What a great trip this has been so far! The first day here
has certainly been the best since I had a chance to explore the city all day.
When I woke up in the morning, I was in a compound somewhere in Addis rather
helpless. Luckily Claudio, my couch surfing host turned landlord for my stay
here, asked Genet (the maid/cook) to show me around a little bit before I was
set off on my own. Of course I couldn’t start the day though without a proper
Ethiopian breakfast! She made me ….. and eggs, which is basically Injera that's
shredded up into small pieces and cooked with tomatoes, onions, and burbere
(pepper and butter mixture). To wash it all down was I was provided with
freshly roasted coffee, which was truly phenomenal, though they drink it here
with SO MUCH SUGAR!
Off to see the city we went. First Genet showed me the
important spots right near the house – the grocery store, the fruit shop, and the internet café. She was supposed to
show me how to get to work, but that must have been lost in translation. I
decided to head back to the house and use my dictionary to try and ask her to
show me on the map where we were, but I was out of luck!
My directions to get to the house are as follows:
From the main road take a left after the internet café.
Take your first right
Stay straight when you see the little shop on your left
Take a left when you see a cell tower
Left at the large pile of dirt
Arrive at the green gate, knock, and show Salesh (the
guard/grounds keeper) that you’re friendly!
The compound:
Well, I’ve found a place to live it looks like! Before I go
on to tell you about the adventures that ensued I figure it’d be nice to have
an idea what the place looks like.
First pit stop was the internet café to send off a message
that I’d arrived and all was well. From there I walked toward what looked like
the busy area of the city to take care of business before starting work.
The goal: become acquainted with Addis, buy a cellphone and
sim card, eat some Ethiopian food, find out how to get to work, and of course try
to meet some locals!
I have to say, I really did have the best first day I could
have asked for. This couldn’t have been possible with Woadesen, a 19 year old
Ethiopian guy I met while walking into town. We became friends almost
immediately, laughing over our challenges as we used a combination of sign
language, Amharic, and English to communicate. He had just hopped out of a
minibus when I happened to ask him for directions to get to the ECA (Economic
Commission on Africa). He was a decently dressed 19 year old with this crazy
hairstyle…..it was like a Mohawk, but from left to right and in the form of a
“fro wall”. I’ve never seen anything like it!
It made the world of a difference to have a local hanging out with me,
telling me about life in the city, and explaining a bit about how things really
were here in Addis. He mentioned that he lived close to the ECA and would walk
me there, but by the time we got there he wanted to keep chatting! At this
point I was actually a bit worried to be honest, because Claudio had just
mentioned to be 2 hours beforehand not to get to friendly with students, as
they will show you around the city and then demand money from you. It was hard
to navigate that discussion with him without making an ass of myself, but I
think it went over well because next thing I knew we were in the Merkato!
After some fuss and confusion, I got a cell phone and we
were back on track. Next up was to find a sim card but they are apparently
cheaper in his district of town which is called Kazanches….. This area was
lovely, with tons of character and a general feeling of relaxation. At this
point we had been hanging out for a few hours and it was really time to get a
bite to eat. I figured naïvely Woadesen would have a favorite place but he
explained that he was very poor and had never been to a restaurant before BUT
he knew of a local place that everyone said served great meat! First day and of
course it’s time to eat meat in a local section of the town. We’d walked by a
few meat shops at this point, which was a classic 8’ by 3’ stall slabs of meat hanging
in the brutal sun covered in flies. I knew the national dish was Kifto, simply
slabs of raw meat served with burbere, so I warned him I can’t eat that since I
decided I’d do my best to steer clear of tape worm at least for the first few
days! Nevertheless, he ordered at the butcher stand and before I knew it there
was a huge platter of raw meat served up. Luckily I was able to convince the
waiter to take it back and bring us tibs instead, which I felt a bit bad about,
but my was it worth it! The food was amazing! I mean so simple, just bits of
fatty meat cut into small chunks, heavily seasoned with S&P, and grilled
over a piping hot wood fire. They serve it up in a hour glass shaped cast iron
concoction, with meat on the top and coals on the bottom. The meal wouldn’t be
complete without a huge mound of Injera to go with it. We ate like kings, and
boy were we satisfied.
At this point, Woadesen insisted I meet his mother, whom he
lived with only a few minutes walk away. How could I resist? A chance to hang
out with a really nice local family on the first day! Next thing I know, we
walked into a very old rickety door built into a dirt wall that’s about 15 feet
high. First there’s a small dirt courtyard that's probably 2’ x 5’ where there
was a chicken with a leash on it’s foot hanging out there! Then another small
rickety partial door and a step down led into the house. The main room was
probably half the size of our kitchen, with a bit of old beat up furniture.
Against the wall in the far end was a bed that he and his mom shared. The place
was very dark and dingy, but the people were so wonderful you couldn’t help but
be joyous! They were so kind and asked me to sit and relax and after a few
minutes of chatting she offered to make us some coffee. It was a thrilling
experience to see how this is done on a regular basis in a ‘local persons house
in the city. They had a small back room that was basically pitch black where I
think a bit of the cooking is done and the food is kept. I wanted to explore,
but also didn’t want to be intrusive so I held back. Back into the main room
she came, with a little gas stove and a cloth filled with a handful of dull
looking raw coffee beans. First we light up the stove, and then we place a
small round metal try on top, perhaps about the size of a dinner plate. Then go
the beans! Water is pored over them and they get mixed around and ‘cook’ in the
water for a minute or two. Then, the beans are pushed to the side to steam a
bit and a little water here and there from the center of the plate is placed on
the beans. Keep in mind at this point it’s all done by hand right on the plate!
Finally the water is pored off and it’s time for the roasting to start! Here we
upgraded to a small medal rod to help stir the beans as things really heated
up. I must say, the coffee aromas were absolutely delightful! I wish you were
there to smell it! At this point, Woadesen had went next door and brought over
one of his school friends Kerubel to join for coffee. His English was so much
better and made communicating much much easier. He took the roasted coffee into
the courtyard in a mortar and pestle and beet it to a pulp while the chicken
scavenged around for coffee bean scarps. At this point I became a bit worried
because I realized I was going to be drinking the local water in the coffee but
hoped brewing the coffee would kill of anything harmful. The coffee was so
black and rich, though sadly the flavor was masked by sugar and sugar and did I
mention sugar? In a little espresso they put in two huge heaping teaspoons so
to me it’s blindingly sweet. I tried to convince them I was OK without sugar,
but they insisted. After 3 rounds of
coffee, it was time to head home cause I was beat. I had been adventuring at this
point from 8:30-4:00 and was ready to head back and try out my cold shower!
Later that night when I got back and showered up Claudio
invited me into the ‘hangout room’ next door with his wife and 2 Ethiopian
friends. Everyone was incredibly friendly and we hung out and chewed chat!
First day already jeez. Claudio and his wife retreated after about 30 minutes
but his friends Erick, Fidel, and another
brought me out to some fancy Ethiopian bar. It was such a surreal
experience to go from hanging out with Woadesen and his family to sitting in
some fancy Ethiopian bar drinking grey goose (they insisted and made it clear
it was on them). 2 drinkz later it was time for relatively bad friend chicken
then off for my first cold night in my room.
More to come!
Mark
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