Can’t Look, Can’t Not Look

Like a horrendous accident, when I saw this I was both freakishly drawn to repeated looks and yet immediately had to turn away once I did look.

So, now that I look at it 2 dimensions, it is really not THAT bad, but…

We were in the gas station in Shashemene (Shashamane, Shashemane or Sheshemane-however you spell it).  I was busy scratching the bug bites on my ankles until there was flesh bits under my fingernails.  Out of my peripheral vision, I semi-looked out the passenger window.  And saw this!!

 This is what went through my mind: Holy crap!  What was that?  What is stuck in his nose?  OK, maybe it is just a tissue from a bloody nose.   Look again.  Quick look away.  Nope.  Omigod.  That was not a tissue.  What was it?  Look again.  Yuck!!!  Look away.  I said Look Away NOW!  Now swallow the reflux that is stuck in the back of your throat.   Look again.  I said look again.  Don’t be a chickensh1t about this and just look, you big wuss.  Why do you listen to yourself?  LOOK AWAY and NEVER NEVER NEVER look back.   I think it is an onion.   Or maybe a clove of garlic. Why would you stick an onion up your nose?   Why only one nostril?  Is this some kind of sicko Freak-out-the-Ferengi game these people play?  Look again.  LOOK AWAY.  Why can’t you listen to yourself?  I told me not to look, but then I looked.  Now you have reflux again.  You deserved that.  But, what the heck is in his nose?  And why is he laughing at me? 

So, I asked another person what was in his nose.  He said it was a piece of Ethiopian onion. He said it is used to treat sinus problems.

OK, I need a photo of this.  No one will believe my about onions up the nose if I don’t take a photo.  How the heck am I supposed to take a photo?  I can’t look at the guy long enough to wait for the autofocus on the camera to work.  But, I NEED the photo.

So, I lamed out and asked someone else to take the photo for me.  The gas station owner thought it was the funniest thing that I wanted a photo of him with an onion up the nose.  Oh yes, my dear companion HAD to go into the fruit store, talk to the guy to get him to come back outside, explain why we needed a photo (the Ferengi is freaking out inside the truck about the onion in your nose, Sir) and THEN take the photo.  Nope, he couldn’t just snap a covert pic for me and get the heck out of there.

Then, I had the digital photo of the guy with the onion up his nose.  Same thing happened.  I looked at the photo and then quick had to turn the camera off.  But, I was intrigued how you could fit a whole section of onion up your nose so I had to look again.  YIKES.  I had to look away.  Repeat 3x.  One time with super zoom on the camera image.

The red/purple Ethiopian onions are pretty small, a little larger than a big head of garlic.  However, now I think it was garlic up his nose. 

When I was at the Merkato, I saw an old woman with garlic up both nostrils.  Fortunately, I was 2 weeks wiser (and had been teased by my designated onion-in-the-nose photographer mercilessly) by this point and once I saw her, I immediately turned and walked down another section of the market NEVER to return to look at her again.

So, I don’t know what the point of sharing this was.  Except, I want someone else’s mind to be filled with this image too.  Also, since I can no longer buy Sudafed after 8 pm in my town (when the pharmacy closes) nor more than one package per month, I need to put this in my mental Filofax about what to do if I have sinus congestion at 2 am on a Saturday night.

Billboard - Holyland Beer

I took quite a few pics of the various signs I saw.  I’ve decided to periodically post these signs to break up my long-winded monologues.

Today’s sign: Welcome to the Holyland.  Enjoy our beer.

The photo was taken in Lalibela.  That is the city with the rock hewn churches.  Birthplace of Christianity and all that.  I guess since the beer is named after St. George, slayer of dragons, it is an appropriately religious beverage.

Those Kodak Moments

When we visited my son’s family in Shinshicho, a lot of candid photos were taken…  Here is a nice montage of my face in those shots. 

No, there weren’t any bugs down my shirt.  No, I wasn’t getting booked at the Shinshicho police station.  No, I wasn’t on a Chat high. No, the 8 Pepto tablets hadn’t just kicked in.   That’s just me…assuring my son’s family that I am an excellent parent and they should not be worried about his future with me.

I wish I could say I clipped out the worst/most dramatic of the bunch.  I didn’t.  This is what the photos look like. 

Some unsolicited advice:  Make sure you take a couple posey pictures with your child’s family.  Don’t forget to keep your 2nd and 3rd chins tucked in.  And, check your digital camera playback before you leave!

Commercial Break

Sorry to interrupt this blog for a braggin’ photo, but it has to be done.

Are these the cutest kids ever or what?!!

Taking Your Other Kids to Ethiopia

One of the more frequent requests I get is for my opinion on whether families should take their other kids with them when they go to Ethiopia to pick up their new child(ren).

So, here is my opinion only. Obviously, it is based on knowing neither your family’s dynamics nor your children’s temperaments. Also, I only have experience with the CHSFS guesthouse and organization. If you are with a different agency, you’ll have to check with parents from that one.  Also, of course, answers are based on you having the finances available not to struggle to pay for tickets.

1. Should I take them?

Children 12 and older: They should go. First of all, if your family is in the position to be adopting children, you probably assume you did OK with the kids you already have. These kids will definitely benefit from going. If you think your kid won’t appreciate the trip or will be a whiner/drama queen, then maybe s/he needs the trip even more. Kids really are resilient and generally live up to your expectations of them.

Children 9-11: This depends on the kid’s personality. Some are mature enough to handle it, some are not. If the child is actively involved in the adoption process, has learned about Ethiopia and has no significant emotional/behavior issues, it should turn out fine.

Children 5.5-8: Take them. They are sponges. They are open to new experiences. They will be excellent catalysts for transitioning your new child(ren) into the family.

Children 4-5.5: Only take them if they are mature and have experience with travel.

Children 3 and under: I wouldn’t take them unless I was staying for an extended period (more than 2 weeks). It is just too much transitioning/schedule adjusting for younger kids. They won’t be able to remember the experience anyway.

Multiple Kids:  All those above statements were written assuming you had one child to take.  If you have more than 1 kid, that’s going to be a decision you really have to make on your own based on the vacations you’ve already taken as a family.

2. Where should I stay?

Depends.

If the guesthouse is not going to be crowded (4 or less families), stay there. It is convenient and you are well-cared for by the staff.

If the guesthouse is going to be full, I don’t know. One of the downfalls of going to the Hilton is that the majority of the guests I saw were white and the area is wealthy. You are a bit isolated from real Ethiopia when you are hustled to and fro in a taxi. But on the flip side, a guesthouse with 12 families will likely be chaotic with a high demand for flexibility.

If you do stay at the Hilton, it might be challenging to explain to your kids that your Ethiopian child’s family was too poor to care for them when their memory of Ethiopia is a swimming pool, satellite TV, lush gardens and room service. 

For me, the guesthouse stay was amazing.  The other families are truly what made me stay so great.  BUT, there were only 2 other families at the guesthouse.  I am quite sure we would’ve had a completely different experience with 10 families (and 19 kids) staying at the guesthouse at the same time.

3. Food

My parenting philosophy on food is “if you don’t like what I cook, you can eat cereal or wait till the next meal.” Therefore, I don’t have too much sympathy for kids (or adults) who whine about the food.

If you really need American food, there are pizza restaurants everywhere. Arcobaleno’s is just past the turn to the Care Center. Go there and eat your pizza, lasagna or steak if you need to. Otherwise, get a taxi and tell them to take you to a supermarket for foreigners.

If you are going to bring snacks from home, the ones that worked best for us were the South Beach granola bars. They don’t taste very good, but they are compact, high in protein and moderate in carbs. It was good to hold over my son when he woke 2 hours before breakfast time or during a car trip. Also, I took some store brand Crystal Light powder mix. It was a nice low-cal alternative to drinking water and soda. For the road trips, it made the warm water we had in the vehicle more palatable.

4. What else?

Your vehicle windows will be knocked on by beggars. Be very sure your kids are prepared for that. Some of the beggars are mothers with babies on their backs. Some are kids leading blind grandparents around. Some are crippled people crawling on the street between lanes of traffic. I’m not going to advise you on how to talk to your kids about that, but I don’t think you should hide the reality from them. Whether you choose to give money to beggars or not is your choice. If I had my 6-year old with me, I would always carry a pocketful of change with me so I’d have a coin or two available for him to give to the beggars, though.

5. Not taking kids.

I planned to take him on the October trip but I had legal issues with my ex-husband that prevented me from doing so.  That was very disappointing for me since I know he would’ve had a great time. Even though he did not go, he has loved taking an Ethiopian item (only one per day, please) to his school to share with his classmates.

You could also make arrangements with your kid’s teacher to send some emails to share with the class while you are gone.   Letters from Addis can get to the midwest of US in 10-16 days .  You might be able to send a postcard the first day or two.

Cooking Injera

There is good injera, not-so-good injera and yucky injera.  I have been told by several Ethiopians that not all injera is created equal.  Theoretically, a food that only requires two ingredients should be easy to make, right?  That’s what I thought.  So, I decided to try it out for myself under the guidance of Emaye and Birtukan.  Of course, once all of the grown-up boys in the family saw that I was trying to make injera, they suddenly became Professor Injeras and gave me lots of tips.  For people who only watch Emaye and Birtukan make injera, they sure thought they were experts!!!

How to Make Injera

Supplies/Ingredients Needed:

• Teff
• Water
• Bucket/Large Bowl
• Injera paddle
• Injera Cooker (electric or fire)
• Ground Cabbage Seed
• Cloth
• Cup with pouring spout
• An Ethiopian Woman

On the evening of Day 1, mix teff and water until it is the consistency of wet concrete (or mashed potatoes).  Cover it and let it sit till the next day.

Day 2 morning, mix in more water till it is about 1/2 the consistency.  Cover and let sit till the next day.

Day 3 morning, pour off the water that is on the top.  It is yucky.  When you are ready to cook the injera, mix in hot (boiled) water until it is the consistency of thin pancake batter.

Now you are ready to cook.

To cook, heat up the injera cooker. 

Sprinkle a little bit of ground cabbage seed on the surface and wipe it with a cloth.  I think you are trying to either grind the flavor in to the surface or fill any miniscule cracks with the seed powder.

  

Using a spouted pouring device, pour the injera batter onto the cooker.  Start on the outside and swirl your way to the middle.  If you suck at this like I do, you can go back and fill in the holes.  Do this SPARINGLY.  Thick injera is yucky.

 

Put the cover on your cooker (metal cover if you have an electric cooker, reed/grass cover if you use a fire).  Wait till the steam dies down coming out the side.

  

Get your injera paddle (don’t know real name).  Lift the edge of the injera and scoot the paddle underneath it.  Transfer it to the top of your injera stack to cool.

Sprinkle the ground cabbage seed again and start over until you have enough injera to feed your family for 2 days.

When you are done, start your next batch of injera mix.

The hardest part for mewas getting the swirl done right.  (OK, I didn’t actually make the injera batter, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once, so I figure I can do it.)

I tried it several times.  I had very wiggly edges and big gaps between the concentric circular swirls.  At the point of giving up, I noticed I WAS NOT WEARING A SCARF!  Hello?  How are you supposed to make injera without wearing a scarf.  I quickly got a scarf on,  (and then later changed the direction of my swirl pouring from counter-clockwise to clockwise) and voila!  More wiggly edged, gapped injera.  But, at least I looked more like an Abesha girl when I was making it.

And, in the end, when your injera turns out bad, then you beg/plead with an Ethiopian woman to make it for you (or order it from an Ethiopian restaurant).

The Merkato

Let me preface all my comments with a little background.  I used to live in Chicago.  I think it is a nice place to visit,  but I hated living there.  I hated the people everywhere.  I hated the noise.  I now live in the “suburbs” of a city of 5600.  Suburbs means a subdivision 6 miles out of town.  My nearest neighbor is about 150 yards away.  My backyard is a 1400 acre State Park.

Now, with that being said, I hated the Merkato…and I went on a Friday.  I can’t imagine what it is like on a Saturday.  Now, when I say Merkato, I mean the gigantic big huge one.  It has a specific name, but I don’t remember what it is.  There are other smaller markets which I will mention a little bit afterwards.

The Merkato was not at all like I had imagined.  I’ve been to the main markets in several other African countries like Kenya, Swaziland, Mozambique.  This isn’t anything like it.  It is advertised as an “open air” market.  I thought that meant people bringing their stuff to an open plot of land and hocking their wares like they do at Craft Expos in the US or the markets in the other towns of Ethiopia (Hadero, Bahar Dar etc.)

The Merkato is actually several huge city blocks.  It is kind of like a strip mall setup.  But, instead of stores, there are small cubicles/storage rooms that open up.  During the day, the doors are opened and the goods are pushed out into the aisles.  At the end of the day, everything is brought back inside, the doors close and are locked.  All of these stores are under a permanent roof.  The “open air” description comes from, I think, there being no doors at the end of the aisles (or permanently fixed outer walls).

The sections of the Merkato are clumped by category.  So, you will see 10-20 construction materials stores/shop rooms next to each other.  A block or two over, you will find the clothing area.  It is kind of amazing how many shirts and pants they cram into one display area.  There are also areas for bolts of fabric, baby products, Ethiopian traditional clothes, Ethiopian crafts, foods, and the birthday decorations/hair accessories.  (Yes, when you are looking for mini-rubberbands if you want to have braids put in your hair, you should look for the cone-shaped birthday hats area.)

There were people EVERYWHERE.  Everyone wanted to talk to their sister (that would be me.)

The one area that did remind me of markets in other African countries was the foods stuff area.  (Keep in mind, this is NOT what the majority of the Merkato looks like.)  There you could find many women selling fired clay coffee sets, vegetables, butter, false banana, spices, live chickens and I don’t know what else.  In the photo above, you can see the seller.  The 46 in the upper right corner is her market stall number.  The cream colored stuff in the white bag is butter.  The hill of tan stuff is false banana.  The little packages to the left of the false banana is pre-packaged “False Banana To Go.”

However, if you can’t find something, just ask one of the vendors.  They will either go get it for you or direct you where to find it.  You might get lucky and find it on the first re-direction or you might need to ask a couple times.

Also, since there are SO many people selling the same thing in the same area, it is possible to get stuff for a very cheap price there.  I got a coffee pot, 6 cups and saucers and a serving tray for only 60 birr. 

These are the things that we got at the Merkato (you can find most of the stuff other places, too):

• Tsenastel (musical shaking device used in Orthodox ceremonies)
• Horse hair fly swatter
• Wooden crosses
• Clay coffee sets (and sugar/creamer dishes and coffee rings)
• Kitfo dishes
• Black socks
• Rubber bands
• Ethiopian dress for a 12-year old
• Samosa (lentil)

Also, the traffic situation there is horrendous.  Do not go at the end of the day when everyone is leaving.   There were two car crashes that jammed up traffic flow for many blocks. 

I did go to another market either in or near Koray (a part of town), pretty close to the ALERT hospital.  I liked that market so much better.  It was spread out more, less people, and (in my opinion) friendlier vendors.   It was smaller and there were less things to choose from, but a lot of what I wanted.  I think I may have had a better experience there because I was with my Emaye who was friends with some of the vendors.    See the photo below.  The gray buildings in the background also had shops inside.  There were many stalls on the right and left sides of this view.  Unfortunately, they didn’t make it into the viewfinder.  At this market, I got:

Plastic shoes

Coffee pot cooker

Made in China coffee set (like the Ethiopians use)

Injera circle (kinda like a woven pizza paddle)

Spices 

Keep in mind, that although I did not like the Merkato, I did like the other market I went to.  And, just because I didn’t like the hustle-bustle, tight quartered craziness of the Merkato, that doesn’t mean some of you non-claustrophobics out there wouldn’t love the atmosphere. 

American Boys Don’t Wear Pink Shoes

Plastic shoes are far from uncommon.  There are two main styles I noticed.  The thick-soled sandals and the jelly type.

Starting with the jellies.  Take a flashback to 1984 and you will immediately be able to envision them.  I saw these a lot in Lalibela.  It seemed that every priest there wore these shoes in the whitish translucent color.  Before entering an Orthodox church, you must remove your shoes.  (Ergo the photo of the jellies on the church steps!) They are inexpensive and a little bit dressy. I also saw some school boys wearing these in black. 

There is also the female version made with black plastic that looks a little bit like black flats.  They are more opaque though.  I saw these a LOT everywhere.

Even more common, I think, are the plastic slides/sandals.  They come in a rainbow of colors and look quite comfortable.  They appeared to be like the $20 shoes that are sold here.  I was told they only cost 16 ETB.  Hello?!  Of course I had to have some.  Not just for me, but for my boys too! 

So, I was on a mission to find us some shoes.  The shoes for me were relatively easy to find at shops along the street or at any market area.  I ended up with a simple pair in light blue. 

Then, we found a pair for my 2-year old.  They were actually clogs with a strap on the back and just slightly too big.  With socks, they seemed to be OK.  And he LOVED wearing them.  They came in beige.  I also found a pair of lime green ones as a gift for my friend’s daughter.

The mission to find shoes for my 6-year old was the most challenging.  Why?  I don’t know.  First of all, I didn’t know his European size (and there was no Internet computer at the market to look up a size conversion chart).  So, I accosted this poor boy who happened to be walking past. I kept saying, “his feet are the same size!” Nobody seemed to have a non-ugly style in size 27. 

Then, Lekneh found a pair…in bright Pepto pink. I said, “No Thanks.”  He asked what was wrong with them.  I said the style was fine but I didn’t want pink.  At the next stop, he once again found a pair and said, “These are very beautiful.”  Umm…they are pink.  And, my son is a boy. I told him again that I didn’t want pink.  Then the dreaded debate began.

Lekneh:  What’s wrong with pink?
Me: American boys don’t wear pink shoes.
Lekneh: Why not?  It is a good color.
Me:  Yes, it is a nice color.  But, American boys don’t wear pink.
Lekneh: Why?
Me: {Knowing I was going to regret saying this.} Because pink is only for girls in America.
Lekneh:  {Frustrated and disappointed look on his face}

We ended up with a pair of bright orange shoes.  We (Lekneh, me and my son) were all very pleased with the color.   And, in case November heats up by 35 degrees, my son will be all set for deer hunting season.

 I’m still dealing with the smells from the off-gassing after I opened the plastic bag they came in.  I’m sure the “new shoe smell” will be gone by the time warm weather gets back to Wisconsin.

I’m excited about these shoes.  They are going to be great for the beach and for mucking about in the garden.  I just wish I had gotten a few more pair (because they were actually only 7-10 ETB a piece) to accessorize all my outfits.

POST SCRIPT (11/1/06):  My son has been wearing these shoes to/from hockey practice and loves it.  Of course, there is no snow here yet.  But, these are so nice for wearing over his stockinged feet.  Just imagine a 6 year-old all bulked up from head to toe in his red, white and blue hockey gear with these lovely orange sandals on his feet.  One of his friends is actually jealous because HIS dad makes him wear tennis shoes home!

New Hosanna Center

The Hosanna Care Center is now in a new location.  I visited the place after dark, but I was very pleased with the improvements.  If I knew that some of the money I paid toward the Ethiopian program administration fees for the adoption went towards acquiring this new care center, I would feel very, very good indeed.

The facility is much larger.  There are bigger outdoor and indoor play areas.  Outside there is a lot of grass for playing on and still many flowers.  Inside, there was a big play room that could also be used for schooling.  There were a lot of toys available for the kids to play with.  The bedrooms were well layed out.

There weren’t too many kids there. (The previous day, about 20 kids had been moved to Addis.)  An adorable pair of 3-ish year old girls melted my heart.  And the babies with their gigantic, all-observing eyes and dimply cheeks…  Well, you can imagine what that did to me! (If this is your baby in the photo, I’m Sorry about the smudged face!  He really does have a sweet and smoochable face.  I just didn’t want to get in trouble for displaying it without permission.)

The kids were all content.  Well, except for one teeny tiny new arrival.  She had a very good set of lungs on her.  But, her cry seemed to be more of a “I’m over here, don’t forget about me” type of cry rather than a hungry, wet,  or sad cry.  Of course, the holler worked and I rushed over to her for snuggles and kisses.  Once again, the stinkin’ nannies were doing their job and they refused to allow me to keep her for myself!

I showed the nannies some photos I had of Hosanna Center alumni kids.  They were DEE-lighted!  There was a lot of repeating of the child’s name, kissing the photos and gently caressing the kids’ photographic faces with their fingertips.  They especially loved seeing photos of the kids playing/interacting with their new families.  One photo was of a boy and his brother hanging on their Dad’s legs/sitting on his feet doing what I used to call “The Monster Mash.”  They laughed at that one and gave knowing nods.  I don’t know if it was because it was a familiar Dad-thing worldwide or if it was in keeping with the personality of the boy the so loved and adored.

Hosanna Hotel

We stayed in Hosanna the night before we went to Shinshicho to visit my son’s family. I don’t know the name of the hotel (I think it has 4 letters) but it is the one all the visiting families stay at. I think the room with 2 double beds and a bathroom with shower was about 160 ETB night. The rooms were adequate, but no fancier than rooms at cheaper hotels.

Unfortunately, there was no knob on the door that led to the balcony. And, no, despite my attempts I couldn’t MacGyver it open with my tweezers and chapstick. The balcony would’ve been really awesome to sit out on at night.

The shower had a lot of power.  Actually too much.  At full blast, the drain on the shower floor couldn’t keep up and the water got on the floor and flooded out the bathroom into the main room.  Of course, all we had to do was turn down the amount of shower blast…but who wants to do that?  And, yes, my son loves to play in the water.  So, I jammed the drain with a piece of plastic bag and let him play till he was content.  (My neighbor is the Lead Social Worker with the County’s Department of Child Services, so don’t bother calling them about my irregular parenting techniques.  They already know about me and they haven’t even taken away my foster care license…yet!)  And, this is the type of shower you are going to see in most of the middle and lower cost hotels, as well as the guesthouse.

However, the staircase and the hotel restaurant were quite nice. Unfortunately, the walkway on one hallway of rooms had no handrail (or wall). It was quite a drop to the area below. Being a person who generally doesn’t watch my kids very carefully, this was a bit distressing for me. Fortunately, we stayed on the other hallway (rooms on both sides).

The employees were so nice to my son. They took him to the top of the stairs and played with him for a while. Intermittently I would hear joyous screaming (which was so much nicer than the whiny screaming).

The restaurant had Americanish (I would say more English) and Ethiopian food. We had a nice traditional Ethiopian dinner with our friend’s family in the evening, but we did have breakfast at the hotel. I ordered an egg sandwich. It was three pieces of thick white bread. Thick means more than 1 inch thick for each slice and 2 eggs in scramble patty style between the layers.

My son had cake, which when I ordered it, I was expecting pancake. Nope, Cake on the breakfast menu means Cake. He very much enjoyed it. You can also have tibs for breakfast.

Of course we had tea. And, of course, my son was messing around and broke the cup (one of at least 4 episodes that I recall). Fortunately, he was forgiven and we weren’t charged because “he’s just a little boy.”

The public (restaurant) toilets are not good there. So, if you have to go, make sure you go BEFORE you check out of your room.  Most big hotels have water tanks/reservoirs.  On the top of the hotel, in the photo, you can see the water tanks.

We arrived late and left early so I don’t really have many other observations about the hotel or the city of Hosanna in general.

National Museum - Modern Artwork

One area of display in the National Museum is some modern paintings by Ethiopian artists.  My two favorite are below.  If you ever come across a place that sells prints of these paintings, PLEASE let me know.  I would love to get copies.

“Ethiopian Symphony No 1” by Girmay Hiwet

“Mother and Child” by Gebre Kristos

Diet Coke Sighting

As I had decided to cook some meals while I was in Ethiopia to give our Ethiopian family a flavor of what we eat, I needed to get some spices and other ingredients.  Obviously, the shops on the side of the road did not carry Bay Leaves.  Most of the “supermarkets” did not either.  However, we did go to Fantu Supermarket.  It is near the Sarbet Roundabout (if you’re on Sarbet Rd, take the exit off the roundabout that is laden with signs pointing to embassies).  The Sarbet Roundabout (probably not its real name) is the one where Kaldi’s Coffee is located (Kaldi’s looks like a Starbucks inside and out with higher prices than other coffee shops, but no where near approaching Starbucks prices!)

ANYWAY…Fantu’s definitely catered to the foreign crowd as evidenced by the postings for “Home Rental Wanted by Diplomatic Couple – No Kids” on the bulletin board. Some of the things I saw… 

Diet Coke 4.50 ETB/can!!  OK, that’s only about 50 cents a can and less than I pay for it in the vending machine at work, but it still seems steep when you are over there. However, if you really need a fix, it is there.  Just ask for Coca-Cola Light!  I was OK with the packets of Crystal Light lemonade I had brought with me to tide me over. 

Apples – a 6 pack for 25 ETB.  OK, that’s way more than the vending machine at work.  Apples definitely did not make my list. 

Cake Mix – 29 ETB. 

Cocoa – Can of pure cocoa – small size – 59 ETB! 

Broccoli – 5 ETB for a ½ kg 

Bacon – 60 ETB for about 1 pound 

They also have candies including disgusting Milky Way bars that had been through way too many temperature changes, gums (Extra and Big Red), meats, cheeses, cookies, ice cream bars, jars of pickled garlic, spices (Ethiopian in nice packs and others like Oregano), and wines.  

Not all of the prices would knock your socks off.  The roasted coffee beans were only 20 ETB per kg (or maybe ½ kg).  It was also the only place I saw roasted beans.  Otherwise it was always raw or ground up coffee.

A lot of the food packaging had Arabic words on it (no NOT Amharic).

Upstairs there were all the necessities for diplomatic couples like a super nice tricycle for the kid, a food processor and glass goblets.  I didn’t check out the basement, but it was reported to have furniture.

Snickers Satisfies

Dessert is rare for Ethiopian meals, unless you count the fruit served at the end or the lightly sugared popcorn served with the coffee.  And, I certainly don’t count fruit and popcorn as dessert.

This is not to say desserts don’t exist.  You can get cake for breakfast (at the hotel in Hossana) and at pretty much any cafe.   We had a beautifully decorated cake to welcome us to Ethiopia.  But, not the good ole frostinged up Betty Crocker kind.  It was the kind that has flavored sugary water drizzled into the cake to flavor it up.  I think that is what they do in chic-chic places.  I don’t go to those places.

Even more rare is CHOCOLATE.  So, after 2 weeks of few sweet things and NO chocolate, I was ornery.  A few other things had peeved me off, but I think most of it was due to emotional susceptibility from chocolate withdrawal.

So, as we were walking down the hill in Lalibela (after a 2 km hike up the hill), I spotted a box of Snickers in the window of a small shop.  I was quite sure it was a mirage….maybe an old box now being used to hold pens or rat poision.

I mentioned sighting the box to Lekneh.  He was desperate to get rid of my funk, so he dragged me into the shop (along with a nice, Grade 7 boy named Daniel who had begun tagging along with us).

Turns out it was really Snickers!!!….for 10 birr each!  Arrrgh.  I couldn’t bear the idea of spending 10 birr on one candy bar when I could buy about 20 avocados (my other vice in Ethiopia) for the same price.  I started to walk away, but Lekneh insisted I have the candy…even if I had to take out a second mortgage to get it.  I said no thanks and went to wait outside.  Lekneh followed a minute or two later with a bottle of Ethiopian wine and the Snickers bar.

I felt obliged to share the Snickers with Lekneh and Daniel.  They both accepted a piece of the bar just to see what it tastes like.  Fortunately, they both refused my offer for a second piece of the bar.  When it was almost gone, the fear of “The End of Chocolate” overwhelmed me.  I immediately began to suck on the little piece of Snickers I still had.  I couldn’t talk.  I didn’t want any chocolate vapors to accidentally escape from my mouth as I said, “Awo!”  After making the chocolate last for 1 km, we reached the hotel (a very loose description of the joint) with only an empty candy wrapper.

I lay down on the bed to relax.  Then I got up.  I began licking the Snickers wrapper.  There were still some chocolate oils left, I was sure.  Lekneh thought I was being ridiculous, so he took the wrapper away from me.  I immediately became grizzly and he gave it back for fear for his own safety.    This is the next image he saw…

Yes, that is me sniffing the Snickers wrapper.  Due to my chemistry and anatomy background, I was able to convince myself that if I sniffed enough chocolate vapors into my nose, they would condense and drip down the back of my throat.  Thereby, allowing me to continue “eating” chocolate.

Good news:  There are no psychiatric hospitals in Lalibela.  Therefore, Lekneh couldn’t really do anything about my behavior. 

And, yes, I did keep the wrapper in my pocket for the rest of the time in Lalibela!

Notice: If you are from the Legal Department of Mars, Inc. and are freaking out about this, please let me know and I will create a pseudonym for the candy’s name and put a blue dot on the wrapper to protect your product’s reputation.

Ferengi on Tour Uniform

We travelled to the historic parts of Ethiopia.  The concentration of Ferengi in that area is probably the highest I saw anywhere.  They are also generally Ferengi on Tour!  Consequently, they wear the Ferengi on Tour uniform.

It consists of

• Sandals with Socks
• Hiking Shoes (preferable to Hiking Boots)
• Olive green or Greenish Gray cotton pants.
• Pants, usually khaki, with zip off legs to turn into shorts.
• Fanny pack or Wallet necklace (the wallet that you stick down the front of your shirt)

Now, in my experiences, those green pants are the best for hiding dirt.  Well, not the best.  A nice printed tan, rust and black jungle print would probably do better, but that does not usually come in the Ferengi on Tour Mix and Match Garanimals Pack.  The tan/khaki pants are versatile, but the dirt (or wat sauce if you are feeding kids) shows up too easily.  Black pants (and shirts) are also good, but show the dirt and can get toasty warm if you are sitting in a vehicle on the sunny side for any length of time.

Probably the worst offender for Ferengi on Tour I saw was Mrs. Roper.  Floppy hat, oversized sunglasses, Ferengi attempting to go Abesha by wearing an Abesha scarf, carrying a journal and video camera.  See photo below.

Oops.  That was me.  But, I swear I only looked THAT tacky because my sunscreen disappeared and I didn’t want to get fried.

DV & Cosmo Shops

Throughout the whole country, I saw many signs posted for DV 2008! Everywhere. EVERYWHERE! There were photocopies posted on light posts, on the sides of buildings, on banners strung across buildings, and taped on windows. Of course, being the ignoramus I am, I assumed it was some sort of health program initiative.

Turns out the internet cafes are advertising for people to come there and go online to submit via the USCIS webpage for their chance to be a part of the Diversity Visa Lottery for 2008. (It is only open/available from October to December.)

This photo was taken at a photo printing place. Though I consider myself to be quite a liberal person, I was shocked by the number of Cosmopolitan/GQ advertising type of poses in the photos displayed in all of the shops. It was usually a ratio of 80% Cosmo girl photos to 12% GQ wannabe men to 6% wedding photos and 2% baby/kid shots.

I was able to have photos printed off my digital SD card for 2 ETB each.

Bunny Hutches

 

I saw these bunny hutches in a lot of places in Ethiopia. I thought it quite strange that they had no openings or rabbit turds scattered underneath them. I also thought it was quite odd since I never noticed any rabbits.

It turns out these are not bunny hutches. This is where the security guards stay/sleep!

So Gratifying!

In June, we (me and another Mom) traveled to the Southern Region to visit our children’s families. On the second day, while we waited to meet the other child’s family, we wandered around the town of Durame. I took lots of photos of the vegetation, especially the vibrantly colored flowers. I also took a LOT of photos of the children the followed us around. It was like reverse paparazzi. The person in the front had the camera and all of those behind were trying to get photographed.

Anyway, we had lots of photos of the kids.

One of the best/funniest episodes was when the kids all ran up onto a pile of rocks to pose. As soon as the digital camera clicked/beeped, they flooded down off the pile of rocks to rush over and check out the image. It was actually so entertaining that we made them pose again just so we could get a video of the posing and racing down off the rocks. All in all, they were very lovely, polite, beautiful kids (with a few aggressive teenage boys thrown into the mix)! And, they LOVED seeing their images in the camera.

So, knowing that I would be passing through that town again on this trip, I took copies of the photos with me. In Durame, I stopped in the part of the town that we had taken the majority of the photos. There were many kids still playing there. I’m sure I recognized one of them!!

There were also a couple of police officers in the area. It turned out the one of the police officers remembered us from June!! (He had helped us meet up with the Durame family.) We explained our return to the police officers. Of course, they had to check the backseat to meet the “celebrity” child who now had an American family and had come back to visit his Ethiopian home. Then, we handed them the photos from the previous visit. I told them that “The smiles of the children of Durame brought great joy and happiness to the Americans who saw their photos. Thank you for sharing your children’s beautiful faces and spirit with America. Please give these photos to them.”

The officers were astounded. I was flooded with blessings. My son was flooded with blessings. They were truly appreciative that I had gone out of my way (approximately 1/4 km) to bring the photos to them.

So, if you at all have the opportunity to have your photos printed out and given to the people you photograph, I suggest you do it! The feeling you’ll get in your heart from bringing such joy to others will more than compensate you for the trouble and money invested!

Abesha Prices

I expected to get the special Ferengi discount (that would be a negative discount!) in Ethiopia.  I didn’t know it would be so blatant.   

First example:   Actually, I’m OK with this one because I understand the economics of this one.  The Ferengi airplane ticket for Addis-Bahar Dar-Lalibela-Gondar-Addis was $400.  The Abesha price for the same ticket was $147. Clearly, most Ethiopians don’t have the funds necessary to pay for expensive flights.  Plus, ET Airlines loses money on the domestic flights operations. 

Second example:  Lalibela Orthodox churches are free to visit for all Orthodox Ethiopians.  That makes sense to me…it is their church after all.  Ferengi cost is 200 ETB.  A little steep, but I could handle it.  However, all non-Orthodox Ethiopians are also expected to pay a fee to view the churches.  Do you think there is any kind of scrutinization for Ethiopian Protestants? No proof on this one, but I doubt it.  But, a white person married to an Ethiopian Orthodox still has to pay Ferengi price.  Grrr.  Third example:  The Gondar baggage guy wanted to charge us 4 birr each to carry our small backpacks onto the plane instead of checking them.   

Fourth example:  At the Gondar airport, we were having some soda and cookies in the restaurant.  The bill was 22 ETB.  A little steep but I’m used to airport price gouging.  I headed out as Lekneh paid the bill.  A restaurant employee came rushing over to Lekneh.  My immediate though was “great, what other “fee” are they sticking us for?”   Turns out the employee was refunding Lekneh 4 birr.  They had given us the Ferengi bill, but when it turned out Lekneh was paying the bill we got the Abesha price.

Bugs

Last time I was definitely spoiled by the bug situation…or rather, lack of bugs. 

This time, I was a virtual all-you-can-eat buffet for some type of insect. And, no, I didn’t take malaria medicine.  Don’t lecture me about this. Remember, I was in the Peace Corps and I already got the lecture several times from the Peace Corps nurse.  And, no, I didn’t use mosquito spray.  No justification for that one except Deep Woods Off tastes/smells seriously awful when trying to get a little affection from your Sweety. 

So, my punishment?  My right foot has 22 bites.  The FRONT side of my right leg (excluding my right foot) has 28 bites.  My stomach has 16 bites within 4 inches of my navel.  The belly bites made it very clear to me that this was not a mosquito we were dealing with. 

Also, I, the crazed psycho woman who snapped dirty t-shirts at mosquitoes each night before retiring, would have noticed if there were that many mosquitoes around.  I am pretty sure it was some type of bed bug or flea.  I did find one very tiny critter, oval in shape that sprung when I tried to crush it. 

Now, I have 22 scabby bites on my right foot from scratching so much.  I’m quite the Sicko that I enjoyed the razor scraping the bites as I de-haired my legs.  Somehow, in my freaky, logic-deprived mind, the blood from the razor scraping made my bites itch less.  I did use up a whole tube of hydrocortisone cream.  I would’ve gone through just as much Benadryl, but I had selfish preference for wishing to be conscious for most of my stay in Ethiopia. 

When I told Lekneh that I was no longer going to bathe so that I would become so foul smelling that the bugs would stay away, he laughed.  Then he realized I was serious. 

Worst part?  Lekneh had no bites.  My Abesha son was bit up the first week, but nothing after that.  Man!!!  Even the bugs give Abesha discounts!

Quest for an Injera Cooker

I have rationalized to myself (please don’t clarify for me) that the reason I can’t cook injera is because I didn’t have a proper injera cooker.  It had nothing to do with completely messing up the recipe.  It was because I was using a Teflon coated electric fry pan instead of a clay-based injera cooker. I am well aware of my motivational issues.  Therefore, I knew it was useless to get a charcoal heated cooker for myself.

  Lekneh and I went on a quest to find an electric cooker. On Tuesday, we found a smaller sized one for 650 ETB.  That seemed a little steep for me.  So I dilly-dawdled.  Friday, we couldn’t get access to a vehicle, so on Saturday (the day before I left Ethiopia) we searched again.  The place we went to on Tuesday (Shega something or another on Sarbet Rd) said it was too late to get one. They need to be ordered 2-3 days ahead.  We went to Leggio Aluminium.  Theirs seemed to be good quality, very shiny and I THINK they costed 450 ETB for a small cooker.  The lady was aggressively adamant about the one month lead time to order a cooker.  YES, ONE MONTH.  In a country full of injera, does it really make good economic sense to run your business with a one month lead time on the most common cooking device in the country?  Apparently YES, because they were nut-nut busy on a Saturday morning. 

We then headed to a supermarket/furniture store/appliance center.   They had nothing.  On to the auto parts area of town.  I don’t know why there, but we saw a shop with a partially finished cooker sitting outside.  Lekneh talked to the guy for a while.  The guy seemed a little bit optimistic and said it would be finished by 10 am on Sunday, he would meet us in one of 2 places (??) and it would cost 450 ETB.  I said OK since I was desperate.  We headed home.  Then we saw the injera cookers sitting outside the little metal working shops on Sarbet Road.  10 minutes later, I had a robin’s egg blue painted injera cooker, complete with 220V powered heater and assorted uninsulated wires hanging about. On Sunday, I was flabbergasted when I picked up the cooker to pack it in my bag (hockey goalie bag….big enough for 3 injera cookers!  I think the cooker weighed about 60 pounds. I’m quite confident the open area under the clay surface was insulated with Osmium.  (For you non-Chemistry nerds out there, Osmium is the densest element!) 

I have yet to try out the cooker.  The plug intimidates me.  Actually, as a Safety Manager, the dangling uncapped wires intimidate me more.  I’m a little worried it won’t heat up hot enough on my wussy 110V electrical power.  Of course, I nearly failed electrical engineering 101, so maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about on that. 

Plus, I have to get out my supplies (water and teff) and my notes from Professor Injera during my personal tutoring session.  No, no, no.  It is NOT just mix and wait like I thought.  Watch for the upcoming photo essay on “Cooking Injera with Emaye!”