Hi everyone. So, on arrival into Ethiopia I find out that the
government has blocked the blogspot website for political reasons. Not
very conducive to being able to keep a blog! :(
So, now I'm in the lovely nippy and brisk Dublin I shall update you all on the beginnings of my journey...
After
the pleasantness of Singapore Airlines my first flight with Lufthansa was
a rather large letdown. Arrived in Frankfurt and spent the next 6 & 1/2 hours
waiting for my next flight. Good chance to catch up on some reading
and a little sleep. We boarded a very snow-covered plane and it was
blizzard-like outside at the time. Interesting. I've been in snow, but never in a plane covered in it!
So, now began another 4 hours of waiting on the tarmac for the plane to take off - yes that's right, 4hrs!
The pilot crew were waiting for a de-icing truck to arrive, then a passenger decided they were too ill to fly so paramedics had to be called on to get them off the plane and their baggage found and unloaded. By that stage about 3 hours had passed by and the pilot then advised us they'd had no response from the control tower and no-one seemed to know where the de-icing truck was or how long away it would be! Thankfully I had a lovely german gentleman sitting next to me though, so we passed the time talking, him practising his english (which was good) and trying to teach me some german (not so good ;P but many laughs) and the 4 hours seemed to fly by.
Finally the de-icing truck arrived and shortly after we were finally on our way. The pilot put the pedal to the metal and we somehow caught up an hour in the air.
Arrived at Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia with poor Malcolm having waited for the last 3 hours for me!
Short version of my 2 & 1/2 weeks in Ethiopia (see photo blog also):-
It's their dry season, so winter, which means sunshine, late 20's during the day and cool at night - beautiful. Definitely the type of climate I could get used to ;)
Addis Ababa is the largest and capital city of Ethiopia. Over the last 30 years or so there's been a massive urban drift so the city is VERY overcrowded and impoverished. There is wealth here, but it is amongst the few rather than the norm and most live below the poverty line. There is little to no sanitation throughout the city, in which 8 million (?I think that's how many Malcs said there were) people live. In saying that though, I think we could learn a few things from their culture. Despite their poverty they are very proud of their culture and country (especially the fact that despites other countries' best efforts they have never been conquered) and they walk round with their heads held high and look you in the eye when they talk to you. They all walk around like ballet dancers - straight-backed, heads held high, confident.
The terrain of Ethiopia was a lot different to what I thought it would be. It's definitely not a desert, nor a jungle, the two different pictures I had in my mind of what Africa was like. People in the city do not live in huts but rather in buildings, if they have the money to do so. Rents here have skyrocketed and for a lot of people their home is a small building made from wood, dung/grass cladding mix, and corrugated iron; a shelter the size of a dog kennel made from corrugated iron, or worse still, just on the side of the street or highway or wherever they decide to park themselves up for the night. We are very blessed to live in New Zealand...
The terrain here is kind of similar to Southland/Central Otago/Australia. There's rolling hills and eucalyptus trees galore, the grass is like the mountain grass in Central and their hills are rocky with red volcanic earth. Addis is 2,500 metres above sea level so the air is thin.
I stayed with my friends, the Piries, at the Bingham Academy SIM mission school base. It was weird to be living in a compound with high concrete fences with barbed wire on top all around and guards at the gate. In saying that though, Ethiopia is the only African country I'm aware of where Christians, Orthodox and Muslims live side by side without war. It is an example to others that it is possible to live peaceably with each other. Although the fact the Orthodox people hold most of the governmental power here I think may play a big part in it...
So, I spent my time helping out where I could, which consisted of helping Beck out at home (although that was minimal as they employ a local home helper to help out with the daily chores of the household. I helped sort out and organise the Home School library which houses all the teaching materials for those families stationed down country who have to homeschool their children. And I also helped with the Kindergarteners in the Christmas play. I was so amazed with how much 4-6 year olds could memorise - they did soooo well!!
We went for a visit through the Katherine Hamlin Fistula Hospital and on the last Sunday I was there we went out to Desde Menders which is out in the countryside and is the place for long-term care of Fistula patients who have not completely recovered from their injuries. It is a mostly self-sustained place with their own dairy, chickens/eggs, huge vege gardens (they sell the veges to the local supermarkets) and lodging. Amazing place actually and the countryside is such a contrast to the city. Lovely.
Had one of the locals take me on a tour round the city, its museums and up to Entoto (high point of the city at 3,200 metres) where I got a great view of the city.
On the last Saturday there the Piries and I went with one of the other Bingham teachers to a local Ethiopian school and had a look round and helped teach a little English to some of the kiddies - it was great. And the kids are sooo eager to learn. If only NZ kids had the same tenacity for learning...
I learnt some simple Amharic during my time here, like yes and no, etc. It is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn - up there with Mandarin. Also, 'oww' means 'yes' here and 'aye' means 'no' which was always a point of confusion with me since in Scottish 'aye' means yes lol!
The main staple food of Ethiopia is Injera. It's made from Teff flour (doesn't contain gluten, yey!) and the texture is similar (though not the same) to a pancake. It has a taste all of its own, kind of sour-ish.
They eat it with 'Watt' which is the Amharic word for pretty much any sort of sauce that is eaten with Injera. It can be everything from a spicy dhal-type watt to one with bits of chicken and eggs in it. One Watt I have not tried however, and will NEVER try - they make one out of raw mince - yes that's right, raw! Not only that, but they don't worm their livestock here. Mmm yum, ringworm and salmonella anyone.....They also eat 'Tibs' with it which is just stir-fried meat with chillies - yum! The whole thing is very tasty, I even bought some of the Berbere spice that they make them with - yum yum! :)
So they lay the Injera out, put the different types of Watt on top and then use another roll of Injera to pull apart and eat it with. Always only use your right hand though - the left is for other things!...
And the strawberries! They are soooo cheap here and are some of the best ever tasted! So, two large punnets at home may cost between $7-$12; here you pay 6 Birr which is equivalent to about NZD 50 cents!!! One night we had a colander of them sitting on the table for dessert and just munched away - I swear I must've eaten a punnetful myself! YUMMMMM!!!!
All in all I really enjoyed my time here and after being in such a rush before I left NZ it was a great chance to relax a bit and get my head around things before embarking on the rest of my trip. And I met some really lovely and wonderful people. Now, on to the UK...
Arrived in Heathrow to discover that it takes 45 mins to an hour to get to Gatwick airport - not 25 mins as originally thought, which meant I would miss my flight to Dublin - doh! Thankfully the service people at Heathrow and AerLingus were very helpful and I managed to change my flight to Heathrow airport (at an extra 63 pound mind you!) And then the waiting began...
So our flight was meant to leave at 1045. At 1045 we were told the flight was 20 mins late coming in. Once it arrived we were told it'd be another 40 mins due to a mechanical issue (the fourth AerLingus plane that day to be grounded for a 'mechanical issue' - interesting that they're part of the same alliance as Air New Zealand...), and then after those 40 mins we were informed we'd be waiting up to another hour. Of course, once all was sorted out mechanically, the pilots had then been on the clock too long so we had to wait for new pilots to arrive lol.... On the bright side, I had many discussions with many and varied lovely Irish people (I still think the Irish have the MOST AMAZING accent in the world!)
So, here I am in Dublin - woops! not Dublin, Delgany (it's a small town about an hour from Dublin and is NOT part of the city - do not get mixed up, locals don't like it! lol)
Sooooo great to see Lizzee again! She's working here with a family as an Aupair and they've kindly let me stay for the weekend. The O'Neills are a lovely family with three children. It's bitterly cold here. Clear sunny day today, cold as Central Otago but with a Dunedin sea wind to cut through you - brrr!!! The puff jacket, woolley hat, woolley socks, thermals and gloves DEFINITELY coming in handy!
It's snowing heavily in parts of Ireland at the moment and more is forecast for the weekend, so Lizzee's going to show me the sights and sounds of Dublin and surrounding area rather than any roadtrip adventures further afield as getting stuck or lost or having an accident in a tiny rental car on a country road in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Ireland in ice and snow is not really our idea of fun ;P It will be great to get to meet the locals and experience the culture that is Ireland. What will be up to you ask?... Well I guess you'll just have to wait and see.... Til next time, take care and catch you soon
Love and blessings to you all,
Mel xoxo :D
