Should be a short blog. Two weeks back in Addis after my travels in the North. Nothing major happening; just enjoying suburban life. Have been only once to Dimma for a Tej. A nice chat with the manager.
Went to buy some beef one day and the butchers was being cleaned. The next day I had my exact money ready and the price had gone up by nearly 2gbp per kilo….moral of the story is that if you the place being cleaned, then expect a price rise !!! Meat is bloody expensive at just under 10gbp per kilo.
Sat 5th … I walked to Adam’s Pavilion to meet a good friend of Chrissie’s for a coffee. Sun 6th…did a touristy visit to big St George’s church at Piazza. Got to Mexico and had to walk the rest of the way (mainly uphill) as the roads were closed to traffic – I understood ‘zig new’ !! Sign at the church saying you had to have a ticket to take photos….not that exciting; took a couple of sneaky photos and walked back..at least downhill. Gave up on the idea of going to the National Museum…too tired to do more walking. Had to wait ages for a matatu at Mexico.
Mon 7th. To tourist information at Meskel to talk about travel options around the country. On to the Hilton to change my return UK travel date from Mombasa from 10 June to some time in Aug. Not able to as no flights on Ethiopian to the UK, but told I could do it anytime as it’s a one year ticket. Walked backed to Mexico; had already walked from Bisrate Gebriel (home) as I had picked rush hour to leave in the morning and all the transport was full. At least I learned it only just over an hour to walk all the way to the city centre. Still, I was tired at the end of it.
10th. Back to the Hilton to book a flight to Djibouti. Decided on Dire Dawa to Djibouti and Djibouti back to Addis….and reserved the flights. Walked to de Leopold hotel to take a few pics to remind Carkey of where he stayed many years ago. He probably wouldn’t have recognised the place as it had been completely renovated. Back to the house and decided to try booking my flights on line as the lady at the Hilton said there would be a 10% cost saving. Well I saved 50gbp…more like 20%. My account was being charged 158gbp but no confirmation from Eth airlines. Thought I would have to go back to the Hilton….but overnight my tickets were sent by email.
Fri 11th ..I needed to apply for an EVisa. Meant reserving a hotel room in Djibouti city. Then had to go to a cyber cafe to print off the flight and hotel bookings to upload for the EVisa application. And a picture of Me. At one point I accidentally uploaded a Gregory Isaacs album cover…..that would certainly have confused the authorities !! Somewhat stressful but I managed in the end. Sunday I went back into the City to buy a bus ticket to Dire Dawa. Got back in time to miss the torrential downpour. Tables were being laid out at Meskel square for a celebration of the inauguration of the reopening of the Square….it did happen, but presumably not until the next day.
So, everyday life…..shopping/cooking/pubbing !! Have met up at the Red Lion pub with a fun group of local teachers. Have learned a local custom on how to greet friends. When a friend walks into the room the person sitting, half stands up and gives a little bow and says ‘norr’ . The person entering, responds with ‘bagsir’ ….which means something like..by the grace if God..very approx translation !! Had a bit of fun getting to grips with that.
After the rain stopped in the late afternoon and Dereje reported for duty, I went to the local bar for a few jambos and to watch England play their opening European championship game. On the way back to the house I had a haircut.