Staying at the Baha'i Centre in the late afternoon, in the quiet after the departure of the choir and their support followers, a small group of dusty travellers, 3 from Canada, one from Austalia, one from Uganda, basked in the warmth of the Ethiopian sun with a few new Ethiopian friends. Soon it became evident that the remaining crowd was off to the unnamed (or at least name not known) "tea house" in the compound up and across the street from the Baha'i centre, which is often frequented by the Baha'is. This is a recreation facility where a lot of weddings and various meetings are held. There are tennis courts and bocce pits--only men allowed, of course, and they are always full. There is a huge courtyard with spaced tables and much rearranging of the lightweight metal chairs as the flow of folks comes and goes.
Our rather bereft little group drifted over, too, and soon were surrounded by a laughing, happy party of friends. Our table had to be extended and chairs brought and soon we were drinking shai the sweet dark Ethiopian tea. It's very good, served very hot in a small glass. Somehow even this small amount is so thirst quenching. We were treated to boboli the unsweetened fried doughnut of local repute and so many stories of the Jubilee. Everyone had such a wonderful time over the four days!
Soon we decided that we were very tired, and Parvin and I headed back to the hotel for dinner. Wes Baker (Uganda) joined us for his last night in the same hotel, as he was moving in the morning to the Baha'i Endowment House, named Sabri House after the first Baha'is here.
After a delicious dinner, we went back to our room to say prayers together for Keith who started chemotherapy that day and for Doug who was having trouble from a surgery on his hand which had became infected.
We'd already decided that Tuesday would be a day of rest for us, since the whirlwind tour with the choir had actually been quite exhausting. I was still a bit weak after my bout with tourista and Parvin had developed an allergy ever since being in the room with "Lucy". After our usual sumptuous breakfast, we took long showers (unlike most places this hotel has a lovely hot water shower and sufficient water pressure), did our laundry, rested for a little while and then decided we were bored. So, we walked out to the market places (right outside our door, really, and quite safe), looking at things. There really is not much in the way of souvenirs, as I may have mentioned. The carving and jewellry makers, even if technically from Ethiopia, are Turkana, from the south and the products really look more Tanzanian or Kenyan. There are a few authentic things, of course; intricate embroidery, shawls, clothing, fine gauzy cotton, some carvings. This is not an area of mask-makers, much. We decided to take our taxi to Post Office area again to have a look at things there. Of course, he loves to show off his city and so we see some very interesting side routes and many back ways. We had a lovely time just wandering in the heat and looking at "stuff" and considering whether we might buy. Both of us did pick up a few small things, but really were just looking. Before we knew it, two hours had passed, and Terefe came looking for us. Poor man! He didn't tell us that he was only allowed to park for 1/2 hour (it certainly didn't look like a parking lot to us, just a rocky, broken side of the road, beside the open sewage ditch (fortunately, empty)) and so had received 2 parking tickets! As we started to pull out of the space, a slim, very young woman in a yellow uniform, looking very officious, stood so he could not move the car without hitting her with the front fender. Terefe reached into his pocket and pulled out 2-1Birr notes (about 20 cents) and gave them to her for the fine. He wouldn't hear of letting us pay him back, though I'm sure that he is doing OK with our business to him.
Taxis are an intersting business here. There are three kinds. Yellow taxis, licensed by the government, and "guaranteed" to be safe, licensed by a different department of the government for international travellers' use, more knowledgeable about the country and the city. They are also insured, which in this city of astouding driving confusion, is a big deal. This is the kind Terefe drives. You can get them to take you someplace directly, and bargain with them for the price, or you can become "customer" which means he is at your disposal 24 hours a day and will only charge you for the places you go, but at a higher rate than other blue taxis. We have done this with Terefe, as we feel very safe with him and have become friends. We use other means of transportation too, to save money, but the major times we need a stong man around, he is there. He tells us of his wife and two small daughters, whom he loves to distraction. The housekeeper in our hotel, who works about 70+ hours a week and has a small baby at home, makes 320 Birr a month (about $32 US). We figured that a man who drives such a taxi must make about double that in an average month. So far we have paid him in almost three weeks about 500 to 600 Birr ($50 -$60 US) and he has driven us really long distances and come to get us when we phone, when it can't possibly be convenient for him. We were touched that as the weeks have gone by, he has come in a new shirt, new shirt and pants, a new sweater; he brings us greetings from his wife. So even though it is a bit more for us to travel this way, there are a lot of advantages.
The second kind of taxi is the blue and white. These are everything you think about about a "broken down taxi". No guarantees; don't set foot inside until you have bargained for and agreed on a price (no easy job for farenjis), no insurance, but cheap and quick enough. Great for going a short distance, especially if you know a bit of where you are going so you can direct them, as there are no addresses in Addis--few street names that anyone recognizes and no building numbers. One exception to this is the Sabri House, which everyone knows as "Rwanda" because it is on that street.
The third type of taxi is the blue and white mini-bus. Constructed like the East African matatchu, they have much stricter rules about occupancy. being strictly limited to 11, which is the number of seats. They are very cheap and the price is set, and you can only go where they are going--rather like going bus stop to bus stop. You can hear the drivers' assistants all day, yelling the destination, either from the side of the street where they are standing waiting for the bus to fill, or as they whiz by, leaning out the side of the open door or window "Kotobey!" (where Shokufeh lives with Zalelem and Gail) or "Howlett!" (shopping area). It takes a while to get used to the accent, but soon enough, we are able to understand. They're kinda fun to ride in, actually.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Send off for the Choir
Finally back on the buses and the annoucement made that in order to save time, because we were now 2 hours late (did I mention--It's Africa?) we would be returning to the Panorama Hotel to have lunch. Privately I thought that this was probably not the smartest idea because I know what their idea of a "rush" is. However, back we went, and it was nice to be able to be inside the cool polished granite interior and spotless cleanliness, complete with flush toilets and running water--cold and hot! A couple of people ventured to the Serapta restaurant next door where there is a view of the city from the outdoor balcony. As it is on the 3rd floor of the building, the waves and belches of pollution from the leaded and diesel gas burned by the passing traffic are not too overwhelming there, and the Italian influenced food is good. They walked there, had their lunch and returned before most of us got to order. They paid about 20 Birr ($2.00 US) and we paid much more depending on what we got. Parvin and I are very fond of their vegetable soup (18.40 Birr) but many others ordered big meals of "steak" or "beef fillet", "chicken jumble" (fried chicken) or "chicken with mushroom sauce" (price between 50 Birr to 75 Birr), plus water, soft drinks (though Pepsi signs are everywhere, Coke (Fanta, Sprite) has the market), it can add up. Still a great meal for $10 US is not bad, plus you know you won't get dysentery or typhus from eating it--a rather large bonus.
2 hours for lunch and wrap up and we were off to the Baha'i Centre where the National Spiritual Assembly had asked to meet with us. We were taken into the main room of the centre and greeted by 4 members of the NSA as well as the Continental Board of Counselors member for this area. They expressed their thanks to all of us for our contibutions to the Jubilee--I think all of us were overwhelmed, because compared to what they have accomplished here, we really did nothing. Spontaneously, "O Thou Compassionate Lord" broke out from the choir; it was really something to hear in that low ceilinged room, filled with so much love and happiness. The NSA members were standing at the front of the room and received the full force of our gratitude and love, expressed through this song. It wasn't long before they were, like us, giving up the struggle to hold back the tears. These amazing, intelligent, dedicated, selfless people standing in front of us, letting us know their feelings was pretty powerful. Van, as always, stepped into the breach, guiding us musically and speaking so eloquently to the Counsellor and the NSA for us.
Then it was time to go. Many hugs and kisses and last minute exchanges of emails and the choir was off to the airport for their flight to Dubai.
Parvin and I felt a little bereft, but soon found that there were a few others who stayed behind, too, and began immediately making plans for "what's next?"
2 hours for lunch and wrap up and we were off to the Baha'i Centre where the National Spiritual Assembly had asked to meet with us. We were taken into the main room of the centre and greeted by 4 members of the NSA as well as the Continental Board of Counselors member for this area. They expressed their thanks to all of us for our contibutions to the Jubilee--I think all of us were overwhelmed, because compared to what they have accomplished here, we really did nothing. Spontaneously, "O Thou Compassionate Lord" broke out from the choir; it was really something to hear in that low ceilinged room, filled with so much love and happiness. The NSA members were standing at the front of the room and received the full force of our gratitude and love, expressed through this song. It wasn't long before they were, like us, giving up the struggle to hold back the tears. These amazing, intelligent, dedicated, selfless people standing in front of us, letting us know their feelings was pretty powerful. Van, as always, stepped into the breach, guiding us musically and speaking so eloquently to the Counsellor and the NSA for us.
Then it was time to go. Many hugs and kisses and last minute exchanges of emails and the choir was off to the airport for their flight to Dubai.
Parvin and I felt a little bereft, but soon found that there were a few others who stayed behind, too, and began immediately making plans for "what's next?"
Sightseeing with the Choir
Not to rest on our laurels, we were off again "early" Monday morning for some sightseeing. The choir had to check out before departure and so there was the usual African change of plans at the last minute and decision-making about what to do with the mass of baggage. Eventually, the hotel decided to put together a luggage car (read "truck") to take the baggage to the airport to meet folks there.
Of course, shopping was part of the schedule for the morning, which most folks had not had time to do while involved in the whirlwind of the Jubilee, so there was some concern about what to do with projected large "American " purchases. Many people had thought that they would be seeing animals, e.g. monkeys and elephants while here, but of course, Ethiopia is not East Africa and there are few animals left in this region. This puts a different stamp on what there is to buy...most locals are content to buy the necessities of life through the street shops. And I do mean "street"--a blanket spread out on the sidewalk, showing in a jumble whatever the retailer has for sale--belts, kleenex, fruit, shoes, clothes, toothpaste/brushes, housewares, everything; and all available for the bartering, each from their specialty "shop". Part of the game is to see how much you can get a ferenji (stranger/foreigner) to pay for what they buy. Side bets by other vendors, etc. There is virtually no tourist industry here...finding a "city tour" is a very difficult thing and can only really be arranged through the Hilton hotel. There are other companies, but usually they specialize more in the farther reaches and old, incredibly old, churches of the Abyssian and Axumite Empires, which are some hours or days drive from Addis.
The choir's first stop that morning was One Planet School, which I have mentioned before. This time the children were in session and we were treated to hearing the cute (!) little grade ones repeating their(very long) school pledge about being a life long learner and remembering their inherent nobility. What a treat! Zalalem Amare, their school director and Mr. Jamal, the deputy director, were very proud of them. Not to mention their volunteer Canadian teachers, Shokufeh, Bahiyyih and Elham! We were all so impressed with them.
This school has a very high standard and has attracted some 200 students in the year and a half it has been open, from daycare through Grade 3, 27 of whom are students on full scholarship because their parents are no longer with them or cannot afford the $1000 per year tuition. Each year they plan to add a grade until they reach grade 8, "and then we'll see" says Gail Amare. They recently had someone do a "book drive" for them in the US and received a shipment of 21,000 books for their library. Thus they are well equipped for reading with the children and also with resources for teachers to discover new ways to interact with their students. It's a pretty amazing place. There is a computer lab, too; about 10 computers in various stages of repair and capacity, but with the ability to help primary students gain basic skills. They need software of games, e.g. English spelling, that small children can play. Parvin and I are going to dinner with the Amares soon, and will be able to speak more to what folks at home could do, if so moved.
After a very enjoyable hour or so at the school, we were off to the National Museum. Ethiopia is considered to be in the region of the world known as the Cradle of Humanity. This is partly because "Lucy" the oldest know skeleton found to date, a female Australopithecus, was found here. Thue museum is the usual home of Lucy, but we were able to see a very realistic plaster cast, the real skeleton parts being currently on loan to a university in Texas, for 6 years. The museum is organized on three floors--the basement contains very very old, e.g. 6 million year old artifacts, huge bones of prehistoric animals I'd never heard of or seen before! teeth of Australopithicean eras, teeth and bones of Homo Erectus--many many interesting things if you are interested in archaeology (which I am!). The middle floor was dedicated to relics of the Emporers, Menelik I and II and Haile Selassie I and their queens. Very ornate clothing, bedecked with silver (mined locally) and made of velvets. There was a chair of the Royal Household which had been taken to Italy during the WWI occupation of Ethiopia, but has been returned as a gift of an Italian family (whom I presume "owned" it). The top floor contained more modern artifacts and examples and displays of folk arts and the local ways of living. There was instruction in how to make injere (which after several samplings now, I've decided I don't like), many examples of pots and home goods from various archaeological digs, many of which started when digging up the streets and some bright eyed person spotted something that looked "old". At that point all construction stops and the dig continues from a different perspective. Thus, there are a couple of huge roadway projects in Addis that are being held up while the painstaking business of archaeology goes forward. Very instructive for us as humankind, on more than one level. One note of interest to me was that all the charts and all the findings they have made here, where they are leaders in this type of research, have not found any "missing link" between the Australopithecus and Homo Sapiens. The Baha'i Writings say that there is no such link in the evolutionary development of mankind, that mankind is it's own evolutionary stream. Interesting to me to see again the agreement of science and religion--a fundamental belief of the Faith.
Of course, with so many intelligent and interested people in the choir this tour took longer than projected. Did I mention that it takes quite a while for 50 people to go through the security searches that happen at the entrance to each public place? One woman security guard for all the women, a couple of men to search the men. Mostly it is a matter of form, but occasionally something strikes the interest of a guard and obedience to their requests is mandatory. More than one bottle of water has been confiscated, because you are not supposed to bring water to this place. We were asked NOT to take pictures of military installations, or even of an electric tower. People on the street will stop you with a shake of the head or finger, but security guards, who mostly have big guns, could be a different story. Everyone is very polite, except when one over-enthusiastic photographer didn't realize he was taking a military establishment ('cause it looked just like a garden) and nearly lost his digital SLR except for the quick talking of one of our Baha'i guides. Mostly, we were told, they just break your camera.
We all agreed, though, that we'd had a wonderful morning, walking in the cool, away from the 26 degree, very dry, heat.
We were taken to the "Post Office Area" (every street has a name here, but very few have signs nor are the names known, so each district is known by the major building in that area--we are in "Lem Hotel district", even though I have never actually found the Lem Hotel), which turns out to be the touristy selling corner. The rent for a shop on that corner (there are about 8) is equivalent to about $500 per month, about 5 times the average salary in the country. So you can imagine the joy with which the merchants saw 2 bus loads of "rich farenjis" descending on them! We had a scheduled 1/2 hour there, and I think every person on the 2 buses bought something different as a souvenir of their incredibly short time in Ethiopia. Baskets, carvings, clothing and of course, shawls (Pashmina goats abound here, as I may have mentioned--there are 3 or 4 flocks resident right around our 4* hotel entrance alleyway). Much laughter as people compared what they had paid, how they had bargained; who cared about what it actually came out to...we all figured that bargaining for the difference of 1 or 2 Birr (10 to 20 cents) made little difference to us, but made a major difference to the people. Several people finished their plastic water bottles while there and shopkeepers assistants were glad to take these empties for their own use. There is no garbage in the streets here, every item is useful for something!
Of course, shopping was part of the schedule for the morning, which most folks had not had time to do while involved in the whirlwind of the Jubilee, so there was some concern about what to do with projected large "American " purchases. Many people had thought that they would be seeing animals, e.g. monkeys and elephants while here, but of course, Ethiopia is not East Africa and there are few animals left in this region. This puts a different stamp on what there is to buy...most locals are content to buy the necessities of life through the street shops. And I do mean "street"--a blanket spread out on the sidewalk, showing in a jumble whatever the retailer has for sale--belts, kleenex, fruit, shoes, clothes, toothpaste/brushes, housewares, everything; and all available for the bartering, each from their specialty "shop". Part of the game is to see how much you can get a ferenji (stranger/foreigner) to pay for what they buy. Side bets by other vendors, etc. There is virtually no tourist industry here...finding a "city tour" is a very difficult thing and can only really be arranged through the Hilton hotel. There are other companies, but usually they specialize more in the farther reaches and old, incredibly old, churches of the Abyssian and Axumite Empires, which are some hours or days drive from Addis.
The choir's first stop that morning was One Planet School, which I have mentioned before. This time the children were in session and we were treated to hearing the cute (!) little grade ones repeating their(very long) school pledge about being a life long learner and remembering their inherent nobility. What a treat! Zalalem Amare, their school director and Mr. Jamal, the deputy director, were very proud of them. Not to mention their volunteer Canadian teachers, Shokufeh, Bahiyyih and Elham! We were all so impressed with them.
This school has a very high standard and has attracted some 200 students in the year and a half it has been open, from daycare through Grade 3, 27 of whom are students on full scholarship because their parents are no longer with them or cannot afford the $1000 per year tuition. Each year they plan to add a grade until they reach grade 8, "and then we'll see" says Gail Amare. They recently had someone do a "book drive" for them in the US and received a shipment of 21,000 books for their library. Thus they are well equipped for reading with the children and also with resources for teachers to discover new ways to interact with their students. It's a pretty amazing place. There is a computer lab, too; about 10 computers in various stages of repair and capacity, but with the ability to help primary students gain basic skills. They need software of games, e.g. English spelling, that small children can play. Parvin and I are going to dinner with the Amares soon, and will be able to speak more to what folks at home could do, if so moved.
After a very enjoyable hour or so at the school, we were off to the National Museum. Ethiopia is considered to be in the region of the world known as the Cradle of Humanity. This is partly because "Lucy" the oldest know skeleton found to date, a female Australopithecus, was found here. Thue museum is the usual home of Lucy, but we were able to see a very realistic plaster cast, the real skeleton parts being currently on loan to a university in Texas, for 6 years. The museum is organized on three floors--the basement contains very very old, e.g. 6 million year old artifacts, huge bones of prehistoric animals I'd never heard of or seen before! teeth of Australopithicean eras, teeth and bones of Homo Erectus--many many interesting things if you are interested in archaeology (which I am!). The middle floor was dedicated to relics of the Emporers, Menelik I and II and Haile Selassie I and their queens. Very ornate clothing, bedecked with silver (mined locally) and made of velvets. There was a chair of the Royal Household which had been taken to Italy during the WWI occupation of Ethiopia, but has been returned as a gift of an Italian family (whom I presume "owned" it). The top floor contained more modern artifacts and examples and displays of folk arts and the local ways of living. There was instruction in how to make injere (which after several samplings now, I've decided I don't like), many examples of pots and home goods from various archaeological digs, many of which started when digging up the streets and some bright eyed person spotted something that looked "old". At that point all construction stops and the dig continues from a different perspective. Thus, there are a couple of huge roadway projects in Addis that are being held up while the painstaking business of archaeology goes forward. Very instructive for us as humankind, on more than one level. One note of interest to me was that all the charts and all the findings they have made here, where they are leaders in this type of research, have not found any "missing link" between the Australopithecus and Homo Sapiens. The Baha'i Writings say that there is no such link in the evolutionary development of mankind, that mankind is it's own evolutionary stream. Interesting to me to see again the agreement of science and religion--a fundamental belief of the Faith.
Of course, with so many intelligent and interested people in the choir this tour took longer than projected. Did I mention that it takes quite a while for 50 people to go through the security searches that happen at the entrance to each public place? One woman security guard for all the women, a couple of men to search the men. Mostly it is a matter of form, but occasionally something strikes the interest of a guard and obedience to their requests is mandatory. More than one bottle of water has been confiscated, because you are not supposed to bring water to this place. We were asked NOT to take pictures of military installations, or even of an electric tower. People on the street will stop you with a shake of the head or finger, but security guards, who mostly have big guns, could be a different story. Everyone is very polite, except when one over-enthusiastic photographer didn't realize he was taking a military establishment ('cause it looked just like a garden) and nearly lost his digital SLR except for the quick talking of one of our Baha'i guides. Mostly, we were told, they just break your camera.
We all agreed, though, that we'd had a wonderful morning, walking in the cool, away from the 26 degree, very dry, heat.
We were taken to the "Post Office Area" (every street has a name here, but very few have signs nor are the names known, so each district is known by the major building in that area--we are in "Lem Hotel district", even though I have never actually found the Lem Hotel), which turns out to be the touristy selling corner. The rent for a shop on that corner (there are about 8) is equivalent to about $500 per month, about 5 times the average salary in the country. So you can imagine the joy with which the merchants saw 2 bus loads of "rich farenjis" descending on them! We had a scheduled 1/2 hour there, and I think every person on the 2 buses bought something different as a souvenir of their incredibly short time in Ethiopia. Baskets, carvings, clothing and of course, shawls (Pashmina goats abound here, as I may have mentioned--there are 3 or 4 flocks resident right around our 4* hotel entrance alleyway). Much laughter as people compared what they had paid, how they had bargained; who cared about what it actually came out to...we all figured that bargaining for the difference of 1 or 2 Birr (10 to 20 cents) made little difference to us, but made a major difference to the people. Several people finished their plastic water bottles while there and shopkeepers assistants were glad to take these empties for their own use. There is no garbage in the streets here, every item is useful for something!
Jubilee Ends
Sunday was a day in bed for me. Having sung twice on Saturday, the choir was not scheduled to sing, so I was glad not to miss that. Parvin took very good care to phone me during the day to check on me and to tell me how the conference was going.
In the early early morning, buses met whoever wanted to go for the one hour trip to "the mountain" and then the hard walk up the mountain to the site of the Baha'i Gardens and future home of the the Ethiopian House of Worship. Those who went said it was spectacular to climb in the cool dawn hours and see the view of this enormous city. Then to pray together in so many languages!
There were many people there again and again the melee to the 6th floor with no elevator. After that, however, it was spectacular! The Amharic “Jubilee Choir” sang again and there were presentations by a group of local youth. Mr. Nakhjavahni spoke brilliantly, of course. He cited that there are 77 million people in Ethiopia and that the 6000 Baha’is have to work hard to bring the principles of the Faith, unity of God, unity of humanity and unity of religion, to the populace. He mentioned how important it is for the Baha’is to live a fully Baha’i life. I’m sure the text of his speech will be available on the internet, if you would like more information, I will be happy to find a way to provide it, e.g. there will be a video CD available of the Jubilee.
Late in the afternoon—scheduled to end at 6:00? It’s Africa—the meetings ended at about 7:30. I had spoken with Parvin and she told me that when she found transportation for me to join the group again, she would calle me. About 7:45 she called and said where are you? didn't they tell you to be in the lobby? no, I said, I haven't heard from anyone. Quickly, I tidied and went downstairs to find that the choir had redirected the buses from their schedule in order to come to the hotel to get me!
We proceded to the School of Nations, a Baha'i inspired school here in Addis, for a BBQ and dance. Lovely to see the school--all one building about 4 stories high with large, clean classrooms. There is a green space for the playground equipment, which the children obviously enjoy, and a large hard packed dirt field for running and of course, soccer (boys only at this point in Ethiopia, although many girls want to play and there is pressure being brought on government agencies to reverse this). This field was covered this night with 500 plastic chairs and so many people in so many national costumes. Huge bonfires were built, one a typical "boy scout" pyramid style, and one constructed in layers, wood laid on wires spaced just far enough apart to allow the wood to catch and keep the heat and to make the most of the limited fuel supply.
After dinner (mutton stew, injere, salads, soft drinks) which I didn't partake of, and nor did several others) there was a fund raising exhibition of clothes and jewelry and pictures from the Jubilee. Several people were very helpful in this regard, as this was an enormous undertaking for such a poor country! Garry Sterling, a professional entertainer from Hawaii/Australia, sang and then dancing took over. Isgista among others. Lots of jumping and hopping and clapping and singing. Soon we noticed that at the barred gates of the compound and the high fence, all sorts of people from the neighbourhood were pressed in rows, watching the party. Little children and youth, mostly, with some adults providing supervision. They stood on the rails and hung on the bars...high entertainment; some who couldn't get a place to see were dancing in the dust and broken rock of the street running in front of the school. It is not possible to climb over the fence to get in to join, unsolicited, because of the rolls of barbed wire on top and shards of broken glass cemented into the tops of the walls around all compounds. The guards were told not to send them away, and the remains of the sumptuous dinner was distributed. Many people who attended the evening also took home food from the pots, and would be happy to be able to feed their families with it.
Too tired to stay too long, and with several members of the choir suffering ill effects from the dinner the night before, the buses came and we moved off into the dark night, along the unlit streets (did I mention that Addis has only one traffic stop light, this is a city of 7 million people) and to our hotel. That night there were several visits back and forth between rooms to share Pepto Bismal and Buscopan and Immodium and whatever else anyone had brought that would help.
Not to rest on our laurels, here, we were off again in the morning for some sightseeing. Our first stop was One Planet School, which I have mentioned before. This time the children were in session and we were treated to hearing the cute (!) little grade ones repeating their school pledge about being a life long learner and remembering their inherent nobility. What a treat! Zalalem Amare, their school director and Mr. Jamal, the deputy director, were very proud of them. Not to mention their volunteer Canadian teachers, Shokufeh, Bahiyyih and Elham! We were all so impressed with them.
This school has a very high standard and has attracted some 200 students in the year and a half it has been open, from daycare through Grade 3, 27 of whom are students on full scholarship because their parents are no longer with them or cannot afford the $1000 per year tuition. Each year they plan to add a grade until they reach grade 8, "and then we'll see" says Gail Amare. They recently had someone do a "book drive" for them in the US and received a shipment of 21,000 books for their library. Thus they are well equipped for reading with the children and also with resources for teachers to discover new ways to interact with their students. It's a pretty amazing place. There is a computer lab, too; about 10 computers in various stages of repair and capacity, but with the ability to help primary students gain basic skills. They need software of games, e.g. English spelling, that small children can play.
After a very enjoyable hour or so here, we were off to the National Museum.
In the early early morning, buses met whoever wanted to go for the one hour trip to "the mountain" and then the hard walk up the mountain to the site of the Baha'i Gardens and future home of the the Ethiopian House of Worship. Those who went said it was spectacular to climb in the cool dawn hours and see the view of this enormous city. Then to pray together in so many languages!
There were many people there again and again the melee to the 6th floor with no elevator. After that, however, it was spectacular! The Amharic “Jubilee Choir” sang again and there were presentations by a group of local youth. Mr. Nakhjavahni spoke brilliantly, of course. He cited that there are 77 million people in Ethiopia and that the 6000 Baha’is have to work hard to bring the principles of the Faith, unity of God, unity of humanity and unity of religion, to the populace. He mentioned how important it is for the Baha’is to live a fully Baha’i life. I’m sure the text of his speech will be available on the internet, if you would like more information, I will be happy to find a way to provide it, e.g. there will be a video CD available of the Jubilee.
Late in the afternoon—scheduled to end at 6:00? It’s Africa—the meetings ended at about 7:30. I had spoken with Parvin and she told me that when she found transportation for me to join the group again, she would calle me. About 7:45 she called and said where are you? didn't they tell you to be in the lobby? no, I said, I haven't heard from anyone. Quickly, I tidied and went downstairs to find that the choir had redirected the buses from their schedule in order to come to the hotel to get me!
We proceded to the School of Nations, a Baha'i inspired school here in Addis, for a BBQ and dance. Lovely to see the school--all one building about 4 stories high with large, clean classrooms. There is a green space for the playground equipment, which the children obviously enjoy, and a large hard packed dirt field for running and of course, soccer (boys only at this point in Ethiopia, although many girls want to play and there is pressure being brought on government agencies to reverse this). This field was covered this night with 500 plastic chairs and so many people in so many national costumes. Huge bonfires were built, one a typical "boy scout" pyramid style, and one constructed in layers, wood laid on wires spaced just far enough apart to allow the wood to catch and keep the heat and to make the most of the limited fuel supply.
After dinner (mutton stew, injere, salads, soft drinks) which I didn't partake of, and nor did several others) there was a fund raising exhibition of clothes and jewelry and pictures from the Jubilee. Several people were very helpful in this regard, as this was an enormous undertaking for such a poor country! Garry Sterling, a professional entertainer from Hawaii/Australia, sang and then dancing took over. Isgista among others. Lots of jumping and hopping and clapping and singing. Soon we noticed that at the barred gates of the compound and the high fence, all sorts of people from the neighbourhood were pressed in rows, watching the party. Little children and youth, mostly, with some adults providing supervision. They stood on the rails and hung on the bars...high entertainment; some who couldn't get a place to see were dancing in the dust and broken rock of the street running in front of the school. It is not possible to climb over the fence to get in to join, unsolicited, because of the rolls of barbed wire on top and shards of broken glass cemented into the tops of the walls around all compounds. The guards were told not to send them away, and the remains of the sumptuous dinner was distributed. Many people who attended the evening also took home food from the pots, and would be happy to be able to feed their families with it.
Too tired to stay too long, and with several members of the choir suffering ill effects from the dinner the night before, the buses came and we moved off into the dark night, along the unlit streets (did I mention that Addis has only one traffic stop light, this is a city of 7 million people) and to our hotel. That night there were several visits back and forth between rooms to share Pepto Bismal and Buscopan and Immodium and whatever else anyone had brought that would help.
Not to rest on our laurels, here, we were off again in the morning for some sightseeing. Our first stop was One Planet School, which I have mentioned before. This time the children were in session and we were treated to hearing the cute (!) little grade ones repeating their school pledge about being a life long learner and remembering their inherent nobility. What a treat! Zalalem Amare, their school director and Mr. Jamal, the deputy director, were very proud of them. Not to mention their volunteer Canadian teachers, Shokufeh, Bahiyyih and Elham! We were all so impressed with them.
This school has a very high standard and has attracted some 200 students in the year and a half it has been open, from daycare through Grade 3, 27 of whom are students on full scholarship because their parents are no longer with them or cannot afford the $1000 per year tuition. Each year they plan to add a grade until they reach grade 8, "and then we'll see" says Gail Amare. They recently had someone do a "book drive" for them in the US and received a shipment of 21,000 books for their library. Thus they are well equipped for reading with the children and also with resources for teachers to discover new ways to interact with their students. It's a pretty amazing place. There is a computer lab, too; about 10 computers in various stages of repair and capacity, but with the ability to help primary students gain basic skills. They need software of games, e.g. English spelling, that small children can play.
After a very enjoyable hour or so here, we were off to the National Museum.
Monday, January 19, 2009
More Updates on Ethiopia
A quick note about last Wednesday; not sure if I've mentioned it:
We, Parvin and I, spent the evening at the One Planet School owned by Gail and Zalalem Amare. Shokufeh Murray from Castlegar is one of the three young women serving there for a Year of Service. Gail and Zalalem organized a BBQ for us, with cubed or bone-in mutton, salads, injere, soft drinks. We were able to tour the school and then were treated to a concert from Garry Sterling (currently of Syndey Australia), joined on a couple of numbers by Wes Baker. There was lots of talking, visiting, laughing and getting to know folks. We were invited by the owner of a local authentic Ethiopian restaurant/night club to come to visit her establishment. Her daughter will go to Montreal in a few months to study architecture. It was a great evening, warm and only slightly windy. There was a vast canopy of stars, of course, and the fragrance everywhere of spice and flowers that is typical of Ethiopia. Transportation was arranged by the Amares on the school bus.
Two other quick remembrances about last Thursday:
Ethel Crawford, who for many, many years greeted the Pilgrims in Haifa on their arrival and looked after them while they were there, is part of the choir. While we were rehearsing, she looked out of the window and said that the hill we could see from the window looked to her just like the Mount Carmel looked before the Arc was built on it.
One of the women in the group waiting for transport at the airport decided to visit the washroom. While she was there, the uncertainties of Ethiopian electricity became apparent as the lights briefly went out in the entire airport. She hurried to leave the darkness of the unfamiliar room. When we were all back at the hotel, she realized that she had left her purse, with all her money and credit cards and passport, hanging on the handle of the bathroom door. Many prayers were said as she rushed back to the airport, with the help of one of the National Spiritual Assembly members. As pretty much expected, no luck in finding it. She and her husband tried several times to call through to the USA to cancel the credit cards. No luck there, either. They wrote their son at home, but he wasn’t allowed to cancel cards not in his name. No luck trying to get the US Embassy either. Finally, we all gave up and went to bed, with many prayers for detachment. Friday, there was a call from the airport; her purse had been found, totally intact, money, credit cards, passport, everything in the right place and in the condition she left it in. What a testament to the honesty level of this country!
Friday was the first real test of the culture clash. 40 + North Americans hit all at once for breakfast at the restaurant where there are only two servers on at any one time. Not only that but to get to the cashier, the coffee/tea/hot water, they must go downstairs, wait for the item needed, return upstairs before serving. Fortunately, breakfast is a self serve buffet here, so it was not too bad. 9:00 o'clock and the busses came to pick us up to take us to the Baha'i Centre for registration for the 75th Jubilee of the Baha'i Faith in Ethiopia.
I've written this note at least 10 times tonight and so I'm sending it off now, before things collapse again. I hope to catch up to where we are tonight, as there won't be much chance to access the internet over the weekend.
We, Parvin and I, spent the evening at the One Planet School owned by Gail and Zalalem Amare. Shokufeh Murray from Castlegar is one of the three young women serving there for a Year of Service. Gail and Zalalem organized a BBQ for us, with cubed or bone-in mutton, salads, injere, soft drinks. We were able to tour the school and then were treated to a concert from Garry Sterling (currently of Syndey Australia), joined on a couple of numbers by Wes Baker. There was lots of talking, visiting, laughing and getting to know folks. We were invited by the owner of a local authentic Ethiopian restaurant/night club to come to visit her establishment. Her daughter will go to Montreal in a few months to study architecture. It was a great evening, warm and only slightly windy. There was a vast canopy of stars, of course, and the fragrance everywhere of spice and flowers that is typical of Ethiopia. Transportation was arranged by the Amares on the school bus.
Two other quick remembrances about last Thursday:
Ethel Crawford, who for many, many years greeted the Pilgrims in Haifa on their arrival and looked after them while they were there, is part of the choir. While we were rehearsing, she looked out of the window and said that the hill we could see from the window looked to her just like the Mount Carmel looked before the Arc was built on it.
One of the women in the group waiting for transport at the airport decided to visit the washroom. While she was there, the uncertainties of Ethiopian electricity became apparent as the lights briefly went out in the entire airport. She hurried to leave the darkness of the unfamiliar room. When we were all back at the hotel, she realized that she had left her purse, with all her money and credit cards and passport, hanging on the handle of the bathroom door. Many prayers were said as she rushed back to the airport, with the help of one of the National Spiritual Assembly members. As pretty much expected, no luck in finding it. She and her husband tried several times to call through to the USA to cancel the credit cards. No luck there, either. They wrote their son at home, but he wasn’t allowed to cancel cards not in his name. No luck trying to get the US Embassy either. Finally, we all gave up and went to bed, with many prayers for detachment. Friday, there was a call from the airport; her purse had been found, totally intact, money, credit cards, passport, everything in the right place and in the condition she left it in. What a testament to the honesty level of this country!
Friday was the first real test of the culture clash. 40 + North Americans hit all at once for breakfast at the restaurant where there are only two servers on at any one time. Not only that but to get to the cashier, the coffee/tea/hot water, they must go downstairs, wait for the item needed, return upstairs before serving. Fortunately, breakfast is a self serve buffet here, so it was not too bad. 9:00 o'clock and the busses came to pick us up to take us to the Baha'i Centre for registration for the 75th Jubilee of the Baha'i Faith in Ethiopia.
I've written this note at least 10 times tonight and so I'm sending it off now, before things collapse again. I hope to catch up to where we are tonight, as there won't be much chance to access the internet over the weekend.
Journalling
Hi:
Today is Wednesday and is really the first opportunity I have had to catch up on journalling. The Choir arrived Thursday and after that the Jubilee kept us hopping. Monday was a tour day and meeting with the National Spiritual Assembly then saying good bye to everyone. Yesterday, a day of rest.
This hotel has an arrangement with Ethiopian Airlines that when there are flights that are delayed or people miss their connections, they are brought here. Almost everynight there is an influx of folks from the airport about 10:15. The last couple of days the place has been filled with Indian families and businessmen disrupted either going to or coming from India to the countries in Africa that have a higher Indian population--Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, etc. It has made access to the business centre be in high demand.
I'll start to tell you of some of our experiences, and try to keep it chronological, though words of course will not be able to truly let you know how amazing our time has been here.
As Doug gets better, he may be able to add my notes to the blog through "comment", which may make it easier.
So, Thursday:
We started out by meeting up with Wes Baker from Uganda on Wednesday evening at the Baha'i Centre. He was on his way to this hotel and we joined up for ride and dinner. It's been nice to connect with him again over a meal or
two...we first met in Seattle about 20+ years ago at a musical fireside. Since then we have been in the same place and time on several occasions, but not usually with time to chat. It's been lovely to hear him singing his way through life--he looks a lot like the guy that sings Zippa-dee-doo-dah in the movie, and he's so happy all the time that he sings in the reception area, on the bus, in the street, in the taxi. Not embarrassing, because he's so sincere about it and the song fits the occasion--and of course, with that gorgeous bass voice, who wouldn't want to hear him sing!
But, I digress. Wes suggested that we go out to the airport with the shuttle to meet the Van and the choir on their arrival. Parvin and I quickly agreed and arrangements were made easily--the hotel being so accommodating. Off we went, the shuttle driver apparently not having as clear an understanding of what we were doing there as we thought. He dropped us off and presumed that we knew what we were supposed to do, leaving us to sort through the various passes required and monies paid (about 30 cents in total for each of us) to be allowed to go into the airport. To get the passes, though, we did the typically African go here, no go there, now go over there; walking in the paved (in places) parking lot in the 28 or so degree heat. All in good time, however, and with the patience of the African. After a while, our friend, Zalalem, met up with us and asked what we were doing. He soon helped us through (we were almost through already on our own and quite proud of ourselves) and off we went to the thorough searching at security. It seems that folks are quite stirred up about the Israel/Palestine war and the next flight in was from Dubai, so they made the connection and weren't taking any chances. Eventually we were in the airport, to find that several members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Ethiopia were there with a bouqet of roses for Van and a rose for each choir member. It was a very emotionally uplifting time. For me, it was so good to see my friends with whom I have experienced so much joy; lots of hugging and laughing, as you can imagine.
There were two busses and a luggage truck for the passengers from the hotel. This being their first experience with a large group of North Americans, the shuttle drivers were dumbstruck about how big the suitcases are and how many of them there were. Plus, this is Ethiopia--the people here are not very big, whether by intention or accident of birth or poverty, they are a thin and willowy people--the pictures of the Abyssinian queens, the Queen of Sheba, the Aksium kingdom's reknowned beauties, the lithe and nubile temptresses of so many stories of the Biblical times; all live here today. I had a quiet little chuckle at the intersection of cultures, to see the faces of my new Ethiopian friends as the choir members came out in the various colours of clothing and skin, their various shapes and sizes, from the petite pale Beverly from North Carolina, standing about 4'10" from the heels of her leather shoes to the top of her coiffed snow white hair, and every imaginable shade and shape from there to Masai-descended Dick from Connecticut, so tall and wiry that he could be intimidating if he were not so gentle and so nice, with such an immediatly endearing smile.
It rapidly became apparent that the luggage and passengers were not going to all fit into the assigned spaces. Good thing the NSA members were there...they immediately pitched in and took on the driving duties for those of us left over...Parvin and I were driven back to the hotel in comfort indeed in a black SUV, stopping on the way for some little family chores, dropping off his wife, picking up water. We had a lovely time.
By the time we got back to the hotel, the lobby was full! Baggage and noisy, tired choir members, who had mostly managed to get about 5-6 hours of sleep in Dubai on the way over. Chaos! but soon straightened out and everyone off to their rooms. A room above and off to the side of the lobby was set aside for us to rehearse, with keyboard and drum set provided, and we agreed to meet there after settling in.
It took only a couple of minutes, the beginnings of a couple of songs for us to coalesce as a choir again. Many of us have travelled with Van, e.g. "The Europe Tour", and/or have sung at his Music Camps or at the Chicago Choir Festival, so we knew the repertoire. As we became more comfortable, we became louder and more joyous to be singing together again. We were directed into our signature "We Have Come to Sing Praises" and the house went up! Soon after, I went downstairs on an errand; the hotel general manager quickly and smoothly came in her quiet Ethiopian, friendly way and slipped her hand in mine. "Wow", she said, "it's beautiful! I love it! But it's a little loud. It may be disturbing some of our other guests. Do you think it would be OK to close the door?"
Back up I went and we closed the door. As night had now fallen and it was becoming cold outside, we also closed the windows. Now we have about 50 fired up choir members, singing and breathing in a long narrow room (maybe 20' wide by 50' long). We learned quickly a couple of things: Addis Ababa is at a much higher altitude than most of us were used to, so breathing deeply for singing was not so easy, and that the room was pretty much full with just us although advertised to hold 180 Ethiopians!
Van announced that he was pleased with how things were coming together and we all decided that after such an exciting time, we would all have an early night. We also knew that morning would come early and bring the beginning of the Jubilee!
I'll try to continue more later today. We are on our way to the bank to try to cash travellers cheques--about a two hour procedure. Love to you all.
Today is Wednesday and is really the first opportunity I have had to catch up on journalling. The Choir arrived Thursday and after that the Jubilee kept us hopping. Monday was a tour day and meeting with the National Spiritual Assembly then saying good bye to everyone. Yesterday, a day of rest.
This hotel has an arrangement with Ethiopian Airlines that when there are flights that are delayed or people miss their connections, they are brought here. Almost everynight there is an influx of folks from the airport about 10:15. The last couple of days the place has been filled with Indian families and businessmen disrupted either going to or coming from India to the countries in Africa that have a higher Indian population--Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, etc. It has made access to the business centre be in high demand.
I'll start to tell you of some of our experiences, and try to keep it chronological, though words of course will not be able to truly let you know how amazing our time has been here.
As Doug gets better, he may be able to add my notes to the blog through "comment", which may make it easier.
So, Thursday:
We started out by meeting up with Wes Baker from Uganda on Wednesday evening at the Baha'i Centre. He was on his way to this hotel and we joined up for ride and dinner. It's been nice to connect with him again over a meal or
two...we first met in Seattle about 20+ years ago at a musical fireside. Since then we have been in the same place and time on several occasions, but not usually with time to chat. It's been lovely to hear him singing his way through life--he looks a lot like the guy that sings Zippa-dee-doo-dah in the movie, and he's so happy all the time that he sings in the reception area, on the bus, in the street, in the taxi. Not embarrassing, because he's so sincere about it and the song fits the occasion--and of course, with that gorgeous bass voice, who wouldn't want to hear him sing!
But, I digress. Wes suggested that we go out to the airport with the shuttle to meet the Van and the choir on their arrival. Parvin and I quickly agreed and arrangements were made easily--the hotel being so accommodating. Off we went, the shuttle driver apparently not having as clear an understanding of what we were doing there as we thought. He dropped us off and presumed that we knew what we were supposed to do, leaving us to sort through the various passes required and monies paid (about 30 cents in total for each of us) to be allowed to go into the airport. To get the passes, though, we did the typically African go here, no go there, now go over there; walking in the paved (in places) parking lot in the 28 or so degree heat. All in good time, however, and with the patience of the African. After a while, our friend, Zalalem, met up with us and asked what we were doing. He soon helped us through (we were almost through already on our own and quite proud of ourselves) and off we went to the thorough searching at security. It seems that folks are quite stirred up about the Israel/Palestine war and the next flight in was from Dubai, so they made the connection and weren't taking any chances. Eventually we were in the airport, to find that several members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Ethiopia were there with a bouqet of roses for Van and a rose for each choir member. It was a very emotionally uplifting time. For me, it was so good to see my friends with whom I have experienced so much joy; lots of hugging and laughing, as you can imagine.
There were two busses and a luggage truck for the passengers from the hotel. This being their first experience with a large group of North Americans, the shuttle drivers were dumbstruck about how big the suitcases are and how many of them there were. Plus, this is Ethiopia--the people here are not very big, whether by intention or accident of birth or poverty, they are a thin and willowy people--the pictures of the Abyssinian queens, the Queen of Sheba, the Aksium kingdom's reknowned beauties, the lithe and nubile temptresses of so many stories of the Biblical times; all live here today. I had a quiet little chuckle at the intersection of cultures, to see the faces of my new Ethiopian friends as the choir members came out in the various colours of clothing and skin, their various shapes and sizes, from the petite pale Beverly from North Carolina, standing about 4'10" from the heels of her leather shoes to the top of her coiffed snow white hair, and every imaginable shade and shape from there to Masai-descended Dick from Connecticut, so tall and wiry that he could be intimidating if he were not so gentle and so nice, with such an immediatly endearing smile.
It rapidly became apparent that the luggage and passengers were not going to all fit into the assigned spaces. Good thing the NSA members were there...they immediately pitched in and took on the driving duties for those of us left over...Parvin and I were driven back to the hotel in comfort indeed in a black SUV, stopping on the way for some little family chores, dropping off his wife, picking up water. We had a lovely time.
By the time we got back to the hotel, the lobby was full! Baggage and noisy, tired choir members, who had mostly managed to get about 5-6 hours of sleep in Dubai on the way over. Chaos! but soon straightened out and everyone off to their rooms. A room above and off to the side of the lobby was set aside for us to rehearse, with keyboard and drum set provided, and we agreed to meet there after settling in.
It took only a couple of minutes, the beginnings of a couple of songs for us to coalesce as a choir again. Many of us have travelled with Van, e.g. "The Europe Tour", and/or have sung at his Music Camps or at the Chicago Choir Festival, so we knew the repertoire. As we became more comfortable, we became louder and more joyous to be singing together again. We were directed into our signature "We Have Come to Sing Praises" and the house went up! Soon after, I went downstairs on an errand; the hotel general manager quickly and smoothly came in her quiet Ethiopian, friendly way and slipped her hand in mine. "Wow", she said, "it's beautiful! I love it! But it's a little loud. It may be disturbing some of our other guests. Do you think it would be OK to close the door?"
Back up I went and we closed the door. As night had now fallen and it was becoming cold outside, we also closed the windows. Now we have about 50 fired up choir members, singing and breathing in a long narrow room (maybe 20' wide by 50' long). We learned quickly a couple of things: Addis Ababa is at a much higher altitude than most of us were used to, so breathing deeply for singing was not so easy, and that the room was pretty much full with just us although advertised to hold 180 Ethiopians!
Van announced that he was pleased with how things were coming together and we all decided that after such an exciting time, we would all have an early night. We also knew that morning would come early and bring the beginning of the Jubilee!
I'll try to continue more later today. We are on our way to the bank to try to cash travellers cheques--about a two hour procedure. Love to you all.
Christmas in Ethiopia
Yesterday was Christmas in Ethiopia. Ethiopians have a calendar of 13 months with 30 days in each month except the short one which has 5. They also are on a different year than we, having just celebrated their new year of 2001 last September. The time is also different, but that's for another day. I want to tell you a little bit about the celebrations for Christmas.
On January 6, we were taken on a bit of a tour by our new friendly contract driver, Terefe, who thought we should see the sheep market. In celebration of the Holy Day to come, many families were buying a sheep/goat to share for Christmas dinner with their family members and closest friends. Thus, small herds of sheep and goats have been omnipresent in front of our hotel and up and down the street, as this is near a main market area, plus there is a small green space under the bulletin boards, so it is very convenient. Thousands of people bartered for thousands of sheep and many made off with a good bargain if they took two or more. This might well represent the entire years' savings for an extended family, but the Christians here do love to celebrate Christmas. We saw men carrying live sheep over their shoulders, two men walking each holding the front leg of a sheep who was then forced to walk along with them on his hindlegs. Chickens are also a big festival food and so we saw many many large chickens being stuffed into various bags, carried by the feet or tied to the top of a car. We soon had seen enough and returned to a quiet evening at the Baha'i Centre. A late supper after macchiato and off to bed.
Our Christmas day started in the usual way, with the 5:15 a.m. muezzin's calling of the faithful to prayer--this is broadcast by electronic speakers from the mosque many miles away from our hotel and is quite faint. Only loud enough to wake us up. (I can't imagine how it is if you live right beside the mosque!) At 5:20 the dawn comes creeping pinkly over the mountain and the rooster in the yard below begins to crow. I have to admit, I'm getting a little tired of him and wish someone would eat him for dinner. Some nights there is also a dog who whines and barks all night, and ceases just before the rooster begins, so you can see that sleep is not the best here. However, the bed is very comfortable and we can usually return to sleep quite easily til 8:00 or later.
We began our day with breakfast in the hotel and then out for a walk. The streets seemed deserted after the bustle and busyness we are used to. The few people out were shopping or were the sheep herders. A few businesses were open, mostly Moslem owned ones. Christianity is the official religious of the country and Christians do outnumber Moslems, expect in Addis Ababa. We bought a couple of bananas (small, sweet and very ripe) on our walk and were accosted as usual by a number of beggars. We had our pictures taken wth sheep. We were careful where to walk without stepping on anything small and round from a sheep. You also have to be careful because where there are sidewalks they are very uneven and one side often has a open dry sewage drain (since there is so much drought here there is nothing flowing in the drains). There were big piles of skins, which developed near the "abbatoir"--the back of the field where the sheep had been grazing where groups of men with hammers and picks would help prepare the animal for cooking if there was not an appropriate woman in the home to do so. Despite all the animal remains, not a single fly or mosquito or flying bug.
After we walked for about 2 hours (it's about 30 degrees, but very direct equatorial sun), we decided that we were too hot, had seen enough for the day and returned to the hotel to lie down for a while in the cool. Very shortly, we received a phone call in our room "Please come down and celebrate Christmas with us". The staff has been very helpful and friendly, and we are making friends among them. So, we were fortunate enough to be invited to have Black Forest Cake on small white plates and Coca Cola in tall thing glasses. Everyone was laughing and happy and we took many pictures with the staff at their request. After wishing everyone a Merry Christmas we returned to our room to change for the evening's activity.
One Planet school, a Baha'i inspired school owned by Gail and Zalaman Amare invited us to a BBQ and tour of the school. To travel the short distance to the school, we took a taxi, whose driver of course tried to gouge us, but we were happy in the end with the price (not always the case, as we give in too easily on the bargaining, knowing that likley the driver's family will eat that day because of us.) The school is very beautiful, although I'm sure it would be considered an "inner city school" in North America. Men worked over open fires topped with a pan that looked like a huge hubcap; a beautiful lady provided us with an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. We had injere, of course (the rather sour, pancake like dough that is used to scoop up various sauces), salads and sheep (no not tender little lamb but tough, old sheep) cut up very small and with a lovely brown sauce plus a piece of the bone meat, which was too tough to eat. There was lots of food for the 100 or so invited guests. We washed this down with a choice of soft drink--coca cola or orange Mininda (like Fanta).
Gary Sterling of Australia began the entertainment, treating us to a piece of his live concert with his magnificent bass voice. His recordings have been compared to Lou Rawls, so you can see that we were very lucky to hear him. He was joined then by his friend and mine, Wes Baker, who is a former singer with the Seattle Opera company, but now, at age 85 has retired to Kampala, Uganda. He sang a few "up beat songs" and then the two men sang the classic "What a Wonderful World". They were followed by an Ethiopian choir of men who have come together for the Diamond Jubilee festival and treated us to songs accompanied by traditional instruments. As soon as they began to sing, the Ethiopians in the crowd began to dance and cheer. It was all very joyful and exhilarating. We drank the dark, sweet, earthy coffee from the ceremony, accompanied by the traditional popped corn, served in tall baskets woven with intricate designs.
Dark comes early in the tropics and coats came on as the temperature dropped. A bus collected us and drove us home, to a well deserved night's sleep. When we arrived at the hotel, the staff all wished us a happy Holy Day and wanted to know what we had been doing, so we took time to chat with them a bit first. They really are such lovely people, and are so helpful. Several of them are trying to make arrangements to come to our choir performance.
A very exciting day!
Today, the choir arrived safely, but the stories of that will have to wait till another moment.
All the best,
Liz
On January 6, we were taken on a bit of a tour by our new friendly contract driver, Terefe, who thought we should see the sheep market. In celebration of the Holy Day to come, many families were buying a sheep/goat to share for Christmas dinner with their family members and closest friends. Thus, small herds of sheep and goats have been omnipresent in front of our hotel and up and down the street, as this is near a main market area, plus there is a small green space under the bulletin boards, so it is very convenient. Thousands of people bartered for thousands of sheep and many made off with a good bargain if they took two or more. This might well represent the entire years' savings for an extended family, but the Christians here do love to celebrate Christmas. We saw men carrying live sheep over their shoulders, two men walking each holding the front leg of a sheep who was then forced to walk along with them on his hindlegs. Chickens are also a big festival food and so we saw many many large chickens being stuffed into various bags, carried by the feet or tied to the top of a car. We soon had seen enough and returned to a quiet evening at the Baha'i Centre. A late supper after macchiato and off to bed.
Our Christmas day started in the usual way, with the 5:15 a.m. muezzin's calling of the faithful to prayer--this is broadcast by electronic speakers from the mosque many miles away from our hotel and is quite faint. Only loud enough to wake us up. (I can't imagine how it is if you live right beside the mosque!) At 5:20 the dawn comes creeping pinkly over the mountain and the rooster in the yard below begins to crow. I have to admit, I'm getting a little tired of him and wish someone would eat him for dinner. Some nights there is also a dog who whines and barks all night, and ceases just before the rooster begins, so you can see that sleep is not the best here. However, the bed is very comfortable and we can usually return to sleep quite easily til 8:00 or later.
We began our day with breakfast in the hotel and then out for a walk. The streets seemed deserted after the bustle and busyness we are used to. The few people out were shopping or were the sheep herders. A few businesses were open, mostly Moslem owned ones. Christianity is the official religious of the country and Christians do outnumber Moslems, expect in Addis Ababa. We bought a couple of bananas (small, sweet and very ripe) on our walk and were accosted as usual by a number of beggars. We had our pictures taken wth sheep. We were careful where to walk without stepping on anything small and round from a sheep. You also have to be careful because where there are sidewalks they are very uneven and one side often has a open dry sewage drain (since there is so much drought here there is nothing flowing in the drains). There were big piles of skins, which developed near the "abbatoir"--the back of the field where the sheep had been grazing where groups of men with hammers and picks would help prepare the animal for cooking if there was not an appropriate woman in the home to do so. Despite all the animal remains, not a single fly or mosquito or flying bug.
After we walked for about 2 hours (it's about 30 degrees, but very direct equatorial sun), we decided that we were too hot, had seen enough for the day and returned to the hotel to lie down for a while in the cool. Very shortly, we received a phone call in our room "Please come down and celebrate Christmas with us". The staff has been very helpful and friendly, and we are making friends among them. So, we were fortunate enough to be invited to have Black Forest Cake on small white plates and Coca Cola in tall thing glasses. Everyone was laughing and happy and we took many pictures with the staff at their request. After wishing everyone a Merry Christmas we returned to our room to change for the evening's activity.
One Planet school, a Baha'i inspired school owned by Gail and Zalaman Amare invited us to a BBQ and tour of the school. To travel the short distance to the school, we took a taxi, whose driver of course tried to gouge us, but we were happy in the end with the price (not always the case, as we give in too easily on the bargaining, knowing that likley the driver's family will eat that day because of us.) The school is very beautiful, although I'm sure it would be considered an "inner city school" in North America. Men worked over open fires topped with a pan that looked like a huge hubcap; a beautiful lady provided us with an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. We had injere, of course (the rather sour, pancake like dough that is used to scoop up various sauces), salads and sheep (no not tender little lamb but tough, old sheep) cut up very small and with a lovely brown sauce plus a piece of the bone meat, which was too tough to eat. There was lots of food for the 100 or so invited guests. We washed this down with a choice of soft drink--coca cola or orange Mininda (like Fanta).
Gary Sterling of Australia began the entertainment, treating us to a piece of his live concert with his magnificent bass voice. His recordings have been compared to Lou Rawls, so you can see that we were very lucky to hear him. He was joined then by his friend and mine, Wes Baker, who is a former singer with the Seattle Opera company, but now, at age 85 has retired to Kampala, Uganda. He sang a few "up beat songs" and then the two men sang the classic "What a Wonderful World". They were followed by an Ethiopian choir of men who have come together for the Diamond Jubilee festival and treated us to songs accompanied by traditional instruments. As soon as they began to sing, the Ethiopians in the crowd began to dance and cheer. It was all very joyful and exhilarating. We drank the dark, sweet, earthy coffee from the ceremony, accompanied by the traditional popped corn, served in tall baskets woven with intricate designs.
Dark comes early in the tropics and coats came on as the temperature dropped. A bus collected us and drove us home, to a well deserved night's sleep. When we arrived at the hotel, the staff all wished us a happy Holy Day and wanted to know what we had been doing, so we took time to chat with them a bit first. They really are such lovely people, and are so helpful. Several of them are trying to make arrangements to come to our choir performance.
A very exciting day!
Today, the choir arrived safely, but the stories of that will have to wait till another moment.
All the best,
Liz
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