Blogs from Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 12

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Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 18th 2009

Today is June 11 here, 2001… yes that is right 2001. The Ethiopia calendar has 13 months and all the months have 30 days except a short month that has 5 or 6… Yes confusing. Tonight I went to dinner with my very good friend here that helped me start on this quest to save the world. So I blame him for all these pie eyed ideas, I have. Anyway he “tried” to explain the Ethiopian calendar and time to me. It still is completely over my head. All I know is that I am 8 years younger here, which I like! :) But what is nice, Ethiopians know they cannot confuse the rest of the world; so when you meet them at 5pm on the 18th, they show up even through it might be 1:15pm ... read more
Water in a hospital??
Sink with no faucet

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 18th 2009

This morning about 5am, the call to prayer echo's across the city. I had forgotten the familar call that rings out in the morning sky. The country is mostly Eastern Christian Orthodox, which I think of an intense version of Christian and Islamic. I heard here once, there is no such thing as not being religious. It is ingrained in the culture from the calls to prayer with loud speakers across the city; to the Holy men you see in the streets with large crosses as tall as they are. Addis wakes early to the echoes of prayer but the haze of the clouds and the pollution hang low on the city. There are moments where the sun peaks through but the clouds push it out of the way and it hides until it's next opportunity ... read more
New Construction
The Subdivision Next to the Hotel
They have power.

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 17th 2009

Welcome to Addis Ababa... When you first come to Ethiopia and get your first breath of Addis, your nose and your eyes remember right away that you are back. The smell of injera (a spice used in all Ethiopian cooking) mixed with car exhaust and pollution assault your nose as soon as you walk out doors. It is a smell you get quickly use to and after a short while and you don't smell it anymore. My eyes take longer to adjust, the smog is thick here and my eyes burn from the pollution but they too will adjust. Addis is a city of millions that sits in the highlands of Ethiopia. It is overrun with mini buses and big trucks with few stop lights or street names. You must be a native here to ... read more
Addis

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 16th 2009

Traveling over here it struck me how much easier it would be for me to help here, if it was just a hour plane ride that you could do on a long weekend or a monthly trip. You could work a while and just go home and come back another day.... I say that realizing, that is probably not true. We have things right outside our neighborhoods that we drive pass everyday and do nothing about. And we can't blame it on the distance. So maybe that is the allure to Africa it is so far away and it take an effort to get there. It takes full days of long plane rides and long layovers, just to set foot on the continent. (Business class helps a lot) but still... Then, you have a 9 hour ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 9th 2009

(Ruta writing) Tadas and I delivered baby toys that were given to us to pass onward to the 50-60 babies at the Arat Kilo Child Care Association. Of course the toys were a huge hit. At first when we displayed all of the toys on the ground, the babies (ages 1-3 years) simply stared in awe. Tadas sat down on the ground and started playing with the toys as if he is a little kid, to the great amusement of the children. They particularly liked the pop toy in which you press the top button and the bottom balls spin. There were squeals of excitement at the turning balls. The stuffed animals and puppets were also very popular, although I got the impression that the children had never seen puppets before. We also donated baby clothes ... read more
Tadas and Kirsten in Arat Kilo area
Displaying the gifts
Girl with Holy Shoes

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 7th 2009

Living in Ethiopia for the year, we, the Kulbis family, have been awed and amazed by many things but among the most significant impressions has been the deep generosity of our friends and families in the US. We have been humbled by the packages sent to us from our family and friends to distribute to Ethiopia’s poor. We acknowledge and appreciate the significant time, expense, and efforts in collecting, packing, and sending the items to us for distribution. Thank you all! We have taken the role of distributing your generous donations very seriously and have tried our best to allocate the items most effectively to folks who have limited options of receiving help from other sources. We pooled together donations received from home, primarily from Riverside, Chicago-Lithuanians, the Matulaitis Catholic Mission in Lemont, and Accenture co-workers. ... read more
Fitsche donations 2
TaYA and Aleltu youth club
TaYA sorting donations

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 6th 2009

Going to Ethiopia this time around feels so much heavier then before. Now I have to actually put my words into action. I have to follow through on the things I have been working towards, which is not an easy feat. I am excited to see old friends again and meet the new ones that I have been in constant contact with over the last year. I have been uplifted by the love and support of my family and friends who have taken on my mission as their own. But I still feel weight of the work that needs to be done to give a little help to those that need so much. My journey this time around is long. St. Louis to Chicago to Toronto to London to Dubai, then Addis Ababa. I am in ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa June 4th 2009

(Vasara writing) For school I had a project of finding all the countries from which our school’s students come from. It was a good project. I got a list of the countries from school. I was surprised that some of the countries, like Bahrain, were hard to find. My brothers helped me. They would say, “Oh, my friend is from Zimbabwe; it’s south - right here.” I put thumbtacks into the capital city of each country. My brothers and I noticed that most of the capitals of the African students that attend our school follow the coast of Africa. My map is now hanging in the school office for all to see. Below is a list of the countries: Angola Australia Bahrain Belgium Botswana Bulgaria Cameroon Canada Congo Denmark Djibouti Egypt Ethiopia Gambia Germany Ghana Great ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa May 15th 2009

(Ruta writing…) Part of the fun of travelling or working abroad is encountering completely different perspectives from one’s own. Because Ethiopia is so different from our home, we encounter many such situations. For example, Ethiopia uses a different calendar system (e.g. the current year is 2001 EC). When my coworker asked me “What date is it in your world?” I paused a minute, but quickly understood her question. Here are some additional situations that cause me to pause to ask, “Say What?” Road Signs for Foreigners Despite being a city of about 4 million people, before this year, Addis Ababa had very few street signs. Most people ignored the existing street signs, since they indicated location by the nearest square or landmark. “By the Bole Bridge” “Meskel Square” “by the Shoa Bread Store” etc. As foreigners ... read more
Addis Ababa Street Sign

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa May 1st 2009

It is May Day, a holiday here in Ethiopia, and just as everyone is in a celebratory mood, so is the Mannelly family: we are just minutes away from Yayu picking us up at the Hilton and getting us to the airport (albeit 5 1/2 hours early). We intend on eating at the airport, and burning off any of Tigist's anxiety by running around the airport. Hopefully, a full belly and blowing off some steam will tucker her out for the 22 1/2 hours of flight time. Today was a good day. We ALL had a full night's sleep, had full breakfasts (Tigist had her hobbit-like second breakfast per usual), a beautiful long nap after a satisfying lunch of rice and peaches, followed by some pool time (for additional tucker factor) and packing. This will be ... read more




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