ETHIOPIAAAA

I am just one day into my trip to Ethiopia and Malawi. I arrived in Addis Ababa early in the morning on Monday and had a ride waiting to take me to Yoly hotel. I had anticipated staying with Ben’s mom’s friend but his brother owns a hotel in the center of Addis and they decided to have me stay there. The hotel is gorgeous. I have a kind size bed, shower and toilet (hot water!), flat screen tv, one of the nicest gyms that I have ever seen and even a driver to take me around. Holy cow did I luck out! Yesterday, after a shower and a power nap, Berhanu, the driver took me all around Addis Ababa and showed me the palaces and the shopping areas as well. He lived in DC for a few years (and managed Dukem) and was using all sorts of analogies to describe where we were. “And this is the U street of Addis Ababa….” Most interesting thing was probably the “Lion Zoo” for only lions in the center of the city. Apparently it has about 23 lions and nothing else. I will probably go back and take a look at “Lucy,” the oldest remains of a human ancestor that have been found to date in the National Museum.

Next came the best part of the trip: we went to the highlands of Addis Ababa and drove up a mountain until we could look down on the city. It was such beautiful forest you can’t even imagine. All the way up the mountain, we saw women with tons of firewood attached to their backs like a backpack. I wanted to take pictures but didn’t want to be obnoxious so I didn’t. Berhanu explained that these women climb up the mountain around 4 am, gather the wood and start their descent around 3 pm. SUCH hard work- I honestly don’t think that I would be able to do it. There were beautiful churches and all sorts of things to see up there. We then went by the fistula hospital. I have an appointment for today at 11:00 am but we were in the area and wanted to see if they would be able to fit me in. Alas, they could not and I felt kind of dumb for having dropped in. BUT the hospital is actually very beautiful- it has its own compound area with lots of greenery and pets too! There was a big German Shephard, Xena, who really liked me (probably because she sensed that I was scared of her). But I walked by the hospital area and into the Administrative area and classrooms. All of the women that I passed were curious and shy but had big smiles.

I then came back and had a very American evening- went and used the gym, finished my book, and watched a movie on my laptop.

I got up pretty early and walked around the streets alone. A bit different from Ghana- I think that the Western presence is a bit larger here so not so many people calling out to me. I felt like I blended in a little better or maybe I am just getting used to being the obruni in Africa. Just had a cup of coffee and today I am going back to the fistula hospital and then to Merkato- the huge open air market. My biggest goal there is not to get the iphone that I have been loaned stolen. I have been so careful to avoid flushing it down the toilet. Overall, I am happy here so far but still a bit homesick. I wish someone was here to adventure with me! This will probably subside when I get to Malawi and a more stable situation with lots of people that I know and some work to do. I love and miss you all already. Thanks for following my blogJ