The new kid in town

Met with Ato Mussa and Demisu regarding the new contract. For every 10 weeks in Addis I will be back in Canada for 6 or 7 days then return to Ethiopia all at MoFED's expense. This is good ... I should have my MacBook Pro in the AM and am getting the Dell ready to sell to Hiruy. Sweet Thing/family minus about 4 days.

Working too

The MacBook purchased for me in Dubai will be in my hot little hands tomorrow. It's a 15" pro with 4Gb of memory and the 250Gb hard drive. Sweet!

Me first ... some habesha (native Ethiopians)

I am somewhat annoyed at some (not ALL) habesha when they are in a situation that they must wait on other people. This happens especially when in heavy traffic. Sometimes a car will advance into an intersection and position itself in such a way that it generates gridlock. If the driver had been a little more thoughtful, instead of 10 vehicles sitting there unable to move, 20-30 would have been able to proceed.

I noticed this in the hospital when I was there last week for the dentist to look at my tooth. When the door opened as someone came out of the office, habesha crowded around the opening, hoping to be served next regardless of the fact that others may have been there before them. I did mention this to a habesha at Bilo's last week and he just smiled and acknowledged that my impression is correct. I must stress that in general habesha are courteous, warm, friendly, and respectful. Outside of "wait events", these same habesha fall into this "nice" category. When at Edna mall a few weeks ago to see a movie, I am standing in line and a habesha arrives at the wicket and goes to the front of the line. I said to him "mind if I go before you?" and he allowed me, even though there were a few people in line behind me who had been and still were happy to have me served since I was ahead of them.

I am taking the kids (Burhan and Hanna) out for burgers today. I just hope they have enough high chairs at MKS. I spoke to Jordan and Lindsay today and they are in Banff for the night celebrating their 2nd anniversary. Annabelle is with friends of theirs overnight as her parents are in Montréal for Christmas.

Gotta love it

Not much happened Sunday, and tennis was great. I think I am doing better on my forehand. I wish I had taken this sport up younger :). Had a very nice dinner with some folks at the China Bar, organized by Youssef in the guest house. He has just rented a house near me and when I return I will more than likely spend some time there watching DsTV.

At the start of my last 3 days at MoFED on this contract, hoping to see Ato Mussa early to iron out the return airfare details for the next contract which I saw Friday. Jazz tonight off Kazanches I hope and the goodbye party, actually more a thank-you party since I will be coming back, tomorrow night at 7PM at Blue Drops. Readers of this BLOG are encouraged to get there early as seating may be tight.

5AM on a Saturday

The church near here just started broadcasting and will be doing so for upwards of 2 hours, So much for getting back to sleep. I heard from Dubai and he hopes to be getting the 15" today so I will keep my hopes up. I texted with the ST who is out for dinner with Ben and Jess ... DDAS

Ferenge-a-food

Melaku and I went to Zebra for dinner. I had a lovely salad and, of all things, ferenge-a-wings AKA chicken wings. We had a lovely visit and then I came back to Deker. I have no plans for tomorrow except for tennis at 2PM. I will assemble with the rest of the fans at Blue Drops tomorrow for the Arsenal game at 7PM. This whirlwind of an escapade to Africa is winding down. Hiruy and Melaku both checked in to ensure the party was still on for Tuesday. Youssef called about 4PM and I went to Blue Drops to catch the second half of a Birmingham/Chelsea match and it ended up 0-0.

I have not heard back from Yoftahe who is in Dubai and may be getting me a MacBook. I hope this scheme works out but not hearing from him since before Christmas may not be good.

13 months of sunshine

That's one of Ethiopia's lines ... it's wet today as it has been more off than on lately and we are in the summer (dry) season. They follow a calendar here that has 12 months of 30 days then an extra month of 5 days or 6 in a leap year. Ended up at the Sheraton to see RightOnBand last night and even Ileana came which was nice. Kizume whom I met at Deker came along too. I was up early today but did not drag myself out of bed until 7:30. I munched at Bilo's then blue bused it to Mexico where I cabbed to merkato. I picked up some material for Mme Trees and that was all there. I was back at Deker by noon and had a bite at Blue Drops before tennis. Tennis was good and I will see Hiruy again at 2PM tomorrow. I concentrated more closely on my swing for the forehand and had a really good workout. It is nice to be back. I did not push it and after 40 minutes practiced serving then quit. I am having dinner with Melaku tonight and will give him the Nokia to use until I am back in February. The tooth infection is all but gone and I have 4 or 5 doses of the meds left. I have been impressed with the medical advice I have gotten from the doctors I have been fortunate/unfortunate to see in Ethiopia.