WHAT A DAY!! WELCOME TO AWASSA!!
on New Adventures in Ethiopia (Ethiopia), 13/Feb/2009 04:02, 34 days ago
Well…as promised…I woke up early and packed the last of my clothes. Vishwa being as nice as he is came and knocked on my door to see me off and help me with my luggage. I went downstairs where Gezahegn, Rev. Jeremiah, Catherine (a UK volunteer also going to Awassa) and the driver Deereeje were waiting. We went on VSO’s pickup truck. Our entire luggage was put in the back and covered in tarp and tied up. We got in the car, said our bye-byes and left for Awassa.We drove about 50km when we stopped for breakfast at a really nice hotel…it seemed on the way out of Addis there were many hotels and places to see. We had tea and egg sandwiches and sat for a little while and then got back in the car and headed back on our journey. The driver surprised us by stopping at a place called Dream land where we got to see one of the 7 lakesin the area. It was very beautiful and amazingly still and vast body of water.After that stop we did one stretch all the way to Awassa. The journey was very interesting. The landscape is pretty flat and vast and I’m not sure what those trees are that are typical of Africa but we saw lots of those. There are many animals on the road…we saw donkeys, horses, cows, goats…horse drawn carriages, people carrying hay and water…in some parts of our drive we did see hose typical African mud huts. They are circular in shape made of mud with cone shaped roofs that are made of straw. It’s amazing how people here live. I can’t capture it in words but it’s truly amazing. Driving here is very interesting. You have to break suddenly when a cow just obliviously walks into the middle of the street or donkeys just literally stand on the street and don’t move. You have to keep honking until they get the message!Closer to Awassa, we drove through Shashemene which is basically the Mecca for Rastafarianism…there is a big Rastafarian community here but apart from wall murals and red, green and yellow flags here and there, there were no dreadlocks in sight lol…I did only drive through the main road so maybe I will have to go back and see more. About 30km after that point, we got to Awassa. On first impressions, Awassa is cleaner and calmer than Addis Ababa. The life is visibly simpler, there are less people, there are side walks, and the roads seem wider so you feel less in danger of coming close to cars. It’s a better organized city. The first place we stopped was one of the government buildings where we picked up a Kenyan volunteer called David. He greeted us and was to go with the other guys to shift furniture for the other volunteers. Our next stop was my house! There is a main roundabout in Awassa and everything central is around there and my house must be about a 5 minute walkfrom the center. The location of my house is ideal. I met my landlady and she let us in. The compound has a tall locked gate and seems quite safe. My house is a separate guest house that has a porch and you walk into a small living room and to one side there is the bathroom and to the other there isa bedroom. At the end of the porch, I have an outdoor sink and next to it, a big room which is the ‘kitchen’. I will have to get accustomed to cooking in just a room…no fridge, no oven, no stove…just my kerosene stove and my hotplate.Surrounding my house and on the compound, there are beautiful banana trees and I have a corrugated iron gate and door which makes it look and have a very Caribbean kind of feeling.Upon seeing my house…I realized I have A LOT of cleaning to do so Catherine and I headed into town after finding out from Stella (an independent volunteer working at the Awassa orphanage who also lives on my compound – she is from NY and seems very sweet) where the supermarket is. We walked and eventually found thestore and bought many items like rice, pasta, lentils, oil, salt and basically simple stuff that does not need to be refrigerated. I also bought a mop, broom, cleaning agents, washing up liquid etc. Upon coming back, we were supposed to wait for the driver who was supposed to pick us up at 2pm. I couldn’t wait and started cleaning. I started with the porch and then moved to the bedroom and then the bathroom. It was hard work to say the least. I swept and mopped and took out my mattress and aired it out and put my nice new sheets on. I also took off the old mosquito net and but my shiny newone. I cleaned all the floors thoroughly, took an old pillowcase and dusted all the furniture and basically made it my own clean little house! All the floors are tile and the furniture is basic. The bathroom and shower facilities are very limited and I still haven’t figure out if I have hot water.I may have to actually boil water and bathe from a bucket. There is a water boiler in my bathroom but I can’t seem to get the hot water to go the shower…well…despite all this…I feel very cheerful!I have my own house and the weather is absolutely beautiful. Life is calm and my land lord and land lady are very sweet and nice people. They offered to take me to the supermarket today in their car. They also have a little boy who I can hear from my house singing all day long in Amharic. He is extremely cute.Eventually, at 6pm (4 hours late is no biggie here), Deereeje, the VSO driver showed up and informed us that my colleagues are waiting for us at the house where Catherine and another volunteer will stay for a coffee ceremony. This has to be done apparently as a welcome to newcomers. We sat outside and coffee was made for us, and there was also popcorn and bananas. I was absolutely starving since I hadn’t eaten anything after breakfast. We never ended up having lunch and when the driver left us at the house and promised to take me home after the coffee ceremony, once again, he did not turn up. So it started getting really dark and I had to be taken to my home so the Reverend said that the only way to do this would be for him to take me. When I went outside the gate I saw his mode of transportation was a motorcycle. LOL…oh my oh my…on these dusty roads, in the night, no street lighting, on the back of motorcycle driven by a clergy man! I was holding on to the bar behind my butt and praying…wow…I was so scared…once we got on the main road though, it was fun but still going into a massive roundabout on the back of a motorcycle was really something. At one point I screamed and pulled on the shoulder of his shirt! He was laughing his head off at me. It was a great introduction to Awassa whizzing past the shops and stalls. Everyone looks at me of course and that makes it even more fun! Anyway…I made it home…did some cleaning and went to bed. I wanted to wake up early to do some things before Sara came. Sara is my house help. She is apparently going to come here three times a week to clean and possibly do laundry.She did come and did a good job cleaning as well so now everything looks livable. I am now sitting and typing this under my mosquito net on my bed feeling like a princess who has one of those covered four post beds! Of course I don’t have the four posts but I have the net lol… The weather is warm outside and my hot water is still not working. I will be taking a shower when it eventually works and then head into town and sit at an internet café and also get some food somewhere. I’m really hungry…Communication is going to be difficult here. My mobile has hardly worked and I have no internet at home. Nonetheless…I will find ways to do things. I think with no TV and no internet I will be doing a lot of socializing with other volunteers and of course reading books.Tomorrow will be my first day of work and Rev. Jeremiah will come and pick me up on his bike…I’m scared already…