Where is Ron?
Ethiopia: January-March 2006
Ron, windblown in Malta, February 2005
Reports from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
25 January - 6 February 2006
25 January 2006
Afton VA USADear family and friends,
Yesterday was departure day for Ron, who is now en route to Ethiopia. We had the usual variety of last minute crises: computer glitches, mislaid items, afterthoughts to pack, unfinished tasks. The most interesting crisis was the suitcase key problem. Bike Friday has started using a new Samsonite suitcase for packing the bikes, slightly larger for ease of packing, plus a much better designed handle for pulling the suitcase through airports, and Ron ordered one for this trip. When he started to pack his bike he realized there were no keys for suitcase. The good folks at Bike Friday rummaged around and found an extra key with the right key code and sent it via FedEx, received last Friday. Since they sent only one key I took it on Monday to the key shop in Charlottesville, but they said it was such a new key code that they had no masters to make a duplicate. More calls to Bike Friday late on Monday, and they found another key; they will now be FedExing a second key to Ethiopia once Ron emails them his hotel address in Addis Ababa, so he will have a spare. Thank you Bike Friday!
Ron was up till 4 a.m. Tuesday morning doing last minute preparations, got up again at 6:30 a.m., and I took him to Charlottesville to catch the 8:30 a.m. bus for Washington DC. From downtown DC he took a shuttle bus to Dulles airport, and from there flies to London, Alexandria, Egypt, and then Addis Ababa, arriving in Addis Ababa at 2 a.m. their time on 26 January (or, in our time zone from which he left, 6 p.m. on 25 January). Approximate transit time from home to Addis Ababa, including wait time in airports, is 35.5 hours. Ugh!
After several abortive attempts on Ron's part to phone a hotel in Addis Ababa to make a reservation for his first few nights, an Ethiopian work colleague of one of our good friends called the hotel and made the reservation, so he should have a place to stay when he gets there.
Ron's understanding is that there is email in Addis Ababa, but it is very expensive, so he doesn't expect to spend a lot of time online, and he isn't sure about access in smaller towns. He will be in contact once/week via email or by phone if there is no email access. Thus, indications are we won't get detailed travel accounts. And since he isn't very good about making notes and definitely not good about writing notes up on his return, we may never find out much about this trip! But whatever travel accounts I receive I'll send to everyone. A brief outline of his proposed plan (always subject to change!) may be found here.
In the mean while, I am happily skipping this adventure, and am at home enjoying our newly expanded house space, my part-time work as archivist, reading by the woodstove, and visiting with grandsons.
Love to all,
Ellen
26 January 2006
Afton, VA, USADear family and friends,
I didn't expect to hear from Ron so quickly, but here is his "first impressions" message.
The bizarre discussion about time in Ron's second paragraph probably has something to do with his jet lag, but also has to do with the fact that Ethiopian time apparently starts 00:00 hours at what we would call 06:00, 6 am, not midnight. But I think 7 in the morning is still 7 on the clock and would be 01:00 only if you were recording things in that time style, which I doubt most people do. I know that Ethiopia is Greenwich mean time +3, which means that when it is noon in Virginia it is 8 in the evening in Ethiopia -- and I suspect the clocks all say 8 then (not 14:00). But hey, I'm just guessing from Virginia!
Ellen
First impressions of Ethiopia
26 January 2006
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaHi, Ellen,
Arrived safely. The room was not available since they thought I was arriving tomorrow. But they had a smaller room without bath available.
This morning I woke up at what I think was around 7 AM. Later I saw a clock in the lobby which said 7:30. Since their time starts at 6 am 7 would be 1 in their time. So 7:30 would have to be either 7:30 am western time or 1:30 pm in Ethiopian time, and since everything is too quick for mid day, I am guessing it is morning. In the restaurant they gave me a breakfast menu so I think I guessed right.
For breakfast I had a choice of orange or papaya juice. I ordered papaya but they were out so I got orange. I had a choice between toast and folded bread. I ordered folded and got toast. The scrambled eggs came with tomatoes mixed in. The tea came with lime instead of lemon. [Note from Ellen: lime instead of lemon is also typical in Asia]
As I sat drinking my tea and reading "The Bookseller of Kabul", I was reading the part about the border area with Pakistan, and she wrote: "These are the paths they will use when they return to defeat American soldiers - the infidel who has occupied holy Muslim soil. Neither Afghan or Pakistani authorities control the area around the border." This section was blending with the music in the background that to me sounded Persian, with the CNN news on the TV talking about the elections in Pakistan [Note from Ellen: I think he really means Palestine] and in my memory I was remembering reading on the airplane from London about the English sending 4000 troops to the same area in Afganistan.
For a moment I was a bit disoriented trying to realize where I was.
After changing rooms to one with a bath I took my first walk to find a bank to cash a travel check. Along the way I found this Internet Cafe to which I have returned after getting some local currency in my pocket. The currency rate was 8.68 per dollar. I got a stack of 100 ones to learn what things cost. The Internet is slow, and I think costs a bit under $2 per hour.
The first sight of the streets reminded me of Asia. I guess poverty looks alike in many places. The traffic seems light, made up of mostly little blue vans that have someone leaning out yelling where they are going.
The people I have interacted with at the airport, in the hotels, in the bank and Internet Cafe have been pleasant and friendly, and all have spoken some English. I have found that I have to state things simply, and sometimes in a different way to be understood. But so far I think I will like the people and enjoy getting to know them.
This is just a short note to let you know that I am well and can communicate and receive your messages. I will determine where the best place to mail the key will be and will let you know. [Ron is referring to the precious extra suitcase key!] Now I will return to my hotel and put the bicycle together before exploring further.
Love you and wish you were here with me.
Ron
Sunday 29 Jaunary 2006
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
You will be pleased to know that on Friday Ron found a FedEx office in the Hilton Hotel where the extra bike suitcase key can be sent. Regarding the Hilton, he said, "Today I went to the Hilton and found another universe." He also said on Friday that his legs were tired from walking, but that he was learning how to use the transportation system (presumably the blue mini-vans) better, and had actually seen a few bikes on the road.
Love to all,
Ellen
First bike ride and a wedding
To see photos from the Sunday 29 January wedding celebration, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Sunday 29 January 2006
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaHi Ellen,
Today was full of interesting events, including my first bike ride and a wedding with 700 guests.
I got up early this morning and took my first bike ride in Addis Ababa. After studying my map I realized my hotel is on the road that I will take north, so I don't have to figure out a route through the city. (When I return from my circle loop, I will enter the city from the north side and will have to find my way back through the city.)
I rode out for a bit over an hour and rode back quicker, so I think the general trend must be climbing up out of the city. The terrain rolls like Albemarle/Nelson but the grades were not steep. At the end of the ride out, the road was under construction and traffic was detoured. There was a guy wearing a US Marines T-shirt and I asked him about directions. Turns out his brother is in the US Marines and serving in Iraq. He seemed to think that his brother was safe because he was doing guard duty in the old palace.
The traffic decreased as I got further from town, but there were lots of vans (share-taxis) and I learned a new hazard for bicycles. As the van slows, but before stopping, the hawker opens the right side passenger door to lean out. So in the case where the van is passing me and is also pulling over to the right to pick up passengers, I must learn to be careful to not be "doored" on the passenger side.
The road is wide with no lines in the center or on the sides. People drive on their side in a general sense, but the rules seem very loose. But because there are so many people walking on the road, and various types of vehicles mixed in with flocks of sheep, everyone seems very aware and drives very defensively. While there are almost no bikes on the road, people seem very aware of me and give me clearance. So far.
At breakfast yesterday I met a Canadian couple who are here for a wedding and also working on some courses provided by colleges here that train people as "caregivers". With an aging population, Canada is in need of additional caregivers and people who immigrate and work as caregivers can apply for Canadian citizenship without leaving the country to apply. They have programs for training caregivers in several countries, including Vietnam, India, China and Ethiopia.
Through them I met the Bride, who was the daughter of the owner of the Hotel where I am staying, and she invited me to the wedding. She is marrying a Doctor who is a close friend of the couple from Canada.
I have watched the logistics for the wedding progress over the last couple of days, and Saturday there were lots of ladies cooking, which reminded me of the Temple feast in Bali at the hotel we were staying at in Ubud. There was a huge support structure set up in the hotel courtyard/parking lot like a large farm hothouse, and then they covered it with tent-like material. There were processions, singing, dancing, and some very elaborate decorations. People were dressed to the "T" and I did my best with my travel clothes.
[Note from Ellen: Ron sent me a 5-minute mp3 file he recorded of some of the music and singing. Assuming your browser plays mp3 files or you have RealPlayer or something like it, the music is here.]
The food was served buffet style. People were seated earlier and then went through the buffet table by table. Lots of things I have no idea what they were. The traditional food, a spongy like and slightly sour bread covered with various sauces was not as hot as the first I had. The meat was the most surprising aspect of the menu. I think the first was a goat, with the head still attached. It had been cooked. But the other rack of what I think was beef reminded me of the scene in the market in Paris where the truck was delivering sides of beef. There was a rack with several sides of beef hanging, and people would point or say what part they wanted and the server would cut or slice off a large piece and put it on their plate. Raw is rarer than I care for.
There was a large centerpiece with separate arms on about 4 levels containing perhaps 7 or 8 cakes which were cut in an elaborate service including white doves on the groom's and bride's heads and all kinds of snow-like foam sprayed from tubes along with ribbons and sparklers. However, I don't think the cake was served to the 700, and I did not get a taste.
I did however get to try their honey wine, which is not bad, but then I am not much of a drinker in any case.
Tomorrow I will continue with my pursuit of a good city map and getting to see and know more of Addis Ababa. Still no plans for a date to depart. And I think they want to close the Internet Cafe.
Love you, and I think you are right: you might not enjoy this trip as I do. It certainly is a new experience for me.
Ron
1 February 2006
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
More wedding festivities in Addis Ababa!
David Sheen's Web site, which Ron mentions at the end of this letter, is indeed very interesting, and folks in the US or Canadian Pacific Northwest will be particularly interested because a lot of the amazing and beautiful structures he talks about and has photos of are in that area. A word of warning, however: I found that while the main page displays fine with Mozilla Firefox, my browser of choice, all the pages I tried to link to from the main page do not display in Firefox; they do display in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, so use that if you want to look at them.
No word on whether the duplicate suitcase key has arrived yet -- I will inquire.
Love to all,
Ellen
More on the wedding, 7 miles up, maps and David Sheen
1 February 2006
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaHello my dear,
It is always good to receive news from you and to hear how things are proceeding in your world ... furniture being moved by good friends, Supervisor's one word vocabulary {Supervisor is our elderly cat], the weather, your church activities, NRAO and friends. Makes me feel like I am still very much in touch with you and home. The world I am experiencing is quite different, yet similar to other third world places I have been. Capital cities I have learned are not always like the rest of the country, so I yet have much to experience.
I understand that some people were skeptical of the raw meat being eaten and thought people might be taking it somewhere else to be cooked. Nope. The wedding must have gone on over a three or four day period, and I have only participated in the events at the hotel, but last night there was another dinner for I am guessing around 250 or more. This event seemed very different from the wedding dinner, and I am only guessing that the parents hosted this one, as they greeted all the guests as they arrived. The buffet was very different and I took some pictures before the serving started. And at the end of the table was another what I guess was a goat (cooked) and then there was the separate rack of raw meat, which I now know was oxen. Now can anyone tell me the difference between oxen and beef?
At the first dinner I was seated as I arrived and the people next to and in front of me spoke no English. Later I was invited to Julie and Anthony's table which was right up front as the guest of honor table. Last night I was seated across from three women (between 26 - 30) and they spoke English. However the band music was so loud it was most difficult to communicate. When we went through the buffet line, one of the ladies helped me by telling me (or trying to tell me) what the various dishes were. Of course there was the rolled sour bread that you cover the bottom of the plate with (or I noticed most covering just a portion of their plate), there were several difference sauces, most of which still seemed very hot to me. There was something that looked like a large bowl of what appeared to be minced raw meat, but I was not sure. There were these cute little potato chips, rice with vegetables, large salad dishes, then there were some bowls of what I can best describe as pureed or mashed - green, white, brown. The white I was told was cheese. Then there was something thin and crisp which I was told was fish (by taste I was not sure). I tried a little of this and a little of that, including a banana and the goat, but skipped the raw meat. But I watched people at both dinners eat the raw meat. Not all people took the meat and I gathered from my friends that some do and some don't eat the raw meat. None of them did, but I saw men and women eat it, and the only silverware provided was a knife to cut the meat.
Waiting near the entrance to the hotel for the arrival of the bride and groom I was lucky to see what happened as they arrived. First there were some sparkling fireworks set off, some voice trilling (I don't know how to describe this) and then there was a young lamb tied up and laid in the center of the entrance. The wedding party arrived and the groom was provided a long knife and proceeded to slit the throat of the lamb. Then they all entered the tent-like structure where the tables were set and the band was playing. I have a couple of interesting pictures of the slaughter. Later in the evening there were very large platters being carried around with some kind of meat (cooked) and people were having pieces. After thinking about it, I am guessing that it was the lamb but I am not sure.
There have been many events at various sites, but the only part I have participated in was at the hotel. There was picture taking at one of the local hotels, there were events at various homes, and I think today the bride and groom are hosting both of their families at their new home. The groom explained on the way back from visiting the school he owns that at this event they serve their families.
The cast of characters: Julie (65) and Anthony (78) from Canada (I only wish I am doing as well at his age); the father of the bride is the owner of the hotel I am staying at; the groom is a doctor and the owner of the school that trains nurses and home care workers. Julie owns the program for the home care workers and is the middle arranger for jobs for the graduates back in Canada.
I went to the school and listened to Julie addressed the students. There had been a graduation the night before, where she also spoke (but which I did not attend). Under Canadian law, the students who are qualified home care workers can get jobs in Canada, and after two years of work as home care workers can apply directly for permanent citizenship. This is the only exception, and all other workers must leave after their work visas expire (they can remain on temporary work visas) to apply for citizenship. Julie has a school in the Philippines, in China, in Vietnam and in India, besides the one here. Quite a business model.
Yesterday I went for my third bicycle ride, still trying to get back in shape for the long fully loaded bike rides. I discovered that the road that I have ridden twice was not the road to Debre Berhan (130K) which is the first town on the way to Dessie, my next destination. So I took the right road to see what is was like and found it uphill for the next 7 miles. Then I went down a couple of miles on the other side before thinking I just didn't want to come back up and turned around. I would compare the climb to going over the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap. Maybe not quite as steep but as high and a bit longer. I don't know if the downhill on the other side is as long but it appeared steeper. So instead of comparing the terrain to rolling Albermarle and Nelson, I should say it is more like Nelson and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Only time will tell if I can do this trip.
On the main road the traffic is heaver, including more larger trucks. The most dangerous vehicle I saw was a large dump-truck loaded with gravel about the size of tennis balls, hitting a hole in the road and bouncing several pieces of gravel all over the place. Luckily there were no pedestrians nearby, nor myself.
In my search for a good map of Addis Ababa, I found the Mapping Authority, between the Hilton and the Sheraton, and next to the Foreign Affairs Building. Before being allowed to enter I was checked out and was asked if I had a camera several times. Then I was sent to an office, and the guy there listened to what I wanted and sent me to another office where they wrote up some kind of request for me to take to an office on the next floor, where they wrote up another order and took my money. In this office I saw on the wall a more detailed map of the Gondor region and asked about the other sections of the north, and three more maps were added to my order. Then I took the paper given to me down the hall to another office where I paid and got a receipt which I took back to the prior office where they gave me the maps and a copy of the order. When I exited the building I had to produce the order which I assume was also my receipt and they wanted to be sure what I was taking out. It was easier to to cash a travel check then to buy a map.
As I was leaving the office with my maps, I met another interesting guy in what I think was an Arabic outfit. David Sheen. He had people waiting on him and we couldn't get together but he gave me his card. An interesting guy and you can check out his web page at: www.davidsheen.com. When I asked him where he was heading he said as far out as he can get.
I intend on doing another ride today, so I will sign off.
Love and miss you,
Ron
Afton, Virginia, USA
5 February 2006Dear family and friends,
Two messages from Ron are below. The suitcase key has arrived safely, and he is preparing to leave Addis Ababa tomorrow, 6 Feb, and head north. The planned route is to Debre Birhan, Dessie, and then Lalibela, see map.
Now that Ron is headed north, away from the big city, I don't expect to hear from him for a while. If Internet is not available in the smaller places, he will be in touch by phone once a week. So further reports will be coming -- eventually!
Love to all,
Ellen
The cast of characters grows
To see photos from the Sunday 5 February wedding celebration, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
4 February 2006Dear Ellen,
Thursday evening I took a taxi over to the Southern Technology Campus of Addis Ababa University where David Sheen was talking to the architecture students about houses constructed of earth (sand, clay and straw.) He had some beautiful pictures of earth homes in England and California. Much of his presentation and a lot he did not present are on his web site http://davidsheen.com Steven might be particularly interested in the http://davidsheen.com/cascadiacob/ selection.
[Note from Ellen: I've also posted on our Web page a report from David Sheen about his current activites in Ethiopia, with a couple of photos Ron took at David's talk at Addis Ababa University. I think everyone will find the report worth reading, especially those of you with any interests in architecture or anthropology, or simply in the ways in which non-official people are building cross-cultural bridges in the world. See http://www.cfw.com/~renders/davidsheen_report.html]
After the presentation we went to a restaurant on Bolo Road towards the airport for dinner with a couple of the students, one of whom had lived in Florida and Falls Church as well as Ghana. I found it very interesting he would prefer to live in Ethiopia instead of the US for the quality of his life and the opportunities he could find here.
We had the traditional Ethiopian dinner and it wasn't too hot for me. It seems this restaurant sees a lot of tourists. The dinner for 4 was around $11.
I understand that several people have asked about the weather so I will try to give a description of how I have found the weather in Addis Ababa. Late this morning I left my pocket thermometer out and it appeared to be 70 degrees. The mornings are cooler but the afternoons become much warmer, I would estimate in the low 80s. The evenings and nights are cooler and I would estimate in the upper 60s. The very low humidity and dry climate contributed to keeping the body of the 73 Mercedes in good shape. The weather has been much hotter than I expected at 7200 feet. A T-shirt feels fine during the day and a T-shirt and a long sleeve shirt feels fine at night.
Addis Ababa has a ring-road around part of the city and after bicycling part of it, I thought it might be helpful for future bicyclists to know how it is designed. There are two lanes in both directions for high speed traffic, but on each side separated by a barrier are an additional two lanes as a local access road. The roads parallel each other, sometimes they join and the local access part becomes a third lane on the main road (this is how bridges are crossed). When they are side by side there is a barrier between the two high speed lanes and the two local access lanes. On the right of the access lanes is a very wide pedestrian walkway. When the local access and high speed lanes merge, the barrier moves to between the traffic lanes and the pedestrian walkway. Sometimes there is an exit lane from the high speed lanes that joins the access road and then the access lanes drop down to a traffic circle at the bottom while the main road continues overhead. The traffic circles are fine for bicyclists. Traffic yields to traffic already in the circle. On the other side of the traffic circle the access lanes go up again like access lanes to our interstates. The right hand lane of the access lanes is used for loading and unloading passengers, some broken down trucks, a bicyclist coming the wrong way, and a couple of cars just parked, but mostly both lanes remain open which provides a complete lane for bicycles while the few slow-moving vehicles use the other and the fast-moving traffic uses the high speed lanes separated by a barrier.
Now if we could get accommodations like this in the US!!
I biked the ring-road from Haile Gebre Silase Road about 10 miles south and it was a comfortable experience. However it took about twice as long to bike back, and there were some long and steep hills. The city is a very hilly place and a challenge to typical bicyclists, and this is perhaps why there are so few bicycles. I understand there are some other cities where bicycling is much more common.
Yesterday I decided to explore the market area. Several people have warned me about pick-pockets, and that some work in pairs and are very aggressive. So I emptied my pockets and belt, and went with just some pocket money. In the share-taxi just before getting to the market I met a Chinese couple and we went to the market together. He was an engineer, I think in charge of training the Ethiopians, at a steel mill being built about 20 miles south of Addis Ababa. They took me to lunch at a restaurant they knew about in the Market, one that they knew to be clean and good.
Over lunch we had a wide-ranging conversation and when we got to a discussion about Iran, and the issues being sent to the Security Council where the Chinese have a seat, and I asked what the Chinese would do, I think what he said was: The Chinese are very very clever, they will support the Americans and sell military equipment to Iran.
After lunch I left the Chinese couple and just wandered through the market. I found the spice market, the straw weaving market, the shoe market, and an area where people were pounding all kinds of shapes out of steel bars. As I wandered I left the commercial area and found myself in a residential area, very poor. Walking through the market and the residential area I would nod my head or smile as I caught people looking at me, and everywhere people did look at me. They would nod or smile back. We would share greetings. It was wonderful to see the people smile back at me.
I stopped and talked to lots of people, including a group of kids learning martial arts in a large open building. All in all I enjoyed the afternoon.
The open road is calling me and I look forward to spending some days on my Bike Friday.
Key received, brunch at the Sheraton, leaving tomorrow
To see photos of the Sheraton and neighborhood, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
5 February 2006Dear Ellen, my webmaster and support staff,
The key has been received, and after picking it up I walked over to the Sheraton for Sunday Brunch.
After picking up the key at the Hilton, and knowing that I am taking off tomorrow on the road to the North, I decided to splurge and have brunch at the Sheraton. Between the Hilton and the Sheraton is the Foreign Office Building and the Mapping Building. I walked between the two building on a direct path (that wound a bit) between the Sheraton and the Hilton. A very poor residential neighborhood, and a real contrast between the two upscale universes.
The brunch was expensive on their standards: $19. But who knows what I will be eating next week, so I stuffed myself. Grilled Nile Perch, grilled in front of my eyes, then served with a caper sauce; roast beef (imported from the U.S. - why I don't know) served with cooked mushrooms (long type, very good) and a red wine sauce; broccoli with sliced almonds and some other nuts I was not sure of; potatoes gratin; rice, some excellent grated Parmesan cheese, brie, a sea food salad with scallops with attached red or white roe (I think, because I have never seen anything like it), some other kind of cooked mushrooms, green and black olives; various salads; fresh pineapple, melon (very sweet), watermelon, some very large dried apricots, and desserts: tiramisou (like mousse but sweet) with a strawberry on top, Umm Ali (can't describe - hot with items I don't know), bread and butter pudding (different), chocolate pudding, creme caramel and my favorite, a blueberry mousse cake.
All of this on an enclosed patio, nice mellow music, wonderful atmosphere and a beautiful view to the outside. After my trip to the north, I think I will go back. (The private villas go for $4,200 a night, in contrast to my $13 room in the wedding hotel.)
Well, now I will return to the hotel, pack my gear, store my suitcase, and tomorrow morning take off for the North on my Bike Friday. Let the adventure begin.
Love and miss you,
Ron
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Last updated: 26 March 2006
