Quarreling Night

Coffee Talk was a success once again. This week, we had Quarreling Night, led again by Gabre, an engineering student who learned about it at his English school in Axum. He divided the room into two sides..for and against Affirmative Action for Women. The games began as students from both sides were nvited to shout, insult, take the floor, or do whatever they had to do to get their voice heard. It was hysterical and the audience was so fired up, they didn't even realize they were speaking and listening in English, which of course was the whole point!

We are thinking of trying to have a Coffee Talk for females only, since they tend to be intimidated by the male students. The English skills of the women tend to be lower than the men's due to this. As in the U.S. in the past, women in Ethiopia are socialized to let men take the lead, so we are fighting that tendency here on the campus.