After various days I hope to finally get this stuff online. I didn’t realise how much I rely on the internet to fight my homesickness. This is really annoying, I can read stuff, download the pictures of my little cousin,etc but I just can’t reply or send anything out… I feel as if I got tele-transported to the dark ages.
Anyway all is still well although it is still raining.
After all my exploring the city is starting to make sense.
I finally found a supermarket (hm you wouldn’t call it that if it were Europe) that carries chocolate powder. I had been missing my morning chocolate milk terribly. This morning our housekeeper, Arakesh, called us down for some coffee. Now I don’t drink coffee which is a shame if you live in the land of coffee, but did not want to offend her and had a try. It does really taste different here, not what I would call nice, but different from the one at home.
She really is a lovely lady as are the guys who guard our gate day and night.
Now it’s Ramadan and there is constant chanting broadcasted from the mosque in front of our flat. Also a different not entirely pleasant experience.
I am really counting the days until our training begins, I want to know what level of kindergarten I will be teaching and get to know the colleagues. ( David’s nice and quite interesting but I’d also like to know some people that are just a tad younger). Anyways I am supposed to start training on the 1st and for all I know now I will have up to 40 kids in a class.( TOO many). I’ll keep you posted.
vrijdag 28 augustus 2009
I’m not working yet…. Do you notice? =)
This has been written a while ago but the internet hasn't been willing to post it.
So I have the time to tell you yesterday’s adventure… We decided to go to ‘mercato’ which is supposed to be the biggest shopping area in Addis and the biggest market on the continent…
Much as in Ghana we had to enter every ‘shop’ because otherwise they feel offended, and soon we had something my travel guide has baptised plonkers, meaning men that follow you/ guide you ( often want money for it afterwards) and whom you can’t get rid of. We had 2. We managed to lose one and the other proved to be more difficult. Personally I prefer to be left alone when I shop so when it started to poor again we wanted to take a bus home. Besides I had already been robbed blind on some nutmeg so I was ready to go. On the way to the minibus some guy comes up to our guide and informs them they have David’s passport which he had carried around in his back pocket ( I know DUMB).
The plonker translates and explains they want money for it, They are talking, then it turns out they want a 1000 birr. We go ‘no’ and say we’ll go to the embassy and that we don’t have that kinda money let alone on us… So they’re talking and in the meantime I tell David I’ll slip away to find a cop. The guy talking tour guide obviously knows the whereabouts of the passport so if he’s entertained may be I’ll be in time… The first cop I see in uniform sends me off to the police station and gets 2 guys to show me. I get in the police station and explain what is happening, they call some people in and a group of cops in UNDERCOVER is to walk me to the place. They don’t walk next to me like a bit behind because as a Whity I kinda stand out. I get them to where I meet David and both guys have disappeared after an argument. He tried to follow them but couldn’t go far seeing as I was to meet him there. We show the cops where he lost them and describe our guide and the other guy. He had told us his family owned the shop where I bought the necklace so we take them there whilst some of the other cops take off. Before we even reach the shop the other catch up to us with ‘our guide’ saying I wanted to come back whereupon he gets hit hard ( he was already bleeding) right in the face….
I obviously totally freak, it had in the meantime dawned upon us that the plonker might not have been as innocent as he seemed but obviously we aren’t sure which is what I tell one of the cops who tells me they know this guy and its not his first time pulling this trick. In a matter of minutes we are surrounded by people looking at us and the guy crying on the floor. ( my stress level was going through the roof and I didn’t know what to do with myself) finally we move to a parking garage, more cops come ( all undercover)a women starts to chat with us and then the first cop who wore a silver shining jacket come up holding David’s passport. We don’t know how he left the guy that got it and honestly I don’t want to know. Our ‘guide’ apologises gets some sort of ticket and we get chaperoned to the minibus. You should have seen these guys, they walk as if they own the streets, people stop them to greet them all the time, I felt as if we were the victims in a TVseries with the heroes being the cops. They also introduced David to a guy who had helped them , gave them information who immediately asked for money… Bad luck for him he didn’t want birr but dollars which he didn’t have on him so he walked away with nothing…
Today we went back to mercato and everything was a ok. Can you believe our 'guide' came up and asked us if we remembered him.... Duhhhhh
So I have the time to tell you yesterday’s adventure… We decided to go to ‘mercato’ which is supposed to be the biggest shopping area in Addis and the biggest market on the continent…
Much as in Ghana we had to enter every ‘shop’ because otherwise they feel offended, and soon we had something my travel guide has baptised plonkers, meaning men that follow you/ guide you ( often want money for it afterwards) and whom you can’t get rid of. We had 2. We managed to lose one and the other proved to be more difficult. Personally I prefer to be left alone when I shop so when it started to poor again we wanted to take a bus home. Besides I had already been robbed blind on some nutmeg so I was ready to go. On the way to the minibus some guy comes up to our guide and informs them they have David’s passport which he had carried around in his back pocket ( I know DUMB).
The plonker translates and explains they want money for it, They are talking, then it turns out they want a 1000 birr. We go ‘no’ and say we’ll go to the embassy and that we don’t have that kinda money let alone on us… So they’re talking and in the meantime I tell David I’ll slip away to find a cop. The guy talking tour guide obviously knows the whereabouts of the passport so if he’s entertained may be I’ll be in time… The first cop I see in uniform sends me off to the police station and gets 2 guys to show me. I get in the police station and explain what is happening, they call some people in and a group of cops in UNDERCOVER is to walk me to the place. They don’t walk next to me like a bit behind because as a Whity I kinda stand out. I get them to where I meet David and both guys have disappeared after an argument. He tried to follow them but couldn’t go far seeing as I was to meet him there. We show the cops where he lost them and describe our guide and the other guy. He had told us his family owned the shop where I bought the necklace so we take them there whilst some of the other cops take off. Before we even reach the shop the other catch up to us with ‘our guide’ saying I wanted to come back whereupon he gets hit hard ( he was already bleeding) right in the face….
I obviously totally freak, it had in the meantime dawned upon us that the plonker might not have been as innocent as he seemed but obviously we aren’t sure which is what I tell one of the cops who tells me they know this guy and its not his first time pulling this trick. In a matter of minutes we are surrounded by people looking at us and the guy crying on the floor. ( my stress level was going through the roof and I didn’t know what to do with myself) finally we move to a parking garage, more cops come ( all undercover)a women starts to chat with us and then the first cop who wore a silver shining jacket come up holding David’s passport. We don’t know how he left the guy that got it and honestly I don’t want to know. Our ‘guide’ apologises gets some sort of ticket and we get chaperoned to the minibus. You should have seen these guys, they walk as if they own the streets, people stop them to greet them all the time, I felt as if we were the victims in a TVseries with the heroes being the cops. They also introduced David to a guy who had helped them , gave them information who immediately asked for money… Bad luck for him he didn’t want birr but dollars which he didn’t have on him so he walked away with nothing…
Today we went back to mercato and everything was a ok. Can you believe our 'guide' came up and asked us if we remembered him.... Duhhhhh
maandag 24 augustus 2009
more
Here I am again!
Don’t expect me to keep up this rate because I am sure I won’t… As by miracle we have electricity today which means we had it for 3 days in a row now and if I can believe David is very extraordinary here.… therefore I figured I’d better make use of it and type out another update.
I’ve reread my previous entry and it’s pretty chaotic I guess, but that is also what being here feels like for the time being. There is a constant flow of new information and things to discover.
Yesterday I had my first injeera, the pancake alike stuff they eat here, not all that nice. David my flatmate comforted me by saying that the one our housekeeper makes is way less sour tasting and that you do get used to it…It’s made of some kind of wheat that has its own yeast in it and is remotely comparable to sourdough bread.
Afterwards there was live music in the bar and some dancers, really cool to see. They use their shoulders in a very funny way while dancing.
I have fallen in love with the minibuses. They’re very cheap and fast and they actually drop us off in front of the house… How cool is that? ( it is because we are on a main road but anyway) You can however be packed like sardines but hey, that happens during rush hour on the subway as well. They are a light Bilbao blue and white, the same colour as the private taxis which are mostly Ladas!!!! Haha never seen that many Ladas together…brings back memories…
At the moment it’s rainy season and believe me it rains…( do you understand now why the mini busses are so great). Thus I ended up staying in and catching up on some sleep today, after all it is Sunday. To my great pleasure I found out tat food stalls are open which makes it easier to score something edible on a Sunday here then in Bilbao.
Nonetheless I dined out in the restaurant/bar in front of our house ( I had some kind of fried rice { =Ghana memories and at lunch I noticed the egg yolks are not very yellow here either!}), which was fun because there was a wedding going on so we saw more traditional dress and dancing. Also the women here can do that strange high-pitched noise while moving their tongues up and down.
People in the neighbourhood are extremely friendly to us, the boss of the bar we ate at came to say hello, the girls in the bakery already know which kind of bread I like, the guy from the fruit stand remembered I bought bananas the day before, etc…
Ohh I almost forgot, we were having a drink on a terrace the other day when a monkey (more precisely a guereza) came sitting on the fence some 3 metres away from us, very bizarre little creature….
Don’t expect me to keep up this rate because I am sure I won’t… As by miracle we have electricity today which means we had it for 3 days in a row now and if I can believe David is very extraordinary here.… therefore I figured I’d better make use of it and type out another update.
I’ve reread my previous entry and it’s pretty chaotic I guess, but that is also what being here feels like for the time being. There is a constant flow of new information and things to discover.
Yesterday I had my first injeera, the pancake alike stuff they eat here, not all that nice. David my flatmate comforted me by saying that the one our housekeeper makes is way less sour tasting and that you do get used to it…It’s made of some kind of wheat that has its own yeast in it and is remotely comparable to sourdough bread.
Afterwards there was live music in the bar and some dancers, really cool to see. They use their shoulders in a very funny way while dancing.
I have fallen in love with the minibuses. They’re very cheap and fast and they actually drop us off in front of the house… How cool is that? ( it is because we are on a main road but anyway) You can however be packed like sardines but hey, that happens during rush hour on the subway as well. They are a light Bilbao blue and white, the same colour as the private taxis which are mostly Ladas!!!! Haha never seen that many Ladas together…brings back memories…
At the moment it’s rainy season and believe me it rains…( do you understand now why the mini busses are so great). Thus I ended up staying in and catching up on some sleep today, after all it is Sunday. To my great pleasure I found out tat food stalls are open which makes it easier to score something edible on a Sunday here then in Bilbao.
Nonetheless I dined out in the restaurant/bar in front of our house ( I had some kind of fried rice { =Ghana memories and at lunch I noticed the egg yolks are not very yellow here either!}), which was fun because there was a wedding going on so we saw more traditional dress and dancing. Also the women here can do that strange high-pitched noise while moving their tongues up and down.
People in the neighbourhood are extremely friendly to us, the boss of the bar we ate at came to say hello, the girls in the bakery already know which kind of bread I like, the guy from the fruit stand remembered I bought bananas the day before, etc…
Ohh I almost forgot, we were having a drink on a terrace the other day when a monkey (more precisely a guereza) came sitting on the fence some 3 metres away from us, very bizarre little creature….
zaterdag 22 augustus 2009
Arrival
Welcome to my blog on my experience in Addis Ababa.
I arrived exhausted after a short stop (that wasn’t all that short) in Sudan and still had a smile on my face due to the wonderful goodbye party ( thanks to all) and the fact that I passed my C2 Cervantes ( thanks to everyone in Bilboa with the patience to correct me!)…
James with his family came and picked me up and wanted to take me out to dinner but seeing as the plane was half empty and I had been offered seconds I was stuffed and we just went to a supermarket to get some breakfast stuff for the next morning, toilet paper and candles ( for the power cuts). The school invited which was good because I didn’t have birr on me. Afterwards I was taken to the flat where I probably will be staying for the rest of the year. The big Boss a converted American Muslim is on holiday so I haven’t spoken to her or met her and she’ll decide where exactly I will teach in Makanesa where I am now or in a different school. My American flat mate David is in his early fifties and came here out of love for a girl he met in Uganda who is supposed to come down to live in Addis in December. He’s got the biggest bedroom with the on suite bathroom which will be mine once he leaves ;-). My bedroom is quite ok though I’m lacking some closet space but that all the more reason to buy some nice baskets to stuff that can be on the floor. Being tired I was a bit taken aback at first by the flat more specifically the kitchen… We sadly enough don’t have an oven only a gas stove with 2 fires… So far for cooking elaborately. They also showed me the place to wash my clothes by hand outside the house…. Pfff I must admit I was extremely happy when David told me our housekeeper does this for us, she also cleans and does the dishes ( What a luxury huh!). He seems to be a nice guy and we went exploring the outskirts of the city yesterday. Kids don’t come up to you as much as they did in Ghana here but they are however more persistent. I had the most wonderful drink, I had read in my travel guide ( thanks Roel!) that the juices here are amazing and that they can also serve you a glass with a layer of every juice they offer. This pretty rainbow drink contained avocado juice mango juice raspberry juice etc…. DELICIOUS!!!!!! And this wonderful smoothie costs 10 birr ,less than 1 euro 1 euro = 17 birr). If I keep this up I’ll definitely have my portion of fruit a day! We also went to a supermarket and David had told me he hadn’t seen cheese here so when I saw some cheese there I decided to buy some. In Bilboa I was reluctant to buy something at the counter for quite some time because you don’t know up front how much it will cost you and I should have been as reluctant here… I asked for a mere 5 slices of 2 kinds of cheese ( the slices were quite thick) and ended up paying a 100 Birr! Auwch! I learned that lessons the hard way. Down the street where we live there are some small shops, good for fruits and vegetables, there’s also a butcher with pork meat only and I thought I was gonna have to go without! Also eating out seems quite affordable so for the ones that thought I would go hungry NOT!
A bit of a bummer is limited internet access, meaning no skype probably… but well this blog thing should keep you up to date, I don’t know about pictures yet though.
Enough for today! Take care.
I arrived exhausted after a short stop (that wasn’t all that short) in Sudan and still had a smile on my face due to the wonderful goodbye party ( thanks to all) and the fact that I passed my C2 Cervantes ( thanks to everyone in Bilboa with the patience to correct me!)…
James with his family came and picked me up and wanted to take me out to dinner but seeing as the plane was half empty and I had been offered seconds I was stuffed and we just went to a supermarket to get some breakfast stuff for the next morning, toilet paper and candles ( for the power cuts). The school invited which was good because I didn’t have birr on me. Afterwards I was taken to the flat where I probably will be staying for the rest of the year. The big Boss a converted American Muslim is on holiday so I haven’t spoken to her or met her and she’ll decide where exactly I will teach in Makanesa where I am now or in a different school. My American flat mate David is in his early fifties and came here out of love for a girl he met in Uganda who is supposed to come down to live in Addis in December. He’s got the biggest bedroom with the on suite bathroom which will be mine once he leaves ;-). My bedroom is quite ok though I’m lacking some closet space but that all the more reason to buy some nice baskets to stuff that can be on the floor. Being tired I was a bit taken aback at first by the flat more specifically the kitchen… We sadly enough don’t have an oven only a gas stove with 2 fires… So far for cooking elaborately. They also showed me the place to wash my clothes by hand outside the house…. Pfff I must admit I was extremely happy when David told me our housekeeper does this for us, she also cleans and does the dishes ( What a luxury huh!). He seems to be a nice guy and we went exploring the outskirts of the city yesterday. Kids don’t come up to you as much as they did in Ghana here but they are however more persistent. I had the most wonderful drink, I had read in my travel guide ( thanks Roel!) that the juices here are amazing and that they can also serve you a glass with a layer of every juice they offer. This pretty rainbow drink contained avocado juice mango juice raspberry juice etc…. DELICIOUS!!!!!! And this wonderful smoothie costs 10 birr ,less than 1 euro 1 euro = 17 birr). If I keep this up I’ll definitely have my portion of fruit a day! We also went to a supermarket and David had told me he hadn’t seen cheese here so when I saw some cheese there I decided to buy some. In Bilboa I was reluctant to buy something at the counter for quite some time because you don’t know up front how much it will cost you and I should have been as reluctant here… I asked for a mere 5 slices of 2 kinds of cheese ( the slices were quite thick) and ended up paying a 100 Birr! Auwch! I learned that lessons the hard way. Down the street where we live there are some small shops, good for fruits and vegetables, there’s also a butcher with pork meat only and I thought I was gonna have to go without! Also eating out seems quite affordable so for the ones that thought I would go hungry NOT!
A bit of a bummer is limited internet access, meaning no skype probably… but well this blog thing should keep you up to date, I don’t know about pictures yet though.
Enough for today! Take care.
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