Gondar

A few weekends ago myself and some fellow expat friends escaped the city for some much needed adventure and relaxation. First stop was Gondar. It only took a short one hour plane ride from Addis to arrive somewhere completely different. The sun was shining and the air warm, the surrounding hillsides lush and green, and the air noticeably easier to breathe.

Our lovely guest house's 'welcome' coffee, bread and local honey was exactly what was needed after the 5am wake-up call to catch our plane.

Photo Cred: Michelle Ferng

The Manager told us that when they were building the guest house, they decided to hire all their staff from the day labourers who had come from the surrounding villages. Rather than hiring family and friends, as is often the norm in Ethiopia, the owners paid attention to which individuals had the best work ethic, and then offered them jobs. They are now working to provide everyone with English lessons and customer service training. It's always so nice to stumble across someone doing what they can to build up their own community.

And why were we in Gondar? It's called the Camelot of Ethiopia.

Photo Cred: Michelle Ferng

Photo Cred: Michelle Ferng

Next, we navigated our way through the streets of Gondar to find the most peaceful place I have visited in Ethiopia: Fasil's Bath.

Photo Cred: Michelle Ferng

Photo Cred: Michelle Ferng

Apparently for Timkat (Ethiopian Christmas), they refill the bath, the water is blessed, and then there is the equivalent of a massive pool party. But during the rest of the year it is simply a quiet, slightly overgrown, oasis.

And between the sightseeing we wandered into a chance encounter that I know will be a highlight of my time to Ethiopia. It was a frank reminder of the incredible hospitality of Ethiopians, the need to drop my hard-earned 'foreign woman in a new country' defences, and how much I still have to learn about this country.

Needing directions and seeking a reprieve from the hustle of the street, we tucked into a local shop and met Emmanuel. A member of the large Ethiopian diaspora, Emmanuel had returned home in recent years after over thirty years in Miami. One thing led to another and later that evening we found ourselves in his home being served traditional coffee and delicious Ethiopian food. Emmanuel spent the evening telling us stories about his family, the struggles of being a small business owner in Ethiopia, and an incredible personal account of his involvement in the underground resistance during the Derg regime. Michelle has started recording a much more detailed and eloquent account here.

It is the type of story with so many twists, chance encounters, moments of pure cunning genius, and incredible luck, fate, or what have you,  that it feels like it has to be written down in a book or turned into a movie. Emmanuel simply shrugged his shoulders and said that when a country lives through a period like Ethiopia did, everyone has these stories - at least all the ones who survived do.

Ethiopians don't like to talk about politics - at least not openly. It's no wonder considering the brutal repression experienced not so long ago (the regime fell in 1991). It really makes you wonder about what everyone else is carrying around with them.

It was an incredible evening. I learned so much about Ethiopia, how much it is changing, its ongoing challenges, and the incredible tale of one man.

Emmanuel's shop, with his cousin behind the counter (Photo Cred: Michelle Ferng)

making the most of it

This past week, I had my first bout of real sickness since arriving in Ethiopia. Luckily it is a terrible cold rather than any kind of stomach issues (although thanks to that unique form of hypochondria that is only brought on when living in foreign places I have at various points thought I had malaria, bronchitis, mono and strep throat). But it has had me pretty much housebound for a week and is my excuse for not managing to post about my weekend away yet.

Three days home from work has given my plenty of time to pause, reflect and acknowledge that I am rapidly approaching the half-way point of my placement. Some time outside Addis really helped me gain some perspective on life living in the city -the good and the bad. Walking off the plane in Gondar, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I spent the next four days enjoying the freedom of travelling with just a backpack and good friends, experiencing time and again the incredible generosity of Ethiopians and others. And I realised that I was living life in Addis with my defences up, trying to protect myself from the beggars, male harassment, and the general overwhelming confusion of never quite understanding what’s going on. And while the defensiveness is often justified, maybe there is a way for it to not always be necessary. It took getting out of the city for me to realise that life in Addis was feeling more difficult than I was allowing myself to admit, but there are also so many different things I could be doing to make it that much better.

And as I have been lying in my bed, thinking about the last few months and making plans to make the most of my remaining time, I have been noticing that the air outside is feeling warmer and the sun seems to be shining for longer. The rain still comes but it’s more often in the torrential bursts combined with prolonged periods of sunshine that one might expect from a rainy season.  There is starting to be a shift.

Photo Credit: Michelle Ferng

while it's been raining...

A lot has been happening in Addis, but for whatever reason, I've had little inspiration to blog about it. It might be the rainy season which has the whole city complaining - even the locals. Everyone says that it's not supposed to be this cold or rain this much, but there you have it. Chalk it up to global warming I guess but I feel like I might as well be living through another rainy winter in the UK. Except this time I have developed a true appreciation for the benefits of paved roads and sidewalks. Washing your shoes multiple times a day is no fun.

But in the moments when the sun does come out - you truly appreciate it. I spent a few hours last week talking with someone from the Canadian embassy. Miraculously, the sun happened to be out and we sat on the rooftop patio of one of Addis' best coffee shops, sipping delicious macchiatos and talking all things CIDA (now DFAITD) and Ethiopia. It was probably the best two hours of my week.

So some of the good and bad of the last little while:

-I have enjoyed countless good meals with good friends in the many restaurants of Addis. From Ethiopian, to Italian, to French, to Greek, to Korean - who knew Addis would have so many options. The best so far, besides Ethiopian of course, Lebanese! Next up: Yemeni, Thai and Indian.

-I learned that I had been overpaying for my shared-taxi trip to work each week. The difference was only 1 birr (or six cents) and I don't actually think they were trying to cheat me but were trying to limit conversation with the ferenji who hasn't quite mastered Amharic yet.

-I celebrated my birthday which, thanks to the fact that it is currently 2005 in Ethiopia, meant that I got to ring in 20 all over again

-I was pick-pocketed but luckily I carry around multiple wallets and they only managed to grab my change purse with maybe about 150 birr ($10) 

- I have learned (most) numbers in Amharic, the names of the produce I like to buy at the market, and am no longer lost and confused when someone greets me. I'm still a long way from being able to have any kind of conversation, but it's all about the small steps.

-I ventured outside the protective glass walls of my gym and actually ran outside. I learned that there really are runners in Addis, you just have to be out at 5:30 am to join them.

-I said my first goodbyes in Addis. The city is filled with so many expats, people are constantly coming and going. This time it was our German neighbours whose internships had come to an end. But fingers crossed, they will be back for a conference in November.

Tomorrow I'm off on some adventures outside Addis (taking advantage of the national day thanks to Eid). After two months in the big city, I'm definitely feeling a bit stir crazy and am beyond excited to see some more of Ethiopia.

P.S. Today's Google page is Ethiopian themed. It's to mark Abebe Bikilas 81st birthday and it turns out he was a pretty inspirational runner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila). Just a reminder of one of the many amazing people to come out of this incredible country.