GOING SOUTH!

The Okavango-delta

Joburg

Tomorrow at this time I will be in Johannesburg! Yeyh! I can't wait! When browsing the net for info about Joburg and South Africa I realize how much I miss that country, and how much I'm looking forward to going there again! Yes, there is a lot of crime, and you might not come home alive, but apart from that it's just amazing! The people, the athmosphere, the scenery, the food, the colors - it is breathtaking! I'm also really excited that I get to see more of Joburg this time, although I must admit that I'm a little worried too. But as long as I'm careful I guess I'll be ok! It will be interesting to see if I can find a place to dance salsa - thought it might be good to get some practiCe outside of Ethiopia! Anyway......people, I wish you all a very nice Easter-holiday, and if you don't have anything to do, I will leave you some pictures of where I'm going, so that you can spend your time looking at them and being envious at me!:)

RAIN IN THE VILLAGE

The rainy season is here....I have been dreading it since I came, and now it's a fact. However, this is just the small one, so hopefully it will only last for a short while. And I'm going to South Africa next week, in order to escape from everything wet. Well, that's not quite right, because I'm going to the Okavango-delta in Botswana, which is swampland, so I might have to prepare myself to get wet, anyway. In any case, it will be nice to get away for a while. And I'm really looking forward to going to Cape Town again, it's been a while since last time I was there. To remind myself of what Addis is like when it's not raining, I'm posting some picures of the city, for you to get an impression of what it is like. In many ways it's like a huge village, as many well-known features from the country-side can be found here. Don't be surprised if a herd of donkeys comes galloping towards you, sometimes with 2 meter high loads of hay on top of them. Or you might meet a cow or two, or maybe even 50 goats or sheep. Vegetable-fields may also be found, although you might have to look more carefully to discover them. There are of course a lot of cars and city-like buildings also, which makes you remember that you are actually in a city. Having said that, I want to underline that even if Addis is not the most cosmopolitan city you can find, it's still a very nice place to be, and it is relatively easy to move around here. (not in the rainy season, because you will get extremely muddy from walking, and extremely dirty if you take the minibustaxies....all because of the roads that are under construction). It is also very safe, and that is one great advantage, especially for a white girl! So I have to prepare myself for a change of mobility when I get to Cape Town. Well, every city has its advantages and its disadvantages. Let me conclude with that. And from my office, where I'm now sitting, I can see the sun shining. So it's not raining all day long!

This is supposed to become a bridge someday (who knows when...?!!)

You don't have any problems seeing that, do you?

This is right outside where I live. Turn to the left where you can see the little yellow "house", and there you will find my compound. So where all the minibus-taxis are, that's where I wait every morning to go to work. Because of the roadconstruction, it is very difficult to get a minibus, so sometimes I have to wait for half an hour....you really need patience in this country sometimes. But I should know that.....

Construction

My daily life in Addis is not always as straightforward as I could hope it was. Construction is the key-word, and the root of all my problems. New buildings are popping up everywhere (that is, they are slowly and gradually beginning to pop up, and maybe in a couple of years, they will be finished), but they are not really causing me that much problems. I’m sure my dad would get a headache had he seen the scaffolding they use here, though - it looks very fragile and not fit for standing and walking on. Anyway, what gives ME the headache is the roadconstruction! For some reason, they have decided to start working an ALL the roads at once, meaning that it is almost impossible to get anywhere by car anymore. And if you do go by car, you can be sure that you have to drive on roads that look more like quarries than roads, and that your whole body will be exposed to a bumping so intense that you are glad you are still alive when you have reached your target. And not to forget the dust! It’s everywhere! As I remarked in my last post, it is very hot these days, and no rain has fallen for a long while. And we all know what dust-roads become like when they never receive rain…..Sometimes I’m having trouble breathing, and I can just picture all the brown, dry dust finding its way down my lungs, where it will stay together with all the pollution I inhale, and in a couple of years I will die from lungcancer…..! It seems I will have to take some measures on my own when it comes to the politics of climate if I am not going to die from suffocating. No, I’m not paranoid or hypochondriac, just realistic! Well, well, despite my complaints, I have to say that living in Addis is not that bad, infact - if you disregard all the issues that has to do with construction, it’s quite nice, actually:)

Saturday Morning

This is the view from my porch one early Saturday morning. The sun wakes me up, and I go down to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. Then I bring my chair out on the porch, put on some music, and sit down with my tea and relaaaaaax……….Mmm, wonderful! It’s very hot here in Addis these days, so I can’t sit too long before I feel the temperature in my head rises. If there is no wind, it’s even worse. But still, those early mornings on my porch are just a blessing!

Thought it might be interesting for you to see the people whom I work with! This is the staff photo taken two weeks ago, in the embassy garden. Present is Norwegian diplomatic staff, Norwegian local staff and Ethiopian local staff (programme officers, drivers, cleaners and secretaries) We look like one happy lot, don’t we?:) Anyways, it’s a really nice place to be working, although my last days haven’t exactly been too busy…..I have been reassured that I will be given more tasks very soon, so I’m not worried that I will get bored! It’s nice not to be studying, but I must admit that sometimes I miss it. I feel like all the knowledge I gained while studying is now slowly disappearing from my mind. Maybe it’s because I stopped thinking...?!However, I’m filling up with new kinds of knowledge, so hopefully I won’t be completely empty when I one day leave this place!

BASICS

If you are an Ethiopian there are certain things you can’t live without, and if you are a foreigner in Ethiopia, you quickly learn what these things are, and then you can’t live without them either. The food is one of those things, and when you learn to like it, you really love it! At this time, it’s fasting time in Ethiopia, and most of the orthodox people can’t eat meat or milk products, and certain other things. Ask 10 different Ethiopians about the lent, and you’ll get 10 different answers, all of them equally certain that their answer is the right. (Ethiopians are really stubborn people, but I’ll get back to that later) Anyway, the point is, even if you don’t eat the meat, the food is delicious! The injera, which is the pancake with a sour kind of taste, is not good on its own, but eat it with doro wot, tibs, kei wot, shirro wot, vegetable alitcha – anything - and it’s wonderful! You’ve got so many different types of sauces, meat prepared in different ways and the most delicious vegetables. And of course, you eat with your fingers! No fork and knife! I usually make a mess, especially when I eat doro wot, but that’s part of the whole meal. And when you’re finished, and you’re really full and regret that you took the last bite because your stomach feels like it’s about to explode, then you just can’t do without a macchiato, to finish off the meal with something sweet. Macchiato – a blessing and a curse – it tastes wonderfully with a cup of macchiato at any time of the day, but the sugar…….!!!! The thing is you really have to drink it with sugar, otherwise it’s not that good. I’m afraid it will have serious consequences for the shape in which I will be when I one day return to home. Well, that’s in the future anyway, so I might as well enjoy my macchiato while I can! So this was my introductory lesson about Ethiopian culture! Be prepared for more!

Ethiopia. This is where it all starts, they say. The cradle of humanity, where the oldest known human ancestors have been found. Well, I didn’t start my life here, but I started a lot of other things. This is where I started drinking coffee – black, strong coffee, with no chocolate or sugar (although I must admit that I stick with the macchiato if I have the choice!). It’s where I started dancing salsa (that is, trying to learn how to dance). And it’s where I started my first full-time job! And for the first time I’m living completely on my own! So for me, Addis Ababa, new flower, really represent its name in a good way. Although Addis cannot exactly be said to be as beautiful as a flower, or looking new or modern in any way, it still has this special touch to it which makes it so fascinating. Coming here has given me a lot of new input, new perspectives and experiences, most of them good, and I find myself in new, weird, funny and challenging situations. So this will be the place where I try to relate to you all what I experience while staying here in Addis! Putting myself out here like this feels very weird, and when it comes to the actual act of making the blog this will be a “learning-by-doing”-experience. So don’t expect too much! At least I know how to post pictures, which is nice! Attaching them to e-mails is next to impossible in this country, so this is a nice possibility for me to show you a few pieces of my life here in Ethiopia. Any feedback and response will be heartily welcomed, so feel free to speak out!