Advertisement
Published: January 31st 2010
The next day, Thursday, was the coffee gang’s last night in Jimma. So we went back to the alley way hotel and got a gemba, a small one, which was disappointing, so we got a large one after we finished the small one. By the time we finished the large gemba the place was basically closed and no one else was there, again. We went to the same bar on the street, the only place open, again. The bartenders told us that we were the only white people to ever go into the bar. One of the Kenyans was pounding beers and the German not wanting to be outdone followed suit. Vigorous man dancing ensued. One of the Kenyans was a pretty exceptional dancer.
A little later part of our group was outside and I followed one of the Kenyans next door. It was a little hole in the wall that was serving liquor. The liquors were in standard sized bottles , their labels a little shabby, and their color ranged from clear to electric green which was called “Supermint”. The shots were 2 birr so the Kenyan and I each got a shot of Supermint. The bar-mistress poured the shots into a small plastic shot glass and then poured the full shot into a glass. We downed the drinks. I couldn’t taste any alcohol, it tasted like Schnapp’s only without any alcohol. The others found their way in and the German, who was pretty drunk, stumbled in, slammed a local’s shot and stumbled out. I paid for a replacement shot and a round. We tried the red stuff this time and went back to the bar for more man dancing…that’s when things got out of hand.
Back at the bar the German guy was smashed. Everyone was having a blast, dancing and carrying on. I remembered to bring my camera for a change and everyone wanted their picture taken, then to see the picture, and then to have another picture taken. We were best friends with all the locals at this point. As we were getting ready to go back to our hotel the German went to sit down, was off balance and fell backwards sending his chair through the window. He got up, we asked if he was alright, he said he was, and we took that as our cue to exit. The bartender stopped us on the street and was basically saying “what the hell? You guys broke the window you’ll have to pay for it.” By this time the German and Regina were half way down the street and the Kenyans and I were sort of yelling back and forth saying what should we do? Blah blah blah. The bartender said it was 120 birr, so I was like here’s $10 USD, ok, done. We walk back to the hotel; the German guy was like “what was the charge?” I told him it was $10 but not to worry about it, it’s no big deal.
Then the bartender and one of his friends from the bar come into the hotel. He and one of the Kenyans were trying to have a heated conversation about something. The guy was saying mobile. I was saying “we gave him 10 bucks what does he want? Here is my mobile, do you want me number? Call me tomorrow.” Then the German comes out of nowhere, gives the guy a hundred dollar bill and says “Ok, there. Go. I don’t want to deal with this anymore.” The Kenyans and I are all like “woah, one hundred is way too much” The guys start to leave and the same Kenyan is pissed and starts to run after them, I follow him just in case he needs assistance. The Kenyan yells at them and half heartedly throws some rocks at them. One of the guys is like “Dave you’re cool. Come by tomorrow. No problem.” I got the Kenyan to come back to the hotel and I really had no idea what that was all about. We start talking to the German and other Kenyan: what was that about, why did you give him $100, that’s too much, I don’t care, what’s $100, I just don’t want to have any trouble, they were saying something about mobile. Just then the one pissed off Kenyan reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a mobile phone. His face dropped “ohhh shit.” For some reason he borrowed the mobile earlier and forgot he had it. He felt pretty bad that he caused all of this, cost the German $100, and didn’t remember he had the phone. I don’t know if it was some sort of scam, but the Kenyan who had the phone seemed very upset and not at all surprised. He wasn’t like, “holy shit, what the hell is this and how did it get into my pocket.”
We went back and returned the phone. Neither the bartender nor the guy were there, certainly not the $100. I think we made a half hearted attempt to get the money back. The Kenyan was upset and was saying “It’s not right” and the German was like “But you took his mobile”, etc. End of ordeal. I had really liked the bar, but the incident left a bitter taste in my mouth. I said that we should be able to drink for free there now, but I didn’t go back as I was tired the next day and didn’t want to hassle with anything.
The next morning we said good bye to the Kenyans and the German. We were very sad to see them go. They are great people. Every night we tried to say “ok, 1 beer,” to the German, but he was so damned personable and nice that we ended up staying out way too late and drinking way too many beers, not to mention that we were always obligated as he always treated us thanks to his daily allowance through the Gates Foundation. Thanks again Bill…wait, I’m running Windows and writing this in Word. Damn you Bill! You always come out on top!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.076s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.05s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
mom
non-member comment
pictues ??
So, can we see some of the pics????