Addis Ababa - May 2 - 4

Family & Friends

First of all, Happy Birthday to those of you who celebrated Bdays in the last 2 days (Reid, Samantha, & Tiff).

We arrived in Addis late on Saturday night. Addis wasn't as dark as we expected, so we didn't need our windy flashlights or headlamps. The hotel is interesting (we hope that Jenn & Dani get over their bug phobia sometime soon). The power went off on the first day - no showers for some of us. We did a lot of interesting things on Sunday: visited the Ethiopian National Museum to see Lucy (as exciting as we thought it would be); willed Alexis to get over her stomach issues (minor, don't worry (Fanta fixed it)); had indigenous food for lunch at the Ghion restaurant (601 birr, the most expensive in the city. Works out to ~ 8 USD each (7 ppl)); walked though the gardens of Ghion where there were several weddings taking place, each with their own music and celebrations (Melissa pounded out a beat of her own on a rawhide drum), some traditional some modern, all elaborate; and we drove up to 3000 m above sea level to view Addis from the sky and to see an Ethiopian Orthodox church. Later in the evening we "enjoyed" Ethiopian wine by candle light on our private balcony (no jokes!), then some of us had a good sleep (not including Dani or Melissa).

For breakfast this morning we walked the streets alone for the first time (no right of way for pedestrians - don't worry we made it!) to find a fruit stand for breakfast (peel food only). It was very enjoyable. We also got some toast from the hotel (Amanda thoroughly enjoyed the marmalade). This morning we went to the embassy. It was very strict - no picture or bags inside - but it was nice to be back on Canadian soil.

Monday in Addis is crazy to say the least - 10X as many vehicles as compared to Sunday. No traffic lights or lanes or right of way, its amazing there isn't more carnage on the roads (we have pics & videos of the chaotic "traffic circles"). Our drivers, Aboyot and Obeshike, are the sweetest guys ever and get us where we need to go. While they wait for us, they hold hands, which is very common in Ethiopia - a symbol of great friendship. We, the women, love this!! We think boys back home should be able to open hold hands with their best buddies instead of burping and farting over beer (MATT!). The difficult thing about being stuck in traffic is the beggars who come to our windows. Mostly they are women with babies, little children, or amputees. Because we are white they are fairly persistent and its hard to turn them away. We try to keep small change on us for the particularly vulnerable looking, but we can't help everyone. Its tough to roll up the window and look away. The other difficult thing about traffic is the fumes, exhaust, and smog. We definitely are feeling the pollution in our throats and eyes. In that respect we are happy to be leaving for a more rural part of the country.

The last thing we did today was visiting the piazza and merkato (a street with lots of shops). We scoped out souvenirs that we are going to purchase on our way back (expect Alexis and Melissa couldn't contain themselves and may have gotten hosed at the merkato! Expect gifts from these two). There were leather jackets, jewelry, scarves, clothes, wood cravings, art, etc, etc. So much to see and want.

Tomorrow we head to Awassa. It will be exciting to drive through the Rift Valley (for 5 hours!!). We should have access to internet there, so keep checking our blog!

Take care (we are!). Lots of love

Amanda, Dani, Michelle, Jenn, Melissa, and Alexis!

Driving the streets of Addis