Blogs from Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 26

While I (Ruta) was at the Red Cross Training Center for my first 8 days in Ethiopia, 2 weddings took place on the weekends. The first wedding was small, fairly Western with a bride in white, groom in a tux, and bridesmaids. As the bride and groom arrived to the center, they were stopped by singing and reveling friends. There was a main guy who led the singing - he would sing something and the friends would respond in song. Similar to Lithuanian customs in which the friends lay down sashes for the bride and groom to step over as they enter their new life together, the Ethiopian friends crouched down to the ground as the bride and groom went by. At the wedding dance, 80% of the men danced separately from the women. The Ethiopian ... read more

It is a good thing that we decided to finalize our selection of schools only upon arriving in Addis. The school that we had selected from our internet research and email questions, turned out to not give a good first impression. The staff was not very welcoming, and our kids did not want to go there. Other schools were either closed or very expensive. Well, we knew that our African adventure would have challenges and test our resourcefulness. We selected the British International School upon recommendation of a local expatriate. It is close to Ruta’s work and has enough non-Ethiopian students that our kids don’t feel like such odd ducks. We understand that 60-70% of students are Ethiopian, with about 5% white. The non-Ethiopian kids come from Pakistan, Sudan, India, Korea, Sweden, and so forth. The ... read more

What an interesting Sunday mass I attended! From the training center where I (Ruta) am located, a Filipino friend, Lettie, and I took public transportation minibuses to mass. We kept repeating 'Catholic Church" and local Ethiopians directed us on our 45 min journey there. The Holy Savior church is medium size, with lots and lots of poor beggars lining the gates. Inside there are huge stone pillars on each side, a 20 foot stone statue of Jesus behind an altar lined with gold colored tile. The priests and all their attendants were clothed in bright gold vestments with white muslim-looking caps. The altar area was also lined with 15-20 vases of fresh flowers. It was very reverent and beautiful. The congregation seemed more well-to-do than the normal Ethiopians. Almost all Ethiopians are reigious - in fact ... read more

In the Red Cross Training Center at our introductory training, we have been eating very well. At every lunch and dinner, the sour pancake, injera, is served. You are supposed to only eat with your right hand and mop up the stews and curry sauces with the injera. The stews and curries are flavorful without being too spicy. We are also getting batter dipped vegetables, tomato salads, beans, white bread, rice, and noodles. Ethiopia was occupied by the Italians ealier and noodles seem to have stayed behind as a popular food. To drink, we're offered bottled water, Coke, Pepsi, 7up, and Fanta. For the 2 days that the kids were at the training center, they were thrilled to be able to drink so much soda pop. They pick at the food and eat what is recognizable. ... read more

Why Ethiopia The reason why we are in Ethiopia starts with a visit to a Colombia shop a few years back. In this store I stumbled over the bored husbands section where the shop provides a few seats, a coffee table and a coffee table book. Not being a bored husband but curious I picked up the book and you guess right it was about Ethiopia. It looked like a great country (as all countries do in those kind of books) full of old stuff to look at. Just what I like and I decided then that I will go to Ethiopia one day… Talk about quick a decision processes… The one thing to do before going to Ethiopia is to ignore the warnings on the government websites and hope for the best. Ethiopia seems to ... read more