Last Day in Ethiopia

July 24, 2009

Today was a great day in and around Addis. Tamerat and Tefera left today for their religious trip and are coming back in just enough time to pack and head to the United States. Berhanu and I took the van and drove about 40 km out of town. It. Was. Breathtaking. Probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. There were mountains in the distance with fields of green in the foreground and cattle and sheep grazing while the boys taking care of them looked on or whipped them to keep them out of the road. There were farmers everywhere and fields freshly plowed. Small children walked in groups along the street going to villages and homes that were mixed up in the landscape. Rain came and went all day (which I am sure is what keeps the place so green and lush. We stopped along the side of the road as two rams butted horns over and over. Honestly, it is a pretty hilarious way of fighting- sort of like an old style dual. Staring each other down, they backed up, and then took a running start and bashed heads. They repeated this over and over and over until one ram got tired and gave up. Shortly after the weaker ram gave up, all 3 rams started chasing after one ewe, trying to shoulder the others out and win the advantage. The poor ewe just kept running away from all of them. Anyways, the whole situation provided me with a great deal of entertainment.

Once back in Addis, we went for lunch at some Ethiopian restaurant that Berhanu knew. We got a fasting plate (since I am not really eating meat while I am over here) and some well-done kitfo. Despite my best intentions to avoid meat, I was ALL OVER the kitfo and hardly ate anything else. It was so so so delicious. After that, Berhanu had some errands to run so we drove around town a bit. At our stop in the Ethiopian Airlines office, I met a French couple from Brittany, France whose luggage had been lost on their flight. This was their first time in Africa and they planned to spend 3 weeks traveling through Ethiopia. I cannot even imagine how exasperated they must have been. First time in Africa, lost luggage, can’t even speak people’s second language. I have a hard ENOUGH time being fluent since most people speak Amharic and a subset of those speak English. I am back at the hotel now, ready for a nap, workout and a shower and then potentially meeting up with another Hopkins student who lives here. Tomorrow I am off to Malawi. Ethiopia is gorgeous but I am ready.