Sept . 30 – Back to Addis Ababa

We left for the airport at 9:30 and arrived in Addis two hours late, as, due to bad weather, we had to make an additional stop to wait out the storm. We weren't sure if our messages had reached Frank, who was going to pick us up at the airport, and were a little concerned when we didn’t see him at the arrival terminal. We had no idea how to get to the house and didn’t have an address. We breathed a big sigh of relief when we spotted him in the downpour and made a dash to the taxi that he had taken to pick us up and take us back to the house. Ann had a full spread of sandwiches, hummus, cheeses, bread, and tomatoes waiting for us and we ate enough to over us for lunch and dinner. We spent what was left of the day just hanging out, relaxing and working on the blogs.

The following day Frank took us on the public mini bus, which was rather daunting, to the central market. Riding on the packed buses and walking through the downtown streets of Addis Ababa was a very harsh experience . A sense of seediness permeated the whole area and I’ve never seen so many maimed and diseased people sitting or lying on the sidewalks begging for help. It’s a side of life that we hadn’t really witnessed to any great degree and it certainly made us appreciative of what a great life we are so fortunate to be living.

The market place was huge and crowded with everything imaginable being sold. We spent an hour or so roaming through the narrow streets, dodging in and out of shops to avoid the rain, and, finally, stopped for a coffee before heading back to the house. We certainly gained a new respect for Frank and Ann’s dedication to living in this difficult country where the electricity goes out daily and the poverty is rampant. I know I surely don’t have what it takes to live this lifestyle.

That evening, to thank them for taking care of us during our visit, we took them out to a great restaurant that they recommended and the food was, in fact, fabulous . We had a lovely time dining and visiting until late into the evening.

Ann was hoping to take us to visit her school the next day but, after she received a phone call from one of her staff, advising us that most of the streets would be closed due to a huge religious festival that was happening that day, we decided not to go. This turned out to be a wise decision as the events that transpired on Oct. 2 were very sad and could have been extremely dangerous, had we been there. An estimated 2 million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival in the town of Bishoftu, in the Oromia region, where Ann’s school is located and which is, also, one of Ethiopia’s most politically sensitive areas. Some of the crowd started chanting slogans against the government and shouting demands for wider freedoms as they pressed towards the stage where the religious leaders were speaking. Some of them were throwing rocks and plastic bottles and the police responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd . As people started to flee, it is estimated that 52 people were crushed to death in the stampede.  It was a horrible thing and Ann was pretty shaken up by the news.

This was our last day and we spent it quietly, just hanging out, visiting and packing our things and getting ready for our departure the next morning to Nairobi. After a final wonderful dinner at the house, Frank took us out to one of the more popular restaurants that had nightly shows of traditional Ethiopian dance. The most famous, Eskista, the meaning of which is "dancing shoulder", is performed by both men and women and is known for its unique emphasis on intense shoulder movement. The dance is characterized by rolling and bouncing the shoulder blades and thrusting out the chest. The com[plex nature of Eskista makes it one of the most highly technical forms of traditional dance. We were completely mesmerized by the music and the incredible movements of the dancers and wondered how many of them ended up with shoulders or necks being thrown out of wack. I also speculated that Michael Jackson may have used this energetic traditional Ethiopian dance as a model for some of his moves.

This final taste of Ethiopian culture was a great way to end our visit that couldn’t have been more different, in every respect, from the glamorous, opulent, and bustling cities of Prague and Vienna. It had been an experience of a lifetime and, even though much of it had been so harsh to witness, I wouldn’t have missed this opportunity to experience a whole other world for anything.

Frank took us to the airport the next morning and we were off to another big adventure….Africa, two safaris and two home exchanges.