Top Ten Week One Accomplishments

Moving to a new city is always a bit mentally overwhelming.   Daily routines that normally happen without a second thought suddenly become large tasks.  Being in a large city where you don't know the local language or customs throws in another couple wrenches so Garrett and I are celebrating the small, as well as the large, accomplishments that we have made over the last week.

1. I set up our blog.  Sorry for any weird formatting. Next time will be doing that on the fast US internet before leaving.

2. We made it from the airport with all our luggage to our guest house.  We are staying at the Afro Land Lodge, which has proven to be a very comfortable place.  We have a small kitchen, living room and bedroom.    Below is the view from our window.

There does not appear to be much zoning in Addis and every where you look there is new construction.  No matter how high the concrete building is, the scaffolding looks just as rickety.

3.  Garrett has completed a week of work.  He has also officially gotten his college transcript validated by the state of Pennsylvania, the US State Department and now the US Embassy in Ethiopia so he can get his work permit.  I am still on the hunt.  I have had wonderful support from colleagues abroad who have put me in touch with a number of people here.  The local CHAI office also seems to be a place with abundant knowledge of the health care system so between all these contacts I am slowly getting a better picture of the health landscape.  

4.  I bought a SIM card for my phone.  Unfortunately, after trying to cut it to fit my iphone it no longer seems to work, so back to the telecom office for me tomorrow. 

5.  We started Amharic lessons.  Currently we are most proficient at greeting people although we have also learned a few other random words.  Ishee seems to be the most commonly spoken word.  In English, the closest seems to be OK, but used even more frequently.  I am obviously not able to follow an Ethiopian conversation (yet), but ishee seems to be thrown in as a greeting, agreement, a signal that you are listening, farewell, and many other ways I am sure we will learn.  

Today we began learning the Amharic Fidels, or characters.  We have a lot of studying to do, but are both really excited to learn.

6.  We played tennis twice.  Since week 1 accomplishments did not include making a lot of new friends (fingers crossed for week 2!), we have had to find ways to entertain ourselves.  Also, considering Addis is at 7500 feet I think this counts as an accomplishment.  Interestingly all courts here seem to be made of clay.  And it does seem that I will be able to continue my run on cheap tennis lessons since an hour here costs less than $6.  

7.  We have begun to learn our way around.  Of course the fact that one of the major roads is currently under construction has not helped.  And I do not mean one lane is closed down, they have the entire thing dug up. 

Although "closed" is not really the right word.  In this case, "closed" does not mean that cars and people do not continue to use the road.  There are really no barricades preventing anything from going through. In fact, on my second morning of exploring the streets I followed a group of locals down the road in the direction I was headed.  They decided to walk between the cab of the front-end loader (pictured below) and the  actively working front-end fork.  It seemed a little dangerous to me, but everyone else was doing it so I went for it too.  I successfully made it to the mall to buy the above mentioned SIM card. 

One of my favorite things about Addis so far is that it is a safe walking city.

8. We have become locals at a neighborhood Ethiopian restaurant.  We have now eaten there three times. The dish in front of me is called Shero, which is a bean sauce that is served boiling from a small bowl. It's delicious. The injera bread is generally ubiquitous, and also nice.

 

Today we joined them for the Ethiopia vs Zambia football game in the Africa Cup of Nations.  This is the first time in 31 years the Ethiopian team has made the Cup.  They battled bravely with only ten players, after their goalie received a red card around the 30th minute, to a 1-1 tie against the defending Cup Champions.  

9.  We are close to finding a house.  Our broker, Fisseha, and taxi driver, Kassahun, have made what could have been a very painful process almost mildly enjoyable.  They deserve their own post so I will not go into detail here.  

10. We attended our first cultural event: Timkat or Epiphany.  It is amazing to realize how old Christianity is here compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.