Blogs from Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 30

Being Sunday there was not a lot that we could usefully achieve in Adis. However, we moved out of our Nostarminus hotel and set off in search of somewhere just a little more comfortable to spend the next two nights. The first hotel we found was nice, but too far out of the centre of things, so we gave it a miss. There was a guest house we had heard of in a central position but, once we had found it, it turned out to be full of Europeans (Italians?) and they had no room for us. On to the next - same thing. But they did recommend a new guest house just up the main drag. We found this place - it was on the 8th floor of a high rise building! It was a ... read more

Well I've been in Ethiopia for just over a week or so. I have yet to leave Addis Abba... but we will get to that story later. I have to say I like what I've seen in Ethiopia so far. It is so laid back it seems. I had heard that is was really in your face and such. But I don't recall anyone yelling "faranji" (Ethiopian equivalent of Muzungo) to me yet. People just seem to mostly let me go about my business, maybe I just look... who knows. And hardly any traffic, and the traffic stops for people in the cross walk... that keeps freaking me out. A day hasn't gone by that I haven't seen laden and unladen mules being driven down the main streets. There is usually a herd of goats that ... read more

We seem to have slipped slightly on the blog writing front. So, by popular request here is chapter 3….. After the crazy bureaucracy in Sudan we might have been a little naïve in thinking things would be different on the Ethiopian side of the border. We crossed the 4m bridge separating the two countries and soon realised we needed to enlist a guide to help us navigate between the seven randomly placed shacks which apparently made up the immigration procedure. Customs consisted of a sole elderly gentleman looking us up and down and then nodding us on- our filthy backpacks clearly did not yield evidence of contraband. At passport control we sat for 45 minutes whilst two guys trawled through three large volumes- apparently checking we were not listed as undesirables! We were then ‘lucky’ enough ... read more

The next part of the celebrations involved a party at the Ethio Millennium traditional restaurant. The idea was that volunteers, who were in Addis, could bring an Ethiopian guest as a way of thanking them for their help. It was a great idea and worked very well. Clare invited Kalkidan, one of the trainers on the course she is organising. Kalkidan came to our house to get ready, and have a pre-party glass of wine, and then stayed the night too. I had invited Tesfaye, my line manager in Robe, but (understandably) as it is a day’s journey, he couldn’t make it. All the Programme Office staff were there too, including all the guards - two of whom did a skit. As well as excellent food and wine/beer there was traditional dancing. One of the funniest ... read more

Shopping has never been my favourite pastime, but in Addis it is certainly an amusing experience. We didn’t need to buy much, but what we did want managed to cause many problems. The main theme is for shop assistants to randomly select an item that they think you should buy -usually bearing no resemblance, at all, to the first item that you looked at in the shop or on the stall. So, on Saturday we were in Shola Market where Clare wanted to buy some shoes in preparation for the VSO Ethiopia 10th Anniversary celebrations later this week. In one shop, she eventually found some that she liked and having tried on one shoe, asked for the other. It took a while for the assistant to understand the concept of wanting two shoes. Then, while one ... read more