the 60's and 70's it was considered the worst place in the world.

So when I opened my packet, my first emotion was amusement. Because I was going to Ethiopia!

The packet is huge, and I've been going through it for almost a full day, but it seems like I've been doing research on Ethiopia for like a week.

I've definitely decided to accept the invitation. I still have mixed feelings, though, because Ethiopia is one of the least stable and safe countries in the Peace Corps. They keep pulling volunteers out because Ethiopia keeps getting into fights with the neighboring Eritrea. Plus, it's treatment of women is pretty poor, and a third of the population is Muslim.

It's a lot to think about, but after reading about the living conditions from current volunteers and realizing that because of budget constraints, there's no way I'd get a second invitation anyway, I decided that I should grab up this adventure and hope for the best. Luckily my mom can't google.

Something my dad may not realize: Ethiopia is still considered the poorest, dirtiest place on earth. At least by the people I know. The few times so far that I have announced my country, I've gotten looks saying, "Oh God, I'm so sorry," rather than "congratulations!" and people keep wincing or cringing instead of smiling.

Well anyway, I'm mostly excited and ready to sort of dive in! Current volunteers say to expect the worse and be pleasantly surprised, but I'm still going to hope to live in the highlands with moderate temperatures and at least a few hours a day/days a week of electricity.