dinsdag 21 december 2010
It’s been ages!
It seems I did sort of get carried away with taking on the masters the 2 Dutch schools one of which is at times ridiculously demanding on top of my full time job. I love the students I have at Sanford: 1 of them didn’t show so I have only 13 now. The one that bit me is a real cutie pie with an extremely expressive face. His dad says he talks a lot about me at home and he’ll cling to my legs and give me kisses which is super sweet. And there are others that are a lot of fun, This is the first year that I start a kindergarten class full time and will also finish it and the bond I feel with my kinds is amazing. The others schools are also fun and so is the MA course it is just a lot. That’s the reason none of you receive mails lately or that this blog isn’t updated often. Even at weekends I don’t do all that much, trying to study and sometimes this leads to wasting time. I had forgotten what a terrible student I was.
Nonetheless I have been doing some things. A colleague of mine was really miserable after the summer holiday, she fell in love with living in Turkey and was doubting about leaving. Me seeing how Melissa felt told her that if she was going to be unhappy here she ought t leave with her daughter. She did and it turned out to be a big mistake. It sucked because she was also missed.
Besides a new nursery class was started in September and the new colleague there, Linda, is very different from me and Anna ( the other nursery teacher) and collaborating doesn’t always go smoothly. Anna and me have a ball though, we were the wicked fairy’s in the school pantomime for primary students ( after our kids had left) and were so scary that we made a year 2 student cry. Hihihi. It was loads of fun. We made the kids do aerobics such as stirring the cauldron on Snap’s “I’ve got the power”.
Since the beginning of December a new teacher arrived taking over what Melissa left behind, called Louiza, she was volunteering in India before, is 27 and I believe she may become a good friend.
When Louiza arrived teaching assistants were swapped because I had a real lousy one that many teachers before me complained about but she is close (= goes to the same church as) some people in administration and is therefore impossible to fire.
It was especially bad because she brought a tension to the class atmosphere. Some of the annoying things she did were: not taking proper care of the kids art work, pasting things in or cutting them out crookedly, not dating them properly, an attitude that felt like spying on me, talking to parents and colleagues in Amharic which I do not speak whilst this is against he rules, reacting defensive towards feedback etc. As a result I had even more work because I could not delegate it to her which added to my stress level. I addressed the issue and was told to document everything and then when Louiza came I would get another assistant. This has happened in the mean time and although Elsie is not the quickest I am incredibly relieved.
Linda, who is in many ways very American, organised a thanksgiving party for whoever wanted. My first time celebrating this holiday was really nice. Mika showed up with his new hairdo: one inspired by a minibus driver Nele, Karen and I saw: braids and a curly Mohawk in the middle! I taught it was quite funny for him to meet my colleagues like this for the first time.
We’ve also hosted a couch surfer, Oliver, I met him the day after GYA fired me ( more than a year ago) and he’s been travelling ever since. He has seen the whole of Africa on motorbike: from South Africa, Capetown to the very north, next he’ll go to India and then around Europe before returning to London. He’s living off, renting out his flat in London, good thing the rents there are high. It makes me feel like travelling even more! A friend of TJ’s( = friend in Belgium who just moved to Jo’burg) in South Africa visited us as well with a delicious portion of pork meat she sent!!!! Yummy I do miss pork here!
The Christmas holiday has just begun but it seems I won’t be doing much more than studying. Hopefully I make enough progress so I can visit Harar just after new year. I’d love to get away for a while.
Nothing left to say but to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy 2011!
It seems I did sort of get carried away with taking on the masters the 2 Dutch schools one of which is at times ridiculously demanding on top of my full time job. I love the students I have at Sanford: 1 of them didn’t show so I have only 13 now. The one that bit me is a real cutie pie with an extremely expressive face. His dad says he talks a lot about me at home and he’ll cling to my legs and give me kisses which is super sweet. And there are others that are a lot of fun, This is the first year that I start a kindergarten class full time and will also finish it and the bond I feel with my kinds is amazing. The others schools are also fun and so is the MA course it is just a lot. That’s the reason none of you receive mails lately or that this blog isn’t updated often. Even at weekends I don’t do all that much, trying to study and sometimes this leads to wasting time. I had forgotten what a terrible student I was.
Nonetheless I have been doing some things. A colleague of mine was really miserable after the summer holiday, she fell in love with living in Turkey and was doubting about leaving. Me seeing how Melissa felt told her that if she was going to be unhappy here she ought t leave with her daughter. She did and it turned out to be a big mistake. It sucked because she was also missed.
Besides a new nursery class was started in September and the new colleague there, Linda, is very different from me and Anna ( the other nursery teacher) and collaborating doesn’t always go smoothly. Anna and me have a ball though, we were the wicked fairy’s in the school pantomime for primary students ( after our kids had left) and were so scary that we made a year 2 student cry. Hihihi. It was loads of fun. We made the kids do aerobics such as stirring the cauldron on Snap’s “I’ve got the power”.
Since the beginning of December a new teacher arrived taking over what Melissa left behind, called Louiza, she was volunteering in India before, is 27 and I believe she may become a good friend.
When Louiza arrived teaching assistants were swapped because I had a real lousy one that many teachers before me complained about but she is close (= goes to the same church as) some people in administration and is therefore impossible to fire.
It was especially bad because she brought a tension to the class atmosphere. Some of the annoying things she did were: not taking proper care of the kids art work, pasting things in or cutting them out crookedly, not dating them properly, an attitude that felt like spying on me, talking to parents and colleagues in Amharic which I do not speak whilst this is against he rules, reacting defensive towards feedback etc. As a result I had even more work because I could not delegate it to her which added to my stress level. I addressed the issue and was told to document everything and then when Louiza came I would get another assistant. This has happened in the mean time and although Elsie is not the quickest I am incredibly relieved.
Linda, who is in many ways very American, organised a thanksgiving party for whoever wanted. My first time celebrating this holiday was really nice. Mika showed up with his new hairdo: one inspired by a minibus driver Nele, Karen and I saw: braids and a curly Mohawk in the middle! I taught it was quite funny for him to meet my colleagues like this for the first time.
We’ve also hosted a couch surfer, Oliver, I met him the day after GYA fired me ( more than a year ago) and he’s been travelling ever since. He has seen the whole of Africa on motorbike: from South Africa, Capetown to the very north, next he’ll go to India and then around Europe before returning to London. He’s living off, renting out his flat in London, good thing the rents there are high. It makes me feel like travelling even more! A friend of TJ’s( = friend in Belgium who just moved to Jo’burg) in South Africa visited us as well with a delicious portion of pork meat she sent!!!! Yummy I do miss pork here!
The Christmas holiday has just begun but it seems I won’t be doing much more than studying. Hopefully I make enough progress so I can visit Harar just after new year. I’d love to get away for a while.
Nothing left to say but to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy 2011!
maandag 27 september 2010
Still coughing
Who thought Africa’s air would be cleaner? No way. As it turns out I have another infection of my airways, just like I did last year around this time… PFFFFF
This weekend was Meskel or the finding of the true cross which is why on this Monday I can stay at home and write my blog =)
It was quite cool yesterday, there was a huge fire on the main square which was absolutely packed with people. Especially at sunset when candles were handed out and you saw all the little lights around the fire which was lit shortly after. Pretty. The legend is that the smoke of such a bonfire led them to find the true cross. Now the direction in which the fire falls says something about the harvest for the year to come. ( should be good)
The government decreased the value of the birr (by about 20%) which will make many regular people even poorer. There are some reactions in the newspapers but no real riots about it. To me it makes me feel so sad, so many people have a hard life as it is and now it will be even more difficult for them with all the prices going up… I don’t know much about economy but don’t see the benefits for people not involved in export or another foreign currency paid job. Nobody is getting a pay rise. Thank goodness I am ‘international hire’ by now otherwise I’d earn much less then last year.
And I’ll need my pay his year seeing as I start my ( pricey) MA course next week. It’s got me quite excited and a little scared. I hope I didn’t take on too many things this year.
The Dutch embassy school is quite ok but loads of work. I am finding it hard to be told by a method what to say and how to teach and enjoy my freedom at Sanford even more because of it. I’ll see how it evolves. Enjoy Meskel day!
This weekend was Meskel or the finding of the true cross which is why on this Monday I can stay at home and write my blog =)
It was quite cool yesterday, there was a huge fire on the main square which was absolutely packed with people. Especially at sunset when candles were handed out and you saw all the little lights around the fire which was lit shortly after. Pretty. The legend is that the smoke of such a bonfire led them to find the true cross. Now the direction in which the fire falls says something about the harvest for the year to come. ( should be good)
The government decreased the value of the birr (by about 20%) which will make many regular people even poorer. There are some reactions in the newspapers but no real riots about it. To me it makes me feel so sad, so many people have a hard life as it is and now it will be even more difficult for them with all the prices going up… I don’t know much about economy but don’t see the benefits for people not involved in export or another foreign currency paid job. Nobody is getting a pay rise. Thank goodness I am ‘international hire’ by now otherwise I’d earn much less then last year.
And I’ll need my pay his year seeing as I start my ( pricey) MA course next week. It’s got me quite excited and a little scared. I hope I didn’t take on too many things this year.
The Dutch embassy school is quite ok but loads of work. I am finding it hard to be told by a method what to say and how to teach and enjoy my freedom at Sanford even more because of it. I’ll see how it evolves. Enjoy Meskel day!
maandag 13 september 2010
Happy Ethiopian new year!!!
It’s been a while but luckily I got to see so many people during summer! Thanks to all for making my holiday unforgettable.
I arrived with 10kg bodyweight extra but did, for a change, manage to pack correctly and had (to great relief of Dries again my companion at the airport) no problems checking in. I slept most of the flight seeing as Ethiopian airlines don’t offer you your private tv screen like KLM did on my way to Brussels which is actually quite fabulous. How I longed to go to Belgium in June and now I’m satisfied back in my nest in Addis.
Coming home on Sunday and starting work on that very same Monday wasn’t exactly ideal although otherwise I would have missed the huge great flea market which supplied me with a lot of games to play during the power cuts. Luckily the first workweek was meetings and setting up.
I am still somewhat tired and seem too long to go to bed at the same time my 4 year olds do, meaning around nine. I’ll get to a more normal rhythm at some point I hope.
It was nice to see the people here again, especially my boyfriend off course but I have also met some other cool people. It took Mika and me some time to find our balance back but that’s also coming along now.
As it turns out I have 14 kids in my class, really nice. The first weeks weren’t easy though, many of these kids have never been in an English spoken environment and are thus scared shitless. 1 of them bit me really hard and wouldn’t even let go!!! I was completely at loss for words by the whole thing and now, a full 2 weeks later, still bear the small teeth marks on my underarm. War wounds I suppose. It was scary and exciting to start off my very own nursery class for the first time. I was fortunate, I could actually prepare for it whereas my new nursery colleague’s classroom wasn’t ready until the Saturday night before the students came!
I have good hopes for this to become a fun year.
The other day it was saint Rafael’s day, people want it to rain that day because they say it’s holy water and their prayers were answered not only did it poor it even hailed holy water! I was in a minibus at the time and the driver had no visibility whatsoever no decent ventilation system nor working windshield wipers, without a doubt my scariest 10 minutes in Addis so far! The imam didn’t see Eid on a Thursday which meant 1 day of holiday less for me, darn, however I had fun things planned amongst which making popcorns so it wasn’t too bad.
The new year’s eve (10 September) was quite ok, I went out with some of Mika’s friends and we had a nice time, watched sheik Al Amudi’s firework and went to bed shortly after because I managed to get a severe cold including throat ache, congestion and as a result of that head ache Yahoo= (New year’s day was spent resting on the couch.
Nonetheless I wish you all the very best in this Ethiopian 2003!
I arrived with 10kg bodyweight extra but did, for a change, manage to pack correctly and had (to great relief of Dries again my companion at the airport) no problems checking in. I slept most of the flight seeing as Ethiopian airlines don’t offer you your private tv screen like KLM did on my way to Brussels which is actually quite fabulous. How I longed to go to Belgium in June and now I’m satisfied back in my nest in Addis.
Coming home on Sunday and starting work on that very same Monday wasn’t exactly ideal although otherwise I would have missed the huge great flea market which supplied me with a lot of games to play during the power cuts. Luckily the first workweek was meetings and setting up.
I am still somewhat tired and seem too long to go to bed at the same time my 4 year olds do, meaning around nine. I’ll get to a more normal rhythm at some point I hope.
It was nice to see the people here again, especially my boyfriend off course but I have also met some other cool people. It took Mika and me some time to find our balance back but that’s also coming along now.
As it turns out I have 14 kids in my class, really nice. The first weeks weren’t easy though, many of these kids have never been in an English spoken environment and are thus scared shitless. 1 of them bit me really hard and wouldn’t even let go!!! I was completely at loss for words by the whole thing and now, a full 2 weeks later, still bear the small teeth marks on my underarm. War wounds I suppose. It was scary and exciting to start off my very own nursery class for the first time. I was fortunate, I could actually prepare for it whereas my new nursery colleague’s classroom wasn’t ready until the Saturday night before the students came!
I have good hopes for this to become a fun year.
The other day it was saint Rafael’s day, people want it to rain that day because they say it’s holy water and their prayers were answered not only did it poor it even hailed holy water! I was in a minibus at the time and the driver had no visibility whatsoever no decent ventilation system nor working windshield wipers, without a doubt my scariest 10 minutes in Addis so far! The imam didn’t see Eid on a Thursday which meant 1 day of holiday less for me, darn, however I had fun things planned amongst which making popcorns so it wasn’t too bad.
The new year’s eve (10 September) was quite ok, I went out with some of Mika’s friends and we had a nice time, watched sheik Al Amudi’s firework and went to bed shortly after because I managed to get a severe cold including throat ache, congestion and as a result of that head ache Yahoo= (New year’s day was spent resting on the couch.
Nonetheless I wish you all the very best in this Ethiopian 2003!
maandag 14 juni 2010
Last time to court...
This morning I went to court…I figured I may as well squeeze 1 more update in before I leave. It was strange, really strange. To start with the lawyer told me that my witnesses won’t be heard ( neither was I btw) but then last time I met him he said that may be Nasr should come anyway and that the judge may hear him. This was only last Friday so I called Nasr and he’d made other plans and would then get back to me. He never got back to me, as a matter of fact he hasn’t picked up the phone on me since Friday. Needless to say he wasn’t there this morning. I had arranged to meet the lawyer at 8:30 and the “court” started at 9. Me being really nervous got there at 8, Lester (the American embassy guy) arrived at 8:45 and my lawyer answered my worried message at 8:50 with “I’m on my way!”.
After waiting a while the lawyer speaks to someone and it turns out we only had to be there at 10, which explained why GYA still hadn’t arrived… We went for a coffee returned and had another wait. I was able to identify the witnesses I didn’t know, the timekeeper and a driver. We had to wait for another hour or so and where then called in, I felt miserable as if I was about to faint. The only thing that happened then was that the court established a translator was needed and after that we were sent out to wait another 45min. It must have been nearly 12 when I got in for real. First witness Clement whose pet-name is the snitch wasn’t able to say very much, the second witness I got to ask questions myself which was good and the third one, Asefow, the one higher up the ladder at GYA flat out lied! He said all kinds of nonsense that just wasn’t true such as them calling me relentlessly to get me back etc etc… The verdict will be on the 9th of July. Both me and Lester thought it went rather well but that’s missing out the Amharic bits obviously because they didn’t translate everything at all, actually the translator left after the first 2 witnesses and then the judge did me the favour of translating some of what Asefow had lied about. I’m worried and relieved at the same time, it’s very strange. The lawyer was worried about Asefow’s testimony so I kinda don’t know what will happen. I just keep reminding myself that I wasn’t deported and that I will be staying whatever the verdict and thus already kind of got what I wanted.
I came home exhausted after I called the head of Early years in Sanford school and asked her if she wanted me to come in for the remaining hour and a half and she told me to go home and relax so I did. I am happy to be in Sanford school, I really am.
After waiting a while the lawyer speaks to someone and it turns out we only had to be there at 10, which explained why GYA still hadn’t arrived… We went for a coffee returned and had another wait. I was able to identify the witnesses I didn’t know, the timekeeper and a driver. We had to wait for another hour or so and where then called in, I felt miserable as if I was about to faint. The only thing that happened then was that the court established a translator was needed and after that we were sent out to wait another 45min. It must have been nearly 12 when I got in for real. First witness Clement whose pet-name is the snitch wasn’t able to say very much, the second witness I got to ask questions myself which was good and the third one, Asefow, the one higher up the ladder at GYA flat out lied! He said all kinds of nonsense that just wasn’t true such as them calling me relentlessly to get me back etc etc… The verdict will be on the 9th of July. Both me and Lester thought it went rather well but that’s missing out the Amharic bits obviously because they didn’t translate everything at all, actually the translator left after the first 2 witnesses and then the judge did me the favour of translating some of what Asefow had lied about. I’m worried and relieved at the same time, it’s very strange. The lawyer was worried about Asefow’s testimony so I kinda don’t know what will happen. I just keep reminding myself that I wasn’t deported and that I will be staying whatever the verdict and thus already kind of got what I wanted.
I came home exhausted after I called the head of Early years in Sanford school and asked her if she wanted me to come in for the remaining hour and a half and she told me to go home and relax so I did. I am happy to be in Sanford school, I really am.
zaterdag 12 juni 2010
Some weeks have passed. Lake Langano was really chill. Sitting on the terras paying ridiculous fees for breakfast whilst playing cards. Mostly a game called asshole at which I didn’t really shine;-). Most importantly We also relaxed besides the beach and I got to swim in the muddy water, man I’ve missed swimming! I actually miss having the beach nearby. It’s my first long stay in a landlocked place and I miss the sea, just like my granny from Ostend would I’m sure. I’ll make up for that in Belgium and Bilbao!
Elections were ridiculous but I’ve been told not to write such things online because you just don’t know and I’m in enough trouble as it is. ( tell you all about it when I get there;-)) What mattered a lot to me was that it would be peaceful, although me and my class could have used the extra holiday if it wasn’t. This term is too long and the kids just as me are getting restless.
Most work is done now, we do however have a parent presentation ahead of us where my group will sing a cute pirate song! My kids great me in the mornings with” good morning pirate Corine” even though I’ve told them many times I’m the captain;-)
They’re lovely and I’ll miss them. I had to observe them while drawing and write down what they said and such, after I asked Munirah what she was drawing she whispers ” an alien in an space-ship!” They crack me up! Some are very good at ‘imaginative speaking’ lately and invent the wildest stories for me! Delina, who is so overweight that she doesn’t like getting up, started calling a whale (after a lesson about whales in which was said that a layer of fat keeps the whales warm) the fat fish and completely forgot the word whale!
I’m also definitely going to start at the Dutch school on Monday evenings in September! Yesterday I went to their closing parent presentation and was introduced as the new teacher. It is strange to be surrounded by Dutch people and I find it difficult to filter out my obviously Flemish accent or not to speak English!
Furthermore I’m looking into starting a long distance masters degree seeing as I’ll be here a while longer. It’s quite difficult to find interesting courses and some are ridiculously expensive! (Remember higher education in Belgium is highly subsidised and thus fairly cheap.) At the moment I’m thinking about the South African university or a British one. The last one is really expensive though but at least I can find that sort of information online whereas UNISA gives you nothing but the different degrees they offer, some of which sound really cool!
On Monday I have to go to court again. GYA’s witnesses will be heard, there is no occasion on which they will hear my witnesses next appointment is the verdict according to my lawyer. It’s strange as some of her witnesses are unknown to me. I’ll see how that goes, I try not to let it get to me anymore. A cop at the American embassy is following the whole thing since David ( remember my first flatmate) complained about the school to them. Miss Gibson is still an American citizen and keeping my residence permit like she did can be considered slavery so she may be in real trouble if her embassy takes action against her. However, if this action is taken I will not really be involved which is fine by me. I’m ready to move on! The only thing I’m still doubting about is whether (if I win the case ) I should talk to Saskia’s friends at the newspaper or not. Those are worries for later though as the verdict should only take place after I return from Europe. Your ideas are welcome regarding that issue!
Thus far this update and probably the next one will be live!!!
Remember: Belgium 2/07 to 20/08 with the exception of when I am in Bilbao from 28/07 to 04/08. Hope to see you in less then 3 weeks!
Elections were ridiculous but I’ve been told not to write such things online because you just don’t know and I’m in enough trouble as it is. ( tell you all about it when I get there;-)) What mattered a lot to me was that it would be peaceful, although me and my class could have used the extra holiday if it wasn’t. This term is too long and the kids just as me are getting restless.
Most work is done now, we do however have a parent presentation ahead of us where my group will sing a cute pirate song! My kids great me in the mornings with” good morning pirate Corine” even though I’ve told them many times I’m the captain;-)
They’re lovely and I’ll miss them. I had to observe them while drawing and write down what they said and such, after I asked Munirah what she was drawing she whispers ” an alien in an space-ship!” They crack me up! Some are very good at ‘imaginative speaking’ lately and invent the wildest stories for me! Delina, who is so overweight that she doesn’t like getting up, started calling a whale (after a lesson about whales in which was said that a layer of fat keeps the whales warm) the fat fish and completely forgot the word whale!
I’m also definitely going to start at the Dutch school on Monday evenings in September! Yesterday I went to their closing parent presentation and was introduced as the new teacher. It is strange to be surrounded by Dutch people and I find it difficult to filter out my obviously Flemish accent or not to speak English!
Furthermore I’m looking into starting a long distance masters degree seeing as I’ll be here a while longer. It’s quite difficult to find interesting courses and some are ridiculously expensive! (Remember higher education in Belgium is highly subsidised and thus fairly cheap.) At the moment I’m thinking about the South African university or a British one. The last one is really expensive though but at least I can find that sort of information online whereas UNISA gives you nothing but the different degrees they offer, some of which sound really cool!
On Monday I have to go to court again. GYA’s witnesses will be heard, there is no occasion on which they will hear my witnesses next appointment is the verdict according to my lawyer. It’s strange as some of her witnesses are unknown to me. I’ll see how that goes, I try not to let it get to me anymore. A cop at the American embassy is following the whole thing since David ( remember my first flatmate) complained about the school to them. Miss Gibson is still an American citizen and keeping my residence permit like she did can be considered slavery so she may be in real trouble if her embassy takes action against her. However, if this action is taken I will not really be involved which is fine by me. I’m ready to move on! The only thing I’m still doubting about is whether (if I win the case ) I should talk to Saskia’s friends at the newspaper or not. Those are worries for later though as the verdict should only take place after I return from Europe. Your ideas are welcome regarding that issue!
Thus far this update and probably the next one will be live!!!
Remember: Belgium 2/07 to 20/08 with the exception of when I am in Bilbao from 28/07 to 04/08. Hope to see you in less then 3 weeks!
donderdag 27 mei 2010
no news... nor pics =)
Not too much has happened still. I got a bit moody with
At the Dutch embassy school they were excited about that. I’ve gone and observed and next week will teach my first trial lesson there. It is really nice. 10 kindergarten kids who speak Dutch and something else at home and come to the school once a week for 2 hours. I think I’m gonna love being a part of that. I’ve evaluated my other students and written my report cards. They’ve done well and it’s cool to see that I did a good job.
Furthermore we’ve been doing entrance exams at school for next year’s nursery students, some parents really don’t accept that their kid isn’t ready for our programme and should do the exam again next year. It’s pretty weird and some kids are extremely spoiled and stubborn. Nonetheless I have a couple of extremely cute kids who made it through the test and now have to get through the lottery. We tested 61 kids and some 45 have passed the test and there are 15 places. The lottery is the only way locals get into
We’ve got a long weekend this weekend and after substituting for Saskia I’m going to
donderdag 22 april 2010
Cursed first visitors...
My first visit in Bilbao was robbed violently but got her possessions back, all’s well that ends well, but now the curse strikes again it seems...
Nele and Karen arrived on Monday with all kinds of goodies, surprises from other friends and a big stack of clothes. They had set it up at my home as if it was St Nicolas day and that’s exactly what it felt like!
I had to send a friend to pick them up early morning at the airport ‘cause I needed to work. He showed them around somewhat and brought them to my school when I was about to finish the parent conferences.
It seems so long ago now that I was running towards them _quite emotional_ through the school compound. It felt so good to show them my class and the art show. My kids did an excellent job colouring Murakami’s flowers and I was so proud!
The next day, Tuesday, I still had to work and they went to Mercato with proper safety instructions. Nonetheless they almost got robbed before they even arrived! The minibus they took actually dropped them off once they had discovered they weren’t gonna allow them to get in their purses. I had never heard such a story before. After that experience Mercato was a piece of cake.
On Wednesday I met them after work ( which is near all important museums they visited) to take them to Shoromeda, Ethiopian textile heaven where they went all out buying scarves which I tried to get for them at local price. After followed an evening filled with games at the house of Alix. When we returned in the early hours we actually scored a free ride with some helpful guy!
Thursday was my last day of work ( good ‘cause I was exhausted!) so after the tasty Indian meal the school provided for me I met up with the girls. Sadly enough I couldn’t join them the rest of the afternoon as I had planned seeing as I had to meet up with the lawyer Dr G recommended for my case. Dr G is a legal advisor which means he cannot plead in court so he hooked me up with someone else who I didn’t trust very much initially but after that meeting that improved! We decided to rewrite the case which would make it easier to win but also means I’ll have to pay GYA some money and it will take a little bit longer. I hope that was the right decision. Upon coming home the girls surprised me yet again with some cheese and wine ( plus coke) they had picked up at a supermarket. Yyummie! Then we had wonderful chechibsa which Mika prepared for us and no-one can beat him at making chechibsa. A sort of savery pancakebread dish with berbere, he makes it with loads of veggies!)
Then we went on my very first ‘foodrun’. This woman from school, Jill, has been organising this for the last 10 years. The idea is simple. The volunteers, just us 3, pay a 100 birr and she provides 400 bags of food and bottles of water. Then we all get in a taxi and start driving around to where there are many homeless people. You get out, wake them up and provide them with a warm meal and clean water. It is incredibly moving. 400 bags of food are not nearly enough for all the people living on the streets here. They are so grateful and lead such a hard life. All of us were really moved by the whole thing. There’s a website where one can read more about this and donate to this cause but Nele left with the contact details. I’ll give them to you next time. It was a truly amazing experience. So if you have been looking for a good cause to support, one where you know your money goes to the people and not to the organisation like in big NGO’s this is one way to go. This organisation you can fully trust.
Friday we went up the Entoto mountain and saw Menelik’s palace, I like that place, it’s very humble. We were going to go for a swim but then Nele and Karen learned the hard way that 13 months of sunshine (Ethiopia’s tourism slogan) is a big fat lie. Still the picnic with guacamole in the Ghion park was nice. I was quite frustrated because I didn’t manage to find a bank that was open and allowed me to get out money from my recently opened account for our trip the next day.
Afa our driver with one big dreadlock on the top of his head of about 30centimetres high picked us up early next morning. It even felt earlier because we had a great evening at the gardenparty of Becca ( one of the new colleagues, the blond one from the pictures).
We spent the whole day driving and just took a little lunch break in Afa’s parents town where we were invited to a nice meal and I found a bank that was willing to give me money from my account. Yes Getting money out can be complicated in Africa!
We picked up a nerdy German along the way and arrived in Lallibella in time for the Easter eve celebrations. Afa actually got us a good price in a fancy hotel with amazing view which used to be Haile Selassies palace. It was fully booked but they arranged the staff room to accommodate us. The other tourists at the ceremony behaved appalling and thus ruined what is supposed to be a spiritual event. They took pictures continuously with flash and prevented the Ethiopians from seeing. One lady stood so close to a priest (and refused to move) that she was under his ‘ umbrella’. We were disgusted and sat at a fair distance on the walls of the amazing rock hewn churches which gave us a good overview. When I started falling asleep and dangerously leaning forward towards the depth of the church we decided to call it a night.
The next day we let ourselves be saturated by these wondrously sculptured buildings. Breathtaking. The evening we spent at ‘Sophie’s restaurant’ where Sophie gave a dance performance in which I joined.
Next day we set out with Afa to Gondor. Well we said goodbye to him in between Gondor and Bahir dar and started using local transport, meaning minibus, there. We arrived in the city of castles starving. First we had to find a good bargain hotel and then we had a great lunch After digesting everything seemed to be closed. Nonetheless we bumped into Nigisti, the girl from Gondor who travelled with the guys who were crossing Africa by car and arranged to visit her NGO the next morning which turned out to be another heart-warming experience. In the evening we celebrated Karen’s birthday but I had to order my drink a full 3x before I was served!
Nigisti’s project ( www.yenegetesfa.org) is another one of those causes well worth support. Amongst other things she takes orphan girls or girls whose parents couldn’t support them away from the homes that took them in order to use them as free servants and where they are often abused and on the other side she also provides streetboys with a home. Both of these homes have a father and mother figure and the children go to local schools and are allowed to be children and play. She also does HIV prevention/education for prostitutes, teaches homeless skills such as shoe-cleaning and some crafts in order to be able to provide a bit for themselves. Besides she set up a bread voucher network: instead of giving a beggar money you can give him this which will give him a small bread at a local bakery. We bought and handed out some of those but it seems they aren’t that well known yet which was somewhat complicated. All in all it was a nice morning seeing how one girl with her growing organisation is managing to make a difference. Turns out some of the sponsors of her project are Belgian so this summer she’ll be there fundraising.
Afterwards we visited the castles and took shelter from the hailstorm in the lion’s cages. Then we saw the royal pool, probably very beautiful when it’s not under restoration and found out a badjadj aka tuk tuk can also be used as an all terrain vehicle or a 3X3 when we went to se the corpses of queen Metewab and her son. No kidding you can actually see their bones in the compound of the remains of her castle! We ended the day with a women’s craft project in the Felasha village near Gondar where beautiful baskets, pottery and weaving was sold. They even spun their own thread! A nice dinner, ok I admit I had 2 dinners one of which with delicious spicy sauce and homemade yoghurt, was the end of a busy perfect day.
The next day Wednesday, also the day of my courtcase which I send the lawyer to, we set out to Bahir Dar where we’d be hosted by a ‘peacecorps’-er called Kyle. We wondered around town, visited the market, had some juices and reserved the girls boattrip for the next day before seeing a beautiful sunset near the hippo pool at the source of the Nile although sadly enough the hippos had decided to go somewhere else for a change. We went to my favourite pasta place in Bahir Dar and someone (hmmmm blush blush ) had a little too much too drink which in combination with the sun and not too much sleep caused me to have to clean the bathroom in the middle of the night because I made a mess and that just before being picked up by the minibus that took me back to Addis a day sooner then the girls.
The next morning, around 6:30 when I was safe and sound asleep in my own bed I was awoken by a phonecall from Nele telling me their minibus which was taking them back to me had an accident. They were halfway between Addis en Bahir Dar meaning in the middle of nowhere: a village called Debre Markos.
From that moment on the holiday was over. I started coordinating both insurance companies, calling to civil aviation, the local police to try and get their luggage, the flying doctors, I maxed out my account to pay for a private ambulance to get them to Addis which broke down, etc… Nele begged me to get them out of there, told me Karen was in pain but no matter how hard I tried I didn’t get them to Addis before 11ish the next morning. They had to spent the night in the horrible public Debre Markos hospital. Just imagine: Nele was bare footed at a certain moment and there were injection needles lying around on the floor… in the AIDS continent!!! I’ve never believed but the help of Kyle’s friends Mark and Veronica who live in the neighbourhood and translated, brought snacks, assisted in retrieving the luggage ( the police actually makes the victims of the accident come and identify it) and their mental support was nothing less then a god’s gift.
Seeing them all banged up the next morning in Addis broke my heart. Nele who had a broken collar bone was completely ignored even in the ‘good’ Korean hospital which is supposedly the Hilton of hospitals. Karen was kept lying still all day and had an operation on her severely fractured thighbone the next day by an American volunteering doctor. The operation took ages because the equipment was being used by someone else. These sort of things occur non-stop eg. The elevator is temporarily out of order so Karen had to spend her first night in a shared room with constant moaning of other patients. I have to go to the pharmacy because they don’t have the medicine Karen needs. The mattress is too hard which causes Karen to get bedsores. The correspondent of the insurance company in Nairobi conveniently forgets to arrange Nele’s flying papers so I have to go to the airport and solve that problem.
Chained to her bed by her injuries there is no way for Karen who is only now slowly getting somewhat more mobile to call a nurse so someone is forced to be next to her 24/7,including at night. After going to several pharmacies we had no choice but to give up hope for finding Nele a triangle shaped bandage to support her arm, etc. All extremely frustrating.
Luckily Nele was able to fly home on Monday evening where she received proper care and an operation. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her in a proper manner because the security at the airport has no heart and blindly follows rules.
Karen’s dad flew in on Tuesday morning which took lot of weight of my shoulders, we look after her and sleep next to her in shifts now. She keeps her spirits high but the date of her return is continuously postponed.
The driver didn’t survive so everything taken into account I guess we should praise ourselves lucky because it seems neither of my visits will suffer long lasting consequences.
Still it really is a horrible ending to such a wonderful visit.
Pictures may be next time.
Nele and Karen arrived on Monday with all kinds of goodies, surprises from other friends and a big stack of clothes. They had set it up at my home as if it was St Nicolas day and that’s exactly what it felt like!
I had to send a friend to pick them up early morning at the airport ‘cause I needed to work. He showed them around somewhat and brought them to my school when I was about to finish the parent conferences.
It seems so long ago now that I was running towards them _quite emotional_ through the school compound. It felt so good to show them my class and the art show. My kids did an excellent job colouring Murakami’s flowers and I was so proud!
The next day, Tuesday, I still had to work and they went to Mercato with proper safety instructions. Nonetheless they almost got robbed before they even arrived! The minibus they took actually dropped them off once they had discovered they weren’t gonna allow them to get in their purses. I had never heard such a story before. After that experience Mercato was a piece of cake.
On Wednesday I met them after work ( which is near all important museums they visited) to take them to Shoromeda, Ethiopian textile heaven where they went all out buying scarves which I tried to get for them at local price. After followed an evening filled with games at the house of Alix. When we returned in the early hours we actually scored a free ride with some helpful guy!
Thursday was my last day of work ( good ‘cause I was exhausted!) so after the tasty Indian meal the school provided for me I met up with the girls. Sadly enough I couldn’t join them the rest of the afternoon as I had planned seeing as I had to meet up with the lawyer Dr G recommended for my case. Dr G is a legal advisor which means he cannot plead in court so he hooked me up with someone else who I didn’t trust very much initially but after that meeting that improved! We decided to rewrite the case which would make it easier to win but also means I’ll have to pay GYA some money and it will take a little bit longer. I hope that was the right decision. Upon coming home the girls surprised me yet again with some cheese and wine ( plus coke) they had picked up at a supermarket. Yyummie! Then we had wonderful chechibsa which Mika prepared for us and no-one can beat him at making chechibsa. A sort of savery pancakebread dish with berbere, he makes it with loads of veggies!)
Then we went on my very first ‘foodrun’. This woman from school, Jill, has been organising this for the last 10 years. The idea is simple. The volunteers, just us 3, pay a 100 birr and she provides 400 bags of food and bottles of water. Then we all get in a taxi and start driving around to where there are many homeless people. You get out, wake them up and provide them with a warm meal and clean water. It is incredibly moving. 400 bags of food are not nearly enough for all the people living on the streets here. They are so grateful and lead such a hard life. All of us were really moved by the whole thing. There’s a website where one can read more about this and donate to this cause but Nele left with the contact details. I’ll give them to you next time. It was a truly amazing experience. So if you have been looking for a good cause to support, one where you know your money goes to the people and not to the organisation like in big NGO’s this is one way to go. This organisation you can fully trust.
Friday we went up the Entoto mountain and saw Menelik’s palace, I like that place, it’s very humble. We were going to go for a swim but then Nele and Karen learned the hard way that 13 months of sunshine (Ethiopia’s tourism slogan) is a big fat lie. Still the picnic with guacamole in the Ghion park was nice. I was quite frustrated because I didn’t manage to find a bank that was open and allowed me to get out money from my recently opened account for our trip the next day.
Afa our driver with one big dreadlock on the top of his head of about 30centimetres high picked us up early next morning. It even felt earlier because we had a great evening at the gardenparty of Becca ( one of the new colleagues, the blond one from the pictures).
We spent the whole day driving and just took a little lunch break in Afa’s parents town where we were invited to a nice meal and I found a bank that was willing to give me money from my account. Yes Getting money out can be complicated in Africa!
We picked up a nerdy German along the way and arrived in Lallibella in time for the Easter eve celebrations. Afa actually got us a good price in a fancy hotel with amazing view which used to be Haile Selassies palace. It was fully booked but they arranged the staff room to accommodate us. The other tourists at the ceremony behaved appalling and thus ruined what is supposed to be a spiritual event. They took pictures continuously with flash and prevented the Ethiopians from seeing. One lady stood so close to a priest (and refused to move) that she was under his ‘ umbrella’. We were disgusted and sat at a fair distance on the walls of the amazing rock hewn churches which gave us a good overview. When I started falling asleep and dangerously leaning forward towards the depth of the church we decided to call it a night.
The next day we let ourselves be saturated by these wondrously sculptured buildings. Breathtaking. The evening we spent at ‘Sophie’s restaurant’ where Sophie gave a dance performance in which I joined.
Next day we set out with Afa to Gondor. Well we said goodbye to him in between Gondor and Bahir dar and started using local transport, meaning minibus, there. We arrived in the city of castles starving. First we had to find a good bargain hotel and then we had a great lunch After digesting everything seemed to be closed. Nonetheless we bumped into Nigisti, the girl from Gondor who travelled with the guys who were crossing Africa by car and arranged to visit her NGO the next morning which turned out to be another heart-warming experience. In the evening we celebrated Karen’s birthday but I had to order my drink a full 3x before I was served!
Nigisti’s project ( www.yenegetesfa.org) is another one of those causes well worth support. Amongst other things she takes orphan girls or girls whose parents couldn’t support them away from the homes that took them in order to use them as free servants and where they are often abused and on the other side she also provides streetboys with a home. Both of these homes have a father and mother figure and the children go to local schools and are allowed to be children and play. She also does HIV prevention/education for prostitutes, teaches homeless skills such as shoe-cleaning and some crafts in order to be able to provide a bit for themselves. Besides she set up a bread voucher network: instead of giving a beggar money you can give him this which will give him a small bread at a local bakery. We bought and handed out some of those but it seems they aren’t that well known yet which was somewhat complicated. All in all it was a nice morning seeing how one girl with her growing organisation is managing to make a difference. Turns out some of the sponsors of her project are Belgian so this summer she’ll be there fundraising.
Afterwards we visited the castles and took shelter from the hailstorm in the lion’s cages. Then we saw the royal pool, probably very beautiful when it’s not under restoration and found out a badjadj aka tuk tuk can also be used as an all terrain vehicle or a 3X3 when we went to se the corpses of queen Metewab and her son. No kidding you can actually see their bones in the compound of the remains of her castle! We ended the day with a women’s craft project in the Felasha village near Gondar where beautiful baskets, pottery and weaving was sold. They even spun their own thread! A nice dinner, ok I admit I had 2 dinners one of which with delicious spicy sauce and homemade yoghurt, was the end of a busy perfect day.
The next day Wednesday, also the day of my courtcase which I send the lawyer to, we set out to Bahir Dar where we’d be hosted by a ‘peacecorps’-er called Kyle. We wondered around town, visited the market, had some juices and reserved the girls boattrip for the next day before seeing a beautiful sunset near the hippo pool at the source of the Nile although sadly enough the hippos had decided to go somewhere else for a change. We went to my favourite pasta place in Bahir Dar and someone (hmmmm blush blush ) had a little too much too drink which in combination with the sun and not too much sleep caused me to have to clean the bathroom in the middle of the night because I made a mess and that just before being picked up by the minibus that took me back to Addis a day sooner then the girls.
The next morning, around 6:30 when I was safe and sound asleep in my own bed I was awoken by a phonecall from Nele telling me their minibus which was taking them back to me had an accident. They were halfway between Addis en Bahir Dar meaning in the middle of nowhere: a village called Debre Markos.
From that moment on the holiday was over. I started coordinating both insurance companies, calling to civil aviation, the local police to try and get their luggage, the flying doctors, I maxed out my account to pay for a private ambulance to get them to Addis which broke down, etc… Nele begged me to get them out of there, told me Karen was in pain but no matter how hard I tried I didn’t get them to Addis before 11ish the next morning. They had to spent the night in the horrible public Debre Markos hospital. Just imagine: Nele was bare footed at a certain moment and there were injection needles lying around on the floor… in the AIDS continent!!! I’ve never believed but the help of Kyle’s friends Mark and Veronica who live in the neighbourhood and translated, brought snacks, assisted in retrieving the luggage ( the police actually makes the victims of the accident come and identify it) and their mental support was nothing less then a god’s gift.
Seeing them all banged up the next morning in Addis broke my heart. Nele who had a broken collar bone was completely ignored even in the ‘good’ Korean hospital which is supposedly the Hilton of hospitals. Karen was kept lying still all day and had an operation on her severely fractured thighbone the next day by an American volunteering doctor. The operation took ages because the equipment was being used by someone else. These sort of things occur non-stop eg. The elevator is temporarily out of order so Karen had to spend her first night in a shared room with constant moaning of other patients. I have to go to the pharmacy because they don’t have the medicine Karen needs. The mattress is too hard which causes Karen to get bedsores. The correspondent of the insurance company in Nairobi conveniently forgets to arrange Nele’s flying papers so I have to go to the airport and solve that problem.
Chained to her bed by her injuries there is no way for Karen who is only now slowly getting somewhat more mobile to call a nurse so someone is forced to be next to her 24/7,including at night. After going to several pharmacies we had no choice but to give up hope for finding Nele a triangle shaped bandage to support her arm, etc. All extremely frustrating.
Luckily Nele was able to fly home on Monday evening where she received proper care and an operation. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her in a proper manner because the security at the airport has no heart and blindly follows rules.
Karen’s dad flew in on Tuesday morning which took lot of weight of my shoulders, we look after her and sleep next to her in shifts now. She keeps her spirits high but the date of her return is continuously postponed.
The driver didn’t survive so everything taken into account I guess we should praise ourselves lucky because it seems neither of my visits will suffer long lasting consequences.
Still it really is a horrible ending to such a wonderful visit.
Pictures may be next time.
zaterdag 20 maart 2010
My Bole home 2
1. Opposite side of the living room2. Guest room ( aka Nele's room)
3. Bathroom with super flashy pink shower curtains in front of the window and for the shower/bath...
4. Masterbedroom
My Bole home 1
Pics of the house speak for themselves, don't they?
( last one is another from the housewarming party that got uploaded without me realising...)
vrijdag 19 maart 2010
Housewarming
So around the 8th of March I had my housewarming party or better just a party because there is a lot to celebrate.I had another guest from couchsurfing who took these pictures and the next with his digital camera.
1. The whole group some friends didn't make it but it was a great evening. I'm really starting to settle in.
2. My new colleagues: Secondary school teacher (re) Becca is the blond beauty and the other is a KG teacher that teaches next to me and is called is Melissa.
3. The snacks I made.
I attempted Spanish tortilla but my friends back in Spain would have been embarrassed...The zucini snacks ( calabacin rebozados) did work out and even the italians agreed my pizza was tasty!
vrijdag 5 maart 2010
Running around….
I have to go to court on Monday and explain them that the summon hasn’t been delivered. Yep kinda scary plus I miss the first day of work and the reception of a new student in my class but there’s no other way. My collegues, not the board, are so kind: they actually wished me luck which felt so good. I was also invited to a BBQ at my closest colleague’s home.
Also on the brighter side the landline in my flat just started working so from now on you can reach me _ if I’m home_ less expensively on 00251115548779 = Really cool!
And there are only 24 more days to go before I get my first real visit: Nele! (=best vriend from Flanders) and Karen. So the smile on my face has definitely returned!
Ps: Wish me luck with the 1st women Ethiopian run tomorrow!!!
Also on the brighter side the landline in my flat just started working so from now on you can reach me _ if I’m home_ less expensively on 00251115548779 = Really cool!
And there are only 24 more days to go before I get my first real visit: Nele! (=best vriend from Flanders) and Karen. So the smile on my face has definitely returned!
Ps: Wish me luck with the 1st women Ethiopian run tomorrow!!!
donderdag 4 maart 2010
Just a short note in between…
My week off is flying by and sadly enough I’m not really able to enjoy it very much… . After the cleaning was finally finished I found out that Immigration has lost my file and thus I still don’t have a new residence permit which means I cannot go to the police for my stolen camera still which is bad for my insurance company, plus I can’t give the court summon to GYA. I should have given this the latest last Friday, 10 days in advance, seeing as the case is supposed to be on the 8th of March, meaning next Monday but Dr G and me fear GYA may block some paperwork so the case will probably be postponed… What a mess.
In addition my ex landlady is given me trouble, even though most of the furniture is still in the other flat and I have paid until March the 20th or so she refused to let me in the compound the other day which infuriated me so much I caused quite a scene… I’ve decided not to move anything out so she can’t rent it a day sooner just to bug her but still. It’s so frustrating. Where has my luck gone off to???
On top of that there are loads of power-cuts, some Italian company didn’t do a good job with the construction of a new hydro power plant so the tunnel with generators collapsed a mere week after opening. It’s super annoying: For example I went to school to prepare for next week but there was no power when I arrived so I couldn’t do a whole lot... And more of the same.
till I shouldn’t complain: I’m liking the new house, will probably be in a play ( covering for someone which is exciting because it’s been 10 years since I was last on stage), also I’m hosting the boys again now that they’re back, plus am running ( or rather walking) 5 km for women empowerment and have a house-warming party coming up… . So hopefully next update will be less winy =)
In addition my ex landlady is given me trouble, even though most of the furniture is still in the other flat and I have paid until March the 20th or so she refused to let me in the compound the other day which infuriated me so much I caused quite a scene… I’ve decided not to move anything out so she can’t rent it a day sooner just to bug her but still. It’s so frustrating. Where has my luck gone off to???
On top of that there are loads of power-cuts, some Italian company didn’t do a good job with the construction of a new hydro power plant so the tunnel with generators collapsed a mere week after opening. It’s super annoying: For example I went to school to prepare for next week but there was no power when I arrived so I couldn’t do a whole lot... And more of the same.
till I shouldn’t complain: I’m liking the new house, will probably be in a play ( covering for someone which is exciting because it’s been 10 years since I was last on stage), also I’m hosting the boys again now that they’re back, plus am running ( or rather walking) 5 km for women empowerment and have a house-warming party coming up… . So hopefully next update will be less winy =)
maandag 1 maart 2010
Home sweet home...
Things still haven’t really settled down but it is a more enjoyable rhythm then before. My paper process is running at its end. With Dr G driving me up the wall because he felt I should be doing things whereas the school doesn’t allow me to interfere. Due to a meeting in the ministry of education we are behind schedule which won’t be a problem for my visa but does mean I didn’t give the summon to GYA on time so the court may be postponed… .
Last weekend the 20th or something was fun. I hosted couch surfers at my home. 3 crazy guys from about my age: a Welsh one, German and South African. The last did his masters in London and is now returning. The welsh guy is joining him and they’re driving his 4X4 all the way to Capetown. Can you imagine from London to Capetown!?! They have a lot of fun stories to tell and saw some interesting places. They have solar panels on the roof of the jeep and try to raise money for a charity that wants to provide people in desolate regions with solar energy because the lack of electricity tends to intensifies their poverty. If you want to read about their adventures www.overlandandintheSun.com . The German is also involved in charity and is doing the trip from Germany to Capetown by motorbike. He’s currently joining them while his bike is being fixed. His site: www.fernwehge.de .
They were good fun, we had some delicious meals and did a daytrip to the lakes at Debrezeyt. Sadly enough I couldn’t go swimming because the water’s not safe if you’re not being treated against some disease and frankly the leech my feet attracted when I was paddling put me off. Still it was great to eat cheese and guacamole sandwiches at the shore.
In my class and with the colleagues all is well. My students are very adorable and say the funniest things: We were describing people and they said their previous teacher had a green nose. My wage and housing is arranged through the board more specifically through the senior manager, Sisay. He’s Ethiopian and not nice to me, may be because his kids are going to GYA ( not all the staff members are allowed to have their children in the school…). The head of primary, John Lane, was absent so I saw my new flat with him and his assistant and when I pointed out things that should be taken care off I got an inappropriate answer. When I told Mr Lane he apologised and even his assistant told me he felt his boss was out of line. Result: I have moved into my new home but where all the other teachers get a clean house mine is/was really filthy. This because Sisay wanted me to hire a cleaning lady of his choice, probably someone he owed a favour and got angry when I explained I already had someone doing my laundry and that I usually cleaned myself.
The place is starting to get cool though. I rearranged all the furniture yesterday, washed out most cupboards, unpacked and started cleaning the bathroom which was the filthiest. I’ve never missed Mr Proper this much in my life. There are hardly any cleaning products here so your result depends on your effort. Plus I managed to clog the bathroom pipes when I was trying to get rid of dirty water which made me unable to shower after cleaning. So now I’m waiting for the school plumber. It wasn’t exactly the start of my week off I had hoped for but the result _when I finally finish_ should be well worth it. I’m really excited: It’s so enjoyable to have a fridge again (after more then 2 months) and there’s an oven, a table to eat at, space in the cupboard, a good bed/mattress, a sofa, A sink in the kitchen etc. The flat is on the third floor and in the fancy tourist neighbourhood of Addis. It has a pretty big terrace and an extra bedroom with double bed which I’ll use to host people. It will be so nice! There are some things which aren’t exactly stylish such as the curtains which are extremely ugly and the painted kitchen cupboards which no matter how hard I try look dirty but hey I’m willing to put up with it. ( I may go all out shopping for matching scarves to use as curtains. Textile here is rather pretty plus affordable.)
Last weekend the 20th or something was fun. I hosted couch surfers at my home. 3 crazy guys from about my age: a Welsh one, German and South African. The last did his masters in London and is now returning. The welsh guy is joining him and they’re driving his 4X4 all the way to Capetown. Can you imagine from London to Capetown!?! They have a lot of fun stories to tell and saw some interesting places. They have solar panels on the roof of the jeep and try to raise money for a charity that wants to provide people in desolate regions with solar energy because the lack of electricity tends to intensifies their poverty. If you want to read about their adventures www.overlandandintheSun.com . The German is also involved in charity and is doing the trip from Germany to Capetown by motorbike. He’s currently joining them while his bike is being fixed. His site: www.fernwehge.de .
They were good fun, we had some delicious meals and did a daytrip to the lakes at Debrezeyt. Sadly enough I couldn’t go swimming because the water’s not safe if you’re not being treated against some disease and frankly the leech my feet attracted when I was paddling put me off. Still it was great to eat cheese and guacamole sandwiches at the shore.
In my class and with the colleagues all is well. My students are very adorable and say the funniest things: We were describing people and they said their previous teacher had a green nose. My wage and housing is arranged through the board more specifically through the senior manager, Sisay. He’s Ethiopian and not nice to me, may be because his kids are going to GYA ( not all the staff members are allowed to have their children in the school…). The head of primary, John Lane, was absent so I saw my new flat with him and his assistant and when I pointed out things that should be taken care off I got an inappropriate answer. When I told Mr Lane he apologised and even his assistant told me he felt his boss was out of line. Result: I have moved into my new home but where all the other teachers get a clean house mine is/was really filthy. This because Sisay wanted me to hire a cleaning lady of his choice, probably someone he owed a favour and got angry when I explained I already had someone doing my laundry and that I usually cleaned myself.
The place is starting to get cool though. I rearranged all the furniture yesterday, washed out most cupboards, unpacked and started cleaning the bathroom which was the filthiest. I’ve never missed Mr Proper this much in my life. There are hardly any cleaning products here so your result depends on your effort. Plus I managed to clog the bathroom pipes when I was trying to get rid of dirty water which made me unable to shower after cleaning. So now I’m waiting for the school plumber. It wasn’t exactly the start of my week off I had hoped for but the result _when I finally finish_ should be well worth it. I’m really excited: It’s so enjoyable to have a fridge again (after more then 2 months) and there’s an oven, a table to eat at, space in the cupboard, a good bed/mattress, a sofa, A sink in the kitchen etc. The flat is on the third floor and in the fancy tourist neighbourhood of Addis. It has a pretty big terrace and an extra bedroom with double bed which I’ll use to host people. It will be so nice! There are some things which aren’t exactly stylish such as the curtains which are extremely ugly and the painted kitchen cupboards which no matter how hard I try look dirty but hey I’m willing to put up with it. ( I may go all out shopping for matching scarves to use as curtains. Textile here is rather pretty plus affordable.)
zondag 14 februari 2010
A rainy week later...
First of all to all the couples out there: Happy Valentinesday!
The sun may have started shining for me again but I’ve gotten wet feet =)
It’s literally been pouring here. Up to the extend that when I woke up, a bit nervous for my first real day, at 3:00 on Monday morning and it was still raining, much like when I went to bed at 22:00, the courtyard had transformed itself into a mudpool and the kitchen was lower then the water level, thus a pool as well. Not the best start of my day.
Luckily at school things went smooth and they continued to do so the rest of the week. It’s pretty exhausting, especially now I still live rather far, but fun. My 18 super small students are super cute. Fatoumata can’t sit still and is always up to mischief such as pinching, mixing up puzzles, etc; Delina gets too much food and is therefore overweight and doesn’t like moving too much which was funny on sportsday Friday; Bamlak is hilarious when he shouts along to 5 little speckled frogs but has trouble pronouncing the word;… They are all really adorable!
The only setback was when on Friday it turned out that I was told the wrong wage and get less then Belgian minimum wage after all during these first 6 months. But that’s not the end of the world. It’s still more then 3 times what I had before.
In the mean time I’m arranging as much as I can all my papers again. With the new visa I have to go to the whole process of immigration again before I get a new residence permit. Hopefully I get everything arranged before its expiration date. This past week I’ve been running about to translators and doctors after work hours then I went home to do some preparing and by the time this was finished it was bedtime. It wasn’t the most exciting week, I can’t wait for things to slow down, I need just a little more patience. The lazy weekend I’m having which involves loads of sleep, food and eating out; is doing me good and I feel ready for next week plus there’s a holiday coming up the first week of March.
From now on I have an address again:
Sanford International School
Corine Huyghe
PO BOX 30056 MA
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
I now only have a mobile phone with the number: 00251 912488366
School website: http://www.sandfordschool.org/
The sun may have started shining for me again but I’ve gotten wet feet =)
It’s literally been pouring here. Up to the extend that when I woke up, a bit nervous for my first real day, at 3:00 on Monday morning and it was still raining, much like when I went to bed at 22:00, the courtyard had transformed itself into a mudpool and the kitchen was lower then the water level, thus a pool as well. Not the best start of my day.
Luckily at school things went smooth and they continued to do so the rest of the week. It’s pretty exhausting, especially now I still live rather far, but fun. My 18 super small students are super cute. Fatoumata can’t sit still and is always up to mischief such as pinching, mixing up puzzles, etc; Delina gets too much food and is therefore overweight and doesn’t like moving too much which was funny on sportsday Friday; Bamlak is hilarious when he shouts along to 5 little speckled frogs but has trouble pronouncing the word;… They are all really adorable!
The only setback was when on Friday it turned out that I was told the wrong wage and get less then Belgian minimum wage after all during these first 6 months. But that’s not the end of the world. It’s still more then 3 times what I had before.
In the mean time I’m arranging as much as I can all my papers again. With the new visa I have to go to the whole process of immigration again before I get a new residence permit. Hopefully I get everything arranged before its expiration date. This past week I’ve been running about to translators and doctors after work hours then I went home to do some preparing and by the time this was finished it was bedtime. It wasn’t the most exciting week, I can’t wait for things to slow down, I need just a little more patience. The lazy weekend I’m having which involves loads of sleep, food and eating out; is doing me good and I feel ready for next week plus there’s a holiday coming up the first week of March.
From now on I have an address again:
Sanford International School
Corine Huyghe
PO BOX 30056 MA
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
I now only have a mobile phone with the number: 00251 912488366
School website: http://www.sandfordschool.org/
zaterdag 6 februari 2010
All's well that ends well!
On Thursday I don’t go to Aaron again and find myself waiting very nervously. I didn’t sleep well and was absolutely exhausted. The boss arrives and greets me, then several people are called to his office, including Solomon who later seems to be dictating a sort of testimony to the secretary. At 9:30, after the meeting was over, I’m called in and told that if I can bring a letter of the school that wants to hire me that they’ll give me a business visa.
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Went out, called Sanford aka dreamjob, and made an appointment. Shortly after I was introduced to my new classroom, students and the teacher that’s leaving because she has started her own school and needs more time for that. On top of that the teachers were having a potluck and I was invited to join them, cool huh, they do potlucks from time to time ( potluck = everybody prepares something and then there’s a buffet with the different dishes). I was also given the letter which I delivered to immigration after their lunch break. After a mere 3 offices my passport was taken and I was given an appointment to come and collect the visa the next day which I did without difficulty.
Friday I got up very early and took 3 minibuses to get to the dream job on time and observe the current teacher on her last day so I could pick up the class habits. It is really cool! Most afternoons are for preparing ( kids leave at 12), I have 2 happy helpers and only 18 kids most of whom don’t speak English at home. They’re super cute and everybody seems really friendly…. It was really hard to tell Aaron’s dad who was quite disappointed especially by the fact that he didn’t get any notice but I explained nothing had been certain until that very morning and that that’s why he didn’t know sooner. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Aaron or some of the people I worked with yet. The idea is to do so on Monday or Tuesday after work.
I will sort of sign until July 2011. My wage is paid in bir but is a low Belgium wage and it includes local health insurance. On top of that I will be given a furnished house in one of the more elite areas of Addis which is closer to the school once they get everything sorted out. ( good thing I still didn’t buy a fridge).
Sort of sign because after August my status will even improve: then they’ll pay for my flight to Addis after the summer holiday plus I get to ship stuff and I can ask to get paid in a foreign currency to a foreign account. Easy for saving which I’ll do seeing as that low Belgium wage I get every month is more then some people earn in a year! Cost of living is really reasonable.
All of it is a dream come true. I’m now officially in the international school network which looks great on my CV and will allow me to be hired under similar conditions in different countries.
I celebrated yesterday evening with some of the ICS teachers and Alix with a “cranium” session, brilliant game, loads of fun especially in combination with some alcohol and nice snacks… So much fun I’m having a quiet day to recuperate from it ;-) However tonight I’m going out with Holger and some other friends to a traditional restaurant ( the one where we ended up on the dance floor a long time ago when I first met Holger and Mohammed!) so that’ll be fun.
I do still have the court case ahead of me but that shouldn’t be too horrible.
What can I say, life is sweet at the moment and it seems the sun has started shining for me again! After all, all is well that ends well=)
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Went out, called Sanford aka dreamjob, and made an appointment. Shortly after I was introduced to my new classroom, students and the teacher that’s leaving because she has started her own school and needs more time for that. On top of that the teachers were having a potluck and I was invited to join them, cool huh, they do potlucks from time to time ( potluck = everybody prepares something and then there’s a buffet with the different dishes). I was also given the letter which I delivered to immigration after their lunch break. After a mere 3 offices my passport was taken and I was given an appointment to come and collect the visa the next day which I did without difficulty.
Friday I got up very early and took 3 minibuses to get to the dream job on time and observe the current teacher on her last day so I could pick up the class habits. It is really cool! Most afternoons are for preparing ( kids leave at 12), I have 2 happy helpers and only 18 kids most of whom don’t speak English at home. They’re super cute and everybody seems really friendly…. It was really hard to tell Aaron’s dad who was quite disappointed especially by the fact that he didn’t get any notice but I explained nothing had been certain until that very morning and that that’s why he didn’t know sooner. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Aaron or some of the people I worked with yet. The idea is to do so on Monday or Tuesday after work.
I will sort of sign until July 2011. My wage is paid in bir but is a low Belgium wage and it includes local health insurance. On top of that I will be given a furnished house in one of the more elite areas of Addis which is closer to the school once they get everything sorted out. ( good thing I still didn’t buy a fridge).
Sort of sign because after August my status will even improve: then they’ll pay for my flight to Addis after the summer holiday plus I get to ship stuff and I can ask to get paid in a foreign currency to a foreign account. Easy for saving which I’ll do seeing as that low Belgium wage I get every month is more then some people earn in a year! Cost of living is really reasonable.
All of it is a dream come true. I’m now officially in the international school network which looks great on my CV and will allow me to be hired under similar conditions in different countries.
I celebrated yesterday evening with some of the ICS teachers and Alix with a “cranium” session, brilliant game, loads of fun especially in combination with some alcohol and nice snacks… So much fun I’m having a quiet day to recuperate from it ;-) However tonight I’m going out with Holger and some other friends to a traditional restaurant ( the one where we ended up on the dance floor a long time ago when I first met Holger and Mohammed!) so that’ll be fun.
I do still have the court case ahead of me but that shouldn’t be too horrible.
What can I say, life is sweet at the moment and it seems the sun has started shining for me again! After all, all is well that ends well=)
woensdag 3 februari 2010
Tommorow again... When will today catch up?
On Monday after being with Aaron I set course for Labour. It was a promising start, I had to be there at 13:30 which gave me time to eat something in the teacher’s cafeteria before rushing away. Sadly enough the secretary at labour was absent so my clearance letter that required 2 lines more then the standard one could not be typed and I should come back the next day same time. When I called the dream job I felt like an 8-year-old telling the teacher the dog ate his homework and went home to enjoy the afternoon for a change.
I enjoyed the evening even better! There was a cocktail party at the embassy because the Belgian minister of foreign affairs came to Addis for the African Union meeting. Parties there are never without catering and this time they flew in the delicious grey small shrimps typical for the Belgian coast, besides that there was a whole buffet with other goodies including a dessert of fresh chocolate mouse and strawberries! It was a feast! Holger Saskia and me really enjoyed it. Saskia is even considering to become Belgian seeing as the Belgian community is very sociable and friendly;-)
Between you and me ok ambassadors do get a really nice wage but these things are not obligatory and come out of their pocket so it is really nice of them to do this. The ambassador’s wife is Ethiopian by the way and a really friendly stylish host.
To my great relief I was given the letter promptly by Labour on Tuesday and thus set course for immigration. Dr G thought it would be in my benefit if I went there by myself to apply for a business visa. We’re hoping I will receive one seeing as my court date is only on the 8th of March and the 8th of April and I am telling them I do not have the means to stay here without wages until then… ( The dreamjob would be able to hire me if I get this visa).
I went to the not so nice boss,room 105, I talked to the last time. After an hour queuing he took half a minute to tell me I should go to room 77 downstairs and apply for a visa there like any other person. I called Dr G and he referred me to his friend who made me wait, fill out some forms and then also sent me to 77. When I finally got in I explained my case upon which the guy scribbled down something in Amharic and sent me to room 81. There, there is a nice lady ( I’ve been there before and she’s always been sympathetic to my case) who attended me after a while and then scribbled something on my file and sent me to Ato Solomon , room 80, who is only friendly to me off record and with Dr G present. Solomon made me wait for ages, he’s always being a pain and thus very busy, and allowed people to queue me twice before it was my turn. He then asked me silly questions such as where is your residence permit, you need to give it to us, whereas he knows _or at least should know_ I was fired for asking this permit and that GYA kept it. He scribbled down 3 things in Amharic, all the true and thus wrong answers I gave and sent me to room 95. Room 95 seems to be a different director, one that has refused to talk to me twice before and he was now in a meeting and I shouldn’t wait because it was already 17:15 and everything closes at 17:30 ( immigration doesn’t do overtime like Labour). So I should come at 8:30 tomorrow. I went out drained and super disappointed as usual. Luckily the money bar I mentioned in one of my first blogs is near this ministry and they have some excellent fries with ok tasting mayonnaise which helped to cheer me up a bit.
8:30 the next day Wednesday I don’t go to Aaron but set out to immigration. I am kept waiting until 9:15 before I get to see the man behind the secretary in room 95. I explain him my case and he says they will give me a tourist visa upon which I start crying and tell him then I’ll have to go home ( which I mean, I can’t take much more of this) and GYA who’s been mistreating people for the last 10 years will get away with what they did to me and will continue doing this. He gets 2 calls in those mere 10 minutes I’m in there and sends me out twice eventhough it’s clear I don’t understand enough Amharic to make anything out of what he’s sayng. When I come back in the second time he starts calling someone and GYA is named… Then he says: come back tomorrow. No answer, no explanation, nothing.
I rushed to Aaron and had lunch was forced to eat real quickly while he was in recess. After he left I went to court to get the summon for my case. I have to personally give it to the school. Having to go there soon made me call David ( remember ex colleague and first flatmate, the one that got robbed in Merkato) to see what he was up to. Good thing I did because he told me he is eloping tomorrow morning at 8:45 and that the school will be closed until Monday.
We started in September with 8 foreign teachers and 2 American management assistants. Tomorrow a mere 3 out of those 10 continue to work for GYA. 5 of the people who stopped have left/fled the country, the other 2 are me and the witness that saw me get fired who was 1 of the manager assistants, we are still here for the time being.
So here I am waiting for another tomorrow hoping that very soon I can live for today again and be happy.
I enjoyed the evening even better! There was a cocktail party at the embassy because the Belgian minister of foreign affairs came to Addis for the African Union meeting. Parties there are never without catering and this time they flew in the delicious grey small shrimps typical for the Belgian coast, besides that there was a whole buffet with other goodies including a dessert of fresh chocolate mouse and strawberries! It was a feast! Holger Saskia and me really enjoyed it. Saskia is even considering to become Belgian seeing as the Belgian community is very sociable and friendly;-)
Between you and me ok ambassadors do get a really nice wage but these things are not obligatory and come out of their pocket so it is really nice of them to do this. The ambassador’s wife is Ethiopian by the way and a really friendly stylish host.
To my great relief I was given the letter promptly by Labour on Tuesday and thus set course for immigration. Dr G thought it would be in my benefit if I went there by myself to apply for a business visa. We’re hoping I will receive one seeing as my court date is only on the 8th of March and the 8th of April and I am telling them I do not have the means to stay here without wages until then… ( The dreamjob would be able to hire me if I get this visa).
I went to the not so nice boss,room 105, I talked to the last time. After an hour queuing he took half a minute to tell me I should go to room 77 downstairs and apply for a visa there like any other person. I called Dr G and he referred me to his friend who made me wait, fill out some forms and then also sent me to 77. When I finally got in I explained my case upon which the guy scribbled down something in Amharic and sent me to room 81. There, there is a nice lady ( I’ve been there before and she’s always been sympathetic to my case) who attended me after a while and then scribbled something on my file and sent me to Ato Solomon , room 80, who is only friendly to me off record and with Dr G present. Solomon made me wait for ages, he’s always being a pain and thus very busy, and allowed people to queue me twice before it was my turn. He then asked me silly questions such as where is your residence permit, you need to give it to us, whereas he knows _or at least should know_ I was fired for asking this permit and that GYA kept it. He scribbled down 3 things in Amharic, all the true and thus wrong answers I gave and sent me to room 95. Room 95 seems to be a different director, one that has refused to talk to me twice before and he was now in a meeting and I shouldn’t wait because it was already 17:15 and everything closes at 17:30 ( immigration doesn’t do overtime like Labour). So I should come at 8:30 tomorrow. I went out drained and super disappointed as usual. Luckily the money bar I mentioned in one of my first blogs is near this ministry and they have some excellent fries with ok tasting mayonnaise which helped to cheer me up a bit.
8:30 the next day Wednesday I don’t go to Aaron but set out to immigration. I am kept waiting until 9:15 before I get to see the man behind the secretary in room 95. I explain him my case and he says they will give me a tourist visa upon which I start crying and tell him then I’ll have to go home ( which I mean, I can’t take much more of this) and GYA who’s been mistreating people for the last 10 years will get away with what they did to me and will continue doing this. He gets 2 calls in those mere 10 minutes I’m in there and sends me out twice eventhough it’s clear I don’t understand enough Amharic to make anything out of what he’s sayng. When I come back in the second time he starts calling someone and GYA is named… Then he says: come back tomorrow. No answer, no explanation, nothing.
I rushed to Aaron and had lunch was forced to eat real quickly while he was in recess. After he left I went to court to get the summon for my case. I have to personally give it to the school. Having to go there soon made me call David ( remember ex colleague and first flatmate, the one that got robbed in Merkato) to see what he was up to. Good thing I did because he told me he is eloping tomorrow morning at 8:45 and that the school will be closed until Monday.
We started in September with 8 foreign teachers and 2 American management assistants. Tomorrow a mere 3 out of those 10 continue to work for GYA. 5 of the people who stopped have left/fled the country, the other 2 are me and the witness that saw me get fired who was 1 of the manager assistants, we are still here for the time being.
So here I am waiting for another tomorrow hoping that very soon I can live for today again and be happy.
zondag 31 januari 2010
Waiting for the miracle to come...
Well The next Monday before our Wednesday deadline still without an appointment. Dr G took me to immigration with a different client after having been waiting again in his office. Seeing as we were there we might as well go and talk to one of the bosses we hadn’t talked to yet, he was the usual unfriendly and aware of my HRC-case. This guy told us to go to the ministry of Labour and said the Isayas we had been trying to schedule the appointment with most of the previous week was not the right person to talk to after all.
Dr G. tried to stop a German rasta from running away from the office and managed to get his bag stolen in the process. Thus when he realised he needed to return and look for it so I ended up waiting/crying in the car for another 45 minutes by myself. By the time he returned it was 17:00 and all major offices close at 17:30. I had been waiting for Dr G since 11:45 and we had done nothing but encounter another immigration prick that felt I should leave the country.
Probably out of guilt we still headed for the Labour office where we found our way to the boss’s office. He listened to my story and called his colleague director who was also still in his office and received us as well. Labour is said to be very pro employee, there the ones linked to the union so nice and left-wing. They told me they had an important meeting with the Addis council the next day and that they would present my case and give me a call when they figured out a way to help me. I wasn’t called but still went there the next day by myself. The boss had become ill and wasn’t able to attend the meeting. He told me he’d discuss the issue the next day and call me. I’m low on patience so on Wednesday, again by myself, the other boss found me waiting for him after his lunch break and took me to his colleague and they discussed a solution in front of me. They told me to go to immigration again and ask if they would be able to give me a business visa when Labour cancelled my work permit which would allow me to get hired by the dream job. I got Dr G to accompany to the last prick at immigration we had talked to to address this question. Immigration avoided giving a clear answer which is what they do best. They did however tell me that GYA had written to them asking them for my deportation and that they had told GYA that wasn’t their place to decide.
In Dr G ‘s opinion this means there on my side. Anyway so we went back to labour who started the process of cancelling my work permit and told them that immigration wasn’t going to deport me if I were involved in a court case so I’d need a letter from court to prove this. Labour would have my work permit cancelled by the next Thursday and that left us plenty of time to file for court so I had a letter for them immediately after the permit was cancelled.
On Saturday I gave some documents to my Amharic teacher for translation which was Dr G’s idea and after that enjoyed my visit to the ethnological museum which I hadn’t seen yet. Hilarious folktales and inspiring artefacts in a former castle. Really cool! I spent the evening eating with some teachers from the school I’m in with Aaron and afterwards went to one of their houses provided by the school. A ballroom for a living room and an equally big lounge room, 3 bathrooms, etc and she lives there all by herself. This school is crazy. I really get along with the wife of one of the teachers who was my Canadian friend ( Emily)’s host and friend. She’s really very pleasant and open-minded company and loves to cook and play scrabble. I feel that if I get to stay here Alix may become one of my close friends.
Sunday flew by as usual I went for juice with Saskia( the Dutch girl) and some other people and on Monday I found myself rushing to Dr G’s office again to file the case, sadly enough my teacher/translator was sick and didn’t get the documents translated. It took Dr G a long time to decide he’d translate himself and that we should meet the next day to file the case so there was hardly a free afternoon left to enjoy. On top of it all there was a power-cut, the first for ages, and Alix was supposed to come for dinner that night. I ended up reheating the stew on a kerosene fire we borrowed from the landlady which caused it to burn and give my delicious stew a rather bad taste. Alix was nice enough to say it tasted nice anyway but honestly it didn’t. 10 Minutes after starting our meal the electricity came back. What is it with me in this place, I am cursed or something?
Tuesday I was pretty tired because Aaron has a new baby sister and his mum’s back from the states and he’s not dealing with the change extremely well but still I hurried Dr G’s office again only to be kept waiting for ages until I call for the 3rd time and am sent home with the message come tomorrow morning and then we’ll get everything done.
Thus on Wednesday I don’t go to the school and find Dr G translating the paper when I arrive at 9. At 10 he walks out with someone else for just a little while and asks me to await him there. I wait until 15 before we finally get in his car in order to get things done… We needed some stamps on copies and then the case needed to be presented in Amharic so that needed to be written… No need to say by the time that was done it was 17:15 and we weren’t able to file it. I finished the new book I started that day while waiting around for him and felt so depressed.
So we ended up only filing the court case on Thursday and then they told us they couldn’t give us the letters until the next day. I went to labour by myself and the boss was very surprised _ and disappointed?_ that I didn’t have the letter. He emphasized it was important I got this done before the end of the week, as if I didn’t know. On Friday I went with Mika who got instructions of Dr G to the court. When we arrived the judge who had to write these letters had just left for an early lunch s we hung around for 1,5 hours and then went back in. The judge saw the urgency and scribbled the letter I needed in 5 minutes, I just needed to get it typed and printed…which isn’t to difficult when you have 5 secretaries sitting in an office. But I guess I was wrong they were notably too busy playing with their mobile phones to type anything and made us wait a full 1,5 hours!!!!! ( the letter had less then 100 words for goodness sake!). I got really pissed and upon receiving the letter I ran out of there to make it to Labour as soon as possible. I arrived at 15:45 but my appointment with them was at 13:30 so they were in a meeting. The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting for them to come out which they did at 17:15. Then and there I was told it was too late to do anything and that I should be back there on Monday. I felt so extremely frustrated and mentally drained again. I never realised how much I just love our efficiency although I do admit government agencies aren’t the most efficient in Belgium or Spain either. ;-)
So the weekend began rather poorly but that would be solved with the hike I’d take with Holger and Mika. We set out Saturday morning with a scrumptious picnic packed to climb one of the mountains surrounding Addis. The views were nice, just getting out of the smog into nature from time to time is great actually and when we arrived to the top we were surprised to see a tent. We thought those would certainly be farangies but in stead we bumped into the federal police _What were they doing there? No clue whatsoever!_ They told us to go down this way or that way.
Fine, we enjoyed our picnic ( a lot mmmmmm cheese and avocado…) and decided on our route down one of the choices we were given. After a short while and a silly photo session we are called back by one of the agents. We had to return because we shouldn’t have gone that way_ even when it was one of the options they gave us! At the camp our documents were taken ( me my Belgium ID and a photocopy of my passport) and a lot of discussion was done through the radio. Mika told me later that their boss had no idea what to do with us terrorists… Thank you Mr Bush for giving them an example of this ridiculous behaviour.
We were sat down for ages before we were escorted down a very steep path ( I was fine with my little sandals and short shorts but Mika who’s quite a sissy was scared of slipping so I held his hand pretending I was the damsel in distress all the way down). One of the local woman actually discussed with the cop about why they were doing this and told him to leave us and them alone. Upon reaching the village outskirts we were taken in the back of one of their jeeps _I’m convinced that neighbourhood is still gossiping about us now_ to the regular and not federal police station. At this point we all thought it pretty hilarious stupid.
In the police station we were interviewed and I got really scared cause my paper situation is not exactly ideal and I had to tell them I worked for GYA seeing as that’s the only papers I still have at the moment so if they wanted to call the school I was in trouble. They kept us there for a long while until one of the bosses came, everybody avoids taking responsibility here, who was charmed by Holger’s excellent Amharic and let us go. We had done absolutely nothing wrong but we presented an ideal diversion to bored policeman on a mountain. Mika said later that if we had seemed unfriendly to them they had the intention of putting us in jail. I was freezing in my shorts on the way home and had become really pissed off, I hate these limitations of personal freedom just for power display. It’s something I’m finding really hard to deal with.
Dr G. tried to stop a German rasta from running away from the office and managed to get his bag stolen in the process. Thus when he realised he needed to return and look for it so I ended up waiting/crying in the car for another 45 minutes by myself. By the time he returned it was 17:00 and all major offices close at 17:30. I had been waiting for Dr G since 11:45 and we had done nothing but encounter another immigration prick that felt I should leave the country.
Probably out of guilt we still headed for the Labour office where we found our way to the boss’s office. He listened to my story and called his colleague director who was also still in his office and received us as well. Labour is said to be very pro employee, there the ones linked to the union so nice and left-wing. They told me they had an important meeting with the Addis council the next day and that they would present my case and give me a call when they figured out a way to help me. I wasn’t called but still went there the next day by myself. The boss had become ill and wasn’t able to attend the meeting. He told me he’d discuss the issue the next day and call me. I’m low on patience so on Wednesday, again by myself, the other boss found me waiting for him after his lunch break and took me to his colleague and they discussed a solution in front of me. They told me to go to immigration again and ask if they would be able to give me a business visa when Labour cancelled my work permit which would allow me to get hired by the dream job. I got Dr G to accompany to the last prick at immigration we had talked to to address this question. Immigration avoided giving a clear answer which is what they do best. They did however tell me that GYA had written to them asking them for my deportation and that they had told GYA that wasn’t their place to decide.
In Dr G ‘s opinion this means there on my side. Anyway so we went back to labour who started the process of cancelling my work permit and told them that immigration wasn’t going to deport me if I were involved in a court case so I’d need a letter from court to prove this. Labour would have my work permit cancelled by the next Thursday and that left us plenty of time to file for court so I had a letter for them immediately after the permit was cancelled.
On Saturday I gave some documents to my Amharic teacher for translation which was Dr G’s idea and after that enjoyed my visit to the ethnological museum which I hadn’t seen yet. Hilarious folktales and inspiring artefacts in a former castle. Really cool! I spent the evening eating with some teachers from the school I’m in with Aaron and afterwards went to one of their houses provided by the school. A ballroom for a living room and an equally big lounge room, 3 bathrooms, etc and she lives there all by herself. This school is crazy. I really get along with the wife of one of the teachers who was my Canadian friend ( Emily)’s host and friend. She’s really very pleasant and open-minded company and loves to cook and play scrabble. I feel that if I get to stay here Alix may become one of my close friends.
Sunday flew by as usual I went for juice with Saskia( the Dutch girl) and some other people and on Monday I found myself rushing to Dr G’s office again to file the case, sadly enough my teacher/translator was sick and didn’t get the documents translated. It took Dr G a long time to decide he’d translate himself and that we should meet the next day to file the case so there was hardly a free afternoon left to enjoy. On top of it all there was a power-cut, the first for ages, and Alix was supposed to come for dinner that night. I ended up reheating the stew on a kerosene fire we borrowed from the landlady which caused it to burn and give my delicious stew a rather bad taste. Alix was nice enough to say it tasted nice anyway but honestly it didn’t. 10 Minutes after starting our meal the electricity came back. What is it with me in this place, I am cursed or something?
Tuesday I was pretty tired because Aaron has a new baby sister and his mum’s back from the states and he’s not dealing with the change extremely well but still I hurried Dr G’s office again only to be kept waiting for ages until I call for the 3rd time and am sent home with the message come tomorrow morning and then we’ll get everything done.
Thus on Wednesday I don’t go to the school and find Dr G translating the paper when I arrive at 9. At 10 he walks out with someone else for just a little while and asks me to await him there. I wait until 15 before we finally get in his car in order to get things done… We needed some stamps on copies and then the case needed to be presented in Amharic so that needed to be written… No need to say by the time that was done it was 17:15 and we weren’t able to file it. I finished the new book I started that day while waiting around for him and felt so depressed.
So we ended up only filing the court case on Thursday and then they told us they couldn’t give us the letters until the next day. I went to labour by myself and the boss was very surprised _ and disappointed?_ that I didn’t have the letter. He emphasized it was important I got this done before the end of the week, as if I didn’t know. On Friday I went with Mika who got instructions of Dr G to the court. When we arrived the judge who had to write these letters had just left for an early lunch s we hung around for 1,5 hours and then went back in. The judge saw the urgency and scribbled the letter I needed in 5 minutes, I just needed to get it typed and printed…which isn’t to difficult when you have 5 secretaries sitting in an office. But I guess I was wrong they were notably too busy playing with their mobile phones to type anything and made us wait a full 1,5 hours!!!!! ( the letter had less then 100 words for goodness sake!). I got really pissed and upon receiving the letter I ran out of there to make it to Labour as soon as possible. I arrived at 15:45 but my appointment with them was at 13:30 so they were in a meeting. The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting for them to come out which they did at 17:15. Then and there I was told it was too late to do anything and that I should be back there on Monday. I felt so extremely frustrated and mentally drained again. I never realised how much I just love our efficiency although I do admit government agencies aren’t the most efficient in Belgium or Spain either. ;-)
So the weekend began rather poorly but that would be solved with the hike I’d take with Holger and Mika. We set out Saturday morning with a scrumptious picnic packed to climb one of the mountains surrounding Addis. The views were nice, just getting out of the smog into nature from time to time is great actually and when we arrived to the top we were surprised to see a tent. We thought those would certainly be farangies but in stead we bumped into the federal police _What were they doing there? No clue whatsoever!_ They told us to go down this way or that way.
Fine, we enjoyed our picnic ( a lot mmmmmm cheese and avocado…) and decided on our route down one of the choices we were given. After a short while and a silly photo session we are called back by one of the agents. We had to return because we shouldn’t have gone that way_ even when it was one of the options they gave us! At the camp our documents were taken ( me my Belgium ID and a photocopy of my passport) and a lot of discussion was done through the radio. Mika told me later that their boss had no idea what to do with us terrorists… Thank you Mr Bush for giving them an example of this ridiculous behaviour.
We were sat down for ages before we were escorted down a very steep path ( I was fine with my little sandals and short shorts but Mika who’s quite a sissy was scared of slipping so I held his hand pretending I was the damsel in distress all the way down). One of the local woman actually discussed with the cop about why they were doing this and told him to leave us and them alone. Upon reaching the village outskirts we were taken in the back of one of their jeeps _I’m convinced that neighbourhood is still gossiping about us now_ to the regular and not federal police station. At this point we all thought it pretty hilarious stupid.
In the police station we were interviewed and I got really scared cause my paper situation is not exactly ideal and I had to tell them I worked for GYA seeing as that’s the only papers I still have at the moment so if they wanted to call the school I was in trouble. They kept us there for a long while until one of the bosses came, everybody avoids taking responsibility here, who was charmed by Holger’s excellent Amharic and let us go. We had done absolutely nothing wrong but we presented an ideal diversion to bored policeman on a mountain. Mika said later that if we had seemed unfriendly to them they had the intention of putting us in jail. I was freezing in my shorts on the way home and had become really pissed off, I hate these limitations of personal freedom just for power display. It’s something I’m finding really hard to deal with.
In between
I was writing an email to a friend ages ago updating him a bit on my thoughts and then realised this should actually also be in my blog. Sadly enough I didn’t get it posted and then forgot all about it until now.
19/01
I’ve been so occupied by this case that I’ve omitted sometimes my reflections on life here. Here’s what I wrote:
I really appreciate certain things more now, a washing machine for example. You know this horrible task is mostly done by hand here. It’s actually cheaper for me to hire someone to do it then to buy a machine. Having a servant that comes to my place to do it once a week is also extremely strange. I pay her well in Ethiopian standards but she only gets 5 euro per month!!!!
There’s also our selection of vegetables ( here very limited) and actually just supermarkets. You have no idea just how cool those are. Going to Lidl you know you’ll get a good deal and you can find almost everything you need there. Here supermarkets are for white people and thus more expensive than the small souxs. Yet the souxs can also rip you off easily and it’s hard to find one who sells everything you need.
Since I moved I haven’t bought a fridge not to mention the lack of an oven since I arrived to Ethiopia and I feel I never appreciated these fully until now. ( I’ll buy a fridge as soon as I have the job at the British school confirmed but don’t want to just now.)
And then there’s the almost complete absence of affordable cheese…. I’d die for Brie right now =)
I didn’t tell you guys either that Holger brought me Belgian waffles and chocolate from Belgium after Christmas to give me courage. How sweet is that?!?
In other words no matter how desperate I get from time to time this place and the people I’ve gotten to know here are still worth while.
No news on my case, today everything was closed due to the celebration of the 3 wise men
( Balthazar is believed to be from here by the way)
I was writing an email to a friend updating him a bit on my thoughts and then realised this should actually also be in my blog. I’ve been so occupied by this case that I’ve omitted sometimes my reflections on life here. Here’s what I wrote:
I really appreciate certain things more now, a washing machine for example. You know this horrible task is mostly done by hand here. It’s actually cheaper for me to hire someone to do it then to buy a machine. Having a servant that comes to my place to do it once a week is also extremely strange. I pay her well in Ethiopian standards but she only gets 5 euro per month!!!!
There’s also our selection of vegetables ( here very limited) and actually just supermarkets. You have no idea just how cool those are. Going to Lidl you know you’ll get a good deal and you can find almost everything you need there. Here supermarkets are for white people and thus more expensive than the small souxs. Yet the souxs can also rip you off easily and it’s hard to find one who sells everything you need.
Since I moved I haven’t bought a fridge not to mention the lack of an oven since I arrived to Ethiopia and I feel I never appreciated these fully until now. ( I’ll buy a fridge as soon as I have the job at the British school confirmed but don’t want to just now.)
And then there’s the almost complete absence of affordable cheese…. I’d die for Brie right now =)
I didn’t tell you guys either that Holger brought me waffles and chocolate from Belgium after Christmas to give me courage. How sweet is that?!?
In other words no matter how desperate I get from time to time this place and the people I’ve gotten to know here are still worth while.
As for my case no news, today everything was closed due to the celebration of the 3 wise men ( Balthazar is believed to be from here by the way)
19/01
I’ve been so occupied by this case that I’ve omitted sometimes my reflections on life here. Here’s what I wrote:
I really appreciate certain things more now, a washing machine for example. You know this horrible task is mostly done by hand here. It’s actually cheaper for me to hire someone to do it then to buy a machine. Having a servant that comes to my place to do it once a week is also extremely strange. I pay her well in Ethiopian standards but she only gets 5 euro per month!!!!
There’s also our selection of vegetables ( here very limited) and actually just supermarkets. You have no idea just how cool those are. Going to Lidl you know you’ll get a good deal and you can find almost everything you need there. Here supermarkets are for white people and thus more expensive than the small souxs. Yet the souxs can also rip you off easily and it’s hard to find one who sells everything you need.
Since I moved I haven’t bought a fridge not to mention the lack of an oven since I arrived to Ethiopia and I feel I never appreciated these fully until now. ( I’ll buy a fridge as soon as I have the job at the British school confirmed but don’t want to just now.)
And then there’s the almost complete absence of affordable cheese…. I’d die for Brie right now =)
I didn’t tell you guys either that Holger brought me Belgian waffles and chocolate from Belgium after Christmas to give me courage. How sweet is that?!?
In other words no matter how desperate I get from time to time this place and the people I’ve gotten to know here are still worth while.
No news on my case, today everything was closed due to the celebration of the 3 wise men
( Balthazar is believed to be from here by the way)
I was writing an email to a friend updating him a bit on my thoughts and then realised this should actually also be in my blog. I’ve been so occupied by this case that I’ve omitted sometimes my reflections on life here. Here’s what I wrote:
I really appreciate certain things more now, a washing machine for example. You know this horrible task is mostly done by hand here. It’s actually cheaper for me to hire someone to do it then to buy a machine. Having a servant that comes to my place to do it once a week is also extremely strange. I pay her well in Ethiopian standards but she only gets 5 euro per month!!!!
There’s also our selection of vegetables ( here very limited) and actually just supermarkets. You have no idea just how cool those are. Going to Lidl you know you’ll get a good deal and you can find almost everything you need there. Here supermarkets are for white people and thus more expensive than the small souxs. Yet the souxs can also rip you off easily and it’s hard to find one who sells everything you need.
Since I moved I haven’t bought a fridge not to mention the lack of an oven since I arrived to Ethiopia and I feel I never appreciated these fully until now. ( I’ll buy a fridge as soon as I have the job at the British school confirmed but don’t want to just now.)
And then there’s the almost complete absence of affordable cheese…. I’d die for Brie right now =)
I didn’t tell you guys either that Holger brought me waffles and chocolate from Belgium after Christmas to give me courage. How sweet is that?!?
In other words no matter how desperate I get from time to time this place and the people I’ve gotten to know here are still worth while.
As for my case no news, today everything was closed due to the celebration of the 3 wise men ( Balthazar is believed to be from here by the way)
zondag 17 januari 2010
The nghtmare continues...
Last time I didn’t mention the moment I was sitting on the bus and the phone from the school came saying they wanted to offer me the job. I didn’t mention this ‘cause I was too afraid to be happy. No matter how hard I tried I did feel absolutely thrilled. This was the kind of job I’d been aspiring shortly after starting to teach English. A decent contract in an international school where you enjoy the freedom to work as we do in Belgium or any other western country. It seems my fear was with good reason because when I turned up at the meeting that was scheduled on Monday I was introduced to the person in charge of the paperwork. After hearing my story he asked me to come back on Tuesday to discuss the options. There and then he told me he didn’t think they would be able to hire me on time. I’d have to go to Belgium, finance that myself, and get clearance beforehand… It’ll take a lot of time and money and this dreamjob of mine is supposed to start at the beginning of February. I first went to HRC crying my eyes out and they pointed to the embassy to help me this time, they say they should call the minister of foreign affairs.…
It was another blow to the head, one that’s got me crying in this stupid mall while I was waiting for an appointment with some guy whose phone number I got from my Amharic teacher saying that he could solve paper problems. I was totally desperate: it seemed as if nothing was going to happen just like nothing _but prolonged suffering for me_ had been happening. I felt absolutely beat and hopeless.
I got Holger on the phone and was weeping when the guy who had legal advisor on top of his door finally showed up to his office, only 45 min later than he had said he would. That’s the state he found me in yet after explaining my case Dr. Getatchu ( Dr G.) started phoning influential friends so they could hear what happened to me. He even invited me out to dinner with them and one gave me his phone number?!? ( yes I also thought this was totally weird. On top of everything Dr G. seems to know many people in the school I’m currently ‘volunteering’ in which was also awkward ‘cause I haven’t told anybody there that I may be leaving soon seeing as nothing is sure until now. ). Anyway I agreed skip working with Aaron the next day to meet him ‘cause we had a lot to do. After a long wait including joining him to another case he had to solve we went to immigration and spoke to some people there. We ended up at the same desk I had been several times before only now the guy was nice and told me he knew that no foreigners were treated worse then the ones at GYA but that when he had tried to do something about it his job was jeopardised and so he did nothing anymore. So the contacts GYA bragged about having were real enough it seems. Afterwards I had an appointment with the embassy ( who wrote to the minister of foreign affairs asking to intervene which is very exceptional to do this for an individual and not a diplomat) but by the time they were finished Dr G. was busy with something else and I was told to come to his office as soon as possible the next day. I rushed away from Aaron and called Dr G. asking if I should meet him somewhere only to be told to await him at the embassy who was trying to schedule an appointment with the head of National Intelligence and security, they didn’t manage and after a long wait we decided to go down there and take our chances but by then Dr G. was in court so someone from the embassy accompanied me there only to be turned away by the secretary. I felt drained and cried my eyes out ( I figured all was lost again and didn’t even go to my first level 2 Amharic lesson) until Dr G called and told me what he wanted to do with me the next day. So I rushed away from school again on Friday only to wait in his office for 2hours and 45 minutes before we returned to the same secretary with a written report of my story which got us through the first door to be able to get the phone number to make an appointment on Monday at the second door… Grrr That’s the only thing that happened which is so frustrating. Dr G. did however talk to the people of the dream job and was very self-assured about solving my case before next Wednesday so they sort of not gave up on me just yet, which was super. I just hope he can make it all come true, he says a lot and things do seem to be happening but we haven’t really done that much but postponing to the next day so I hope we’ll be able to really do some of those things on Monday (= tomorrow) seeing as Tuesday is a holiday here…
Sweet Holger brought me extra Belgian candy which he had taken from his visit after he heard what happened. I met him at a concert on Friday which turned out to be horrible but we did schedule then to have lunch on Sunday and play games: yes the addiction that was born in Bilbao has continued. I played settlers of Catan ( not really my cup of tea) and a hilarious homemade version of ‘time’s up’. Lunch was my new speciality: stew and my first goat meat version which was really tasty.
On Saturday evening I went with the friend of my Canadian friend and some teachers from the school I didn’t know very well for some scrumptious Chinese so it’s fair to say I did have a good weekend with no time for emailing so sorry to those awaiting reply…
It was another blow to the head, one that’s got me crying in this stupid mall while I was waiting for an appointment with some guy whose phone number I got from my Amharic teacher saying that he could solve paper problems. I was totally desperate: it seemed as if nothing was going to happen just like nothing _but prolonged suffering for me_ had been happening. I felt absolutely beat and hopeless.
I got Holger on the phone and was weeping when the guy who had legal advisor on top of his door finally showed up to his office, only 45 min later than he had said he would. That’s the state he found me in yet after explaining my case Dr. Getatchu ( Dr G.) started phoning influential friends so they could hear what happened to me. He even invited me out to dinner with them and one gave me his phone number?!? ( yes I also thought this was totally weird. On top of everything Dr G. seems to know many people in the school I’m currently ‘volunteering’ in which was also awkward ‘cause I haven’t told anybody there that I may be leaving soon seeing as nothing is sure until now. ). Anyway I agreed skip working with Aaron the next day to meet him ‘cause we had a lot to do. After a long wait including joining him to another case he had to solve we went to immigration and spoke to some people there. We ended up at the same desk I had been several times before only now the guy was nice and told me he knew that no foreigners were treated worse then the ones at GYA but that when he had tried to do something about it his job was jeopardised and so he did nothing anymore. So the contacts GYA bragged about having were real enough it seems. Afterwards I had an appointment with the embassy ( who wrote to the minister of foreign affairs asking to intervene which is very exceptional to do this for an individual and not a diplomat) but by the time they were finished Dr G. was busy with something else and I was told to come to his office as soon as possible the next day. I rushed away from Aaron and called Dr G. asking if I should meet him somewhere only to be told to await him at the embassy who was trying to schedule an appointment with the head of National Intelligence and security, they didn’t manage and after a long wait we decided to go down there and take our chances but by then Dr G. was in court so someone from the embassy accompanied me there only to be turned away by the secretary. I felt drained and cried my eyes out ( I figured all was lost again and didn’t even go to my first level 2 Amharic lesson) until Dr G called and told me what he wanted to do with me the next day. So I rushed away from school again on Friday only to wait in his office for 2hours and 45 minutes before we returned to the same secretary with a written report of my story which got us through the first door to be able to get the phone number to make an appointment on Monday at the second door… Grrr That’s the only thing that happened which is so frustrating. Dr G. did however talk to the people of the dream job and was very self-assured about solving my case before next Wednesday so they sort of not gave up on me just yet, which was super. I just hope he can make it all come true, he says a lot and things do seem to be happening but we haven’t really done that much but postponing to the next day so I hope we’ll be able to really do some of those things on Monday (= tomorrow) seeing as Tuesday is a holiday here…
Sweet Holger brought me extra Belgian candy which he had taken from his visit after he heard what happened. I met him at a concert on Friday which turned out to be horrible but we did schedule then to have lunch on Sunday and play games: yes the addiction that was born in Bilbao has continued. I played settlers of Catan ( not really my cup of tea) and a hilarious homemade version of ‘time’s up’. Lunch was my new speciality: stew and my first goat meat version which was really tasty.
On Saturday evening I went with the friend of my Canadian friend and some teachers from the school I didn’t know very well for some scrumptious Chinese so it’s fair to say I did have a good weekend with no time for emailing so sorry to those awaiting reply…
vrijdag 8 januari 2010
The Ethiopian Christmas Santa brought my long desired silver lining!
It seemed you did cross your fingers. The interview went well and I noticed they were interested so afterwards I went to the HRC and told them I really wanted this job and that the GYA- situation may be in the way of getting it. Mahlet was not there ( hence I know nothing about the investigation) but I crossed the big boss in the corridor. He invited me in his office and asked how I was doing. After explaining he gave me his personal mobile phone number and told me he’d help me to be allowed to be hired and that I could give his number to the school. So I did and then after a wonderful dinner with Mohammed ( Holgers flatmate who went from a house that was too full to an almost empty one ‘cause Holger spent his holidays in
Thanks to Mohammed, who was born in Bahir Dar, we got the number of a minibus service that picks you up at home and brings you there. Sadly enough arrangements had already been made for me to sleep at Mika’s grandmother, where he lives, seeing as that place was better connected to the main bus station than my new nest. We slept in his hut in a central neighbourhood of Addis on a mattress that you would almost mistake for a blanket. ( The bathroom is a hole in the ground much like the French ones near the highway and shower = bucket). I’m not frowning, it’s actually part of the experience of being here: seeing how real people live. Shortly after falling asleep, we watched a movie on his laptop so we would go to bed late and be able to sleep in the bus, we were awoken by the call that told us they’d pick us up in 30 minutes.
29/12
Exhausted and comfortable in the best seats of the bus ( we were the 2nd they picked up) I slept for most of the 12-hour-way. Upon arrival we were bombarded with enthusiasts to relieve us from some money but Jordi, Mika’s best friend and a couch surfer ( CS-er) like us, sent her friend to haggle with a tuk tuk for us that took us to her place. Tuk tuk or badjadge are these hilarious mini taxis with 3 rather small wheels. We were welcomed by her family with a coffee ceremony ( I actually tried some to be polite) in Jordi’s wine bar. She makes mango- and date-wine and so. Really nice simple people.
After talking for a while some French girls in need of a place to sleep contacted her so we went to pick them up and then enjoyed delicious pasta in a no-nonsense bar near lake Tana. Jordi seems to host loads of people (all voluntarily), she’s undoubtedly the most charming guide of Bahir Dar and clearly knows where to take her guests.
30/12
After a rather cold night ( we had only brought one blanket and the French were using Jordi’s) and the purchase of a 120 birr camera+ film we set out to see the famous
We wanted to cook for Jordi and her family ( all 8 of them excl. us 2) to thank them for their hospitality so set out to make a vegan meal. They are Ethiopian Orthodox so they fast ( no animal products whatsoever) up to Ethiopian Christmas. Cooking for 11 people ( a new Russian CS-er arrived) on a small charcoal fire is definitely another of those ‘real people’ experiences. It took us forever.
31/12
The early bird catches the worm and we caught a little boat with some other tourists to see some of the breathtaking monasteries built on the islands of lake Tana and the source of the
Really amazing: seeing as people are often illiterate the Bible is depicted on the walls of these hut-like monasteries in a very colourful manner. One of the islands didn’t allow women whilst another one was run by them. We passed people from the islands travelling in actual papyrus boats which still resemble the ones used in ancient
1/1
After breakfast we said our goodbyes and set course for our short pit stop in the
2/1
Yes short night because at 5 am we were at the bus station to catch a bus up to
The last part of the ride, in a 2nd bus, was plagued by drunk people in uniform but I was warned by the people of the previous bus and Mika told me to duck on time when they more or less started fighting before being thrown out… ( another one of those ‘real people’ experiences?) We took a nice hotel this time where I was immediately charged more for my food because of my skin coloured but I did enjoy the nice clean on suite bathroom with hot shower!
3/1
After a really tasty breakfast_ some strange kind of porridge that was firm with beriberi ( a spice), scrambled eggs with veggies, fresh yoghurt and as the cherry on the cake fresh ‘ sprice’ juice obviously_ we set out to see the archaeological sites dotted around the town.
My heart almost stopped beating when we realised it was Sunday and saw the tourist office where we were supposed to buy our entrance tickets was closed: we came all this way and wouldn’t see the sites? Luckily the small office leading to the stelae field was open and even allowed me ‘habisha’( opposite of Faranji = native) price when I old her I worked in Addis: 8 birr in stead of 50. Pretty impressive, some of the highlights included: a stele dated from the 3rd century that weighs 500 ton and measures 33m still lying where it fell on top of the underground tomb with incredible masonry that you can actually access for a certain king Remhai. Furthermore a trilingual inscribed tablet ( Sabaean (pre-Amharic), Geez ( religious language using Sabaean alphabet but differently) and Greek) still lying where it was placed in the 4th century -unmoved seeing as it says anyone who moves it will meet an untimely death! And the unexcavated leftovers of what they presume was a palace where they made a cosy outside bar with pool table. Next to the thing that looks like a bench but was actually a table used to clean corpses. All this within walking distance of the rock hewn tomb for a 6th century king. Oh and before I forget there’s also the church (that doesn’t allow women) where the original arc of the covenant is said to be kept- I saw from afar the outside building with the curtains that cover it- but lost much of my frustration when I heard nobody is allowed to see it anyways! We forgot about lunch and then really binged for dinner. I’m actually starting to appreciate injeera more especially he meals which include a little bit of everything with meat, a bit of everything with veggies, etc. There’s also a chickpea sauce called ‘shiro’ which is pretty tasty. Our trip to the bus station ( I had to start making my way back the next day to restart work with Aaron) taught us we only had to be there at 7.
4/1
At 7:20 I wake up surprised. Ten minutes later and without brushing my teeth I was outside with all my luggage and in a tuk tuk. No need for the hurry ‘cause the bus we took to Addis only arrived at 10:20 and then still had to change tires… This when the people kept telling us it would be there any minute now and seeing as there are no numbered space you don’t leave ‘cause a bad place on the bus is hell. So without breakfast we got on but most of the places were already taken by previous stop customers and so we were stuck in the back row with 4 other people various suitcases and a puking and peeing but still rather cute baby. There was no space even to have your arms beside you and we kept slaloming on mountains without there being a decent road… We saw various deadly looking car accidents on the side of the road and thus gratefully accepted the priests gift of holy Debre Damos soil. We were under the impression we’d arrive at Dessie ( more then halfway to Addis) and then sleep there to arrive at Addis before noon the next day so you can imagine our surprise when at 16 the bus pulled over in Mekale and didn’t leave again! From there it would be hard to even make it to Addis the next day =(
Anyway Mekale is quite charming and has a nice market know for the arrivals of caravans of camels with salt where I bought a traditional ‘Ntela’ after being better at haggling then Mika.
5/1
All day on the bus, past Dessie into ‘muslim ville’ around 17:30. One street big but fortunately with a clean hotel and a place with wonderful samosas (here called sambusas), you know those Indian fried triangle shaped pastries. The vomiting ceremony repeated itself various times and I had a hard time trying not to join them. Why didn’t I take a flight from
6/1
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