When I graduated at the age of 25, I began to be stationed abroad, going around several countries for several years.
That year, after graduating from the English major, I was admitted to the English teacher, and I also took several OFFERs in China, and I should have lived an ordinary life. But I just wanted to take advantage of my youth and go to the wider world of Africa to break through. If Africa can stay, then everywhere can be well. I gave up my teaching career with winter and summer vacations, gave up the opportunity to go to the United States to develop, persuaded my family, and chose Africa without hesitation.
A man got a passport, packed his bags, and headed into the unknown. Excited and nervous, but more than that, anticipation and yearning for wild Africa.
On the day of departure, I was walking from Shanghai, and my partner in Hangzhou sent me to the airport, dragging several suitcases in total. Friends said, or you don't go, it's not impossible to find a job in China. I know he's thinking about me, worried that I'm a girl out, no family and friends to take care of, easy to be bullied, not safe, really encounter things may cry nowhere. But I know that if I don't go out this time, it will be difficult to have a chance to go out in the future. Because in the traditional view, as a girl, graduation, work, marriage, have children, step by step – but this is not the life I want, I want a broader life, more life experience.
01 First came to Africa
At 6:06 a.m. on June 6, when I came out of the Bole Airport in Addis Ababa, the city of flowers, I did not find a pick-up person, and I was alone with a cart full of luggage, walking in a strange crowd, surrounded by black-skinned, white-skinned and yellow-skinned people.
I silently thought about not panicking and calming down when things happened. Fortunately, before I went abroad, I opened an international roaming, mobile phone and electricity, I quickly contacted the pick-up person, waiting for the phone to be connected for ten seconds, in a lonely foreign country, it seems particularly long.
After getting the promise of the pick-up person to "arrive immediately", I did not dare to go too far, nor did I talk to strangers, I pretended not to be the first time, waited quietly near the airport pick-up gate, and soon after, finally met with the pick-up person, and my nervous heart was always put down.
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After all, this is also the first time in my life that sugar Xiaobai has been out of such a far door alone, and the plane has flown for nearly 10 hours.
When I arrived at the company, I simply put my luggage away and ate breakfast, and I began to work non-stop, without rest, without jet lag.
The boss took me to run a few local government departments, introduced a few local partners to me, and I said hello one by one and received business cards.
Just out of school, I speak English in long paragraphs, before saying it, I have to go through the grammar in my mind, but I found that the locals can't completely understand it, and slowly I began to try to communicate with the simplest sentences, sometimes directly using words or phrases, as long as the other party can understand it.
Some locals have a heavier English accent, the pronunciation of words has different intonations, and some words are completely incomprehensible, but fortunately, they will slowly adapt later. Later, I also went to some places outside the capital and found that some of them had written English words wrong, such as the Female in the women's restroom as Femele. Zero and zero total, but also cute.
02 Floral fragrance Essey
In Addis, I often go to the Friendship Supermarket on Bole Road to buy daily necessities, there will be a lot of children around the supermarket begging, once I gave a little boy a few bills, the result was a group of little boys around me, did not let me go, a few also tried to grab my bag, at that time I forced my composure, shouted to the older boys, they can't do this, you have to stop them, fortunately he understood my words, helped me drive away the begging children.
Since then, I've gone to the supermarket and never paid any more attention to the little kids on the side of the road shouting: CHINA, CHINA, MONEY (Chinese, Chinese, give money).
They have their frustrations, and I have to think about my own safety. Sometimes on the way to work, through the car window, I will also see some single mothers in tattered clothes and bare breasts holding their babies on the side of the road to feed and beg, next to the dirt and ash bottles and cans, which is very sad. These experiences made me feel very deeply, and it was also the reason why I later recruited a single mother with three children as a kitchen maid.
02 Workplace harassment
Time is like the floral fragrance of Nayadis roses, which makes people mesmerized. Unconsciously, I spent more than two years in Ethiopia and changed companies.
The first company, a private company, I stayed for half a month, the boss is a private boss, bad character, once at dinner, in front of four or five people, he said, you are not mine except for the flesh, even the paper used to go to the toilet is mine. I was shocked to hear it, but I didn't speak and ate quietly. When I got back to the room, I thought that this company couldn't stay any longer, and my three views would be shattered if I stayed any longer. So I thought of a way to provoke him, let him open me, and paid me half a month's internship salary.
Maybe the heavens don't want me to be so fruitless, in the hotel where my colleagues gave me practice, I held the mentality of trying it out, contacted the manager who communicated before going abroad, thanked her, this time abroad is very hurried, did not have time to meet, I want to go back.
She asked me why, after I briefly described the situation, the manager said that her company just happened to be short of people, let me go to the interview, very lucky, I successfully passed the interview, returned the ticket to return to the country I went to the second company to join.
This experience made me unforgettable, I am very grateful to the manager who sent charcoal in the snow, at that time I felt like an angel full of light, reaching out to me in my most desperate time, she is my nobleman, I thank her, but also thank myself for persevering. After all, the job is gone, you can find it again, and when your dignity is gone, it is difficult to find it back.
Here, I also want to remind the preparation or have arrived in Africa of the small partners, especially girls, sexual harassment in the workplace is actually very common, we must learn to identify, learn to protect themselves. Before going out to work, be sure to verify whether it is a regular company and the personality of the boss, because from time to time there are also reports that some girls have been tricked out of the country, their passports have been confiscated, and then they have been forced to engage in illegal business.
03 Rain or shine
The second job was an engineering company, and in order to speed up the project, employees also moved from the villa rented by the company to the simple tin house on the construction site. Work is very busy, every morning at 6 o'clock to get up, more than 7 o'clock to follow the driver to go out to run errands, sometimes often have to run a day, busy time more than 10 o'clock at night to return to the construction site. Sometimes I have to get up at 4 a.m. to pick up at the airport.
I remember one time when I was so tired that I fell asleep, the doors were not closed, or the car in the process of driving, other vehicles on the side of the road honked their horns to remind the driver that the co-pilot's door was not closed. I was also scared at the time, thinking that it was good that I hooked the seat belt, otherwise the car was driving, throwing me out, I must be injured, maybe I wanted to scrap (hang).
Another time, the Ethiopian dry season, there was no rain for several months in a row, the East African plateau ultraviolet rays were also strong, on the way back from the noon errands, I felt that I was going to have heat stroke, I told the driver that I was motion sick, I was going to get out of the car, I just got out of the car I threw up, vomited dark, the Ethiopian drivers were frightened, speaking bad English (the locals in the Ethiopian capital speak Amharic, many local drivers do not speak English, only local language) hurriedly asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, was there anything wrong. I said no, just let me throw up.
I vomited on the side of the road for a few minutes, and there were several onlookers around, kindly asking me if I was okay, and I said it was okay, motion sickness. Speaking of which, in fact, I would like to say that many Ethiopian public are very warm and friendly, they are a self-respecting and proud nation, but also a kind and brave people, on the road you give a thumbs up, there will be a kind driver to give you way, your car is broken in the middle of the road, there will be well-meaning people to ask you if you need help. Africa is not as scary as some people think, and she also has her unique charm.
Finally, I would like to say that in this world, there are good people everywhere, there are bad people everywhere, when you meet good people, don't be afraid to meet bad people, be brave and be yourself, this is the first year of Life in Africa taught me the truth of life, I am very grateful, just like the roses that bloom in Addis Ababa, I am fragrant, why fear the wind and rain... (To be continued) #Heartbeat Moment##Gold Powder Community ##春日记 #
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