Housekeeping Infomation

---

I am so sorry this is my first time I have had to blog in a few days. It is a strange feeling that so many people are following my journey and are waiting for new entries. It takes a long time to write down your thoughts and pick out pictures from the hundreds I have trying, to add to the story, so thanks for your support. I will keep it up if I think people want to hear what I have to say.

Oh, please excuse the poor editing. I do the best I can, but quite honestly, at times I am typing through blurring eyes that are tired. I don’t catch every mistake. I will edit later when my schedule is not so demanding. And, yes for all those polite questions on whether I am taking my meds. I am! Even that awful Malaria drug, which makes your stomach, hurt for a few hours. However, this is better then Malaria and as you see I am where Malaria lives.

I am kept very busy, our days here start at 7am and we usually don’t arrive back at the hotel until 10 pm. Everyday has been a joy and pleasure, but actually a lot of work. I try not to miss anything because you will not have the opportunity to just come back and get the information later. I am very blessed because of all the people that have put this experience together. However, let me tell you, they expect a lot back, which is good. I will have a lot of writing to do, when I get back. It will be completely worth it; I promise.

So if I go a few days without blogging, it is not by intention, but simply by lack of time. Hopefully, this pace will slow down in Livingstone, although I have arranged a few site visits there too! So moving from the last time I had a blog, this is the timeline.

June 14

Information about Ethiopia they don’t tell you in the guidebooks.

Their clock is not on international time. If it is 11 in international time it is about 5 Ethiopian. They start with 0 when the sun goes down and count from there. Confusing! Also. their calendar is 8 years behind ours, so it is June 1998 here, so I am only… well you know, I like that part! I know this is really confusing. So the moral to that story is to ask are they talking Ethiopian time or International time, when they make a date with you.

The first thing that strikes you about this country is the smell. It is not just one smell, it's many. The spices that they cook in every meal mixes with the diesel and LEADED gas of the cars and trucks. It is really strong, but as with all smells, you get used to it.

Driving to another city today, I was really overtaken by the fumes of the cars and trucks. Just a word about the trucks, they are HUGE. They are probably twice as large and tall as an 18-wheeler and they overload them, so they stand even taller. I think there is almost a truck for every car; the reason they say is everything here has to be imported, so they need many trucks to transport the materials.

The problem is the pollution the trucks and cars produce is hurting the environment. I am not exaggerating, when I say the smoke from the vehicles, doesn’t allow clear days in the city. And, even into the country, if the country is on a main highway. Another interesting thing is that most people don’t have a car. However, there are a million blue taxis, which are like mini buses. They stop and pick up people along the way. So you see blue cars, vans and buses EVERYWHERE.

I saw a car that was no bigger then a small Honda with 8 people crammed inside. The driver wants to make as much money as possible. He stops whenever he sees people flag him and crowds them in, taking them to their destination. The yellow taxis are for the “tourist” or rich, who pay more to just be alone, in the taxi from place to place. So you find those at all the hotels serving the tourist. Most cars are older like 15-20 years, so that is why they have only leaded gas.

The few new cars you see are of course BMW’s, Pathfinders, Big SUV’s and the ever-present Mercedes. The rich like everywhere else in the world want to drive Mercedes and BMW. There are very few traffic lights, so chaos has it rule. I could not look out the front window at times because it seemed like we were going to hit something or someone. This city has 3 million people, so the cars, the walkers, the flocks of sheep, goats, cows, donkeys and an occasional camel all share the roads. Yes, there are animals in the heart of downtown, walking the streets, with their Shepard’s. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we were coming down a road with high rises and restaurants and suddenly there are 20-30 goats crossing the street. It is the strangest thing to see, again the mix of the old and the new in one place. A Shepard walking his flock in the city, with a cell phone in his ear, is a funny sight.

Another thing, which is interesting, is, the churches play loud chanting every few hours into the streets. The first night I was here, at 4 am, I suddenly was awakened with this Amharic chanting that is piped into the streets. It gives the city this eerie quality when you look out and see no one. But, this monotone voice is calling out from a distance space. I have to say it was hard to get used to, but this is the custom in the whole country, even in Bahir Dar the same was true. I think God is speaking to you while you sleep is the concept? I don’t know that’s sound good!

The most practiced religion here is Orthoxdist Christian, where people pray hours at a time, bow and kiss the grounds and walls of the churches. They stand during a two hour mass. They are very religious and you see churches where hundreds just stand outside to pray anytime during the day. One of my hosts was showing me a church and she quietly excused herself and went to quickly pray, which meant getting on her knees to kiss ground and the walls of the church. It is an experience to watch hundreds do the same. Christian missionaries come here to “save” the people and make it more Americanized (if that’s a word) religion. It is one of the top places in the world to which missionaries come to save souls.


In Ethiopia they guard everything, they have parking lot attendants for 3 or 4 spots. Everything including homes has a compound with 8-foot walls around them and there is a man watching your compound. He sits most times on a concrete block guarding and waiting for you to come so he can open the compound door. It was strange seeing this at the clinics and hospitals, but what is stranger is seeing that at your normal suburban home. Everyone admits that mostly it is unnecessary but it is traditional. Because the guard has access to your compound, every door inside your home has a lock and a key, that way the guard can’t get inside and steal your things. Interesting!

Another thing is every one that is in the middle class, has a live in “servant” that is what they call them, servant. They cook, clean and keep the garden for room and board; payment is about 200- 300 Birr a month. All houses have an area, just outside the kitchen, across a walkway with a shower and a small room with a bed. They come when called and bring the owner their every need. It is strange being in a small home where 2 “servants” are doing everything for you. They come to the car and carrying your things into the house and bring them out to the car when you are done. At first I admit, I was uncomfortable with they way people ordered them about, but they explained that these housemaids are very happy because they have food and shelter and a job. That is a blessing here. Oh, most middle class homes have 2 kitchens, a modern one and an Ethiopian one. They have the 2nd one because preparing Ethiopian dishes is very smoky and this way the smoke is kept from the house.

You eat here only with your hands for traditional food and each meal has many different types of meat. So one meal might be chicken, beef and lamb with cabbage and lentils and cheese. All of it is placed on this thin spongy bread called injera. You tear pieces only with your right hand and scoop up the foods. Yes, they use forks and spoons but mainly for serving or for non- Ethiopian meals. There is a cleansing of the hands prior to the dinner. The servants come out with a pitcher, soap and water where everyone cleanses. It is a very casual relaxed meal that takes a very long time because they are constantly bringing out more foods. You can never eat enough here; I had to learn a term for “too full”.

Another thing that’s different about this place is coffee is king. If you are a coffee drinker this is the place. People stop for coffee before work, during lunch, after work and then when they get home after dinner. The servants take coffee beans picked from the plants in the compound and roast them on a little heater, which sits low to the floor. Then they hand grains the beans and brew the coffee. It is served with milk and then you can add sugar. The coffee is very strong like espresso, most of you know, I am not a coffee drinker. Finally, I surrendered because you are offered it all day. It is so in grained in their culture that turning it down is almost an insult.

This biggest thing I have been surprised about here, is the way men are so affectionate to each other. Hold Your Hats men in the US, but you don’t have to be gay to walk down the street holding hands with another man. They have no problem hugging, sitting holding each other's hands, walking with their arm around a girl and holding hands with another man at the same time. You see young boys holding each other’s hands and you see old men doing the same. At first I thought, oh are they gay, but it is completely against the law here to be gay, punishable by jail, so there is no way it would be so public. Then I noticed it is the norm, when I say everyone, I mean everyone, the young and the old. They openly show affection for the same sex more so then the opposite one, mainly because of the social customs here. By the way ladies, this is true as well for females, but it doesn’t stand out as much, as the men do to me. It is really amazing to witness.

There are so many things I could go on and on about. What is different and the same here, but I will stop here with that. I just wanted everyone to get a taste of Ethiopian daily life.

June 14

We left early in the morning to go to the lowlands of Nazret. It is a very beautiful drive through the African countryside. You see herds of donkeys and goats along the way carrying supplies from the city. You see school children in their uniforms walking long distances home. Watching women carry huge bundles of wood or huge jugs of water will keep me from complaining about bringing the groceries in from my car. The thing about this country is that it puts everything in perspective.

I think about home and how I hate sitting in traffic with my air conditioning, music and phone. Women here walk hours with 70 or more pounds on their back just to go to the market to trade. I hope I think of this when I am frustrated sitting in my car for too long. When I have a lot of packages to carry in the house from my driveway. Anyway, the trip there was wonderful.

Once we arrived, again the city roared with tens of thousands walking around, with cars, buses and animals all sharing the same streets. I visited the HIV VCT Clinic and the local hospital, where the medical director himself took us around. I wish I could say the conditions there were better then the last hospital I described but they were not. They only thing that was better was, there were no patients outside, but the overcrowding everywhere else is unbelievable.

I actually got to go to the surgery ward and see patients and talk to them. To most this hospital is good, because it is the best they have seen. Most can’t afford the private hospitals, so for 3 Birr you can go for help (7 Birr if an emergency after office hours) In comparison, a private hospital would be 300 Birr. I know it is still nothing by American standards, but remember a servant earns 200- 300 Birr a month. I learned a lot from them about what they expect, which helps me, I am living in my US world, but for them they are in Ethiopia. I am not saying that they don't deserve better, but I need to think in terms of what is better for here, not another continent far away.

More with the HIV info… so skip over if not interested

The rate of positives at that hospital is 6 out of 20 visits per day per counselor. This is a staggering number. Now many are referred from symptoms, from doctors in emergency, still I was floored when I was told this. After they are told they are positive most cannot pay for treatment, so they have to apply and get three witnesses to say they are unable to pay. They are logged at the local government. Then you can get lab testing to determine CD-4 count and see if you qualify for level 1 drugs. To get meds your CD-4 count must be 200 or below (which is full blown AIDS). They can’t afford to put patients on meds before this, unless you have an opportunistic infection. Most men who test positive are full blown because they don’t tend to test until they are sick.

The problem with this system is that people have to disclose their status to not only the gov’t, but ask three people they know to witness their inability to pay. So, confidentially is broken almost immediately. Many people don’t want to do this and refuse treatment because they don’t want the stigma of HIV. Yes, even here, with HIV so prevalent there is a stigma.

Each day I think that I can’t experience more then the day before and each day I learn more and more.

I want to share the fun part of this trip. I actually want people to know that this is a place that has fun, laughter and hope. I don’t want you to only think of Ethiopia as the problems it has, but as a place where all things meet. The young and the old things come together as one. It is a wonderful thing to witness.

We went to a traditional restaurant with traditional food and dance. Couples and friends come and dine and laugh like any place in the US. We watched the dancers and laughed as they got us up dancing. As most of you know, I love to dance, so it took little to get me up and try to do the traditional moves. It was a great deal of fun. I can see where things can be so overwhelming here, but at the same time this is a wonderful place.

How can I say that 70 millions people's home was not a beautiful and wonderful place. People who have been to west (like US or Europe) come back again, and say they would not live anywhere else. I understand that despite what the problems. This is their home, just as America is to us, we have our problems, but it is our home. (Hell, a lot of you said you were moving if Bush got in again and did you… sorry about that) J So please understand there are complicated problems, but know that happiness does exist here too!

---

Photos

Piled High
Trucks and buses and cars are often piled high with goods as they go through the city.

Carrying heavy loads
By the way this is going up hill, hills like San Francisco!

Trading Goods
Imports and Ethiopian Goods are sold and traded on the streets of Addis Ababa.