Getting in with the old guys.

Yesterday I found myself in a quite precarious situation. When it
comes down to it, I was sitting in a small (maybe the size of 2 dining
tables put together) dark (one light bulb hanging in the middle) bar
surrounded by about 10 guys over 60.

It all started when we went over to our neighbor's house to celebrate
one of the daughters graduating from technical school. We were
picturing a "normal" graduation party. But it turned out to be...
"Let's celebrate our daughter's graduation by inviting our neighbors
over and giving them an extremely large dinner." Yes, we went into
the daughter's room...sat on her bed (there were no chairs)..and then
they handed us a plate and filled it up with tons of food. They
didn't eat with us...they just served us. (Now this is actually kind
of normal...when someone asks you over for dinner...that means they
will serve you dinner and watch you eat...most likely with food in
their hand so they can give you second servings as soon as
possible....meaning you ate a couple bites.) Anyways, after this huge
dinner and saying "Becca" (Enough) a million times, we moved away from
the room outside. It was getting dark and we were all just chatting
away...watching Jackson be silly. Then the father of the
house...takes my hand and says a couple things in Amharic. All i
could understand was "Coca Cola" and "Come with me." I assumed he
meant we were going to get a couple drinks. No problem...I enjoy an
ice cold Coke. He grabbed my hand, and we walked about three blocks
away. Notice, I didn't say he let go of my hand. We walked the three
blocks hand in hand. Yes two grown men holding hands. It's normal
here.

Well we walk up together (hand in hand) towards a small bar. I've
been by it before...but never stepped inside. I look inside and see
about 10 guys over 60 all sitting down and chatting. My neighbor
walks in, everyone stands up, neighbor says something...and they all
look at me and approach me to take my hand. We all exchange
greetings. I notice all are drinking beer. Some people scoot aside
to allow my neighbor and I to sit down. Bar tender approaches me...I
say "Caskaza Coca" (Cold Coke)....we're here for cokes right?? NOPE.
My neighbor looks at me with a smirk, says no no...and tells me to get
a beer. I say Coke. He says beer. Finally I agree. (I really don't
see anything wrong with drinking a beer...it's just that we live in a
Muslim neighborhood where beer and alcohol is not highly regarded. I
don't want to lose respect from those M neighbors...if they see me.
But I realize I also have a great opportunity to build relationships
with the old men all around me.) "St. George please." The bartender
looks at my neighbor and asks what he wants. Neighbor replies, "Wiha"
(Water). WHAT I Say to him!!! He smiles and says he feels sick.
What a sneaky weasel! First he tells me we're getting a coke, then he
cons me into drinking when he himself is not! When I am about halfway
done with my bottle...my neighbor says something to the
bartender...and another cold beer is dropped in front of me. I can't
believe this guy! I laugh and say thanks. He wanted me to have
another, but I caught him this time as he was ordering it for me.

I enjoy the rest of the night with the guys/ old men. We talk and
watch the Arsenal/ West Ham game on TV. It was a good night. Odd.
But good. I'm in with these older respected guys in the community.

Warning: This post NOT for those who like cats and dogs.

We always have an interesting coffee/ tea break... yesterday's was pretty noteworthy.

There is a small coffee shop (picture a place the size of your bathroom with a coffee machine in it) just down the street from our house. We like to go there in the late afternoons.  Jackson likes to point out all the minibus taxis coming.  He says, "Bus..Coming!" or "Bus...Vrooom."  The place has one table outside so we all sit there and say hi to all the people walking by. 

We've noticed a new dog in town.  We call him "Rabash," meaning "trouble-maker" in Amharic.  He goes around our village and picks fights with all the other street dogs.  Every once in a while, we will hear dogs fighting...and guess who is part of it...yes...Rabash.  Jackson says, "Noo Doggies!"  No one likes Rabash...so often you will see people pick up rocks and throw it at him.  I guess to kick him out.  It's funny though...I don't think many Ethiopians have thrown balls growing up...because they sure can't throw rocks.  Often the rock heads towards the wrong dog...or maybe another person. 

We've also come to realize that there is a "village guard."  We've noticed the same guy always walking around our area with a big stick. He's a nice old man...maybe 60s. Sometimes he let's Jackson play with the stick and hit things.  I just thought he was another house's gate guard...but this guy is big time...he is the village guard. Kind of like a mall cop..but with out the Segway.  Well yesterday we saw him at one point as he was waving down Jackson and calling for him. He waved his stick to try to entice Jackson. Jackson didn't budge...he was enjoying watching the buses drive by.  Well the next moment, the guard disappeared??? We didn't know where he went.  Was he responding to some sort of emergency?  Probably not.  Did he get hit by a bus? maybe...those buses are crazy...we call them "Al-Qaida" buses.  But there were not people yelling and screaming...so he was ok. But where did he go? 

Well we notice "Rabash" come walking along...looking for trouble as usual.  He starting walking towards a small little house dog..but then Rabash stopped dead in his tracks.  What was happening? What frightened him so much?  Well all of a sudden our 60 year old village guard..jumps out of a hedge of bushes and starts pelting rocks at Rabash!!!! It was great!   The dog runs away (briefly) and the guard looks our way hoping to receive some sort of acknowledgment.  He was pretty proud of himself for his cunning move.

Well...the story doesn't end there.  Out from a side road...a Land Cruiser emerges making its way towards us to the main road.  I notice something crawling out of the grill of the car.  Jackson says, "Kitty."   Yes...It's a little kitten!  What the heck was he doing there!! Well the poor kitty no longer wants to enjoy the free ride so he jumps off, narrowly escaping the front wheel....but not so lucky with the back wheel.  It clips his back end.  Jackson says, "Kitty. Fall Down" But this kitty is a trooper!  He pulls himself to the side of the road, finds a set of bushes and tries to climb in and hide.  We cheer him on!  But not wanting to get too personal and actually help it out...you never know where these stray cats have been or what diseases they have on them.  The cat almost makes it into the bushes...when some homeless guy comes walking along and picks up the kitty.  Perhaps we was going to try to sell it?  (You sometimes see people holding out kittens or puppies for sale on the side of the road).  Well the kitten escapes the clutches of his captor (or perhaps the captor realized the kitten is injured)....but lo and behold...the kitten winds up in the middle of the street once again, right next to a stray dog.  Again jackson says, "Kitty Fall Down.   No Doggies" The dog approaches, we think its the end of Gato.  But luckily the dog just wants to play. He runs around the kitty...but never tries to bite him.  We think the poor kitty is out of energy by now...he doesn't do anything expect watch the dog run around him.  I consider running to my house to grab a shovel and scoot the cat back in the bushes.  While I'm considering if it's actually necessary...Rabash comes running down the street and right towards kitty!!! What's going to happen!!!  is this finally the end?!!  No!!! The village guard saves the day one again...rocks come flying, barely missing the kitty but enough to scare off Rabash.  The kitty finally works up enough energy to pull himself to the bushes!  Jackson says, "Kitty...bushes"

We've had enough excitement for the day so we head home.  In case you are wondering what happened to kitty...I think he's OK. I checked the bushes again today...and guess what...No kitty. He probably made it back home safe and sound.

Didn't Realize I'd Missed...

Sarah here.  Over the past few days of being back in our relatively new homeland, I've been making a list of the things I've noticed here that I either didn't think I would miss, or things I didn't realize I would miss.  Enjoy.

- The way a lot of people walk here reminds me of a giraffe.  Many are tall and thin and their head, neck and upper body sort of sway back and forth, and their arms sort of sway gracefully back and forth.  Especially when they walk uphill.

- All the Toyota Corollas.  They are EVERYWHERE and it always makes me laugh to see a huge line of them in a parking lot, almost like a dealership.

- The exhaust fumes, especially if you have your window down while driving which is hard not to do because the sun is strong at 5 degrees north of the equator.  Oh wait, I didn't miss that at all.

- Being called fat over and over as a compliment by all of our Ethiopian friends.  Fat and really white.  To them it's a big compliment.  To me it's not.  Oh yeah, I didn't miss that either.

-Tariku!  Our guard!  Jackson missed him the most, or maybe he missed Jackson the most!  They are best friends and it's so fun to see and hear them playing and laughing together all the time. 

-Our tacky curtains in our home, and drawing them back in the mornings, closing them in the evenings.

-The really funny signs with incorrect English.  My personal favorite ever since we moved here is a tiny "restaurant" called BURGER LUSCIOUS.  Pretty sure they mean burger-licious. Every single time!  I need to start getting pictures of some of our favorite signs.

-Looking out the window, of walking around and seeing Ethiopians and Somalis walking everywhere.

-Going out into the city, driving or walking, and being completely amazed at how many people there are - there's never an empty street, most are full of people walking.  I always wonder where everyone is going.

-Yonas the salesman who became my friend when he offered me an umbrella to buy from afar and I held up the one I already had in my lap.  He thought it was pretty much the funniest thing that had ever happened to him personally, and loves to hold up his umbrella to me as a joke every time we see him on Bole road.  Which is all the time.  He's such a sweet salesman!  He's on to sunglasses now that the rainy season is over.

-Going to one of the relatively few ATMs to get some money and finding it to be out of money, and then laughing because it's Ethiopia.  Not an uncommon occurrence.

-Seeing our (Jackson's) friends at the Parisienne cafe where we go for a good Macchiato, and for an omelette - one of the few places with good breakfast food.  Jackson loves it because everyone that works there treats him like royalty and they give him ice cream cones.  Just the cone usually.  Sometimes the ice cream, but I think the manager told them not to give ice cream any more...

-The noise - people talking or yelling, music blaring (not always), lots of people greeting each other (Ethiopian pastime - ours is baseball, theirs is a series of greetings that can potentially go on and on and on).

-The crazy driving!  It usually amuses me when Andrew's behind the wheel, but then I get nervous when I remember I need to practice a it and then it's my turn...oh dear.

-The expectation of a tip.  From so many people.  For ridiculous things sometimes.  There's a little boy who likes to con people outside of the Parisienne and he's always trying to get money out of people.  The place was busy, and there were waiters and parking attendants outside near all the cars, but when we finished and were leaving, this kid is leaning on our car, hovering over everything we're doing as we put Jackson into the car seat, as if he was helping, then told Andrew he had been guarding his car while we were inside (which means, give me money even though you didn't ask me to do this and there was absolutely no need for it).  I know it might sound cold, but it's funny to us when some people want a tip for absolutely everything.  Sometimes people even sort of turn their hand in a circle as you're almost finished parking to "help you" into the spot even though you've got it under control - some people do it to be nice and expect nothing, others then hang around after the little hand motion and wait for you to give them money... This is when we chuckle a bit.

You never know...

Yesterday was pretty interesting; you never really know what to expect here.  After a couple of days noticing the gas gauge was not moving, I assumed I was getting close to empty.  So I pulled into the closest gas station to refuel.   All this..pretty normal so far.  Well, when I tried to start the car back up…guess what…nothing.  The key turns but the engine does not start.  Oh and there is a line of cars behind honking for me to get out of the way.  So…what to do? I'm stuck in my car, not knowing the language with no one to help.  Well, it is  a well known fact here that if someone pushes the car for a bit, the car will magically start.  I've seen it happen.  So the gas attendant group up (without me asking!) and begin pushing my car!  Woohoo!  Or so I think…  The car still does not start, and I soon realize they weren't exactly trying to help; they just wanted me out of the way.  The car now stops at the only entrance of the gas station, and I'm in the middle of the driveway…no one can come in and no one can go out.  What do I do?  I pop the car in neutral, stick my left foot out and somehow manage to push the car out of the driveway…but now into the street… and the car is facing uphill!  Why did I do that??!! Now I'm blocking the street traffic!  Oh..and add to the fact I am on the busiest street in Addis…Bole Road.  Well praise God…he sends two guys to come help me.  All of a sudden two guys come behind the car, and start pushing.  I have no clue who they are (but they obviously know the magical "roll the car to get it started" trick!)  They push me about 10 yards up the top of the hill, and then the car starts cruising down the hill.  The car is soon rolling faster than the guys can push and I soon am alone in a "dead" car…rolling down a hill.  I pray to God one more time to get this car started…and guess what….it starts!!!!   I rev the gas to make sure it doesn't die out again and try my best not to let this car stop while I drive it back home. I made it home.

Check out some sweet pics of my car here

A week for a license

Today Sarah is driving! Or at least trying to drive. All the cars are stick shift here and so I’m in the process of teaching her.  She did really well today, despite all the road hazards....cows, horses, old ladies, spinning kids, dogs, donkeys, etc.  Once you get past the sheer fright of it all, its actually kind of funny. It’s like you are playing a video game...dodging things left and right.

We’re finally driving today despite starting last Thursday to get the license. Let me lay out the process in 20 or so easy steps. (This has been scaled down from my own personal experience....where I did not have a car nor the experience of knowing where to go)

Go to the US embassy about 45 minutes away. Strip all your clothes off to get through security (OK not really...but its a pain in the butt process).  Go to the 1 American Services window, wait in line, and ask for the document that states my US license is valid.  Fill out the form.  Wait in line.  Go to another window to pay for the form. Wait in that line.  Then take back receipt to first window (waiting in line again).  Then wait for your name to be called so you can get the form you want.  The day is almost over so you have to wait the next day for Office #2.  This is last Thursday

Go to the Ethiopian Document Verification Office to verify that the US document is official. YES! I said that.  Go to an Ethiopian office to verify the paper that verifies my drivers license. Pretty much just get a stamp on the original document.  Follow almost the same procedure as the US embassy.  Ask for form, pay for form in another line, wait for form to be stamped, receive form.  This was Friday

Now the last office is the actual Drivers License office....in the middle of nowhere...south of the city.  We went on Tuesday.  Received the form we needed. Filled it out. Gave it back along with our US document, copy of TX license, copy of Passport, and 2 photos.  The lady says we need to fill out a form in Amharic (different letters/ characters than English letters). I say I don’t know Amharic.  She says OK..wait.  I wait. Then some guy finds me, and says I need to fill out the Amharic form.  I go back to the lady and I once again say I don’t know Amharic.  I group gathers around me to see what the foreigner needs.  I am finally told to come back on Thursday...and everything should be taken care of.  I ask for my paperwork just because I don’t want them to lose it (As I look around and see PILES and PILES of other peoples paperwork).  They tell me to leave the paperwork because they will fill it out by Thursday.

Thursday morning comes around...I go back to office in the morning.  They can’t find my paperwork.  After 1.5 hours of looking, they find it!  The man tells me I need to pay for the license. Go to a different line and pay.  Here...when I say line...i mean mob...a group of people fighting for one workers attention. Just stick your money and paperwork in his face until he grabs it.  So after jostling for a while, I’m able to pay.  Now go back to the first mob/ line. By now there are way too many people and they say come back after lunch.  So 1:00 rolls around, I show up right when the place opens after lunch to beat the crowd.  None of the workers show up till 1:30.  By then the mob is formed around me.  I ask for my info, they say I’m next...but somehow it takes almost 2 hours until they begin working on Sarah’s paperwork.  The are about to print my license...and then.....THE NETWORK STOPS WORKING! They can’t print! I wait along with the mob for about 1.5 hours...And finally I get Sarah’s license!

Now its time to brave through the streets and teach Sarah how to drive stick shift! Pray for us!

Sorry...

We're having a little trouble updating this site. The MAN here in
this country has blocked blogspot.com, and so it takes a little while
to get through it. Hopefully, we'll have more updates soon!

Andrew

Locked in the Supermarket

Many stores around here are catching up on the digital age. They are
beginning to use computers to keep track of all the transactions. It
makes checking out go a LOT faster as the cashier does not have to
write down every singe item. (It's kind of ridiculous when you are
checking out at a grocery store and they are writing down 50 different
items.) Anyways...while computers bring a lot of benefits...there is
one BIG drawback....they depend on electricity. AND here in
Ethiopia...one cannot depend on power to be flowing 24/7...or even
during business hours.

So the other day when I was shopping, all of a sudden the power went
out. Luckily I already had everything I needed (only 2 things this
time) so I went over to the cashier to head out. She pointed to the
computer and said she couldn't take my money. I was thinking, "Cant we
just do this the old fashioned way." Nope. After waiting for a bit,
I decided the 2 items weren't worth the wait, so I but them down and
headed out the store empty-handed. I got to the door...and
lo-and-behold....they wouldn't let me leave! I had to wait for the
power to go back on! Maybe they were thinking that when the power is
out...it's easy to hide things in my pockets and walk out? Or maybe
they don't want to lose the customers so they force them to stay in?
I really don't know? Praise the Lord....the power was only off for
few more minutes. And..they did get my business in the end.