Daniele, Phil's wife, just walked in and I've been able to use her computer with has wireless capacity and accepts my thumbdrive:
2/26/09
This has been a good day. I again shared a ride with Phil and Daniele to the University.
I had a good experience posting my previous update from an internet café; they only charge about $1 US an hour so I felt very comfortable composing my report, editing from what I had composed the evening before on my thumb-drive. I then walked over to the University bookstore and found an economic evaluation of the Gurage area, from 1995 to 2000, that Phil had mentioned, a very intriguing study for those of us with such interest! I did some initial reading while waiting for my follow-up appointment with the Geography Department Chairman, Dr. Muluneh,
Dr. Muluneh was a few minutes late but in this society it is better for people like me to be on time and be patient. We talked some more about the Gurage Country. He was very interested in the book I had just purchased as well, making note of it. Then he loaded up my transfer drive with his Gurage thesis research, including maps and pictures. He's also narrowed down the candidates for my to be donated laptop and we now have a follow-up appointment where I'll meet the student and make sure he or she can do the basic operations.
Next I walked over to the Center for Ethiopian Studies on campus, admired the historic paintings, and the current exhibit of Ethiopian history. One curiosity that I had passed on the way in was explained in the exhibit; it was a set of spiraling stairs going nowhere emplaced in the plaza in front of the Museum; it was constructed by the Italians during their occupation, with each step representing a year of their Fascist government in Italy. Evidently the Ethiopians appreciate the irony of this monument. And they even added a small lion on the top step! Inside I found another book about the culture of the Gurage as told and explained by a Gurage and happily read that for an hour. There were some interesting stories that were passed down generation to generation that I had only seen brief reference to. There were also stories of the first Europeans who had traveled through the country.
By this time it was near lunch so I caught a taxi over to Masqual Square, which would be near my afternoon follow-up appointment at the Ethiopian Mapping agency. I had noted on a previous ride through the square that the old China Bar still existed there and appeared to be in working order. The China Bar was one of the few places that we Peace Corps teachers would go once or twice a year for a special treat. It looked the same, the ceiling full of brilliantly colored tiles with dragons, the waiters and waitresses impeccably dressed. The menu looked good too. I did not order the lobster at $80 US but was intrigued to find it listed on the menu; we were joking in Emdeber the previous weekend about importing lobsters there from Maine! Maybe we should make a deal with the China Bar; lobsterman in Maine only get about $5 US wholesale each for their catch. I ordered fried chicken with vegetables and rice and it was delicious!
I then walked up the hill toward the Mapping Agency. I had only walked down the hill before and I'm glad that I had plenty of time because the hill was quite steep and the sun was quite hot. I was also wearing my best blue blazer, Greek sailor cap, and carrying the somewhat heavy laptop. My appointment was with the Director General, Sultan Mohammed, whom I may have mentioned was another of our bright students when we were teaching in Emdeber. I finally found my way to his office on the top floor through a maze of stairs and hallways and completely out of breath but still on time. Sultan was completing a meeting with his staff so I had 15 minutes to compose myself. Then his staff left and Sultan invited me into his office. He appeared delighted to see me and after discussing our mutual friends from here and away we went right to work transferring my research files to his computer. He confirmed that there were no new systematic air photos of the Gurage area since 1975 but they were planning new survey runs soon. He showed me one draft map which portrayed the current road network for the general area. He was very familiar with the urban Gurages, Fikre and his crew, whom we had met with at the hotel in Emdeber. So we talked some more about the development issues of the Gurage. He also wants to meet Phil and mentioned that he actually lives in our neighborhood, a short walk from our apartment. I then mentioned that I wanted to pick up two more maps adjacent to the ones I'd purchased earlier in the week and he immediately sent a messenger down to initiate the process. He next asked how I planned to get back to my neighborhood, and then insisted that I go back in his personal SUV. He then escorted me down to the mapping department and made sure I got the right maps and introduced me to his driver. I do hope some day (not forty years from now as I said to him) that I would get the opportunity to reciprocate his hospitality. So I got into the shiny new SUV and the driver weaved his way through the rush hour traffic, with me sharing my taxi chat in Amharic of "That was close!" "He's crazy!" and "Watch out!" He appeared to be amused.
Once home I took a long nap and later joined Phil and Danile for a quiet pasta dinner at the Millennium Hotel.
Much of what I'm accomplishing here is the product of good planning and amazingly good luck. Transactions in Ethiopia can still be very bureaucratic, with at least three stops on the way and then three stops back. If one encounters a barrier, it can take a long time to resolve, and for the uninitiated the experience can be very frustrating. I am doing well, even beyond my expectations. Tomorrow I'll laze about the apartment, make some phone calls and do my final phase of planning.
2-27-09
Today was very relaxing. I took a morning shower. Had breakfast with Phil and Daniele. They both had early morning appointments but Daniele expected to be back for lunch. Our apartment keys are very modern and cannot be easily duplicated so as I type this I am effectively locked in, but I am not afraid! I did the breakfast dishes and then composed yesterday's journal report.
Phil came back about 11 am, earlier than expected, and with all his audio-video equipment that had been held up at Customs, He is much happier! Daniele then came back from the American International School up the block with confirmation that she is hired as a part-time teaching aid; she's qualified to do much more but doesn't want to now. She also is quite pleased.
I was able to confirm by phone a lunch/conference with John Graham, the Ethiopia travel writer and now US-AID staff person for next Monday, which gives me some more things to think about. I took another walk around the neighborhood, shot some discrete pictures, ordered some additional horn glasses from the Gurage shop up the street, "exactly like my sample." We shall see. Walking back I took one of the back streets and found it lined with compounds with iron gates guarding expensive looking houses. I shot some pictures of the flowers and trees. It is amazing how close the rich and poor continue to live here. I almost got a shot of a frisky young cat on a wall and my Ethiopian cat-call got his attention, but he disappeared when I reached for the camera. The only other feline I've encountered was an old tomcat who after being called carefully inspected my hand to determine if it were edible (decided it wasn't). However, he seemed quite happy to have his head scratched. Then he bid me good-bye and resumed his patrol.
Now I'm back at home base and it looks like a quiet evening.
For dinner we walked up the street and then right through a construction zone (in the dark) until we reached a new hotel that caters to the Chinese who are working here in Ethiopia. There are some 20,000 Chinese in the City alone involved in major construction projects such as road building, industrial development, and energy exploration. The restaurant at the hotel was certainly more of a challenge than the old China Bar. No English was spoken by the wait staff (Chinese) and no Ethiopian! It was more like trying to order at a restaurant in China itself! We finally pointed to some lovely pictures on the menu and hoped for the best. The first dish than came was steamed Chinese cabbage with garlic and it made a nice appetizer. The second course can only be described as whole fried chicken run through a chop saw by a madman; splinters of bone everywhere. The beef and vegetable course then arrived and it was exceedingly spicy; I was delighted but Phil and Daniele could only manage it with quantities of rice. Still, I'd love to go back with someone who speaks Mandarin and see what the options really are.
Addis Ababa at Night (random observation)
Each city probably has a characteristic sound, traffic roar in Brooklyn with a few emergency sirens and screams to punctuate the symphony. Here in Addis Ababa, from my 4th floor bedroom, I've noted loud contemporary Ethiopian music from 9 to midnight emanating from the hotel bar next door. Next comes what I can only describe as the canine anthems, which build up slowly to a massive crescendo, punctuated by an occasional escalating yelp as one poor cur pleas for mercy. Now and then there are modern sounds such as a jet plane landing or taking off or a heavy lorry making its way around the traffic circle and then slowly up the road. Around 4 am the roosters begin their anthems and the dogs subside. The next movement is the 5:30 am electronically amplified calls from the mosques and churches. The final movement is the construction activity beginning anew on the next block over. Another day has dawned!
2-28-09
Saturday
Today began as usual with the roosters, the church and mosque competition, followed by work beginning anew at the construction site below my window. Have I described the construction site yet? It's gonna be another large building, ten stories of more, designed for use by a Mideastern embassy. They're just progressing above the ground floor. There are about 70 construction workers on site, 10 of them women. Much of the work is done by hand, with a few machines for mixing cement and lifting heavier slabs. It's like watching a beehive, and now tasks are assuming patterns. A lot of scaffolding here is done with eucalyptus poles, even for higher buildings. OSHO would not approve, but OSHO or its local equivalent is nowhere to be seen.
I spent the morning reorganizing and typing up yesterday's journal. Then Phil and I went out for lunch at the Samay Restaurant, this time for a traditional Ethiopian serving of "doro wat" (spicy chicken stew) This is the first time since I've been here that I've eaten excellently prepared Ethiopian food and I was beginning to think that it only persisted in Portland, Maine.
We then walked back toward the apartment and I split off to try our neighborhood internet café to post yesterday's journal. Alas, the machine would not recognize my thumb-drive and I had to make a much abbreviated post. But the service is available for $1 US an hour and the manager is quite pleasant.
I then decided to explore the area south of our apartment building, down by the river; it looked interesting from the Goggle earth view. So I continued walking down the main road, passed the rotary, and proceeded down toward the river. Well, first there appeared some nice houses behind high compound walls, then more modest houses, and by the time I neared the river it was only slum shacks. A rickety footbridge provided further access across the river for the daring and agile. I decided to head back up the hill, take a shower, and relax!
This evening we returned for dinner at the Millennium Hotel, another course of pasta washed down with Castel Beer.
2-29-09 Sunday
This has been a quiet day of pottering around, followed by reading Dr. Muluneh's dissertation thesis on the Gurage. Mulluneh has accomplished some very interesting work and I look forward to discussing that with him Tuesday afternoon.
Phil called in that he has safely arrived in Beirut.
Daniele and I plan to share dinner at the Family Restaurant up the street, a restaurant with an eclectic menu that ranges from Mexican, to Italian, to Ethiopian.
Tomorrow is a National Holiday commemorating the defeat of the Italians in 1898 at the Battle of Aduwa.