Friday, October 30th - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I was up early today and showered and downstairs by 7:15.  My goal for the day was to book a flight to Malawi as I had less than a week to get out of Ethiopia on my current visa.  The original plan was to renew the visa for a month and leave on November 23rd but they had a change in policy and now only renew visas for 10 days max.  That meant that Lynn, who is the lead on the project had to leave Ethiopia by November 8th and there was no use in me extending my visa for just three extra days.  Hence the urgent need to get a flight leaving on the 5th or before.  

Anyway, the internet here was being its own ornery self and it wasn't until after 10 a.m. that I finally got my flights booked and paid for.  What a hassle.  I was ready to try and phone them instead of booking on line but luckily I didn't have to do that because I've tried communicating with them before and it isn't that easy as I don't speak their language and their mastery of mine is pretty limited.

Lynn and I then spent some time working on our presentations for tomorrow.  We have a follow-up session in the morning to some guardians who make candles and one in the afternoon to some students who are at the high school level and in one of the Canadian Humanitarian programs.  It should be a very full day.

Breakfast and lunch were at the house and in the afternoon we went to the Kality Centre.  They were having their quarterly birthday party and we were invited to attend. We had to first take everyone's photo.  We had already done this and today we were to give them a copy of their photos but Bobby-Jo's card reader broke and damaged her card so we had to take them all over again.  So as the students came into the centre we herded them all to the one area where Lynn and I were looking up their names and putting on name tags.  Then they were going over to Dick who had them lined up for Bobby-Jo.  In total she went through about 65 photos in 20 minutes and everyone one of them looked great and the children had big smiles.  They certainly didn't mind doing it all over again.

The birthday party was inside so it was a bit crowded with 65 students, 8 of us, a half dozen staff members and a number of guardians and other siblings who came to see their child recognized for their birthday.  There were 16 or 17 students sitting at the two tables along the one wall.  Each table had a big birthday cake with candles and sparklers.  They had party hats on and they all looked so proud.  

Before we could sing happy birthday or light the candles on the cake, there was a program.  Three girls and four boys did some Ethiopian dances for us.  Between their songs there were readings that seemed very interesting and/or funny.  As they weren't in English it was hard for us to know exactly what was being said.  However, each of the students did a great job.  Three of the boys came out and sang a song and the other children joined in.  It was a good program and we were impressed.  These students are younger than at the other centres so it's  pretty big thing to be performing, especially dancing, at their age.

Once the entertainment was over we had snacks.  they had cookies and cake on our plates.  Some of the students had orange wedges and small bananas but I don't know if that was just the birthday people or everyone.  There was also pop so a really big treat for these children.  Coffee was also available for the adults, if wanted.  As the snacks were eaten, the faces got a lot more decorated.  Apparently it's some sort of a tradition to make sure you have some icing on your forehead, chin and cheeks so there were a lot of decorated faces in the crowd of children.

We had to leave before all of the festivities were over so we could get back to the house before 6 p.m.   Everyone but Lynn and I are flying home tonight so they had to leave for the airport at 7 and needed some time to freshen up, change and finish packing.  They actually did a really good job and I think they were out the door, in the van and gone by 7:10.  I certainly don't envy them their long flight home - 16 hours from Addis to Toronto and then they have to go on to Calgary or Edmonton and then drive for several hours to get to their homes.  I'm sure they will be a bit jet lagged for a few days.

Only Lynn and I are left at the house and it is very quiet and lonely but also very relaxing.  We finished our plans for tomorrow's sessions and did some computer work and then it was bed time.  

We still have much to do here but I'm not sure we'll be able to get very much of it accomplished.  Instead of leaving on November 23rd and having 3 weeks to do things, I leave on Thursday and Lynn leaves on Friday so we really just have 3 days.  We will meet up in Blantyre, Malawi for a weekend and then start our work in Malawi on Monday.  We will visit seven schools in total, three in one district and four in another, during the first two weeks.  Then we will have a week to ten days to tour around Malawi, which will be really nice.  

On the 29th I fly back to Ethiopia and I will hopefully get a tourist visa on entry and be able to do some sightseeing for a couple of weeks before I head to Zanibar for three weeks of Christmas and New Years.  This is my third trip to Ethiopia and aside from a few sights we could visit quickly around Addis, I have not seen much of the country.  I hope to get to Laliballa, Axum and Gondor to see the fantastic sights in those locations.  If I don't get a tourist visa when I arrive, I guess I'll be moving on to somewhere else, yet to be determined.  Stay tuned for more details.