Final blog from Assosa 3rd February 08
on J and M in Assosa (Ethiopia), 04/Feb/2008 01:04, 34 days ago
The week started with a newcomer to Assosa cooking us all Sunday lunch– roast beef and all the trimmings! It was wonderful. Shiree is from theYukoninCanadaand is here as a linguistics recording local languages with SIL (Service in Language).Also on Sunday evening we had a final meeting and meal with the 4 trustees of BG Trees. It is now to be run locally by local Ethiopians all of whom are civil servants.We had a final send off from the MI on Tuesday when 2 sheep were bought, killed, skinned, dissected and cooked. Enough to turn you into a vegetarian! At this time I am in the middle of reading‘Life of Pi’ which goes some way to prepare you for gruesome killings. (great book despite that)I have decided I do like my meat to be distanced from the animal. Anyway we all sat down to a huge plate of meat and injera from 1 of 2 pots, depending on whether you are a Christian or a Muslim. It was quite tasty and for once inEthiopiathe meat was tender. After the meal Ato Ahmed the manager made a speech in Amharic which of course we didn’t understand so he could have said what a waste of time we were, and presented us with gifts. I was given a white embroidered dress traditionally worn at festival time by Orthodox Christians and I also got a rich blue outfit which Bertha (Muslim) woman wear. I need to learn how to wear it first,they wear it so gracefully. Jeremy also received a traditional Ethiopian shirt and the long white shirt the Muslims wear at the weekends. Together we received a ‘plaque’ denoting traditional items of the Region. We then had a group photo taken, after which Jeremy gave a speech in Amharric and showed some pictures of parts ofEthiopiawe have visited. Then after coffee, the home made beer appeared and the dancing began– it was a wonderful send off and little or no work was done all day. We danced for about 2 hours until everyone was hot and exhausted and the beer ran out. The Muslims are wonderfully graceful dancers but sadly some Orthodox regard dancing as a sin.On Wednesday and Thursday I wore my new outfits much to everyone’s delight. The Orthodox Christian dress is beautifully hand embroidered and was much admired. The Muslim wrap around caused great hilarity as I wore it with just a top and apparently you should also wear a skirt. All those layers must be very hot. Anyway it provided a lot of entertainment and I am a lot wiser.We have spent the weekend tidying the house and packing our bags, one for our trip, one for Addis and the rest forUK.We leave Assosa finally on Monday 4thFebruary 08 and our plan after Assosa is to travel for a few weeks to bridge the time between Assosa and theUK. We leave Addis on 6thFebruary to fly direct toZanzibarwhere there is a 4 day music festival. We then travel to Dar esSalemand get a train to the middle ofZambia. It is supposed to take 2 nights and travels through the game parks but its reputation is that it is always delayed so we have allowed 4 nights. It is supposed to be a most interesting journey so we shall see. We plan to get a bus toLusakafrom where we fly toMadagascarvia J’burg. We have arranged a 12 day tour ofMadagascarand then return to Addis to collect our backs and get our flight back toUK.We will spend a few days in Weybridge to catch up with friends and then fly toBelfaston 10thMarch.I am afraid it is unlikely that we will be in touch until after we get sorted inN Ireland, see family, get unpacked etc. May take a few weeks.I would just like to thank everyone for all their support over the last 2 years– all the letters, cards, E mails, parcels, phone calls, visits etc. It all meant a lot to us and kept us going through the bad times and the good.