55 Days of Fasting ... 1 Fasika Weekend

---

Melkam (zegeye) Fasika! / Happy (belated) Easter!

I have numerous excuses for my two-week absence, but instead, I would rather pretend that I was giving everyone ample opportunity to catch up! These last two weeks, amongst other things of course, I have been working, as I mentioned in the last entry, on getting a blog set up to be linked to CPAR’s website. After days of network failures and format incompatibilities, I am desperately hoping that today is the day that first blog finally comes to fruition.

Even I can sense the bitter tone of this entry so far. Truth be told, I have been having a rough couple of weeks here. I will give you a run-down of the series of blows in point form because I think that best portrays the manner in which they occurred in my life:

 My laptop monitor blew.
 A donkey with what looked like worm-infested brains coming out of its eye socket sneezed on my foot.
 A man burned my arm with his cigarette.
 Two young guys tried to mug me (not violently, sneakily).
 I bought a bracelet… and then I lost it.
 I tried to turn in an assignment one night just hours before the deadline, got it all uploaded, pictures included, which took just under 1hr -- and the power went out.
 I discovered that tuition for one DE Summer course is $1100.00.
 We planned a day-trip to Menegesha Forest last Sunday, but our driver didn’t show up in the morning because he was “too hung-over.”

After bullet number 6, I went and cried in a darkened stairwell like a little wiener. Now, this is twisted… I was sitting and crying in the dark stairwell (there was no LIGHT stairwell available as the power was out, you recall) and I’m thinking: “MAN! I’m such a wiener!” and then a song that my brother and sister once sang to me all over New York City when I was about 7 years old popped into my head: (to the batman theme tune) “na na na na na na na na wiener! na na na na na na na na wiener…wiener, wiener, WIENER!” Thank goodness for getting picked on, because that memory instantaneously turned my teary frustrated mutterings into chuckles. The power came back on, and much to my surprise, and the surprise of the internet café manager, my e-mail was still in tact when we turned the computer back on!
This was how most of those crummy situations played out. The cigarette burn blistered and faded nicely and I caught the guys trying to steal from me before they got a hold of anything valuable. With regards to my computer monitor, I set out one morning prepared for a long day of trying to find a place where I would be able to communicate the problem and have it fixed. In the first place that I walked into, the staff was incredibly friendly and told me that they would open it up and let me know the damage the following morning. They called me the following morning and asked me to come by in the afternoon. I did, and they had fixed it as best they could -- free of charge! THAT is almost unheard of in this city, where in the majority of instances you can get charged if somebody gives you directions!

As for the failed day trip, that turned out to be a day of hilarious failures! We were completely exhausted having been out the previous night and woken up early to prepare for the day’s trek. Sitting at Kaldis, slowly coming to grips with the fact that our ride was not going to wake up any time soon let alone drive us anywhere, Parag (P), Laetitia (L) and I decided that we needed to come up with an adequate alternative. P was intent on taking some shots around Addis, L wanted to trek, and I wanted to make use of the packed lunch that we had woke up extra early to throw together. So we decided on a plan that integrated all of these components: we would walk through the city towards CMC (just beyond Gerji where my office is located) where we could climb into the hills and have a picnic. Honestly, the only thing that I can remember that was SO funny while we were creating and executing this plan, was the look of excitement that cropped up on L’s face every few minutes as if a stroke of true genius had just been realized. She also nicknamed P… but that’s another story for another time. Anyways, we walked to CMC, and on my request stopped at a bunna bet (coffee house) called Robera having heard that their coffee beans were one-of-a-kind. I would hazard to say that this was the best macchiato I have tasted in 3months in Addis. The atmosphere at Robera is all about comfort and relaxation which is great…unless you are trying to motivate yourself to climb a hill. So we revamped our plan. We decided to jump in a minibus and head towards Arat Kilo where there is a Lion Zoo located directly across the 4-way intersection (thus named, arat kilo) from Addis Ababa University. I don’t recall ever seeing a lion before; they are large, beautiful, and have expressions of incredible focus. But, besides having nicely manicured gardens and lawns to picnic on, I would not recommend this zoo for their collection and treatment of animals. It is also one of those places that practically boast about having a ‘forenji’ price and unless you put up a good fight, as I did, they will also charge you to bring in your camera even if you insist that you are not going to use it. They will then assign somebody to follow you around to make sure that you are staying true to your word. Anyways, lunch was satisfying and afterwards, though it was raining, my friends agreed to come to Shiro Meda with me to replace the bracelet I had lost. That night we tried to go to a Thai restaurant that we have tried to go to before, and it was again, closed. It was a very fitting end to the day! haha

NOTHING good came from the worm-infested donkey sneeze thing.

I have to backtrack a bit because all of that went down in the week following Fasika. My supervisors headed to Debre Libanos just 20km from the Blue Nile Gorge for Good Friday where people had been devoutly camped out in make-shift tents tied to fences, as they had at churches around the country, for the entire 55 day fasting period. Thursday and Friday of the long weekend were dedicated to experiencing Addis nightlife with friends. On Thursday night, we hopped from a local bar, to a Fahrenheit nightclub on Tele Bole (which I would equate to the popular ‘first years’ haunt in any university town), and finally to Memo where they played an eclectic selection of music and we shared some great beef tibs. It was a darn shame that I didn’t realize it was April Fools Day until getting home BUT, as I got home at 5:30am… it was still April Fools Day in Canada! Haha

Friday we decided to apologize to our tired bodies with fresh salads from Antica Restaurant. It was a beautiful day - the whole weekend was actually - so we were taking our time walking around the city when we realized that the party we had planned for that night was due to start in just a few hours and we had not yet made food, set up a playlist, or even showered. We kicked it into high gear, got some last minute groceries, and then ransacked our kitchen coming up with a delicious pasta salad with veggies and a Dijon vinaigrette dressing, guacamole with pita and chips, and homemade dark chocolate moose. At P’s house, something akin to The Real World mansion, we put out kolo and sweet popcorn as munchies in keeping with local tradition. It started out slow, but once a good number of our friends, coworkers, travel buddies, and fellow expats had turned up and the food came out, it became the party it was intended to be. My friend Ale brought a local brand of liquor for all to taste called Supermint, which, for tasting remarkably like Listerine, was really quite good; his brother Chachi hooked up some popular Ethiopian tunes to P’s speakers through via his mobile. L and P’s colleagues got the dancing started and mixed conversations spread out onto P’s terrace under the stars. We ended the night with a group dance in which you shuffle your feet, bend over slightly and clap your hands into the center of a circle yelling: “abet! Abet! Abet!” Loosely translated, abet means, “yes, join in!”

Saturday morning was when Laetitia solidified her nickname: “Dictator.” That may not seem like a nice name to those reading this blog, but I assure you, it is always used with love. We were all a little sluggish and not feeling very motivated to do much of anything. Justine (J) and I were marginally interested in traveling the 20minutes via minibus to Shiro Meda, a market for traditional clothing. L, however, was barely willing to troll Haya Hulet (our neighbourhood) to find the traditional head scarves that we NEEDED to wear in order to attend Easter mass that evening at Medenyelehem Church. Convinced, L agreed to come along, so long as we didn’t stray too far. It only took going into a few stores in our area for her to realize that we weren’t going to find what we needed for a decent price without going to either Merkato or Shiro Meda. That was all it took; we were on a bus to Shiro Meda in 30seconds after she had set her mind to it, hence, she is the “dictator” of the group! Haha We stopped in Arat Kilo and had some awful injera at a place called Mon Ami and then went next door for some conversely great coffees before carrying on passed the National Museum at Saddist Kilo to Shiro Meda. We did a little bit of damage here on souvenirs and jewelry before P met up with us and turned our focus back to the scarves. It took some hunting through piles of white cotton and some tough bargaining, but we ended up getting some double-sized hand-embroidered ‘netallas’ (traditional scarves made of thinly woven white cotton) for 75Br ea. Mine or course, is trimmed with blue and yellow.

Later in the evening we met with another member of our expat network who has recently made a move from NGO work to teaching grade 8 English at the British School here in Addis Ababa. As so many others like her have remarked, the English skills of most students are not up to the level they ought to be by high school studies; those students who also work at markets or shoe-shining or whatever their daily part-time job may be, have notably better English skills a result of the fact that communicating with their forenji market is a necessity! We met at a restaurant called Rodeo where all of the staff sport cowboy hats and the food is ‘Texas-style.’ Most of us ordered the special, kebabs, the intoxicating scent of which was wafting through the air on the outdoor patio. This was the only steak I have had in months and the BEST I have had in a long time anywhere in the world! I am glad that it was dark out, because if I had to venture a guess, it wasn’t cooked to my usual medium-well minimum standard. I can not possibly describe to you how well done it was or how delicious that mysterious sauce was, but I can tell you that the meal was worth so much more than $10.00 to me. It was a fitting meal too. By the time we finished it was officially Fasika Ihud (Easter Sunday) which marked the end of the 55day fasting period for Christians worldwide.
We took a taxi to Medenyelehem, more commonly referred to by myself as: “the big church with green domes” as I find its actual name is something of a challenge to pronounce accurately. I bought some locally made candles, about 1’5” in length made of thick strands of cotton covered in orange wax, for 1Br ea. from a severely disabled young guy strategically resting by the entrance. I told him to keep the 6Br change which he called an ‘Easter gift’. Every other candle-peddler in the area then started asking me for ‘Easter gifts’, but that’s par for the course. As I have said before, you pick and choose when, where, and to whom you give money to on the streets. We wrapped ourselves up in our netallas as Helina had taught me for Timkat back in January, and walked silently through the gates. There were hundreds of people standing, sitting and kneeling clad head-to-toe in white cotton all around the perimeter of the church listening to the chanting that was audible beyond the grounds of the church. The sight was so breathtaking and the chanting so moving. Though I couldn’t understand 99% of what was being said, when the priests did switch briefly from the ancient language to Amharic, I understood that they were talking about hope for the future of Ethiopia.

We decided to descend the steps so as to not disturb those in prayer as we did a lap around the church that was shining brightly under a near-full moon. This was about the time that all sentimental thoughts faded from my mind: L was missing. We were worried. It was the perfect place for somebody to go missing without anyone noticing. It was crowded and everyone essentially looked the same. But being the desensitized Westerners that we admittedly are, we DID also find that fact somewhat… amusing. How the CRAP do you find one person, with a white head scarf on, amidst HUNDREDS of people, with white head scarves on??? Luckily we were all of the same mindset and returned to our point of entry. Here we found L, similarly two-facedly hysterical and hysterically laughing about the situation she was in.

We left the church around 2am. Rumour has it that the celebrations carried on until just after 3am at which point everyone returned to their homes to feast on doro wat (spicy chicken) with their extended families. While not every practicing Christian abstains from consuming meat during the fasting period (it is more common for the older generations to commit to this type of fasting during the Lent season), the vast majority certainly do. Hence, when they are finally able to eat meat again, they ease into it again, not wanting to suffer digestion pains. They begin with doro wat in the middle of the night on Easter Sunday, followed by lamb tibs the next afternoon, and the finally, roasted beef that evening or on Easter Monday. Everyone spends the weekend rotating between the homes of their families and friends sharing food and coffee with their loved ones at each home. The friend of my regional director, Elsa, who owns two fantastic Habesha restaurants in “Chechnya,” invited me and my friends to “Elsa’s Restaurant” for Easter Sunday celebrations. As anticipated, it was bustling with people sharing her roasted tibs, some of the best in Addis Ababa, with friends. In an effort to extend further apologies to our bodies, we then walked to Bole Rock, a gym near to our home, and put in a good effort towards working off our lunchtime tibs and St. George “bierra.”

On Monday, I was pretty cranky in the morning, a fact which the roommates would eagerly attest to. Haha My curious computer troubles turned into a full-blown computer crisis as I worked hurriedly to get my documents backed up onto L’s external hard drive on a quickly fading monitor. After just a few minutes of transferring files, it had gotten so bad that I actually had to pinch the frame of the monitor with one hand to keep it from turning completely white while navigating through my files with my remaining free hand. L warily asked me how it was going at this point and all I could muster as a response was a promise that once everything was backed up I would feel much better.

True to my word, once everything was back up, I started helping to gather things together in a pack for a day trek we had planned in the hills behind the German Embassy on the outskirts of Addis. With a little help from other passengers, we made our way via minibus to the Embassy and then ‘winged’ a path upwards into the hills. I was trailing behind a bit and two women asked (in Amharic) where we were going. I answered (in English), “just going for a walk in the forest” (gesturing towards the top of the hill); she said, “Laywa ale…duriye!” (A warning: “There are thieves, so keep your wits about you!”). I had a pocket knife and L took boxing classes so we weren’t worried!

Kidding.

When we made it to the end of the stone pathway leading into the hills, there were in fact some young men scattered about drinking presumably home-brewed alcohol under some trees, so we decided to take the long way around that area on a well-worn footpath through the eucalyptus forest just to be safe. It was a nice, but in no way easy trek. Somewhere along the way we made a wrong turn and ended up on a dried river bed which forced us to blaze our own trail through thick - and SPIKEY - bush. By the time we made it to the lookout point at the top we were pretty muddied up and covered in fine itchy scratches. It was fun! And I say that without even the faintest hint of sarcasm… I absolutely loved it! Haha As we forgot to pack forks, we ate our packed tuna salad lunch in the local way - with bread. Afterwards, J took some sun, L took a rest, and I took some time to play around with my camera. We walked down by way of a small blue church hidden among the trees just as some ominous-looking clouds rolled in overhead. My cell phone signal kicked back in just in time for me to call home and let my parents know that, as my screen had decided to implode, I would not be online for our scheduled Skype chat. I was disappointed, but the silver-lining was that it made a very relaxing evening possible. J made Palenta with a tomato sauce side for dinner which we enjoyed while sitting on the mattresses/cushions which make up the floor of our cozy chat corner. =)

Have you ever noticed that short weeks, always seem to be upon you when you really could have used that 5th day? I spent the week following Fasika working on a Plant a Tree piece to be submitted to the Toronto office (if interested, you will be able to view that piece via the CPAR-Ethiopia website again, HOPEFULLY, today if not early next week) and summarizing/noting comments on our most recent CANGO project meeting. At the meeting, 3 of the 6 Canadian NGOs summarized their findings from field assessments completed in their designated woredas of the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia over the course of the previous two weeks and we began discussing timelines and strategies for completion of the final project proposal. I enjoy meetings. I’m sure at some point in my life, I will no longer feel this way, but for now they are still something of a novelty to me. My cell phone, which I had wisely set to vibrate, rang during the meeting. I was waiting for a call from the place that was diagnosing my computer, so I checked: Home. Home? ‘Home’ never calls me! I ignored the call. 20 minutes later: Home. Well, the first thing that went through my head was my dog, Sasha, who is getting on in years. This is a constant concern which most of my colleagues find bewildering and entertaining because “house-pets” according to most Ethiopians are absolutely pointless. They don’t understand how this little white fluffy thing that I have pictures of on my computer, phone, camera, desk, bookmark etc. can be so cherished without seeming to serve any practical purpose. Anyways, as a few members of the consortium were occupied with talking in circles and I had already made note of each of their perspectives in the minutes, I accepted the call out in the hallway. It was mum, calling to set up our next Skype chat and for the first time in my life I got to say: “Sorry mum, I’m in the middle of a meeting!” haha See? Total novelty.

We are just about caught up now. At the end of this week, a few of us tried out The Lebanese Restaurant which had great humus. The following night, P and I met up with another Internations member (online community that links up expats around the world) to discuss photography and cricket over whiskey. I assure you, the night was not as pompous as it sounds! Haha We went to The German Restaurant (these national restaurants all have very creative names eh?) later that night and ordered a half of a chicken thinking that surely would be enough for 3. When you go to Swiss Chalet in Canada and you order the “Quarter Chicken, white meat” you have certain expectations about the size of your portion that are ALWAYS met. You never question how BIG the WHOLE chicken was to start with. Well, next time I order a portion of chicken in Addis, I will know to ask just that question. This ‘half’ must have come from the smallest freakin’ adult chicken in the world! It was so small in fact, that we ordered another complete meal at our next destination, Tam Tam.

The last night I would like to recap, the night that preceded the “day of failures” that I mentioned earlier in this entry, was another highlight of my Ethiopia experience thus far. We caught wind of a concert being held in at Guy’s Bar in a village in Kesanchez about 20minutes by taxi from our home. Guy’s Bar is a small venue with an old cabin-feel to it. The walls are made of interchanged panels of dark and white-stained wood and the windows look almost Tudor-style, the heavy shutters being the only barrier to the open-air. We arrived around 9pm just as it was starting to get really busy and the band was in the final stages of setting up, clustered in a corner with their equipment and a few hand-crafted wooden stools. The eldest, on harmonica, had grey/white dreadlocks that covered half the length of his backside. He and the lead singer/guitarist, who sounded comparable to the lead singer of The Roots, were both from Cameroon. The guy on the Bongos was from Benin and then there were two from Belgium playing the bass and violin. They played a blend of English and French West African reggae that had the place going even as I was leaving around 2am.

At one point they played an extended interactive remix of Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up”… thus the reason I had no voice from Sunday through Wednesday!!!

AMHARIC VOCAB
Laywa - Theif
Netalla - Traditional white scarf (thin)
Gabi - traditional white scarf (thick)
Duriye - Street smart
Tamachesh - Comfortable (f)
Izosh - Have courage (f)
Zinab - Rain
Sugo yalem - No sauce
Mestawet ale? - Do you have a mirror?

YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN ETHIOPIA WHEN…
You lose your voice at a West African reggae concert and while your boss finds it hilarious, he also pumps you full of pure ginger tea to make it better.
You don’t leave the office at night until it stops raining. Evidently this also applies when leaving your house in morning on rainy days as I am the only person currently in our compound… drenched.

You’re running at an elevation level of 5, speed of 9.2 on the treadmill, sweating buckets and thinking that you’re doing pretty darn good - that is, until you look over at your neighbour’s stats and he’s doing an elevation of 7 at a speed of 15 with not a bead of sweat on him.

Loves ‘n Misses
Troy

---

Photos

Avril Lavigne
OK this is a wierd picture to post I know... but I think it is fairly interesting that Ethiopia loves Avril almost as much as Shania and Celine!

"Government" Building
There is something very sweet going on in this shot -- see if you can spot it.

Robera
This place is in my top-three for Addis bunna bets!

Goat Market
Goats were selling for about double the normal market price on Easter weekend, approx 750-1000Br ea.
This goat market is about 5min from my house! haha

Skins
The end of the fasting season was NOT a good thing for the animals of Ethiopia... nor the pedestrian.

Comments

[CAthleen]

Love being able to start my mornings reading your blogs and being brought back to Africa! Hope despite all the valley's that you have been through that the mountain top experiences enough to make it worth the while. Regardless Africa is going to be in your heart forever! Just this week I woke up super early to go to Toronto, it was still dark and as I walked out the birds were chirping and the air was that cool but clean air that always sets of my senses and takes me right back to Africa mornings! Miss ya

[Idriss]

terrific
Good morning, I have been reading a few about your experience in Ethiopia. I have to say that I'am doing this in my office at the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rabat. Well, I'am doing so because my ministry wants me to relocate to Addis Ababa, for an assignment. I certainly will be there by september for at least a 4 years term. So, I though may be if you'are interested to communicate a moroccan guy, you could let me know what if you were a diplomat, will you accept to work and live in Addis for such a long time ? Please tell me your opinion. Sincerly Idriss

[ATroy]

haha Hi Idriss, Not knowing anything about your personal/professional life or currently living situation, I would say DO IT. There is lots to explore in Ethiopia and if you were staying for 4years, perhaps you would get the opportunity to explore outside of Ethiopia as well. I know MANY people here who only planned to come for 2months or 6 months and have already been here for 2years if thats any indication of how this city draws you in. There is plenty to do, great food, great nightlife, lots of possibilities for day/wknd trips... So what you have to ask yourself really is: why not? Best, Amanda

[Helina Mengesha Kebede]

Keep them rolling!
Hi! I'm an Ethiopian, daughter of a UNHCR diplomat. Unfortunately, didn't have the chance to grow up at home. Well, fortunately too certain aspects. But, my word, just reading your blog is taking me straight back! :P It's great, really you made me laugh very hard (and I'm in a very quiet library). And you're an excellent writer! Please keep us 'netizens updated!! PS. I picked up that you're Canadian. Which college did you study at? If you don't mind me asking.. :) PPS. Have you tried pasti yet??? Go to any bakery and they should have it :) It's what my sister and I eat once we've stepped foot in Addis... you might want to check it out :P