Monday July 25, 2011
9:12 p.m. I’m in Terminal 1 of the Addis airport in Ethiopia, and it was another colossal mess. I wish one thing on this country would be easy for me First of all Arsenal cab drivers car broke down so he sent his friends car, we couldn’t find a pharmacy after the third one we finally got one that carried Imodium. When we arrived at the airport the new driver wanted more money than was reasonable, I ended up giving him what he was asking because it ended up being just $5 extra dollars. It becomes about fair exchange, nobody wants to feel ripped off or taken advantage of but it’s important to keep in mind that it was about 5:00, less than the cost of a good sandwich. I was dropped off at the wrong terminal at the airport..again so I walk over to Terminal 1, the bank wasn’t open,, Hilton bank was closed, Sheraton was out to lunch, Terminal 1 bank was closed, I went back & forth between Terminal 1& 2 three separate times. Nothing seems easy in Ethiopia…nothing. But! good news, I found a rock I liberated from Kili! it is tiny but I found it!
4:03 p.m Christie & I FaceTimed as much as we could only getting sporadic connections. It was nice to see her pretty face, see my best friends in the world besides Christie the dogs & see how incredibly green & wet it is around the acreage. It was a beautiful morning in Sherwood Park, the sun was coming up & I could here the birds singing & it occurred to me how beautiful it really is in Canada. The desert & rocks of Somalia were fascinating but I only suspect i feel that way because of the novelty.
3:11p.m. I’m all packed up, there was a large cockroach in my Roots bag, that scurried over the National Geographic backpack as well so I flicked him off. I emailed brother Dean a happy birthday from Africa. Christie & I are trying to FaceTime but we can only talk for a minute or so at a time before we either lose the connection or the computer freezes up. The Internet has been really slow & off & on all day anyway here. Christie is trying to reach me but it’s not much use. I had some Ideal Protein shakes packages which had holes in the silver lining of the pouch either from wear & tear or the cockroach getting a healthy high protein snack. Consequently there is a fair amount of protein powder in my duffle bag. I napped which felt good although my stomach has been going into spasms spilling into the bowl despite two Imodium’s today. Between the hammering due to the construction next door the enchanting hypnotic Muslim call to prayer echoes in the distance it kept me awake for awhile. A right wing Christian religious zealot that killed 93 people in Norway and that was on my mind. Can you imagine if that were a Muslim that did that? The outrage & extreme measures by our ‘Christian’ society would be unimaginable. It would be another mass persecution of Islam. Yet this one will just be chalked up to a crazy person. What the lesson is I believe is that there is crazy people in every society & the more one swings to extremism in any religion it leads to fanaticism & lunacy.
11:30 a.m. I am now feeling comfortable. I dried off after my shower & my stomach seems to have settled down after expelling the contents from my Southern end in what equates to dumping brown water in the toilet. I showered & it felt good, I was working out in a really good gym & it was a deja vous of Kilimanjaro, it was only a 30 minute run at 10 km (6 mph) & it was as hard as Kili. Kilimanjaro was longer but this was as difficult in each moment, it was a struggle to get 30 minutes in. I’m spent now. I also did some weights a short upper body routine with weights & some squats but on account of my shoulder (bench) & there was only 2 plates, 2 35’s, 2 25’s, 2 10’s, & 2 5’s (230 lbs or 104 kgs or so). I had some breakfast came back to the room briefly before I went to the gym.
I’m in Addis Ababa in my very comfortable room 210 at the Jupiter Inn. I just researched a bit on Rwanda. I FaceTimed Christie, & disappointment swelled in my chest, about some renovations going poorly back home. I was awake around 4:00 a.m. & read the book Black Spruce. I must have fallen asleep when reading about Will’s bear being killed, animals suffering or in pain bother me as much as any human tragedy. When I travel I meeting love the people. I’ll go down for breakfast now, tell them to void room service for the day, get out some money, & I’m excited to work out in their incredible gym here. I also wouldn’t mind to see the infamous Rastafarian community here in Addis.
Sunday July 24, 2011
Rainy cool Addis Ababa
I read Black Spruce & fell asleep
There is no Internet at the Abenezer so I’m moving hotels, Ethiopia lives! Internet was out at Ebenezer & throughout the area, so I got our Arsenal driver to take me to the Jupiter Hotel, it’s a really nice room, meets North American standards, I chose it because it’s cheaper than the Hilton aprox. ($280) & the Sheraton ($380). He’s going to take me to the airport tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. So I have to pay a half day but I have Wi -Fi in my room.
1:27 p.m. Although it sounds again like there is a waterfall in our bathroom, I have a huge smile on my face as I slide between the sheets. I never thought that I’d be so happy to see Ethiopia. The Internet wasn’t working so I did what we do back home, I found the router unplugged it for 30 seconds or so then plugged it back in. Deep thought; is it wrong to laugh at the African ladies who are afraid to step onto an escalator & just stand there with a frightened look…this is not the first time that this has happened, but today there were three of them
12:49 p.m. I’m back in our same old little breakfast spot at the Ebenezer. It is cold & rainy in Addis. Djibouti was baking, low 40’s, going into windy Somalia the plane had to be 10 degrees more than the 43 temperature outside, I just took it as ‘ back home we pay for this in hot yoga’ I left windy Hargeisa. I helped an old man who appeared to have dementia since no one at Bole would, I snuck past security once again at Bole, yay me! I was so delighted to have Muday at the airport to pick me up, what a treat to see a friendly face, so kind.
10:42 a.m. aboard flight from Djibouti to Addis…
9:51 a.m. sitting waiting to board the flight to Addis Ababa, it was supposed to leave at 9:45 a.m., looks like we may be delayed.
7:45 a.m. I’m on a flight from Hargeisa to Djibouti. This is something out of a surreal movie, the Russian engineer pulled up the ladder from the door that he just climbed up, he then took the ladder & threw it in the aisle of the plane. Hargeisa airport was small & unsophisticated, no computers & the cue was another mob of shouting agitated Africans budding in the mass that barely resembled lines despite the small number of passengers. An armed guard with a beat up AK-47, & a really polite driver who was waiting for me in the Land Rover took me to the airport over beat up pot holed roads through several makeshift checkpoints in which the gate was either a rope that was dropped or the more common dented metal poles with badly brush painted lines. I left everyone a note saying goodbye in the empty kitchen. My iPad alarm didn’t work but it was OK, I was awake before 5:30 & my alarm was set for 5:15. I wasn’t concerned the entire morning because departure time was 8:00 a.m. We left around 7:30 a.m. Africa; no schedule for anything just in this case it was early instead of late.
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