Take me to Djibouti!

After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, we were finally checked in with 30 minutes to spare before the flight was supposed to depart. Thinking that we were late, we rushed through security (FYI – nothing like the US) and found seats at the gate to wait.

You know…there’s a song by Tom Petty and Eddie Vedder…The Waiting…he says “The waiting is the hardest part”. 

We waited for our cab to arrive. We waited in line to check-in. And now we were waiting for our plane. For. A. Long. Time.

At 8:30AM (1 hour after our flight was supposed to depart), a representative came through and said they had breakfast for us while we waited. Breakfast consisted of some stale/not very sweet/not very good bread and orange soda. We were told the flight would leave at 10AM, so Whitney and I opted out of the “complimentary breakfast”, and headed for the food court in the airport. There I had an omelet sandwich (I really should have taken a picture) which had three huge pieces of bread (kinda like a Big-Mac) and probably 4-5 eggs. It was massive!

After finishing breakfast, we went back to the gate to wait. No sign of our plane. They were calling passengers for other flights, but the flight to Lalibela was not mentioned! At one point, the Ethiopian Airline representative walked through the crowds and announced that the plane to Djibouti was ready to board. Whitney and I decided that we would be happy with going to Djibouti for the weekend instead of hanging around the airport for much longer!

Around noon they came around and announced that a complimentary lunch was available. It wasn’t bread and soda, but since Whitney and I were still full we passed on lunch and opted for cold beverages instead.

Finally, around 1:30 PM we were allowed to board the plant to Lalibela (which was also going to Gondar and Axum). We were finally on our way!

Were you in the rain?

This past weekend Whitney and I did some domestic travel in Ethiopia. While I could write a single blog post about our entire trip, I've decided to write smaller posts about our adventures, highlighting the fun/interesting things that happened to us over the weekend.

The trip began early....5AM. I woke up and finished packing my backup and waited for our cab driver, Alfred (from previous posts), to arrive at 5:30. Alfred was a little late (15 minutes), but given my need to always be on time/early, I was starting to feel a little anxious. Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:30, and the travel agent recommended we arrive 2 hours before our departure. We only live a few kilometer from the airport, so we arrived around 5:50AM.

When we arrived, the main guard only checked my passport and ticket, and let Whitney enter the airport without even checking her documents. I guess they figured that if 1 American had her stuff together, that the other one would as well. Once we got in the actual airport, the line was ridiculously long! We got in line and waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever.

We struck up conversation with a man and his two daughters who were in front of us. The man was returning to Ethiopia after being away for 10 years, and this was the girls' first trip to Ethiopia. They had arrived from Washington DC the previous night (he owns an Ethiopian restaurant  around the Convention Center) and were flying to Axum to visit family.

One of the girls asked me mid conversation if I had been in the rain. I was confused for a second, and then realized that my hair was still wet from my shower an hour before we arrived at the airport. I started laughing and told her that I had washed my hair before coming to airport. She gave me a confused look and we continued with our conversation.

Most folks in Ethiopia don't leave their house with wet hair. Heck, most folks in the US don't leave their home with wet hair. I guess it was strange for the girl to see, but it made my smile and made the long wait to the ticket counter a little more bearable. 

Pictures from Recent Travels

Group photo before proceeding to Portuguese Bridge

Overlooking the Blue Nile Gorge

Another look at the Blue Nile Gorge

Group photo from the top of the mountain..I'm in the blue jacket :)

At Lake Langano! The only Schistosomiasis free lake in Ethiopia!

The group in front of Lake Langano

Outside of my office in the middle of a rain/hail storm

My new motto :)

I played the piano and sang at church last week

Upcoming Weekend Plans!

Last night I had the (joy?) of listening to the dogs bark and the hyenas howl. I thought I was getting used to their midnight noise, but alas, the past few nights they have woken me up with their back and forth communication. I woke up around 3AM and didn’t fall asleep until 6AM….and woke up about 30 minutes later from a dream where I was in a car and the driver was driving recklessly. Not a good start to my day. Oyyy...

But, I did have an exciting evening. Whitney and I went to the Hilton last night and booked plane tickets for our weekend travels. We will leave on Friday AM heading to Lalibela (known for the rock hewn churches), then fly to Gondar on Saturday afternoon ( known as “The Camelot of Africa" due to the presence of a group of royal castles ), and then drive to Bahir Dar on Saturday evening( the source of the Blue Nile).  We will spend the Sunday in Bahir Dar, and return to Addis on Sunday night. The three flights costs $156 USD! You can’t fly to one city in the US for that amount, much less 3 one way flights!

Keeping Busy

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "To fill the hour -- that is happiness". 


If that's true, my happiness cup should be overflowing! Work is busy, life is busy. We only have 3 more full weekends left! I knew that time would fly by, but I feel like I'm just now finding my groove. I'm getting used to Addis and Ethiopian culture. I'm actually able to contribute to things at work. Why is the time flying by?


I'll try to post some pictures from my recent travels and adventures tonight.

Coffee

Quick Trivia Question: Where did coffee originate?

If you said Ethiopia, you’re correct! The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the thirteenth century. The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder who discovered coffee, did not appear in writing until 1671 AD.

  

Living in the country where coffee was “discovered” means that my daily activities revolve around consuming the popular caffeinated beverages. Most days I probably have 4-5 cups of coffee. A cup in the morning with my breakfast, a cup after lunch, and the newest fad is having coffee (cappuccinos and macchiatos) delivered to the office.

Everywhere you look there are small coffee boutiques. There are at least 6 on the strip outside of my office. The girl who sits next to me calls one of them, and they bring up the coffee and a bowl of sugar. They return about half an hour later to pick up the coffee cups (there are no disposable cups here), I pay him 6 birr (roughly .38 cents). Amazing! I could get used to this!

Roasting coffee beans at a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony

4th of July from Ethiopia

This was a 4th of July I won't ever forget! And it wasn't because of the amazing fireworks (because there were none), or the delicious BBQ (try again), or the amazing warm weather by the pool (yeah right...it rained for several hours during the day).

For starters, I took the day off from work. Most of the other interns (except for Liz) were working, but I figured I should celebrate our independence. And what better way to celebrate than a day at the spa.

Boston Day Spa in Addis

What I thought would be 2.5 hours at the spa, ended up being 4 hours....all for only $30USD! It was amazing! A 45+ minute massage, eyebrow wax, and mani/pedi...and no wait time! I was being pampered the entire time. I left the spa feeling soooo refreshed :)

Eskinder picked me up afterwards and took me to the grocery store. I was planning on making a mango cobbler (mangoes are in season and are really cheap). The recipes I  found online all called for brown sugar with the mangoes....and of course, the grocery store had no brown sugar. As I rounded the corner I saw canned peaches, and thought I would improvise. So I grabbed a few cans of peaches, and other supplies and headed home. 

Now, can openers exist in Ethiopia, but the house we're staying at doesn't have one, unfortunately. So I had to improvise to get the can of peaches open. The following photos document the process :)

 Using a screwdriver and fork to puncture the can of peaches

 Once the can was punctured, I cut open the lid to get the peaches out

 My work station....complete with my computer for the Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion

Ready to go in the oven!

 Looks right...smells right...

Tastes right!! Success!!