The Amazing Race
One of the treats the new Bingham staff had in store for us for our orientation was The Amazing Race. It was organised by existing staff, and I think was a thinly-disguised initiation ritual! (Just kidding, it was loads of fun!) The idea was to get us to use the local taxis and to follow the clues which would orientate us around the city. We began with a small amount of money; I can’t remember the exact amount, but it was no more than 300 Birr (about AU$17 ). This money needed to be enough for our team of 5 to take taxis across the city and to make various purchases as we went.
My Amazing Team!
Above is my amazing team: Meseret, the Ethiopian wife of Jari, who is second from the right and is one of our new music teachers, from Finland. In between them is Brett, the husband of Kathy, the new Year 2 teacher. Brett and Kathy are Australian, from New South Wales. Brett is a pastor, and here is the Grade 9 Homeroom teacher, is overseeing the Middle and High School chapels, and is playing househusband, enjoying a much-deserved break. On the right is Jason, who is American and a new lecturer at the Evangelical Theological College (ETC). His wife, Emily is part of our little learning support team and is an elementary school reading specialist.
An Addis Taxi.
We were all driven to Bole, near the airport and pretty much on the opposite side of the city from Kolfe, where Bingham is located. We were given our first clue and were expected to catch the Addis taxis to complete the challenge. Taxis are actually blue and white minivans. A small taxi as we would know it is actually called a “Contract” and is much more expensive than sharing one of these taxis with a group of others. The young man in the door way calls out the destination of the taxi and takes your money when you get on. When the door is shut, he leans out the window to keep calling to potential passengers.
Local lads cleaning shoes.
One of the tasks we needed to complete while on our way to various locations was to collect or photograph various items. The first one was to photograph at least three “typical” Ethiopian sights. These are some of my choices! Above, you can see young boys cleaning shoes, a frequent sight throughout the city. Below is a typical road-side shop selling various small items and a fruit and vegetable stall. There are several veggie stalls just outside the gates of the school where we can pop to get avocadoes, bananas (waaaaay cheaper than the jewel-encrusted ones we have had to buy in Australia this year, post-Queensland cyclone!), onions, potatoes and other things.
A local shop and fruit and vegetable stall.
Below you can see a fairly normal sight: scaffolding on a new building, Ethiopian style. Yes, that is wooden scaffolding! It looks rickety, but I suppose it is sturdy enough…
Scaffolding, Ethiopian-style.
Part of the fun of travelling around Addis is the truly entertaining things one can see on the road. A heavily-overloaded ute is a normal sight now. This week I have noticed live sheep with their hooves tied together lying placidly on the roof of a taxi and a dozen dead chickens hanging from the roof of a van.
A ute loaded up Ethiopian-style.
Another of our challenges was to have our photo taken while playing Foosball. It is easy to find a group of lads around a foosball table. This group (below) were beside one of the city’s stadiums. They let us play briefly while I took the official team photo. Then one of the boys insisted on dragging me into the game and very kindly placed the ball at the feet of one of my “players” so I could actually hit it!
Playing foosball with local lads.
We had to dress up one of our team members in traditional Ethiopian clothing: Brett was our “willing” mannequin. Not exactly a traditional outfit, but close…
Brett in traditional clothing... sort of!
We had to find someone selling “Ethiopian toothbrushes” which are pieces of soft wood, the ends of which can be softened so you can clean your teeth with them. We found someone on the street selling them and bought one. Below, Jason is demonstrating how they are used! The man we bought it from is on the right.
Jason brushing his teeth with a local toothbrush.
We had to buy a postcard and post it. We found someone selling them on the street, bought one, then I wrote on it, and we went to the nearby postoffice to buy a stamp so we could actually post it. I sent it to Mum and Dad and a couple of weeks later it arrived!
Buying a postcard.
Addressing the postcard to my parents.
Posting the postcard. For the record, it made it to Australia!
Of course, in amongst all of these little tasks, we were also supposed to be following the clues to get ourselves to various destinations. Our first clue was to go either to “Lime Tree” or to a certain cinema. We accidently went to the wrong cinema and kind of got a bit side-tracked! Luckily the Ethiopian Amharic teachers were secretly tracking each team and they contacted the teachers organising the race to let them know we had gone off track! We got a phone call from Dave telling us we were “lost” and we needed to make our way to the SIM headquarters for our next clue!
Collecting the mail from the SIM mail room.
While we were at SIM HQ we had to take our photo in the mail room. This is us posing suitably! When mail is sent to me, this is where it arrives. We need someone to collect our mail every week and bring it back to Bingham. After that we took a taxi to the Norwegian Lutheran Mission, or NLM, where some of the Bingham staff are living. From there, we were completely out of time, so we were instructed to get ourselves to the Sheraton, which we did via contract rather than taxi since we were so short of time.
Jari scores the groovy hat of one of the Sheraton's fine employees.
The Sheraton hotel is a whole other world! It is precisely how you would expect a high-end hotel to be: marble floors, quiet inoffensive music playing, vast swimming pool and extensive gardens, and nice clean toilets with the best smelling handsoap ever! Our first task was to take a photo of one of the staff members with the groovy little hats. We were supposed to take a photo with one of us wearing the hat, but were then told by the staff members who gave us the clue that they probably wouldn’t agree to this. We, however, succeeded! Jari is wearing the groovy hat!
Being "British" at the Sheraton.
Then we had to go out into the gardens and find the red phone booth near the Gnome Garden (which was a little creepy…). Once there, we had to take a photograph of ourselves doing something “British”. This is us lining up, British-style!
Having missed the first clue, we never really caught up, and sadly came last in the race. We did, however, have a jolly good time, so it really didn’t matter!
What I am reading: Caleb’s Crossing
4 Comments »7th September, 2011; Category: General
One of the things I love most about travelling is that I have less inclination to fall into the old trap of watching television, and choose to read instead. Of course, there is very little access to the telly here; there is one in the teacher’s lounge, and it is great for watching the news on the BBC and catching up on the cricket/rugby/football (those of you who know me know how much I just love my sport…). There are plenty of DVDs around, of course, and people with televisions with no reception, but with DVD players attached but I am really enjoying taking the time to read.
I only brought two books with me… no, make that three. I forgot about my “handbag book” which is a thin novel that fits nicely into my handbag for those moments when I am stuck in a queue or waiting room. My current handbag book is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, but the rule is that I can ONLY read it when stuck in a queue or waiting room!
The other two books I brought with me are Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks and Bear Gryll’s autobiography. The autobiography is in the luggage I sent unaccompanied, which has yet to arrive, and so I have been reading Caleb’s Crossing. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and just loved it. It is the fictionalised account of the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Wopanaak native American to graduate from Harvard university. Caleb was from the island now known as Martha’s Vineyard. Most of Brook’s characters and the plot is imagined, as there was very little information to be found about Caleb’s life and experiences. I quite liked the protagonist and narrator, Bethia, who befriends Caleb, and generally sympathised with her frustration at her situation as a young woman denied a formal education. The archaic language of the novel was generally not too much of a distraction; context usually sorted out any obscure words!
For those of you who teach English Studies in SA I think it would be an excellent novel to consider, focussing on the role of first person narrator, analysing the techniques used to explore the impact of a particular form of religion (in this case the Puritans) on an indigenous people group, or when considering the role of women in other eras and societies. I don’t know what I would pair it with, although feel free to post a comment on this blog with suggestions! I’ll find them handy when I teach the course next year (if I can wedge it away from Jos!).
Welcome to my Apartment!
5 Comments »23rd August, 2011; Category: General
Let me introduce you to my lovely apartment! It is a very spacious place… one could say too spacious, given my lack of personal belongings! It used to be a dormitory so it still has a couple of odd features. It is a two story building, with three apartments above and three below. Mine is on the top floor, but as it is built on the side of a hill, it can be reached by a ramp rather than a staircase. It is one of 24 apartments on the campus. As you enter the apartment you will be faced with a long wide hallway; long enough to facilitate a fairly reasonable game of indoor cricket I think!
The Hallway
The first door on your left is the kitchen. It has a combination gas/electric stove (gas and electric hotplates, electric oven). Being gas means I can still make a cup of tea when the power has gone out! I can’t use the oven to warm up frozen bread rolls though… It has a large fridge with a freezer, a table and chairs and a selection of basic cooking equipment. I can make most things comfortably. The biggest adjustment will be having no microwave. I have to plan my meals in advance to make sure meat is defrosted, rather than cook according to my mood. Time to be more disciplined I think!
The Kitchen
The second door on the left is the bathroom. This is the room with remnants of its dormitory days. It is a huge room with a large deep bath tub; the question is, is there enough water to actually fill said bath? Seems like a luxury one may not be able to afford! There are two shower alcoves, only one of which still works, a toilet alcove, and a cupboard which holds extra buckets, mop and broom, and cleaning products. I keep a generous supply of toilet paper in here for the potential onslaught of what I like to call “squirty-bum” but have yet to be thus afflicted. I like to credit my new obsession with washing my hands for protecting me so far! Thank Heaven for soap! There is also a sink and cupboard space.
The Bathroom
Opposite the bathroom is the lounge, a large and fairly bare room at the moment. It has a three seater couch and a single seat, a cupboard, coffee table a picture of some kind of egret or heron, a small statue of a hippopotamus, and a couple of sadly empty bookshelves. I only brought a handful of books with me, enough for the journey and first couple of days, so intend to use the library and borrow from other staff where possible. I’ve been told there is an excellent collection of Christian romantic fiction available. I can hardly wait to get stuck into them… For the record, I brought Geraldine Brooks’ new novel Caleb’s Crossing with me, which is excellent! I might even write a little review later, just for my Dad!
The Lounge
If you continue to the end of the hallway you will find my room on the left and Sylvia’s on the right. We each have a bed (mine is double, Sylvia’s is a very generous single), a wardrobe, chest of drawers, desk and a comfy chair, so the rooms are quite comfortable to retreat to when a quiet space is needed. My bedroom window looks over the garden to the car park where the school fleet of cars is parked, so when I am feeling nosy I can watch the comings and goings of other staff members. Sylvia’s overlooks gardens on the other side and then the wall of the compound. Just over the wall is a local church which has very enthusiastic and loud worship and healing services which apparently we ALL get to enjoy, even if we choose not to attend. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have asked me how I am coping with the racket!
My Bedroom
Another view of my bedroom.
I share a laundry room with about three other families, which can mean it is tricky to find a time when the machine is not being used. We have access to a drier but are encouraged to hang our clothes in the attic where clotheslines have been hung for our use. We all have a signposted space for our use. It works well as it generally gets quite warm up there as the sun hits the corrugated iron roof. Most things dry in about 24 hours. I have been warned to keep the door of the laundry closed when it is not in use to keep the mongooses… er… mongeese (?) out of the attic!
The most convenient thing is that I am literally 30 seconds walk from work; the school buildings are right across the car park! This may also end up to be the worst thing, but so far so good!
20 things to do at the airport
My friend Heather kindly sent me this in an email…
Time to kill between flights? Not every airport can be Singapore (free movies, a butterfly garden, celebrity meet-and-greets!) or Seoul (crafts centre, free showers and wi-fi!). But even in the most humdrum of air hubs, there’s more to do than just try on expensive sunglasses and eat McDonalds – and often you can get a surprising sample of the culture beyond the terminal. Some distractions, in no particular order:
- Get a shoeshine. Especially if it’s not normally the kind of thing you do. Why not arrive at your destination looking sharp?
- Admire the art. It’s hard to beat Amsterdam’s Schiphol and its old Dutch masters. But even mid-tier airports have surprising artwork in odd corners.
- Try out all the perfumes in duty-free. But for the sake of your fellow passengers do wash them off before you get on board.
- Read the local paper. If it’s in a language you can’t understand, just look at the photos – you’ll appear to the rest of the world like a savvy local. Or just buy the local celebrity rag – spray-on tans transcend language barriers!
- Get a massage. In Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi, you can get a deluxe treatment, but even one of those quickie back-and-neck rubs hits the spot after a long plane journey.
- Crank your soundtrack. With headphones and an eclectic mix, the terminal is your music video set. But no dancing on the moving walkway, please.
- Fantasise at the departures board. And try to pick out the cities you’ve never heard of.
- Enjoy the local food. U.S. airports especially have secret regional goodies, from breakfast tacos in Austin, Texas, to celeb chef Rick Bayless’s haute Mexican in Chicago.
- Sip a local libation. Same idea, but faster: impeccable lager in Prague, flawless espresso in Rome, craft beers in Portland, Oregon.
- Watch the world outside. Decode the ground crew’s hand gestures; see how the baggage handlers treat the odd-size packages.
- Let fish nibble your toes. Only an option in some airports in Asia, but we figure this spa treatment counts as a cultural experience.
- Write your postcards early. Pick out the silliest ones you can find, and confuse your friends.
- Write a letter, longhand. Really confuse your friends.
- Compose haikus. Conveniently, “waiting for a plane” is five syllables. Extra points if you work in the airport name.
- Give yourself a makeover. We’re not saying you need one. Just splurge on a travel-size hairspray, and cruise the makeup in duty-free. Brand-new you!
- Do your dullest shopping. That practical stuff that’s no fun to buy at home – mobile phone cases, new socks – become cool souvenirs if you buy them in transit.
- Do your trashiest shopping. No one’s around to see you buy that Simon Cowell autobiography!
- Ride the train. Or the bus. Or whatever takes you to a different terminal – and possibly a whole different world of entertainment.
- Go on a scavenger hunt. Two teams, two cameras – who can take pics of all the letters of the alphabet first?
- Get some fresh air. Actually, we know of only one airport where this is possible: Kuala Lumpur, where you can walk around a “rain forest” that’s actually outside.
The Journey
2 Comments »4th August, 2011; Category: General
My journey began on Thursday 28 July when I left my home and headed back to Mum and Dad’s place. We didn’t get away until early evening, later than planned, but probably not later than expected!
I spent Friday catching up on some phone calls, paperwork and emails, and spending time with my grandmother and my aunt and uncle who visited for lunch. I also got my car serviced before I left it with Lisa, who is kindly caring for my beloved Rav4 in my absence. Such a chore, I really appreciate her sacrifice!
We left for Adelaide in the early afternoon to take my excess baggage to send unaccompanied. It is MUCH cheaper to send it this way rather than to pay excess baggage rates, but there is the risk of having trouble getting it through customs in Ethiopia. I have kept this extra baggage as uncontroversial as possible: it is just a few books, extra clothes, a pillow, my sleeping bag and Thermorest and a few other bits and pieces. No electrical items, no medicines, so hopefully no hassles. I dropped my car off at Lisa’s place, then we did a little bit of last minute shopping: a camera case for the camera I bought at Christmas time and a spare pair of sunglasses.
Saturday was a lovely clear and sunny day, unlike every day for the previous two months! I sat at the table on my parent’s patio in the sun and did some more emailing and phone calls. Such a lovely, relaxing way to spend my last day. We spent the afternoon planning our route for our trip to Spain in January, which was fun.
My flight to Sydney was at 11.25am. My parents, my grandmother and Alan and Geoff from SIM came to see me off, which was lovely but weird; I’m more used to being dropped off at the door! I had planned to spend the whole afternoon in Sydney so I could see my brother and sister-in-law and my fabulous nephew one last time. We got some yummy cakes and had afternoon tea at a playground while we watched Mr Nearly-3-Year-Old ride his bike round the bike track. He’s getting fast!
Simon drove me back to the airport at 6.30pm and my flight to Dubai left at 9.10pm. I flew Emirates, which is very pleasant indeed! Thinking I wouldn’t sleep at all, my goal was to watch at least six films. Unfortunately I got sleepy and dozed for about four or five hours so only managed four: a French romantic comedy starring Audrey Tautou called De Vrais Mensonges (sweet but predictable), Thor (loved it!), Fast Five (cute guys, fast cars, uncomplicated script… what’s not to like?) and Red Riding Hood (meh…). We landed in Dubai at about 5am local time so I got to see the sun rise over the dusty city. They hadn’t announced my gate yet, so I got one of those groovy little trollies to dump my gear onto and walked not exactly the full length of the airport, but at least two thirds of it. It was quite a hike! I found Starbucks, hoping for a chai latte, and was sorely disappointed. It doesn’t do to have too great an expectation of anything when travelling. I think it is better to go with the flow and discover new treats!
The flight to Addis Ababa boarded at about 8.30am, and involved boarding a bus and being driven to the furthermost corner of the airport. I got to experience the searing Dubai heat at I crossed the tarmac to board the plane. This leg wasn’t as pleasant, probably more to do with me being tired and cranky that anything else. I watched another movie, this time I am Number 4 which I intend to watch again sometime as I couldn’t see the screen properly thanks to the bloke in front of me who had his seat back the whole way… Yes, there was not a lot of tolerance on my behalf.
The plane landed at 11.30am and I got through immigration and customs smoothly. We had been warned of the possibility of being asked to have our luggage searched, and having to pay duty on any electrical items, but my bags were merely scanned and I was on my merry way. Brad, the middle/high school principal and an Australian, was there to meet me and another Australian family who were on the same flight. Brad drove us through the city centre, a noisy, crowded, chaotic and fascinating place! It really is completely overwhelming and it is hard to make sense of it all.
We arrived at the school compound and Brad took me to the apartment I will be sharing with fellow Australian teacher, Sylvia. She is still on holiday in Europe – I’ll get to meet her next week. The staff members at Bingham who have been responsible for staff orientation have been wonderful. I arrived to a lovely basket of goodies, including home-made biscuits, most of which are now gone, a basket of fresh oranges, bananas and tomatoes, all of which are plentiful here. They had already been bleached and ready to eat. In the fridge was potatoes, onions, carrots, a packet of minced beef, a bag of milk (yes, you heard me, it’s a wee little bag of fresh milk!), eggs, and local cheese. In the cupboard was cornflakes, rolled oats, sugar (still pretty scarce in Addis at the moment, so I am rationing it!), flour, pasta and dehydrated pasta sauce, a small tin of tuna, peanut butter (a different texture to what we get in Australia), cherry jam (awesome) and something that says its margarine, but I haven’t been game to try it yet… let’s just say it doesn’t need to be refrigerated! There was a lovely vase of apricot-coloured roses on the table, the beds were made and there were cleaning products in the cupboard. So thoughtfully set up, I think we have all felt very touched and it has made it easy to settle in.
Jacqui is my orientation buddy, and she gave me a tour of the school campus, including showing me where to get drinking water. I have a jerry can and need to fill it from a particular tank across the car park from my apartment. I think I am one of the lucky ones – it’s less than a 50m walk!
I had dinner at Jacqui’s place with her two children. We had shepherd’s pie with salad which was the perfect comfort food for a first night in Addis Ababa!