Blogs from Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 8

Late Friday night, after spending the afternoon literally scrubbing our house down, the roomies and I got cleaned up and went to meet up with the Ethiopian boys, Ale and Chachi, and two other German friends, Florian and Fredrik, at Harlem Jazz. While I did spot a number of forenjis within “my network” who had similarly caught wind of the tip that there was a fonreji-led reggae band scheduled to play that night, Harlem is not typically a forenji-dominated hang-out. We grabbed a big booth in a dimly lit corner and chatted while enjoying some fairly spectacular music. On Saturday March 6, 2010, I participated in the Women First 5km run through the heart of Addis along with my housemates, coworker, her four friends, and approximately 8992 other women! The event takes place every year to ... read more

What do these things have in common other than the letter ‘S’? The last week. Thursday (Jan 28/2010) was another rough day as my highest hope for permanent accommodation at the guesthouse was officially shattered. I really wasn’t surprised by the information, but it was nonetheless disturbing, tantamount to me remaining ‘homeless’ for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, this bad news coincided with a day of celebration. Two of my colleagues finished a series of continuing education exams on this day so we decided to drown our stresses together in a few St. George beers and some shiro (spicy) at Habesha Restaurant. En route to meet Z & F at Kaldi’s Coffee, a man pulled over along side of me to deliver a proposition: “Hey sista! I will be a good friend to you!” I tried to ... read more

I managed to come up with a surprising number of classic pop culture reference titles for this entry on the way ‘home’ from work on friday evening including: “Talk Dirty to Me”, “I Should Wear My Sunglasses… Even at Night”, and “Dust in the Wind”. I have no doubt that there are many more brilliant alternatives out there so if you’ve got one, please share it in the comments box - I am counting on you all for a good laugh! This entry is going to be all about taking on Addis Ababa on foot, inspired by my poor mangled feet that have already been blackened, poked, cut, and blistered by my walks throughout the different regions of Ethiopia’s capital city. I would like to point out that on one occasion, I was so enamored with ... read more

Selam! As this will be my first blog entry since the tween fad of starting up personal blogs essentially to post pictures of hot boy band members which struck my young life during elementary school, I feel it is necessary to give a little introduction in order to set the tone of this blog which I hope will be much more informative and enthralling than my first - not that Brian Litrell of BSB is not enthralling. In June 2008 I graduated from university with an honours bachelor degree in history and political science. Immediately after graduation, I moved to Trois Rivieres, QC, for a six week French immersion program at the University du Quebec a Trois Rivieres where I earned a certificate of completion at an intermediate level. Hoping to find a job where I ... read more

Geo: 9.02274, 38.7468All is well and the Timkat Religious Festival is certainly something to be seen and experienced, unlike anything from the western world. Briefly, Timkat is the most important of nine major Christian Orthodox holidays. It celebrates the baptism of Jesus, Timkat means 'immersion'. In most of Ethiopia it is a two day festival, but in Addis a third day is added. With the aid of information gathered from an article from the Ethiopian Airlines magazine, and advice from some locals, I'm feeling OK with whatever happens. Timkat in Addis is BIG....there will be tens of thousands joing the celebration, including at least a few farangis. I've been warned of potential pick pockets, but I've adjusted how I carry my belongings and feel 'pick-pocket proof', or at least close. I've even included dental floss for ... read more