Where to begin? I think it was Tuesday when I left the states. I was so excited to leave that I arrived at the airport four hours early, at 5pm, thinking my flight was at 7pm when in fact it was at 9pm. As all of my friends and family know, it is entirely possible for me to miss flights, international or not, and predictable that I am behind schedule instead of in front of it, so my unusual early arrival was some kind of strange miracle. Sitting at an airport for four hours is boring, so after checking my luggage, I went to a cafe in town for drinks with my parents and my uncle who had just arrived in Philly.
Fast forward: semi-boring details on the way to Addis. I flew British Airways and requested an upgrade, as I always do, but was denied this time. On my way past the privileged seating, I managed to steal a thick business class blanket (just for the flight) and was hoping that the little business class goodie kit (I am obsessed with First Class/Business upgrades and the inflight set that comes with them) would be hidden inside but alas, it was not. The most enjoyable part of the flight was the special Hindu meal I ordered with curried veggies, basmati rice and nan and ridiculously good gulab jamin! The best smelling/tasting airplane meal ever. Very yummy. Highly recommended.
At Heathrow, I mostly walked around, slept and then met up with the friend who was also flying to Addis. We flew from Heathrow to Amman and then from Amman to Addis watching the film 'Spanglish' and talking about what our plan would be upon arrival.
We got into Addis a little after 2 a.m. My friend's uncle met us at the airport. We walked out to his car and the soft, sweet, almost dewy, late night, early morning air gave me a delightful whiff of good things to come. There is something wonderful and mysterious about arriving into a new town or city late at night, when it's dark and there aren't many lights shining to illuminate buildings or people. The air tells you it's a different place...your plane ticket tells you it's a different place...after almost 19 hours flying it should be a different place, but when you can't really see the details around you in the dark you could be anywhere. But I knew I was in Addis. Though I am new to this country, I had the same feeling I've had on other trips to countries in Africa. I felt new, in awe and comfortably out of my element, away from the familiar yet at home.
We were all hungry. I tried to be polite and suggest that I be dropped off at the hotel in town but Marcus and his uncle suggested I stay and eat with them at his house. My grumbling, empty stomach would not be denied. I happily agreed to eat with them. Once we got to the house, set in an area not unlike suburban enclave of homes - with an African touch, a huge meal of lamb, ingera (think of a sponge-like crepe, used to sop up food and sauce), root vegetables and other goodies were set out in front of us. We drank a delicious beer, Dashen Beer. As I ate, my jet lag melted. We talked about the upcoming elections here and all of the construction and changes that have been developing. Actually, they talked and I asked questions and tried to soak everything in.
After talking for what seemed like hours we turned in, each to our seperate rooms with keys hanging under each door knob so that we could lock our doors. I showered, took my malaria pill and fell asleep listening to the sound of the call for prayer at the mosque down the road.
The following morning, or later that day when I awoke, I could actually see all the 'differentness' that I could only feel the night before. We ate a lovely breakfast outside on the terrace. My second meal in Addis was scrambled eggs on ingera and a spicy beef stew. Marcus warned me that I would have to exercise because I would be eating a lot...he was not lying. Our agenda for the day would be driving into central Addis, changing money, having coffee (or mocchiato) at La Parisienne, finding a cousin, playing tennis, meeting a friend for drinks and then a night out on the town.
I'm sorry I have to do a 'to be continued'. Nature calls. Preview: I had the best time ever yesterday/last night, going out, meeting incredibly warm people, photographing neighborhoods of children and dancing, dancing, dancing!
More to come.
Comments