Crime of the century??

Before I came to Addis, the question was asked ... why bring 2 computers?? Every day I leave the office I am so glad I did. No computer lugging and, if I go somewhere where I may leave a handful of things on a table while I go to the buffet table (for example), at least one of them is not a computer. I gave the inkeeper at Deker Inn my schedule today of when I will and will not need a room. He called me back and said that was fine. He also said when I am away, just leave the stuff in the room. I am here so long that is not a problem. I told him I would have none of that and would pack up my stuff so the room could be rented. He was grateful; yet another example of these people's good naturedness. I am going to leave a suitcase here and take one with me as well as one Paul will lend me. Then I can bring back stuff for him in my second checked bag. He wants, surprise surprise, maple syrup and Oreo doubletops :) I did some looking around at safaris today and exchanged a few emails with some vendors. Looks like we will leave Nairobi Sunday AM and be back mid-afternoon the following Friday. Yippeee!! We are in the season where the wildebeast migrate across the plains of east Africa and may get to see them. Way Too Cool. We would be staying in luxury lodges the 5 nights we are away. I know the Sweet Thing wants that; I just hope what the safari company and Mrs. Abbey think are luxury are close to one another. She would fly from Ottawa on Thursday, and we would meet in Nairobi Friday. We would stay somewhere in Nairobi for 2 nights then head off to the safari. We would both fly back (Addis and Ottawa) around midnight the Friday we get back. No tennis today, probably not until Wednesday. I am going for a fitting for my $64 tailor-made suit tomorrow after work. I splurged tonight and spent $7 on dinner; veal parmigiana with veggies, rice, and pasta. Off to play some guitar; I am trying to learn the last few refrains of Hide in Your Shell. If you need to know what a bridge, turnaround, or refrain is, please ask Mrs. K. A. "If I can help you, if I can help you, if I can help you, just let me know", to quote that famous SuperTramp ditty.

Environmentally correct.

I was dragged from my office this morning to see the MoFED (acronym for the department that is engaging my services) lawn mower. There were 4 or 5 sheep grazing on the grass/plants beside the office. They were herded away by their keeper, and after coffee, there appeared to be 4 more lawn-mowing four-legged creatures on hand. My my they do multiply quickly.

A big day in Addis

I am going to try to iron out the details for Sweet Thing's trip here in November. We need to get airfare from Ottawa to Nairobi return as well as mine from Addis to Nairobi and back. We also have to sign up for a safari and we are going to opt for the lodge rather than the camping option and pay the premium for a private room. I spoke to a travel agent Friday about all this and will see what they have to say when they get back to me. I also seem to have a little bit of a cold and I will take some meds for that and see if it helps. It was warm and sunny most of the weekend except for the downpour late Saturday afternoon. The warm weather is coming. The natives look at ferenge as though he is weird ... shorts and sandals are not common here ... they want the western look; they've got it.

On the seventh day I sort of rested.

Sunday has been a good day. I had tennis with Hiruy at 9AM and that was a good workout. I went out for a bite after that and checked out a showtime at Edna mall. There was supposed to be Addis idol there at some time and I had to check when. As it turns out it was scheduled for 3PM. I informed Dr. Paul and we made plans to meet there at 2:30. When eating a late breakfast, 2 street kids started asking me for money. I turned them down and they hovered at the corner at the bottom of the stairs at the restaurant I was eating. I finally decided to give them my left over french fries which they appreciated big time. They smiled and gave me a thumbs up and the fries were gone on no time. This gave me an idea which may end up being new way to deal with street people ... feed them rather than not give them money. Monday will be a no tennis day as I am experiencing a little discomfort turning my head to the right. Melaku, whom I met again yesterday at Bole 19 tennis is going to be getting me a guitar strap at merkato tomorrow which will be the stand in until I get my Mighty Moe (guitar strap with amplifier inline) hopefully back from ABC Trading Tuesday. Have a safe trip up to Ottawa Joel. JJ do not forget what starts tomorrow ... US Open.

The kid is hot tonight ...

As per the words of that famous Loverboy song ... hot does not describe the day I have had. Naturally with my big plans of sleeping in, I did. Ya right, until 7:30! I had some breakfast, packed the knapsack for my planned outing(s) today, and left around 8:30 for the Bole 19 tennis club. The place was bustling by the time I got there. I sat for a while then asked the people close to me if anyone spoke English. The youngest of the gang (about 12 maybe) said he did. I was told to speak with the coach who was just finishing up a lesson on court 1 with a couple. He introduced himself as Hiruy (pronounced Heer-oo-ee) and the fun began. We warmed up for 30 or 40 minutes then played a set which he won 5-1. The ball boys were cute and, like most 12 year-olds quite lazy. They loved my racket and new tennis balls. After the game, the guy showed up who I had been speaking with last Sunday when Tagel took me to show me the club. We sat and had what turned out to be called "machiatto", very much like a cap in Canada. The three of us chatted and chatted and chatted. We spoke about music too and Melaku, the guy from last week, was especially interested in my musical prowess. Melaku offered to drive me to Dembel to look for a guitar strap. Dembel is on one of the Bole roads and is a western-like shopping centre. He suggested going to ABC first (a music/sound store near Dembel) as I needed to see if I could get my guitar strap amp fixed. It stopped working last night. The power comes on but no volume. When I wiggle the speaker where it attaches to the strap I hear the familiar growl of electronics from an amplifier. I left the strap there as they thought they could fix. I left my cell number and Melaku left his too in case they needed to give some information that I would not be able to understand. He then took me to see the Greek club, near Dembel, a very nice country club. If I were to join it is very affordable but I will stay at Bole 19 as it is closer and where my tennis life has started in Addis. I was told that it is possible to play at Bole 19 as late as 9 PM which is good to know. I was not going all week since I was not getting home until almost 6:30. Melaku brought me back to Deker Inn and we visited for a while and he looked at my guitar. He told me of some European guys that get together at a club to jam and said he would turn me onto them. S W E E T !!! I was told to call Hiruy on his cell when I am thinking of coming to the club for tennis and he will give me a good time. I told him 90 minutes of tennis is best for me and that I would like to do half lesson and half game and he said fine. I asked him where I could go to watch the US open and he told me really the only place in the whole city is the Hilton. I showered and am just heading out for a stroll which will include lunch. I am pumped; or did you not notice :)

I a'freak'a OUT

Three weeks at Deker Inn ... $1,050 Two St. George's beer with dinner in Addis ... $1.32 Extra towels for my room ... $6.25 A week in Africa with the Sweet Thing ... priceless. She's a comin' to Africa the first week of November. Details to follow. I bought a custom-made suit here today for $62 USD, I am going in for the first fitting Tuesday. Do you think I paid too much? Mike Mallia (that cheap b__t__d) especially will like that price.

A good day ... all quiet.

Pretty uneventful day at work. Paul suggested we stop on the way home tomorrow from work to look at suits. Supposedly they are about 45 USD here for something nice. I am going to look for 2 suits ... one as close to white as possible though I am told I would have to settle for khaki. The other will be black or very dark blue hopefully with stripes. Saturday, weather permitting, I will hit the tennis club after breakfast and see what's doing there. All week I got home too late from work to go. I am starting to get to know my way around this town. The biggest thing to remember is that Bole road is also called Africa avenue and one of its biggest intersections is where Bole (also known as Africa) meets Bole (also known as Africa); who would'a thunk. It seems like Calgary where the kids live on Saddlefield between Saddlefield and Saddlefield. Really that's true, except the first's a crescent, the second a drive and the third who knows! Ileana flag red today; guess what? It's raining ...

Rock and roll

Needless to say the guitar last night and this morning was magic. It looks and sort of sounds like a Strat. I asked the driver this morning to head down Bole and hang a right on Mike Leland. Someone staying at the guest house mentioned a gym not far from Bole on the far side of the street. It's in the Joley (spelling?) building and I believe I know where it is. It's supposed to occupy the 2nd and 3rd floor, which will probably make it more suitable than the little one I saw yesterday. Sweet Thing especially, you'll appreciate this one ... I set up a GPS for Paul after loading the map of Addis. It is somewhat out of date but will do the trick. It's quite interesting trying to ask a GPS how to get from A to B when neither has an address. For example, the guest house I am staying at has no address like most other buildings. One turns the GPS on to "map" mode and when passing a spot of interest, one touches the car on the sunit and a few screens come up where you can enter the name of the spot to remember. As more and more spots are identified, you then have a name-based address grid that was self-built. The technology Sweet Thing, isn't it a sweet thing :) Patty and Joel ... you got that right; it is quite an adventure. If you guys ever want to come to Ethiopia, yes they do have meat and potatoes so ManyTrees will not starve. I am hoping to get a suit this weekend with Dr. Paul's guidance about where. The mikowaby-in-business garb picture is on Facebook.

Lights, camera, action ...

Back from mecato where we walked and walked and walked and walked, and had a very nice telapia traditional lunch. Tagel and I must be married 'cause he walks 20 feet or more ahead of me. At one point I just stopped and waited for him to notice the old guy was missing, and he came back and got me :) I am now the proud owner of my third six string guitar, my second electric. It is a Strat copy called an Acoustic brand. By going to merkato I saved over $200 USD on the axe, close to half its final purchase price. Tagel for President :) There must be an acoustic guitar branded Electric :) Are we pumped or what? On a scale of 1-10 right now I am about a 50. We also looked at a few acoustics but they were not as nice. I may or may not look up a gym on Leyland St. when I go home. Ileana lent me a GPS with an Addis Ababa map and it is quite a treat. I will not be able to use it for directions but it will be an assistant for getting from A to B. The Ileana flag today is green ... sad to hear about the death of Ted Kennedy, a veritable icon in this generation and previous.

The excitement builds

Merkato minus 90 minutes. Tagel stopped by to ask what else, if anything, I would like to do while there today. I got some updates from daughter-in-law extraordinaire (aka. Lindsay) about them and Annabelle is starting school early next week. The anticipation of the big day is huge. Jordan (aka Naddy) and I will be speaking soon about his following up on some education to get under his belt for future employment. I had to get driven back to the guest house today as I forgot my bank book. I have it now, and also saw the Chinese restaurant on Bole that we had been to last week. Now I know where it is and there'll be no keeping me away. Who needs the GP? Not you IAS nor you Bkktter or Jessica Tovah even :)

Goo goo gaga

I think I am starting to figure out (in my opinion) the attraction of the third world to people living in the western world ... the simplicity of life and the fact that the most important things in life ARE the most important things in life. The people here look to the western world for guidance and, when we can get our act together and do what really matters most, we are good role models. Not being familiar with the details of the humanitarian initiatives going on here, I cannot comment if we could do more; from the perspective of an outsider looking in, there must be more that can be done. The longer I spend in Addis, the simpler my life becomes and what I refer to as my "petty day-to-day western problems" are not an issue anymore. Without meaning to pass judgement on the way people lead their lives in Africa, my experiences here remind me of some of the excitement of my childhood. Like a 5th grader who just had the first opportunity to find something on his own (that was me in the 50's), I sought out a new Chinese restaurant for dinner last night. I found it on the web, called to get the time they are open until, and got dropped off at Meskel square. I went to where I though the restaurant was and could not find the front door. Remembering that the voice on the other end of the line said "12" when I asked how late they were open, I jumped to the conclusion that it was silly ferenge (remember that is what they call foreigners here) who could not find the door. I asked someone who motioned to a young man who came over and told me it did not open until 12. It was 6:30PM then and bewildered by what I had just found out, I cabbed it back to the guest house and dined as usual on Bole road. After dinner I picked up a few succulent supplies for breakfast over the next few days ... at home that may have been a small steak, maybe a container of peach yogurt, or some blueberry granola. In Addis it was 2 bananas which, with the 2 slices of white bread I did not eat at dinner, would become a scrumptious PB&B sandwich in the AM. I slept well last night but could not get that sandwich out of my mind. The other banana will appear in some yougourt tomorrow ... I can't wait. I am enjoying it here, as I am sure ST in particular has noticed and, from reading my posts since I left, I could be mistaken for a 10-year old rather than a geriatric :) I am getting more familiar with the customs here and now take pride in allowing the shop-keeper to break off my 2 bananas rather than doing it myself. I am proud to confidently stroll into the bank and stand by the dispenser while I am given a number by the attendant which determines when I will be served. At lunch today Tagel is taking me to the merkato to look at guitars. We will have lunch there and, based on what I find there, I will decide what to do next. If there is nothing there "suitable", I am going to buy an electric at Dembel mall or ABC Trading. They are 5,000 birr or just over $400 USD. Considering the pleasure the axe will give me, $400 is next to nothing. I am taking this purchase out of my daily expenses so it really would cost me nothing.

Help with Skype

If anyone in blog land can assist with making some tweaks to Skype to assist the sound quality, please advise or point us at a URL where we can find this info.

Love 40

Tennis will have to wait until a night that I can get away from work 5'ish if not sooner. The sun is down by 7:30 or so and it really is too dark to play after 6:45. I did walk down to the club last night on Mike Leland street. I found it alright but had to check with a local once. I tried to take the back route on my return trip. I ended up on a busy street that I did not recognize. I retraced my footsteps to the club and returned via Leland and Bole. I had a lovely dinner; speaking of lovely, I then spoke to my Sweet Thing.

We decided to abandon Skype ... the sound quality alone is terrible. I guess one gets what one pays for :) Today is the day my money for expenses is supposed to be transferred properly to my account here. Ato Mussa (my boss) apologized for the delay mentioning that something went wrong. Tagel brought the guitar into the office yesterday as one of his munchkins enjoyed the tuning pegs. I am taking my tuner in today to fix.

What lurketh beneath?

I will never take for granted what may lurk at the bottom of a puddle on a street in Addis. The torrential rain that fell left a puddle ?? inches deep beside my guest house, directly in the path of where I was going for dinner. Like a ferenge, I stepped down in the puddle, knowing that there was terra firma underneath. I stepped in a hole and went down up to my thigh in rain water. I was wearing my boat shoes so no damage done to any footwear. Lesson learned ... terra firma in Addis could be terra dangera; I will not be stepping into any puddles blind again without testing first with a walking stick.

When in Rome, do as the ...

Every day gets more amazing than the previous; not to detract from any of my past experiences that is. I got a call about 10AM from Tagel and we arranged to meet at Edna mall at 10:45. I quickly got ready, and packed me and his guitar off to the mall, about 10 minutes from here. I sat on the curb and played for a bit much to the interest of the locals. Tagel appeared on time in a Toyota sedan. I later found out that there are 2 reasons why they are so popular in Addis ... price and availability of parts. I stopped on the way to Edna to pick up some gifts for him and his family. We headed south from Addis and drove through the city for about an hour or so then hit more open country. All along the way there were little hamlets with people walking all over and the odd cow, bull, group of lambs, or donkeys sauntering around the side of the road. Just when I tried to figure out who these animals may belong to, out would pop a youngster with a stick and corral the herd. There were some very nice churches that always seemed to be in some state of repair. The roadside as we got further away from Addis was littered with large concrete warehouses in secure compounds. Storage is much cheaper on the outskirts of Addis and trucking into the city relatively inexpensive. We ended up in or near Debreziet, a small but large village south of Addis. I remember seeing a road sign for this town in the city at one or more strategic intersections. We went to the Officer's mess on a very nice lake at the forces base close to this village. We had a plate of traditional cuisine based on chicken, with a hard-boiled egg on top. We also got some grilled chicken with rice and veggies. We gobbled this down and talked and talked and talked for hours. We washed everything down with Ambo, a local sparkling water. Not long before we left we had a lovely fruit salad with a dash of a red garnish that was delicious. We drove about 20 minutes to a hotel for coffee and looked out over a pituresque lake with rolling hills in the background. It was a popular hangout for the locals too. We drove back to town, stopping at an outlet for a local clothing manufacturer where Tagel picked up a few things for the little ones. He has two ... 10 months and two and a half years. When we got back to town he showed me where a tennis club was close to my hotel. We spoke with the steward and found out the following: - an hour's tennis is 15 birr - the fee for the ball person is 40 birr - yes they are licensed and beer can be purchased after the game The gentleman answered all my questions, then said "I hope you are not a beginner". I think my game has risen above that classification and I hope that plays out when I go first few times. I mentioned I had balls and he was glad as the balls they have, if they have, are well worn. Tagel parked the car near Deker Inn and we walked to the club so I know how to get there. It took about 20 minutes at a brisk pace. This will be a very good warmup for the game. I plan on going when I return from work tomorrow ... excited or WHAT :) The hospitality afforded me by Tagel was extraordinaire; I did tell him that if we end up visiting and dining at some of the places we discussed, that he cannot pay ALL the time. I am back at the guest house and it is raining. Wednesday at 6PM I am meeting some people in the guest house and they are going to show me a nearby gym. My hope is that I end up playing tennis 3-4 times a week and maybe going to the gym once. Off to call my Sweet Thing ...

A nice Saturday

More on guitar ... here, oh! I was at 2 guitar stores today. The first was at Dembel mall. That is where I went with Paul and drooled a few days ago when the store was closed. They had 2 electrics, both priced at $5,000 which is about 400 USD. I found that a little high. When wandering around outside of the mall I noticed a building sort of across the street with the name ABC trading in big letters. That rang a bell, so I had to investigate. Lo and behold, abother guitar store but mainly full of sound equipment. They had a very nice blond Yamaha 6-string and, odd as it may seem, a 6-string Peavey electric bass. They only had 3 guitars and the fact that one was a 6-string bass was curious. Their guitars were 6,500 birr but the price was immediately dropped to 5,000. Interestingly as well, both stores, when I asked if they had any acoustics, said ... finished. I guess acoustic business is seasonal for some reason. I asked when they would be getting more and they did not know. No purchase made. I pondered the amount and the "need" for a guitar all afternoon. I had dinner at Paul's then cabbed it home for 60 birr. What a treat. I sat on the balcony, and sang to my Sweet Thing. I know she heard as I did all her favourites ... Deacon Blues, Doctor Wu, Waiting for a Girl Like You, Who Loves You, and one of mine ... The Boston Rag. Then the rain came, and came, and came. As I have said before it can't just rain here, it's POURS. I got as quick email from Naddy who wants to speak with me about school ... bonus! Tonight's downpour is accompanied by thunder and lightning. The guitar plan has firmed up as follows. I now have Tagel's (work companion) Peavey but the action is not great and it will not stay in tune. He will be taking me next week to merkato to look at guitars. After that happens, I will decide what to do next. I figured that $400USD for something that will give me so much joy is worth it. Also, my expense re-imbursement will pay as well, so nothing out of pocket. I have my guitar strap amp as well as a clip-on-the-belt amp for electric.

Tagel and ferenge

Sorry for the confusion ... "ferenge" is a generic term used by natives to refer to "foreigners". It is the Amharic pronunciation of "foreigner". thus Doc Ferenge is actually Dr. Paul. Tagel is a MoFED (government) guy I work with.   Took the blue bus to Paul's for breakfast and will probably end up at Dembel mall in a bit. The natives on the bus were not as helpful today as they have been but I did manage to make it to Sarbit fine. I could also go to Home Depot and Adams mall with Paul and Ileana. So many choices :) Sweet Thing we must chat later today. If I do not hear from you I will call. It's a beautiful close to 20 degree sunny day in Addis and hopefully it will stay that way.

The blue buscapade

I went with Dr. Paul and Ileana after work to their house for a quick bite ... glahp and rice Doc called it. It was good glahp at that too :). I then walked with them, little Robert, and the guitar up to the pastry shop about a mile away. They had a treat and I watched. It was starting to threaten darkness within the hour, so I thought I'd be brave and take the little blue bus. It cost me 5 birr to get to Mexico square and then I thought I'd be really creative and say "Edna Mall" to the bus jockeys until one of them said get in ... The adventure deteriorated from there and I was on a bus that was on its way to Bole road, except I did not see anything familiar. I was on the bus for 30 minutes and it finally stopped and one of the passengers told me it was the end of the line. Still no Edna mall ... I got another bus where the jockey said he was going to Edna; when we passed Dembel mall, I knew I was on Bole but not quite sure where. A woman on the bus took pity on ferenge and told me to take a cab. I got home for 30 birr and learned a lesson about the blue bus at night ... don't. Taking the bus to Paul's is easy. I go to Sarbit then walk for 10 minutes from there; piece of cake for 5 birr. My modified plan for coming home is to bus it to Mexico then take a cab from there. I will find out from Doc Ferenge the "proper" cab fare from Mexico to my guest house which I believe will be about 30 birr. In the morning I am going to Paul's for pancakes and not sure what after that. I put strings on the guitar and it sounds great. I made up a chord chart for Tagel which he will practice on our journey this Sunday as per a previous post. The Ileana flag today is green ...

Merkato guitar purchase

Tagel tells me that he will take me to merkato some day late in the afternoon at which point I can purchase (hopefully) a guitar for myself. As we all know, there is a big difference between doing stuff with people who live here and amongst ourselves (the ferengies that we are :))

Missing from the streets of Ottawa

The trip to Addis all became worthwhile the first time I succumbed and had my shoes shined on the street. Talk about a shine! Now I keep forgetting to wear my other loafers as they need the same TLC that I gave the ones I am wearing. A worthwhile investment ... 2 birr for a great shoe shine.

And the band played on

Tagle brought in his acoustic guitar to work today. It is a black Ibanez PF20 with either mother of pearl or abalone inlay around the sound-hole resembling bats. There is a similar inlay in the middle of the back as well as all the seams on the body. I am seriously pumped and now have plans to play a few tunes this weekend. I will replace the strings and put the guitar in A440 first. Tagel wants to take me out of Addis for a picnic with his family on Sunday. We will chat Sunday morning but he anticipates leaving about 10AM and spending the whole day out of Addis. I will be calling my Sweet Thing and playing the Addis Ababa debut of Waiting for a Girl Like You over the Pacific oceanic airwaves :)

After work festivities ...

We went for Chinese after work tonight. Nobody in the vehicle from the team recognized the establishment. Once we got in however, someone mentioned thae room we were in was familiar. We then decided this actually was the restaurant we meant to go to. Whomever (is that the correct word Benita?) invented Chinese food in Addis was thinking Michael Abbey. Two of the dishes were littered with diced hot green peppers and chili peppers. Yummy. I would so go back to that place. Alas, still no guitar. I hope to fix that this weekend. There is a slight possibiity I may have to go to Istanbul for a few days next month. Stay tuned for further details ...

Bright and early.

I seem to wake up on my own about 6:30 every day. I like seeing the morning light and getting some stuff done on the computer. It rained very heavily most of the night but was nice enough to stop by daybreak. The windows get fogged over with heavy condensation since it is so moist in the air. Speaking of moist, the sox I washed 2 days ago are still not dry. I will be going suit shopping Carol as soon as I get my first expense cheque. Until then I will get a picture of me in my work clothes and post.

So many words.

The guitar ... here? oh ... saga continues. I had hoped that the Tagluitar I was told about yesterday would materialize when I arrived at the office. That did not happen and I was not about to bother him about it as he had been kind enough to offer to bring it in. I suggested to Dr. Paul at lunch that maybe we could leave early and go to Dembel mall to guitar hunt. It was too busy this PM for that to happen. We also need to speak with the RSU lawyer before returning to Dembel as he had mentioned that if the store in the mall does not suit our needs, there is another store across the street. Those 3 words ... across the street ... are the gist of how challenging it is to be in a culture other than the one we have become accustomed to. In Canada, across the street means just that; Steve's Music is across the street from the Bytowne. VanCity is across the street from the RBC. Yerba Buena Gardens are across the street from the Marriott. What "across the street" means in Addis remains elusive. When we were at Dembel mall a few days ago and found the music store closed, we followed the lawyer's advice and looked across the street. The closest thing we could find to another store, across the street, where one might be able to purchase a musical instrument was a stationary store. The mission will re-convene once we have discussed again with the avocat ... this diatrab is not intended to look at the people/customs in Addis with dis-favour; merely illustrate the looming cultural differences we encounter as we travel. The Ileana reading again today is red. There was quite a bit going on at work and I made no posts to the BLOG yet today. I also experienced again one of the most perplexing puzzles one plays regularily if fortunate enough to venture off North America. In 6 words, that puzzle is called "To Zero or not to Zero" (abbreviated TZONTZ from here on :)). That zero in question is that which separates a cell number (say 0912-212990 from its close relative 912-212-990). The sophisticated world traveler, which I think I am, knows when TZONTZ: 1) when calling country A from country A, use the leading 0 2) when calling country A from country B, after composing the country code, drop the leading 0 I signed up for AfriCalling on the web to be able to call Canada for 28 cents US a minute with no minimum, connection fee, or weekly toll. Those 3 phenomena are what make many prepaid calling cards anything BUT the deal they are supposed to be. Say a card claims to allow one to call Canada from Ethiopia for 3 cents a minute. Then there's a 3 minute minimum (no big deal), a 99 cent connection fee, and a 40 cent per week maintenance fee. Suppose one makes 10 calls a week, so that maitenance fee split over 10 calls is 4 cents each. So that 3 cent a minute, for a 2 minute call, instead of the anticipated 6 cent charge becomes: 3 minute minimum = 9 cents connection fee = 99 cents contribution to weekly maintenance fee = 4 cents Lo and behold, the call was in effect (9+99+4)/2 = 56 cents a minute. See why 28 cents a minute is really a deal? There are 3 ways to make calls with AfriCalling: 1) web interface 2) 800 number only available in North America 3) 646 area code callback feature available from anywhere; when one uses this feature, the phone at the other end is not answered so there is no LD charge to initiate the callbak For me, 2) and 3) did not work. So I tried 1) for a few days and NOT ONE CALL went through. The web interface asks for - country code where call is being made from - number to call back in that country to facilitate the connection - country code you are calling - number being called in that country with full area code (and city code if one is used) So I entered 251 (Ethiopia country code), 0912212990 (number calling from), 1 (country code for Canada), then 6131234567 (number to call in Canada). Then finally today I decided to play TZONTZ. Fact: there is nothing leading me to believe that the callback, which rings my number then the target once I pick up, is in Ethiopia Fact: if when I am being called, the source of that call is not in Ethiopia, drop the leading 0 Lo and behold, when I entered 251, 912212990, 1, 6131234567 it worked! Need I say more ... isn't TZONTZ fun :) Steve B. thanks for the advice. I will use Four Strong Winds from Dan's third album if Tagel brings in his axe. Sis, thinking of you. David R., liked the latest ad RL sent me. JW, Baha Fresh Addis ... sounds good, no? Deb4, I know you keep finding my Sweet Thing well. Berrett, if you are reading my BLOG, I am honoured, you too #1. #3, you Hungary yet? JD&PD, rumour has it BluesFest feedback has supported the feeling we had that I think you may have had too ... week weekends for us baby boomers. Munching on crackers and peanut butter which, according to mikowaby, beats just about any other snack food. Ileana by the way is Paul's wife and commented one day how I had not posted to the BLOG yet that day.

The horn of plenty

There is a cumulative sense of pride in Ethiopia for the country, the surroundings, and the open arms with which they welcome foreigners. On the way to work each morning about 8:15AM, the people are weeding the lawns in front of the Prime Minister's mansion. All over town they are sweeping the gutters in the road where they meet the sidewalks. They are mopping the slippery sidewalks to make them more safe for one another. The side roads are just as immaculate as the main thoroughfares. Speaking of immaculate, if they can afford to dress well, the people here look like they are on their way to a formal event. The men and women take care of themselves and always look picture-perfect. By that time of morning most of the shops are open. The keepers are wiping the windows, and mopping the water/mud around their front doors. They are drying the furniture in the un-protected seating areas in their cafés and restaurants. When an elder needs room or a wee bit of a hand, teenagers and able-bodied young people far under their double-digit years assist as much as they can. People smile, they laugh, they have a distinctive joie-de-vivre one does not see much in many circles in North America. They outwardly show affection towards one another, and 3 or 4 light kisses on the cheek are commonplace. There just seems to be this sense of "looking out for eachother". They cut eachother off in traffic; no accident -- no problem. The bus is full and I am 1 stop away from where I am going -- take my seat I'll walk. This place is a dream ... On the Ileana busy-level I was red today. She missed my BLOG posts as I must have been too busy. I found out the best time to upload photos to Facebook is 6-7AM here; Addis's internet community is not awake yet and North America/South America is already or soon-to-be sawing logs. I accumulated the list of DBA's I will be training, and was asked to scope out a Linux box to accomodate training. I saw the existing financial systems whose second version I will be auditing. Dinner tonight ... Sol de Canada, complete with the "Canada Eh!" tee on one of the servers; Ambo (sparkling water) and a club sandwich with fries with a tip was 30 birr. I could not finish the sandwich and it will be breakfast in the AM. Tagel, my "direct report" at MoFED, says he has a guitar I can use. He claimed he would bring it in tomorrow. If it is indeed what I would think a western guitar is, I told him I would give him lessons. Steven B., are you jealous? Sean M., should I teach him C, F, and G or Stairway to Heaven?

Stones do Addis ...

Not really, but listen to this ... - wanted a guitar; found the store but closed - needed a button sewn back on a sports jacket; there are tailors/seamstresses all over Addis in little huts in a row of stores; stopped and got button put back on for 17 cents You Can't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometimes,Well You Just Might Find, You Get What You Need

Don't bring me down

Alas, the trek to Dembel was a disappointment. The guitar store was closed. I could see a few electric guitars through the window which was somewhat satisfying but not enough. Dembel is probably the closest we will see to a western-style mall. You will be pleased to know that a 4Gb jump drive here costs $50 USD and probably ~25 USD at home. By the way if you have been converting my amounts in birr to USD, divide by 12 not 10 as I suggested earlier. BJ ... think Chapel was cold; wait until you visit us again in the winter :) The men here "go" anywhere; I wonder where the women "go". I had a 79 birr buffet dinner w. beer which was nice and filling. It is such a pleasure not to eat meat. I treated myself to yogourt and pineapple this morning and will devour the mikowaby delicacy of bread with cheese and peanut butter in the AM. Ahmesagalahnu means "thank-you" in Amharic.

Opening of the bank account

A very nice gentleman from RSU picked me up about 2PM. Dereje drove us to Deker guest house as I did not have my passport with me. We then went to a photo store to get 2 passport pictures taken, as required by regulations to open an account. We then went to the Commercial bank of Ethiopia to do the paperwork. Unfortunately we ended up at the wrong branch. As it turns out, each branch of each bank here appears to be on its own. We then went to the branch near the MoFED office which is probably the best location. There was a lot of forms to fill out, something like I remember doing when I opened my first bank account not long before my bar mitzvah :) I deposited 50 birr in the account and received a passbook. The service was excellent and I am now the proud holder of an Ethiopian current bank account. I will get a bank card from them and I will be able to use the ATM; but only the ATM at that branch. I saw some parts of Addis I had not yet seen, and was proud to recognize Meskel square during our voyage around the city. A bigger test is today after work when I will be dropped off at Dembel mall to have a look, fingers-crossed, at guitars.

Never in the history of ...

I am going this afternoon at 2PM to the bank with someone from MoFED. They are depositing my expenses into a local account in birr. As recently as last week, I was told that a local bank account is unheard of so it should be interesting to see how this goes. Based on my experience at the mercado Saturday, I have stopped carrying around my passport. More than likely the visit to the bank today will be derailed by my not having my passport with me. I have started carrying my driver's license with a list of emergency contact numbers including the Canadian embassy.

Monday Monday ...

Quite remarkable what a good night's sleep will do. I feel so much better this morning :) I do have the ciprofloxacin medicine and took one yesterday Dr. Laz. I am supposed to start looking at the financial system I am auditing today. At least I will be looking at the "old" system which the IBEX2 is replacing. I did find out last week that there are many issues with the old system which are not being fixed as it is ported to a new version. The inconsistencies and problems with the old system will be cloned to the new then fixed during the first round of enhancemnents. If I still have the energy after work that I have now, I will go to the movies at Edna mall to see Public Enemies. ST ... I have been told that the Amharic movies here have English sub-titles ... talk about a cornucopia of foreign films. Or as they say here, "ferenge"; sounds like a character in Star Trek. An update on the guitar situation ... a woman staying at the Deker guest house said they can be found at Dembel mall on Bole. I am hoping all readers of this BLOG noticed the unfortunate passing of Les Paul ... I have never owned a Les Paul but sure have admired them all my life :)

A good day, but not feeling 100%

This was, in the scheme of things, my roughest day yet. I am not sure what kept me from sleeping last night. It was one of those nights where it seems that you get no sleep whatsoever thought probably got a bit. I felt really fluey this AM but that dissipated by the time we went to Abrahama's house for brunch. He works for Addis Ababa university and we are trying to score some work there. My you know what were acting up and it was comforting to be so close to the facilities. The apartment was lovely, 2 nice sized bedrooms with a combo living and dining room. There were 4, count 'em 4 people on staff there. Roxanne loved to tease me and Sandy about our staff but nothing like this. Paul managed to lock himself in the bathroom and it looked for a while like he may have to stay there forever. They served Ethiopian flat bread with beef, eggs, rice, and some sort of vegetable whose name I did not catch. After lunch, the food kept coming and coming and coming. Abraham drove everyone home about 2PM. He has 2 children ... we had met Nadi last week at Dr. Paul's and met his almost-infant daughter. The apartment building is affiliated with the university and Abraham pays next to nothing for rent. When I got back home about 2:15, I slept for 2 hours then the Sweet Thing and I Skyped for a while. It was nice to speak with wife bet (Rona) and it sounds as though my Sweet Thing is keeping busy. I walked down Bole a bit, bought some yogourt, then went to Mera for a 32 birr dinner of vegetarian spaghetti with sparkling water. I stopped at the store and picked up some low-cal chocolate :) for a treat. I really did not feel like eating but I know, unless I could not keep anything down, the last thing I needed was to not take anything in nourishment-wise. I was smart to have eaten and I brought the food I could not eat home. The Ethiopian native expression for a doggy-bag is "take away". We did not end up going to Chinese as planned yesterday so that will be something to look forward to some other time.

My first full day off

Today was the quintissential day in Addis, never to be equaled 'cause this was the first. There will be more like it but nothing equal. It started out with a trip on the blue bus from Bole Road to Paul's house. I accosted a blue bus on Bole and they wanted 80 birr to take me to Sarbit. I thought that was ridiculous considering Dr. Paul told me it would be no more than 5! I walked a bit more and approached a bus that was almost full. I said "Mexico", the name of a square where I could get a ride to Sarbit.

A guy in the bus told me when the bus turns to get another one that will take me to Mexico. He was worried I did not have enough small bills, so gave me 10 1-birr notes. I paid the conductor 1 birr and switched as instructed. The next ride cost me 75 cents (yes 3/4 of 1 birr or about 6 cents) and took me to Mexico. The road was very very busy. Everytime we passed a vehicle throwing thick black smoke, the conductor very nicely closed his window. At Mexico I transferred to another bus to get to Sarbit. I was such an idiot; there was a guy outside a vehicle yelling "Srbt Srbt Srbt" whom I did not hear. I asked where I get the bus to Sarbit and was politely directed to the bus beside the guy yelling. Difference 292,013 between Addis Ababa and Ottawa ... if that had happened in Ottawa someone would have very sarcastically, if not rudely, quipped "what are ya, hard of hearing"?

At Sarbit, it looked familiar, its having been the place I grabbed a cab last night. With some assistance, i found the way to walk to Dr. Paul's. We were there about a half hour and the three of us took 2 blue buses to mercado. A woman on the first bus ensured we did not get lost. Mercado ... the epitome of outdoor markets, as expected. Christine's daughter Sophie bought an outfit. I talked the guy down from 5850 birr to 800. The guy told us he would take us to a store where I could look at guitars.

We wandered with him through the rain and ended up at one of his buddy's establishments that had, surprise surprise, just about everything other than guitars. I bought some leather loafers for $22 (or 250 birr) and then we cabbed it back to Dr. Paul's. I stopped at one point to put my umbrella in my backpack and, while distracted, felt a hand go into my left pocket. I pulled it out of my pocket before he could get my passport. Nothing was taken.

I am going to figure out something better for my valuables when in crowded places. When I come back to Ottawa in September, I am going to Greenbank tailor to get some velcro sewn on a pair of jeans and something like some Adidas jogging pants. I will also get some cargo pants with outside snap or velcro closures. Once back at Dr.'s, we ended up going for a nice long walk to pick up some local artifacts which was long but great exercise. I learned the expression "tinnasterling" which means "have a nice day".

We are going out for Chinese tonight (twist my arm). Now that I can use the blue bus, I can get around for less than 5 birr what would cost 80 by cab. To translate that, I now spend 40 cents rather than 7 USD.

Friday night in Addis

I went to Dr. Paul's for dinner and it was lovely. The plans for tomorrow are to get up, have a banana, then take the little Toyo'bus to Mexico. I will transfer there to Sarbet and then walk to Paul's. We will eat there, then hae odd to merkato. Tomorrow night is up in the air. The little boy that I am, I am too excited to go on the blue bus to Paul's. It will cost me 4 birr or about 30 cents to get across town.

The excitement builds

I spoke with some people at the breakfast table today about Addis. I was told about Friendship mall where there is, lo and behold, supposed to be a music store. I am too excited. I also got the name of at least one western music club called Vibations. I cannot wait to have 2 days to myself over the W/E. Andy.... Zzzzzz. Steven, here's the deal. If I do get lucky and find a guitar, we are going to do Skypajam'. Please start practicing the following: Em7 A7 (x2) Cmaj7 Bm Fmaj7 Bm Look up the major seventh chords on the internet. Benita, as you mentioned in one of your posts, thank-you for being such an influence on my wife. DeeTee, calling my Sweet Thing was nice. I will be spending most of the W/E trying to figure out how to say Sweet Thing in Amharic. Paddy and Sean ... I am not having much luck with the stuff.

Bole road by day

I got out of the office today right at 5:30 so there was still some sunshine. I got back to the guest house, dumped my clothes, put on civvy's, and headed out down Bole Rd. The streets are so much more friendly when the sun is up. I heard a woman behind me teaching her child some English. She said "I love you" and the baby responded with "Idjjhem,s". She said "no no, I Love You" and the baby responded with "Iafmjdfsj". She tried this many times and the poor child kept getting it worse. He could have been no more that 2'ish. I then figured out why she was doing this. Beggars walk up to you and say one of:

- I love you
- Hello
- Hungry

They are very persistent but I found a trick ... find at least two people walking the other way and just before you pass them, cut across their path. Make sure you do not come close to bumping into them. More beggar children disappeared after I did this. One child walked beside me with his hand out for a good 5 minutes ... "Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello, Mister, hello ...". If you tire and give in you will never get rid of them. I am determined my last day in Addis I am going to give them 10 birr (about 85 cents US) each.

I met with one of my two counterparts at MoFED today (Tagel) and he is very nice and I think he understands about 80% of what I say. I try to speak slowly and enunciate. Paul has been trying to get a chance to speak with my boss, Ato Mussa, but keeps getting ignored. I offered to tell Mussa that I cannot start auditing until Dr. Paul's people get some more tasks accomplished. Paul must settle an issue wrt. de-centralization of the new system before his people can carry on with further development efforts. I think when Mussa finds out I am on hold, he will beg Paul to spend some time with him :)

Even though most of my walks have been in the area of my hotel, every day is a new adventure since the biggest site in Addis is people, people, people. I bought some Provolone cheese at a deli and a pineapple for breakfast in the AM. I am meeting with someone in the AM tomorrow to discuss opening Golden Palace Addis ... dinner tonight was a beer and a lovely beef rib/spinach mix for a whopping 51 birr or ~ 4.50 USD.

In the scheme of things

Before I left for work today, I heard then witnessed what I would refer to as a deluge of preciptitation. It lasted until about 7:00 then dried up. When I got to the office, I exclaimed how heavy the rain was, and was told "You ain't seen nothin' yet". Apparently that was a mere shower considering there can be 20-30mm of rain deposited on Addis in well under an hour accompanied by golf ball (if not hardball) sized hail stones.

Fascinating about Ethiopian customs/culture

Often when people greet one another, after shaking hands, they dip their right shoulder to make contact with the other person's right shoulder. The shoulder touch is a unique movement after the shake.

Some expressions, like nouns in most languages other than English, are gender and number specific. For example, a common parting word at the end of the day is:

1) for one man ... dehna eder
2) for one woman ... dehna edri
3) for more than one person ... dehna edru

I will do some more research on the above to make sure it is correct. One should wait when meeting/greeting people; If a hand is not extended to shake, do not initiate.

Amharic, the "national" language of Ethiopia ... there is a big cloud on its origin and history. It uses a unique alphabet and, according to the locals, is not hard to learn ... yah that's what I was told about French in grade 5.

A good night's sleep

Finally, I got what I really needed. When we went for dinner last night, on a scale of 1 to 10, I was about 1.5 "light-headed". I attributed that to neverending jet lag as well as the some 7,500 feet elevation of Addis Abebe. The family restaurant we went to was lovely and I satisfied my tex-mex appetite. Sweet Thing, any calls from Mex's since I left?

Today is the big audit kick-off meeting with my 2 countererparts Tagle and Mesfin. I got a new office yesterday and am getting another one today. I was asked if I wanted a couch in the new one abd I said no. I think I will re-consider before the move and get one. I meet with these two at 2PM then we will hit the ground running on Friday.

The walk to the restaurant last night was the furthest I had done yet. The streets are somewhere between a challenge (Queen May road) and palatial (the 407). I cannot wait until the weekend so I can have some time to myself before the sun goes down ~6PM. It is raining very hard this morning ... welcome to Addis in the winter.

Favourite thing yet ... the guys that hang out the window of the blue Toyota van buses (always wondered how to spell that :)) marketing their vehicle in loud voices. The least favourite ... the streets are very dark at night. But in a way that's good. My Sweet Thing will hold onto me more as the night vision is probably her "weakest".

Mote to come later; this 4200 baud post took long enough.

Getting closer

What will they think of next! I just made this post from my desktop in Addis. Bandwidth problems improving but still not able to post pics to Facebook ...

MASI Meets MoFED

The first day at the office (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development). I was such a good boy, ensuring I was ready well before 8:20 this morning, the hour I was informed I would be picked up. About 7:50 there is a knock at my door; guess who? It was a bit wet as we drove to the office. Traffic was hectic. The uncontrolled intersections are handled as follows (all in a matter of micro-second):

1) Does it appear to be safe? Safe in this context means if the speed of cars already approaching the intersection means a collision will not mame more than 1 passenger?
2) Is the sum of the weight of the vehicle and all its occupants likely to exceed that of anyone else contemplating entering the intersection?
3) Is there a likelihood that yielding the right of way will lead to no more than an additional .01 micro-seconds being added to the journey?

If you can answer YES to at least 2 of the above, proceed (with or without caution is up to you). We settled into the digs at work and I was given office 36 ... get the significance (36=2 times 18 :)). Then a whole new suite of internet problems began. With assistance from Dereje with whom I share the office, I managed to plug in a 3-prong North American into the 2-prong Ethiopian receptacle. I finally figured out that the firewall rule in place was "If the URL contains at least 2 dots, block it"!!!!!!!!!

Met with my boss, Ato Mussa, for a while in the late afternoon, was introduced to the 2 gentlemen I will be working alongside, and contracts were signed. Then one of the drivers and I put on a few dozen kilometres looking for distilled water for my CPAP machine. The largest bottle we managed to find was the size of the creamers at Al's diner. I may just have to skip the CPAP business until I return to Canada. Mrs. A. (she is such a Sweet Thing) is looking into the doubtful possibility that I can use something other than distilled water.

I was dropped at Deker, changed, and walked around a bit then had dinner at Mera. I had a steak with rice/vegetable, a fied egg on top, and 2 St. George beer all for 46 birr or a mere 4.60 USD. The egg was fried very crispy and quite lovely. At the end of the meal, a tiny yellow and orange plastic house appeared on my table. It had a toothpick sticking out of it. I pulled it out, and contemplated pushing the grey button where the chimney would be. Lo and behold, another toothpick popped up. I bought some nectar of the deities (a.k.a. peanut butter) on the way home. My bed exploded when I sat down on it so the very kind attendant fixed it; I also showed him how to put on a top sheet which, after close to 11 years with my lovely Sweet Thing, would please her to no end :) Not to mention the bedspread which has been flung into the corner every opportunity possible.

I am being picked up at 7:30 in the morning by one of the fleet of drivers. I think I learned my first native word(s) ... when bidding a fond farewell to someone at the end of the day:

- to a woman: dinadiri - to a man: dinadir - to more that one person at the same time: dinadera

Anyone familiar with the Addis native tongue, please jump in ...

The first few days

The journey to Addis ... we were 1 hour late getting out of Ottawa which, in my recent experience, is "in effect" on time. The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful. I was asked to switch seats so a couple could sit together in a row where both seat-back screens worked. The flight attendant was very helpful and scored me a row with the aisle seat empty. Bonus for a trip across the Atlantic. Alas, all was not well with the row I moved to as the sound did not work on my screen. I tried Air Canada's headphones and they did not work either. I was thus, as a result of my helping out others, without the entertainment module in my seat. I did watch Woody Allen's Sleeper in my portable DVD player so all was not lost. That was followed by Roger Waters' the Wall in Berlin. I thought it quite appropriate to be watching this while flying into 21st century Germany.

Something else odd happened on the flight. At one point an attendant appeared, said "Pasta or chicken" to me, and proceeded to give me some food. The optimal word here is "give". I know the carriers are going to figure out some way to either charge for food on long-haul flights or make segments shorter to avoid having to give out anything for free. It reminds me of something Warren Capps told me ... he was once on a US Airways flight where their famous "express beverage service" was so fast he never even saw anyone.

The B-concourse is where I landed in Frankfurt and that is where my next flight was scheduled to depart. I ate and watched more of the Wall. My flight was leaving at 10:30AM so about 9:45 I thought it wise to mosey over to the screens to discover what gate I was at. I was told B41 so headed that way. They were already boarding flight 652 so I was bussed to the next A340 ... a massive piece of aviation hardware in the sardine line of equipment. This line of state-of-the-art machinery is designed to fit 6 people into an area of a fuselage designed for 1. When Sandy and I flew back from Frankfurt to Canada when we were in Italy (2007), we were treated to an older jet belonging to Lufthansa, obviously made before the sardine line became so popular. Now I rank the Lufthansa equipment in the same class as that used by our beloved Air Canada. With that said, the staff on Lufthansa took excellent care of us and I was given some German chocolates by one of the attendants after landing for being such a good sport in cocoon 46C at the back of the plane.

I almost scored my own aisle on the flight to Addis but the plane miraculously filled up at the last minute. I was in row 46, and treated to the smallest living quarters ever designed for an Airbus, probably specifically targeted for the geriatric North American to really appreciate Columbus' work in the 15th century. I discovered the jet was also stopping in Yemen and was informed the Addis touch-down was first. I watched a Vin Diesel movie on this voyage which set a record of more people being killed than grains of sand at Cavendish beach in PEI.

The flight to Addis was long, and I wondered what they were saying in German and whether it directly or loosely resembled what we were being told in English. I did not hook up with Paul as planned at Bole airport. I wandered around for about 30 minutes and ended up enacting plan C which was to taxi to the Hilton and spend the night there. On route, the driver offered to call Paul and we eventually hooked up with his driver. I ended up at the Dorsey household then after a bit was driven back to the Deker guest house which is where I am staying.

I figured out some quirks about the guest house and happily settled in for a remarkably good night's sleep. Top of my shopping list is clothes hangars. I also need distilled water, a SIM card for my cell phone, and an internet card which can wait. Addis is a modern city that is bustling with pedestrians and a plethora of Toyota vans being used for small-sized public transit. The STOP signs here, similar to my experience in Monterey Mexico, actually mean "SLOW DOWN and YIELD RIGHT OF WAY". I have been told the bandwidth on the internet is nowhere close to what we are used to in North America so we will see how that goes. I will post pictures as they become available, probably doing most of my heavy internet work from the office where the bandwidth is supposed to be better.

At 9:20 Sunday morning I was picked up by Dejere, the "driver", for breakfast at chez Paul. We proceeded to another apartment where we were to pick up another few people for the feast. We waited 45 minutes for them then were off to the repast. It was labelled as a "western breakfast" by the host and indeed it was. The couple we picked up was very nice and they have a 4 year-old son who is about a 13 on a cute scale of 1 to 10. The father, Abraha, as I found out, works at Addis Abebe university and Paul is trying to score some work with them for the future.

Dejere brought me back to Deker about 3PM and I lay down for a few minutes. Ha! Two hours later I woke up refreshed. It was raining when I was pondering going for a walk. Speaking of a walk ... I was told that there are not really addresses for anything in Addis. I suggested if I get "lost" that I simply hop in a cab and give the driver my address ... what address? I was told to memorize the name of a location very close to my house and ask to be dropped there then walk the rest of the way. I picked Eden mall building close to Deker and now can walk between the two with my eyes closed.

My walk was uneventful; I was politely accosted by a handful of beggars and marched on as told without acknowledging their requests. The sidewalks here can be treacherous after a rain. They are made from concrete paving stones, asphalt, or slightly-raised concrete slabs. The slabs ... watch out. They are as slippery as moss-covered rocks just below the surface of a fast-moving stream. The footing in general was not great and I will have to train myself to be cautious.

One of the things I was hoping to do is open a bank account for myself here. This was met by loud guffaws from the gang as nobody here has such an invention. I will be getting my expense component of my fees in cash every 15 days. I was told my employer here will gladly wire the consulting fees component in USD to a North American account (yippee!!!).

By the way the birr (abbreviated in the markets as ETB) is worth about 10 cents US. That is easy! The decimal system re-invented ... 500 birr is 50 dollars and 30 birr would be 3.

I had dinner at the Select bar/restaurant near my lodging. For 40 birr I had bottled water, Ethiopian naan bread (I will have to get its proper name), and a delicious stew of beef, tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, and a few other unknown (but scrumptious) tidbits. No utensils as expected and I was a good boy and only ate with my right hand. There was a serving spoon that came with the meal and a few times, when my server was not looking, I scooped some of the food into my mouth with the spoon. I did not get caught once as I would have been banned from the establishment for life.

The Ethiopian guy ...

I did make it here. I am still investigating the best way to get internet. I am working from a CDMA card at Paul's house and the bandwidth is interesting. My posts will/may be sporadic until this is solved. The trip here was uneventful which is a good thing. I will be slow responding to comments for now ...

Earth to Abbey Seen' Ya

Signing off North America ... the next post you hear will be from Africa; I have been told there is electricity and internet there. Let's hope it is more stable than Rogers; I will be living on my Slingbox while gone. By the way, if you ever travel to far away places (Barrie ON, or Kelowna BC, or even Brighton England :)) and want to use my Slingbox please let me know. It allows you to watch my satellite TV from anywhere in the world. Best part ... it's FREE! It's really free, not like Rogers who tells you you get get 500 "free daytime minutes". They are NOT FREE; you paid for them :).

The countdown continues

Dr. Kronick (Sandy that is :)) says it's nerves that is making me feel "punk" today. I did get sort of bitten by two wasps on Tuesday and, even though I thought I brushed them off my leg before they "finished", the 2 sites are still sore, but not swollen. Dr. K. ruled that out as the cause of my feeling a wee bit out of sorts today. It's not like I'm going to Africa or anything (hey, a trip to Toronto could be more metabollically [is that a word] upsetting). Final high-level musings on my pending journey ... holy f^^%. My mission in Addis Ababa can be summed up by a few familiar sayings (pulled from my favourite sports and music vernacular):

1) Go Sens Go (hey Mark)
2) Just Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd)
3) Are you with me Dr. Woo? (Steely Dan)
4) Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring (Traffic)

The suspense builds

Much to the joy and elation of my lovely wife, we are done shopping for the trip to Ethiopia. The suitcases are ready and one weighs over 3 metric tonnes. There will probably be some extra charges to cart that gigantic behemoth to Africa. T-minus less than 2 days and the excitement builds ...

Bye bye Fender

I packed up the Squier Strat today, then thought it would be wise to investigate the charges for it on Air Canada then Lufthansa ... the guitar retailed for 195 CAD; the checked baggage charges were as high as:

For the guitar: Ottawa --> Frankfurt 225 CAD
For the guitar: Frankfurt --> Addis Ababa 225CAD
Overweight other checked bag: Ottawa --> Frankfurt 100CAD
Overweight other checked bag: Frankfurt --> Addis Ababa 100CAD

Grand total: 650 CAD! That's just to get it there; getting it home would be another $650 for a total of $1,300 -- for a $195 guitar; I think not. I will buy a guitar in Ethiopia :) May be impossible but it should be an adventure trying. All this, Steven Baker, for C Am F and G7 ...

End result ... the Strat stays home, and the load gets split amongst 2 suitcases, ensuring each is under the magical 50 lb. limit.

4 days and counting

My brother-in-law Jake must have been cut from the same cloth I was ... his suggestion for naming this BLOG Addis Abbeyba is on par if not better than what I am using. The shopping continues at a feverish pace, and we are close to being done.

I am taking my precious Squier Strat electric guitar. It is to be packed in more padding than is used to transport priceless works of art ... soft padding inside the case so axe does not move around, a hard shell guitar case, bubble wrap, crumpled newspaper padding, and finally a cardboard box with a home-made handle. I am also thinking of putting THIS IS NOT A GUITAR on the box :)

I also plan to loosen the guitar strings for transport. What with my limited experience with the 6-string electric, this will be closest to a drop tuning (for all you officianados out there) I have ever used. My forté is the 4-string Precision bass not the 6-string electric.

Pack pack pack pack pack pack pack

Pack some clothes, pack some pills, pack some clothes, pack some pills, pack some pills, pack some pills, pack some pills, pack some pills, pack some clothes. I feel like the PharmaPrix/Jean Coutu (QC), Shoppers (ON), Duane Reade (NY), or Walgreens (FL) guy!!

The first thing people say to me when they hear where I am going is "get your shots?", oh ya, have a nice time :)

Guidance from the pros ...

Leaving for Frankfurt Friday August 7 at 5:15PM. I get to FRA at 6:30AM CEST. I leave Frankfurt for Addis Ababa at 10:30AM CEST and arrive at 6:20PM EAT. When Canada is on daylight savings time, Addis Ababa is 7 hours ahead of Ottawa, 8 when on standard time.

This work was the seed of Paul Dorsey, a colleague in New Jersey (www.dulcian.com). I will be auditing a system and performing some Oracle technical work at the same time. The client wants a health check performed on a handful of Oracle databases. I will also be mentoring their employees on best practices and advanced management techniques for working with Oracle databases.

I have received a few long emails about the workplace and the arrival at Bole international. Picture that! Michael Abbey in a jacket and tie EVERYDAY!!

---

"For work, count on high end business casual or full business. Slacks and long sleeve dress shirt. I would wear a coat and tie. I tend to wear a suit.

For casual, no one wears shorts ever ( not even on weekends). Bring jeans and casual stuff for evenings, weekends.

Oh one important thing. Bring a GOOD pair of hiking boots for walking in. Best thing I ever brought. Many streets are unpaved. When it rains its muddy. I LOVE my boots. Also, we will go hiking for fun."

---

"When you arrive, there will be a big line to get visas, you can ignore that and go right to the immigration lines (Lots of lines leading up to little booths).

After immigration, you can wait to get your bags. There will be an x-ray machine at customs that you usually get to just walk by and smile.

After you get out of customs, we will will pick you up at the airport but we will probably NOT be right outside in the terminal waiting room. Walk around there for about 3 mins looking for us just in case we came in. If it is raining, I will probably be in the terminal looking for you.

To get into the terminal as a visitor there is a long line and security and it is annoying. So we will probably meet you in front of the terminal. Walk out the door on the right and walk down the ramp.

Avoid all the guys that will want to "help" you."

Initial Thoughts

The start of yet another journey in the sometimes colourful life of Michael Stephen Abbey. This will serve as an electronic record of my adventures in Ethiopia. The title of this BLOG is a take-off on the former name of Ethiopia ... Abyssinia.