After the promised buses were
canceled three times and waiting in front of the teachers’ lounge for 4 hours,
we ended up taking Aba Dulas (minibuses) for our experience sharing trip to
Bahir Dar. Nineteen students, all winners of the Debre Markos Idol Talent Show
and three teachers, loaded our gear and embarked on the 4 hour journey. We
arrived late to the university campus, where the students would sleep, about 8:30
p.m. The next morning, the group met at St George Church in the center of town
and rode the bug-like Bajajes to the Catholic High School where we would share
our English Language talents with the students from this top notch institution.
The show was beyond all expectations. It started on time (a rare occurrence in
Ethiopia) and flowed without a hitch. The university students performed drama,
dance, singing, debate, and literary arts. The high schoolers had prepared
singing, debate, and a spelling bee.
Although there were many moments, the star of the show was a high school
boy (10th grader no less) who sang a song so brilliantly that some
of us cried. Other highlights were intermittent, wild, hand clapping dancing as
students from both sides joined one of the performers. The DMU students led the
group in some of our Coffee Talk activities such as Boasting, Quarrelling, and
Without Saying Yes or No. We all agreed
that it was something we should do again, seeing that our schools were a good
match with each other.
The day after the Talent Show, all
of the Debre Markos group went on a boat ride in Lake Tana to visit a couple of
the thousands year old monasteries built on small islands throughout this huge
freshwater lake. We sang, joked, took pictures, and got to know one another
better on this excursion. After lunch, we headed back to the university with
empty pockets and tired smiles on our faces.
