Friday is half day so I did a morning at work and then moved accommodation. I had a startling discussion with my colleague who felt my stomach and asked me if I was pregnant! That’s two people in two weeks! I said no, not pregnant, but apparently too much love for food. She then asked me if I was a virgin! The woman is extremely direct!! Culture is an amazing thing – I could not comprehend asking a colleague from overseas (or indeed any colleague) that I had known for a grand total of two weeks either of those questions! She then promised me she could get me ‘a big Ethiopian man’ if I was in fact a virgin 🤦🏼♀️ Sometimes I can’t figure out Ethiopian culture – on one hand everyone wants you to get married ASAP, on the other they’re offering you men with no strings attached!
After moving back into my old accommodation I decided to go shopping to the fancy supermarket in the Italian compound. It’s nice to be able to buy gluten free pasta and cheese and a few European bits and pieces! I also discovered it’s in a shopping centre so had a little look round and a cup of tea.
I treated myself to a piece of roast chicken (I don’t normally but meat here as I don’t know where to get safe meat from – most of it hangs on stalls by the road in 25 degrees covered in flies), some olives, cream cheese and fresh basil.
The next day (Saturday) I decided to go to another Yemeni restaurant recommended by the German couple I chatted to near the fountain at the Addis food festival. It was indeed great, and I had a mound of fragrant rice and lamb, with a complimentary lamb soup and lots of different sauces. However, I learnt, and asked for a doggy bag this time.
I had decided to check out the Sheraton hotel pool but when I got there I discovered it was very expensive, and as it was quite late in the day I decided to come back the next day to get my money’s worth. Instead I wandered around the rose gardens and had a drink at the bar overlooking fountains and gardens. It was very nice. There was even a man playing the grand piano non stop without music.
Sunday came and I set off to the Sheraton to get a full day’s swimming in. I also noticed they had a jogging track so I brought running clothes and trainers. However, after going through airport security to get into the hotel, and then paying to use the pool, they wouldn’t let me use the the running track as it was for ‘room guests only’. I think that’s just mean! If you’ve paid through the nose to use the pool, they could at least let you use a bit of road. So I set off running around the hotel instead, getting redirected twice by two hotel staff. It was incredibly hot (25 degrees in equatorial sun) with limited shade and high altitude (2400m above sea level), not to mention slightly irritating hotel staff, so I ran a mere 1.5 miles. Was a bit annoyed, but also covered in sweat so in a way it was nice to stop.
Had a cool down and then a lovely swim in the pool, which was the perfect temperature, and surrounded by sun loungers and trees.
I then ordered a coke, only to be told they didn’t have any, but I could have a Pepsi. I thought that was very strange – a super fancy (and massive) hotel with no coke! So I had a Pepsi. And it basically tasted the same. I know I’m going to cause controversy with hard core coke drinkers!
Lay by the pool reading and watching the world go by for the whole day, with a brief stop for lunch (Ethiopia’s answer to fish and chips haha). It was very nice though I couldn’t work out what demographic of people were staying at the hotel. It’s soooo expensive, and Addis isn’t much of a holiday destination, and when it is I think it’s generally backpackers who stay in the sort of accommodation that I do. Also there were millions of children, so they didn’t seem much like business travellers either. I suppose they could have all been doing what I was doing – just using the pool!
Monday was National Day (when the Ethiopians kicked out the Italians many years ago) but I heard it’s mostly millions of people in processions so I decided to stay in and have a cheap day. I wrote much of my blog (I was very behind) and had a chat with some of the accommodation guests. There were 3 Germans on their way to Djibouti for the end of their 1 month holiday. One of the had his head buried in a french phrase book, though he didn’t seem to be getting very far! They grew up in east Germany and told me a little about having to learn Russian at school etc.
Then I had a long chat with a girl from Canada who had just finished a year in Malawi working for an NGO. She was taking a meandering route back home via Ethiopia and Egypt, ‘to have a little look around’ – sounds like a great plan! She said how much poorer Malawi is than Ethiopia, and how many long term development workers there feel there has been no improvement in 20 years. Sad really. Whenever I talk to Ethiopian people they often ask if I have been anywhere else in Africa. When I tell them where I have been, they always assume Ethiopia is the poorest place I’ve been. They are always shocked to discover that Madagascar is much poorer!
Anna’s adventures 