Great Ethiopia Run!!

I had a brilliant time. It was hot, uphill and crowded, but definitely worth it. 

This man was surprised I wanted to take his photo. It's Ethiopia, we are about to do a road race, and you're wearing a fox on your head! 

Man dressed as an airliner, of course. 

Obligatory stilt walkers

A sea of yellow!!

Sadly, when you ask someone to take your photo, you cannot always be guaranteed that everyone's head will get in. Sorry, Lianna. 

Umbrella man had a good idea. Did I mention it was hot??!! 

Finished!! Stretch and shower. 

Jacrosse house crawl

Last weekend we had a house crawl. A new house every hour. In this photo is a bug that drove from one house to another. It's a dark photo. There are two men on top. The one on the left is carrying a tray with Jell-O shots on it. Ha ha 

US Marine Ball

Last night, I went to the US Marine Ball. It was my first time attending anything like that. It reminded me a little of a prom.

I rented a dress from a Bridal Shop, a lovely green gown.

Gentlemen! 

I also did three heads of hair, including mine, and I think they all turned out pretty well.

Probably the most interesting part of the entire evening, for me, was that there were two speeches made. One was by the head of the Marines at the Embassy in Addis, and the other was by an Ambassador. Both stressed support of sexual preference. I thought that was extremely positive, and unexpected. Well done, Guys.

Entoto

Went to Entoto this weekend. We attempted to hike and it didn't happen but we saw nice churches. 

This one is built into

The cave.

Then we had sights of Addis on the way down. 

But the most impressive sight was all the women walking down from the forest weighted down with all the eucalyptus which will be used for firewood. 

My taxi driver said, 'Ethiopian women are strong'. Yes, they're strong, but many don't really choose to haul this heavy load down the hill. It's what they have to do. 

BBQ in Addis

Pretty much the same as anywhere else. We had Pimms, grilled sausages, potato salad, and Doritos. 

Mark ready to start it up. 

Not quite sure if that BBQ is going to really work! 

And of course, the Men Folk needed to stand around staring at the coals to make sure they were burning down evenly. 

Did I mention there was Pimms? 

The Chinese treadmill of Death

Look closely at this console. This may look like an ordinary treadmill console, bar the Chinese characters, but make no mistake. This is a death machine.

It started innocently enough. A colleague invited me to use the small gym in his apartment complex. I put on my running gear, charged my iPod, and got ready to exercise. Little did I know what was waiting for me. 

The treadmill, henceforth known as The Chinese treadmill of Death, looked straightforward. I selected the random programme at level 1. I then imputed a speed of 8.2 kms / 5 miles per hour. A nice starting speed. The random setting, at level 1, was meant to generate the feeling of running up and down hills while decreasing and increasing speeds. It wasn't long before it was apparent something was amiss. It was jerky. The belt would speed up, slow down and then almost wobble a bit from side to side. Determined to get a workout, I tried to navigate the minor hiccups and continue on. However, it wasn't long before it took a sinister turn. 

All of a sudden, the treadmill jumps from 8.4 kms to 14kms!! That is 8.7 miles per hour. Now, I don't know about you but that's a pretty significant jump. I found myself sprinting and then needing to hit the emergency stop. 

Ever generous, even with technology, I feel there must have been some mistake. 'Perhaps, I hit something?' I reset the machine, and begin trotting along again. Quickly, the wobble starts and then it jumps into INSANE setting again. This time it shoots up to 16.4 km and the treadmill elevation rises to 4.5. To clarify, that's 10 miles per hour with an elevation of 4.5 out of 10. Who the hell considers that level 1? The Chinese?! No, I am afraid not even them. 

So I hit the Emergency stop once more, and just to teach it a lesson - and a little out of fearing for my life - I unplug it at the wall. 'No more potential death for you today, my friend!'

A few photos from the Ethiopia and Nigeria game

Just a few photos. 

Hiking in Menagesha Forest

Sunday was a hiking day! A group of us drove out of Addis to the Menagesha Forest. It located about 50 kms outside of Addis and it is a great spot of forest to hike around. It is lush and green with a lot of moss on the branches. 


I saw a Colobus Monkey, but didn't manage to snap a photo. The monkey, as you can see from this photo, is black and white with a fluffy tail. As it jumped away from me, it resembles a skunk in a tree! 


We hiked into the forest, made our way to the waterfall,

and settled down for lunch. After lunch, we gathered up our things and hiked back down. 


Here are some photos of the crew!

A good day out. 

Ethiopia vs Nigeria tomorrow - World Cup qualifier game

Ethiopian 2013 National Team

I am looking forward to tomorrow. It is the Ethiopia vs. Nigeria game. It is a World Cup qualifying game. Apparently Ethiopia has never been in the World Cup, but speaking to people in Addis, they feel pretty confident about tomorrow's game. Either way, every person in Addis tomorrow will be glued to a television or a radio. I am looking forward to the atmosphere. It should be fun. 

My colleague's granddaughter is christened

My colleague's granddaughter was christened into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church this week. Apparently, the ceremony takes place quite early in the morning, about 6 am. You don't make prior arrangements, you must simply arrive at the church around 5:30, in the morning, and speak to the priests. They then have the ceremony will all the babies and the families that arrive. I wasn't invited to the ceremony, as it was only immediate family, but attended the family lunch in the afternoon.

We went to the family house. There was grass spread on the floor. This is done to exorcise evil spirits and is common practise during religious holidays and special times such as a christening. 

In the corner, was the set up for a coffee ceremony. A stool for sitting, stacks of coffee cups, and a small fire with hot coals for roasting the beans and cooking on the fire. After lunch, the ceremony was carried out.

The woman roasted the beans in a small copper pan over hot coals. Once they were browned, she crushed them slightly and then put them in a pot if water and slowly brought it to the boil. When the coffee was ready, she poured it out to small cups.

(Note: The photo on the right is not from my colleague's house. I didn't take an photos of the actual ceremony. I borrowed this from the website, howstuffworks.com. I wanted to illustrate the bean roasting.)

Here is the picture of the guest of honour, Ada. By the way, she has amazing temperament. Lots of people and activities and remained absolutely calm.

I have eaten Kitfo!

Kitfo is known informally as the Ethiopian Steak Tartar. It is delicious. Absolutely, and I recommend it.

The recipe is simple, and should you want to recreate it, here are the ingredients. 2 lbs top round beef (freshly cut), 6 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (Mitmita*), 4 tablespoons clarified butter (Nitir Kebe), 1 teaspoon cardamom powder (korerima), 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional), salt and black pepper.

Kitfo can be cooked so the beef is browned. This alternative is offered to people who may be skittish about eating raw meat, and in fact, both versions were offered to me. I tried both but there is no doubt that the raw version is much better. The raw version holds onto the luscious flavours, whereas the cooked version tastes a bit bland.

In this photo you can see kitfo is served on injera, the pancake-like bread, with a crumbly cheese and spinach.

My flat / residence hotel room

Here are some photos of my little flat / hotel residence. It's quite nice actually. 

The bed 

The kitchen 

The jacuzzi, by the way this in the corner if my room. Not tried it yet. 

And the view

The Rainy Season continues (sigh)

Ethiopia's rainy season is meant to finish at the end of September, officially on the 29 September.  Well, we're getting into October and this unusually cold and rainy weather is refusing to go. (Ironically, I spoke to friends in London, and it was sunny yesterday. Hrmph)

Photo of rain from my cab 

Photo of my cab driver trying to fix his taxi when it stalled in traffick (also in the rain.) 

No WiFi, of course

Well, it is Murphy's Law or Sod's Law or someone's law but if it can happen when you need it not to, it will. In this case, it was the wifi and electricity going out in Addis just when we were going to have three skype interviews.

As a reminder, the reason that I am here in Addis is to hire and then train a new member of staff. We scheduled the second round of interviews  for today. Three candidates  were to come in, complete an exercise using the internet, and then have a skype call with two staff in London.

I was in the office for thirty minutes when the electricity and wifi went down. Panic ensues. We try to use dongles, restaurants next door, and leeching off an ipad. Nothing worked! In walks the first candidate. So, we grab her and jump in the car,  and head to another office across town that we have been assured has electricity and wifi.

We manage to get through it but at a delay of three hours. I am about to start the third and final interview of the day. Fingers crossed that the internet gods will allow connection for one more hour. 

Oh, Canada!

Tonight will be my first Ex-pat party in Addis. I am attending a party at the Canadian Embassy.

I wonder if I will fool anyone with my accent now that it is American flavoured with the London twang?

Let's see!

I just couldn't resist - Yemeni laundry detergent

Sure, there were other laundry detergents in the super market. There were names I recognised and products I had used before, but when I saw Zahra, of Yemen, I couldn't resist.

It is bright, bold and features, "Washing powder with blue speckles". I had to take it home with me.

And so, I washed my first load of laundry in Ethiopia with laundry detergent from Yemen.

The result? It was good. I am pleased with my selection. 

Meskel Celebration!

On Thursday, it was the Celebration of Meskel.  Meskel means, in Amharic, "cross".

The Meskel celebration is based around the belief that Queen Eleni, aka Saint Helena, had a revelation in a dream (4th Century AD). She was told that she should make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. The true cross refers to The Cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on. 

So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. After adding frankincense to it, the bonfire was lit and the smoke rose high up to the sky and returned to the ground, exactly to the spot where The Cross had been buried. As you would imagine, part of the Meskel celebration, includes the burning of a large bonfire, or Demera. 

I headed to Meskel Square in Addis for the celebration. It was an interesting event. Tons of Ethiopians and a handful of tourists filed into Meskel Square and took seats in the stands. Over the next two hours, tons of various Diocese members filed into the main square via a parade. The various Diocese members wore costumes and colours representing their area. Some sang, some danced and some chanted. They all made their way past a grandstand where guests of honour watched. There were also prayers given, mostly in Amharic, by various clergy. 

Finally after a couple of honors, a float rode up with a red cross on it. That was the cue for all of the people around me to light candles. It was beautiful to see all the candles in the stands around me lit up. (Reminiscent of a memorial service but with joy rather than sadness.) The man next to me let me hold his candle, but when his daughter's candle  
went out, I handed it back to her.

Finally, the Bishops blessed the Demera and set it on fire. We watched as it burned down until eventually tipping over and hitting the group. There was then a bit of a melee as people either jostled to get down to the bonfire to put ashes on their foreheads or to leave the arena. I was caught up in something resembling a moshpit. Luckily, people were nice and pushed me up with the other tourists so we could make our way out. 


I have "borrowed" photos from the internet as my camera phone wasn't very good and didn't capture the images as they should be.