June 25, Addis Ababa

June 25, 2008 – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We arrived in Addis today after our last flight on the prop-plane that we've been taking all week. It's a Fokker 50 for any of you that know anything about planes. It's got about 25 rows with two seats on each side of the aisle. The flights are short jumps, being about 25 – 45 minutes long each. It is much like taking a bus – you board in one city, fly to the next, and some people get off, new people get on, and if it's not your stop you stay on and wait for the next town. The plane ends up being a bit disheveled, with half-eaten sandwiches left in the pockets with the emergency information cards.  On our last flight from Axum to Addis, we had to stop in a small town that was only 10 minutes away (I wonder why people don't just drive) and the landing strip was just a dirt strip down the center of a field with farms on either side.

Back in Addis, we were met at the airport and went to find an art gallery we'd read about in a guide book. It was up a ways out of the center in a neighborhood that was full of tightly packed, small houses with tin roofs. It was one step above being a shanty town – the houses were more permanent and more well organized than I've seen in slum areas, but the poverty of the neighborhood was striking. We turned off of the road with all of the congested houses and entered a large metal gate that led into a beautiful compound. There were trees and gardens surrounding a lovely old colonial house with porches lining the second floor. The house has been turned into a studio/gallery for fine art students who are studying at the University of Addis Ababa. They also host art symposiums where African artists from around the continent come to share and collaborate on work. The gardens were studded with sculptures of all types. Some were carved from tree trunks, other objects were constructed from found objects, mostly metal, others were paintings strung up to look like a volleyball court. One of the artists was there and he showed us around and showed us his work which included block prints, oil and acrylic paintings, a wooden sculpture, and a paper-mache-like globe strung up to hang from bright yellow nylon ropes between a circle of trees. We have seen an enormous amount of beautiful craft work since we've been here – baskets, pottery, jewelry, and weaving, but it was a treat to see the fine art here.

After we headed out for a bit of NON-Ethiopian food for a change. Taking advantage of the short-lived Italian colonization of Ethiopia, we headed out to a pizzeria. Turns out the place was owned by an Icelandic woman who'd married an Ethiopian and we enjoyed American-style pizza while listening to the Police and the Beatles. A far cry from Lalibela!

We spent the rest of the day playing video games at the pool-side arcade and Henry rode a carousel with motorcycles and race cars rather than the traditional ponies that go up and down.  Definitely a contrast to the previous days of traveling through historic sites!