Addis in daylight for the first time
on New Adventures in Ethiopia (Ethiopia), 06/Feb/2009 09:09, 34 days ago
Today, after sleeping at something like 5am Ethiopian time, I woke up at about 8am and got dressed and went down to the VSO office at the Red Cross headquarters where there are laptops for our use. I was the first one up and about and I got more email time than anyone else. I managed to write some emails and I feel better now that I made some connection and let my loved ones know that I got here ok and that I am doing fineThe connection is pretty slow but I made do. I got to do what I needed to. I was told in Awassa I might even be able to get an accommodation that will have a phone line which will mean internet at home! Im praying for thatSo at 9am we had breakfast, it was pretty good. The facilitators seem to be really nice and I like the people in my age group but there are quite a few older people and I hope I don’t have to share a house with any of them because I don’t think that its fair for me to have this experience with someone significantly older than me.The day started off with a training session about all sorts of things…we had a short presentation about all the issues we have questions about such as internet access, sim cards, bank accounts etc. and then we had lunch. On the Red Cross compound, there was a blood drive going on so there were traditional Amharic singers and dancers which was interesting to watch and lots of Ethiopian youths enjoying the show in the beautiful weather. The weather is warm but not uncomfortable. The people here are really beautiful. Some people have the most pretty curly hair ever and some of the girls are pretty and beautiful in the extreme. The men all have slender physiquesand look tall and athletic.I spent part of my free time in the morning leaning out of my third floor window watching a bunch of young teenagers playing soccer in the street below. They were all wearing baggy t-shirts or British football team jerseys and were so very into their sport and hanging with their friends. It was interesting. I also observed passers by. Its totally normal here for male friends to walk whilst holding hands…in fact, I saw a male female couple and the guys friend walking down the street and the guy was holding his friends hand instead of his wife’s/girlfriend’s. That was funny.The second training involved meeting the Program Director for Ethiopia who spoke to us and we also enjoyed a traditional coffee ceremony which involved a traditionally dressed Ethiopian girl cooking coffee beans and making fresh coffee for us like an espresso as a welcome gesture. The food here tastes really good. For lunch I had salad, stew, veggies and injera (the Ethiopian staple with every meal) and washed it down with Fanta from a glass bottle…Finally, we spent the afternoon sorting out logistical details like handing over our documents for safe keeping in the VSO office safe, requesting money exchange, filling out health forms and so on. I managed to call Kohar from someone’s cell phone and she will be coming to pick me up shortly. I have no idea what the city center looks like so Im really looking forward to getting a quick tour from a native Ethiopian.With the arrival of a new volunteer from the Philippines, I got the news back from the airport that my luggage will be arriving on the same nightly flight from London that I came on yesterday which means that God willing I will receive my things tomorrow morning and boy will I be grateful. Three days wearing the same clothes is really not fun.In general, it has not been a bad couple of days…I’m cheerful here and I feel very at peace. It’s not really unsafe either. I think that whole safety scare about Africa is wholly exaggerated. People here are extremely kind, nice and humble. You can just see in the gestures of most people that they are simple and accommodating.Im using my transformer which I brought and its powering my laptop like magic! Im going to stop here for now and just rest a bit until I have to go out.My second full day in Addis…