June 26th - Last Day in Ethiopia

June 26, 2008 - Last Day in Ethiopia

Our last day in Addis. We spent the entire morning at the Mercato, or outdoor market. It is the largest market in Africa and it is said that in order to see the entire thing you need four full days. I believe it. We spent four hours and were overwhelmed by all of it. There were plastic containers, blankets, used auto parts, crafts, clothes, shoes, wires, donkeys, men carrying huge loads on their heads (we saw one guy with four televisions in boxes stacked up on his noggin), buckets of tar, spices, vegetables, saws, pots, pans, kettles, clay coffee urns, recycled cans that had been made into a multitude of items such as funnels and oil lamps, and the list goes on. The ground was dirt in some areas, paved in others. Some shops had stalls, others were just piles of things on the ground. There were thousands of people everywhere.

We had been warned that pickpockets would be rife, but we had a tour guide with us and about five minutes into our journey we picked up two police officers in their olive green army-like uniforms. They followed along with us for the whole time, keeping Henry out of harm's way and helping us communicate with people as best they could. It was funny – when they first started along with us I was worried since last time I was in Ethiopia, anyone dressed in military garb was not good news. It was a sure bet that they were there to follow you and make sure you weren't causing any trouble. Flash forward 14 years and they were with us to make sure no one was causing us any trouble. At the end I asked what they thought of us firenji, or foreigners, going around putting cameras in everyone's faces and buying an strange assortment of odds and ends (a clay coffee pot, a pair of lion-decorated caps, a spoon made out of an old can, etc.). They said that they were very pleased  that we would be promoting their country. They were even more pleased when we tipped them the equivalent of $10 each.

We returned to the hotel in the afternoon. Henry and Brad went swimming while I sat and spoke to Fikru, an Ethiopian man who is the brother to a woman who lives in Cambridge. He immigrated to the US in 1987 after fleeing Ethiopia to Greece as a political refugee. He spent a few hours telling me about his life as an immigrant to the US, how he worked two jobs and put himself through college. His wife also worked full time, but they split shifts, he worked nights, she worked days. They both took turns taking care of their two young kids. They are the American Dream story – hard work paid off and they afforded an apartment in Medford, MA. But after receiving their American citizenship and Ethiopian political situation was more friendly, they decided that while their children were young, they would return to Addis to live since it was more affordable and their children could discover their heritage. The plan was to have the kids in school in Ethiopia until their eldest was out of 8^th grade, which happened this year. They are going to wait another few years, hoping that Obama in the white house will improve the economy, so now the plan is to go back to the US in a year or two. The kids are in an English speaking school, but they also study Amharic and French as language classes. They are an Ethiopian family turned American turned into expatriates living back in Ethiopia. It was great to speak with him about life in the US, life in Ethiopia, politics of Africa, etc. I look forward to seeing his sister when I'm back in Cambridge and getting to know him better when he resettles again in the US.

We completed our evening eating our last traditional Ethiopian food and watching an Ethiopian band and dancers perform. Henry captured some on video so we'll upload that to youTube one of these days.

Not sure if we'll be able to blog from Kenya as the internet cafes are few and far between in the Amboseli game park. So, for the entries for June 28^th to July 3^rd, just think elephants, ostriches, cows, good chai, good friends, tents at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, visiting pre-schools in Masaailand, giving out gifts of beads, drinking red wine to celebrate our hosts' 40^th wedding anniversary, and drinking blood from the neck of a goat to celebrate Brad's 40^th birthday.