London 2012

I love the olympics. I especially love the summer olympics. And I am very sad that I will be missing them this year due to my lack of a TV. :( Luckily, however, a British girl whom I met last weekend at the hash, was kind enough to invite me for the viewing of the opening ceremonies at the pub in the British Embassy. It was quite an ordeal to actually enter the embassy, but once inside I was amused to find nothing British in the pub. It was quite a disappointment...no imported beer or snacks...only Meta, St. George, and a basket of Twix on the bar. They projected the ceremony onto the wall and it was the first time I had watched the ceremony with such attention and on a big screen. It was quite impressive. Because of the time difference, it didn't start until 11pm, so we left halfway into the parade of athletes, but I was able to absorb some of the olympic spirit which will hopefully carry me through the remainder of the games, as I read stories about the events (rather than watch them).

Carnivore Addis

I rarely consume meat in Ethiopia. I don't cook it at home because it's too complicated to manage storing and cooking meat in my miniscule kitchen. In addition, I don't have hot water and antibacterial soap...so cleanup would make me feel a bit wary. I also rarely eat it out since it is often chewy (i.e. the cows are actual adults when butchered) and there are a lot of veggie options. :) This has resulted in a bit of meat withdrawal, especially a processed meat withdrawal (I love me some deli turkey). You can buy processed meats here but they are so expensive that I have so far gone without (except for one splurge on frozen viennas this past weekend...don't judge me...they are 100% beef and were the most economical processed meat option).

Thus, when making last night's dinner location selection with a friend, Carnivore Addis seemed like a great selection. Ultimately I ate more bread/vegetables than meat, but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I feel like I have discovered a gem in the heart of Addis. These are the reasons that I will definitely go back to this restaurant (and I should note that this is the first time I have felt this way about a restaurant in Addis).                                                                             

1. It's relatively close to my house -- on the second floor of a large building on one of the main streets in the center of town, just south of the UN compound. 
2. It has a great atmosphere and the interior is warm and cozy.
3. The bread is moist and delicious.
4. The croutons are AMAZING.
5. They have a free salad/soup bar.
6. They put as much bread as you want in a take away container...for free.

So, while I ordered beef gordon bleu with mashed potatoes which was good but not amazing, the other features of this restaurant definitely make it worth a second visit. My meal last night cost 69 birr ($4), but I would pay that much just for the bread/croutons/soup/salad. Finally, I have found both an enjoyable and affordable restaurant.

Water Bottle Blues

It's not advised to drink the tap water, especially during the rainy season when sewage can easily seep into the water supply. This is the result. I now buy the largest bottle available so I don't have to buy as many but I still feel incredibly guilty about all the bottles I am using. Fortunately, I think that they are reused after they leave my house. It's not a formal process, but they are collected and used to hold a variety of things, from tap water to locally brewed beer. Please, Addis municipality, improve the cleanliness of your water supply system so people can stop buying this ish. 

Saturday is a Hashing Day

On Saturday, I joined an out-of-town hash. We traveled south of Addis (details to follow since I can't seem to remember the name of the place we went), and did a leisurely walk by a river. The walk itself was quite lovely and the least strenuous of all the hashes I have been to so far, but I can't speak so highly of the trip there and back. The scheduled departure time was 8am, but didn't leave until almost 10am. This meant that we cancelled the en route breakfast (luckily I had brought peanuts), and headed straight there. I would speculate that the bus didn't move faster than 25mph the entire trip. I could be exaggerating, but for the majority of the trip (2.5 hours each way) there was so much traffic or the road was in such poor condition that it was not possible for the bus to move faster.

The scenery along the drive was quite beautiful, and luckily I was sitting next to a couple of lovely ladies with whom I had some great conversation. I brought Stefanie to the hash for the first time. She is an intern at the US Embassy with the State Department. I met Louise on Saturday. She is from the UK and works for PricewaterhouseCoopers with the Environmental Protection Agency on Ethiopia's Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) initiative. I had a very interesting conversation with her about her work and efforts to track climate finance within Ethiopia. 

After the painful bus ride (quite literally...i have bruises on my knees from the lack of leg room :) ), we were given some red t-shirts to commemorate the hash. I was expecting a tough hike, but it turned out to be a very leisurely walk. I was able to take pictures of the river, birds, crocodiles, and the sea of hashers in red making their way around the countryside of Ethiopia. Upon our return, we were served some almost cold beer and some injera mixed with some kind of sauces/meat. It was rather delicious. We chatted, drank beer, and watched the traditional hash rituals before heading back to Addis. On the way back, the bus ride was quite rambunctious with both young and old who had enjoyed the libations a bit too much. In the back of the bus was a rowdy game of truth and dare (unfortunately i was the victim of a kissing dare), and in the front of the bus there were a couple of older men who refused to sit down and kept drinking beer all the way to Addis.

All in all, it was a great day. It was wonderful to enjoy some sunshine (even if it means that my skin is a tad bit red...in my defense, it was overcast when we started the walk), and breathe some fresh air. AND, the trip (including the bus, food, and drinks) cost me 100 birr (or $6). 

Rain, Refuge, and Ravioli

Fridays at the UN are rather unproductive days. The work day ends at 2pm, and many jet out before that (after having arrived at 10am). However, this past Friday, I was tasked with working on a Powerpoint for a presentation that is happening tomorrow in Naivasha, Kenya at the Inter-Cluster Coordination Meeting, which means that I didn't leave work until 3pm. Unfortunately, this meant that I got caught in a torrential downpour as I attempted to make my way for some hot and sour soup at the Sichuan Chinese restaurant. It was raining when I left the office, but I had no idea that I wouldn't make it to my destination without becoming absolutely soaked with cold rain water...only to discover that the restaurant is closed between lunch and dinner.

However, this sudden explosion from the clouds did provide me with an opportunity to experience some true hospitality and kindness. After discovering that the restaurant was closed, I returned to the entryway of the building. I stared out the window contemplating my next move. There is a small shop right inside the building and the shopkeeper told me that I must stay inside. Then, the security guard stood up from his chair and offered it to me. I initially declined, but he insisted. And so, I sat for almost an hour as the rain pummelled the city. The streets in front of the building became a river, and many people were welcomed into the building and given a dry place to wait out the storm. It was quite amusing to watch the cars negotiate the roads, and to see the occasional person with their cheap Chinese umbrella attempting (but failing) to stay dry as they hurriedly rushed to their destination.

Eventually, the rain subsided enough for me to run next door to the Lime Tree restaurant where I enjoyed some warm coffee and delicious ravioli. When the rain stopped and the rivers disappeared, the streets were again filled with people negotiating the fresh mud and enlarged puddles/lakes. I decided to make my usual walk home, but was determined not to let the afternoon/daylight be wasted. Thus, I decided to go to the Dembel Shopping Center to look for some earrings to replace the one that I lost :( a couple of weeks ago. If only I had a picture of the walk from the road (where there is massive construction) to the front of the shopping center. People negotiate it as if they are walking on concrete and there isn't an incredibly deep ravine on one side that you could fall into with one wrong step or slide on the mud. I made it to the shopping center but didn't find any earrings, and so I negotiated my way back to the road. I continued my trek to another shopping center, where I ultimately purchased some earrings, after crossing another ravine on a wooden plank (very slowly with all around watching as though I was going to fall). Mission accomplished, I made my way home, where I placed my very muddy pants in the basket for washing.

Trash Ain't Pretty

Visiting a developing country always forces me to think about trash. You see it everywhere -- on the street, in the rivers, outside people's homes. It's all around you, and very difficult to ignore. Living in the U.S., the trash collection system is so organized that it is easy to forget that all the trash you produce has to go somewhere. In Addis, the trash situation is...well, unfortunate. On a couple of occasions, I have seen Addis' version of a garbage truck. It consists of several very strong men pushing and pulling a large cart up and down the streets. The people in the neighborhood pay them to pick up their trash. I'm still not sure where it goes. But can you imagine collecting everyone's trash and using your physical strength to push it around the city?

A couple of weeks ago, I was waiting with a couple of colleagues to go to lunch. We were sitting in a car in the parking lot of the UN, and one of the girls in the car took out a piece of plastic that used to hold pills from her purse. She looked at it and threw it out the window. She appeared to be cleaning the trash from her purse and this was a logical way to dispose of it. This complete disregard for disposing of this item on the ground has stuck in my mind for the past couple of weeks.

Clearly, improving sanitation is a goal in most developing countries, but as with so many things, how do you change people's attitudes toward something as simple as disposal of trash? How do people change from casually tossing their telephone cards on the ground to putting them in their pockets so that they can be disposed of properly? With many issues, I wouldn't assume that making changes to align with my Western experience makes sense or is appropriate. However, I would imagine that most Ethiopians would like to improve the sanitation and cleanliness in their country. But where do you start? Perhaps if the city had a better sanitation infrastructure (i.e. actual garbage trucks), then people would be incentivized to dispose of trash properly? However, generally these services cost money, so how do you provide these services for those that cannot afford to pay?

I'm sure that there are some really smart people that have pondered these questions and come up with some interesting answers. Perhaps I will attempt to explore this, but for now, the presence of trash on the streets of Addis continues to remind me that all the trash I produce must go somewhere, and that there is still much work which needs to be done to improve sanitation in many parts of the world (which of course has important health implications!).

Where is all the juicy, interesting stuff?

Good question. I know that many will read my posts and wonder, why isn't she telling us all about Ethiopian culture and history and stuff? Well, that's because mostly, I'm just living and working. Of course, I plan to spend some time exploring some historical/cultural sites inside and outside of Addis (so stay tuned if this is what you want to hear about), but right now, I wake up, force myself out of my sort of warm bed into the freezing cold air, take a shower, and rush out the door (never having time to eat breakfast before I leave). I walk to a colleague's house for a ride to work, spend the hours between 8:30 and 5:30 eating my breakfast/working/blogging/praying the sun comes out), and then I walk home. Once home, I cook dinner, peruse the internet, attempt to stay warm (and fail), and go to bed. Occasionally I attempt to spend time working on all the academic work I need to produce as part of this internship, but generally, the cold makes it incredibly difficult to concentrate.

What I find juicy and interesting is sitting in a cafe and watching people walk up and down the street, or simply walking around Addis. There is so much that can be learned about day to day life by simply making yourself a part of life in the city. I walk pretty much everywhere, which can be pleasant and obnoxious at the same time. I used to respond to hellos/his/how are yous but have slowly started to ignore them. There are so many that making a pleasant reply to each one can be tiring. After being followed/harassed by multiple young Ethiopian men, I have developed a strategy to quickly get rid of them beyond the questions of how are you/where are you from/where do you live/how do you like Addis. There has been only one occassion where I had to become rude and forceful to get rid of someone. :(

On the subject of getting around Addis, I have decided that I will make every attempt to take a minibus before taking a taxi. While I have become quite skilled at negotiating lower fares from taxi drivers who attempt to charge exorbitant prices, I hate the negotiating process. In addition, I have found that people are quite helpful in assisting me to figure out where the minibuses are going and where I need to get off. While they are not always the most convenient because they drive certain routes, it's worth a bit of inconvenience to avoid haggling with taxi drivers (and to pay less than 1/10 the cost of a taxi ride).

Okay, so maybe this is not that juicy, but it's life in Addis! :)

Fizzy Lifting Drinks

Some may think this is sad, but let's be honest, I can't live without some kind of fizzy drink, preferably my beloved Diet Pepsi. Most places that I have traveled have had Coke Light readily available. However, finding this beverage in Addis can be a challenge. Thus, I have to make adjustments. Pictured here is my newfound solution to this problem (thanks to my colleague, Mahelet, for the introduction). It makes me think I am drinking diet pop without it being diet. I mix 50% soda with 50% sparkling water. It still has sugar but at least it doesn't feel like it is rotting my teeth. I did make an attempt today to drink the sparkling water without any pop, and while I was able to swallow it (unlike my first experience with sparkling water when it was poured from a pitcher into my glass at age 13 in the Czech Republic), I'm not sure if I will ever be able to drink it and enjoy it.

Side note: After I wrote this post, I noticed that I had used the word "soda" instead of "pop" which is clearly problematic. It's pop, not soda! So, I have adjusted accordingly so as not to offend soda or pop drinkers.

Did You Know?

At the hash, I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of different people, and this week I went to dinner with a woman I met there a couple of weeks ago, Tania. We met at the Jewel of India restaurant, which is quite near my house. I tried to give her directions, but it was a bit like the blind leading the blind (she has only been here 3 months). Strangely, she got lost with my fabulous directions. While she rerouted, I had a beer at the bar, Meta Premium, and was served a delicious complimentary chickpea salad.

Once she arrived, we chatted for a while before perusing the extensive menu. I have no idea what we ordered (a chicken dish, one with veggies and cheese, some amazing rice, and of course aloo paratha), but it was absolutely delicious. More important than the food though was the very interesting conversation that we had about our work and the challenges we have encountered negotiating Addis. It was a great evening, and it reminded me how much fun it is to meet new people and learn about something that you know absolutely nothing about. It's fun to discuss the things I love and know well, but I think that it's more fun to learn about something completely new. 

Currently, Tania is the purchasing manager at an airline catering company in Addis. She used to be a chef in first class. Wait, did you know that there used to be chefs on planes in first class? Well, that is definitely not something that I would know given I have NEVER flown in first class. But, interesting nonetheless. She is originally from Australia, but hasn't lived there in quite some time. She has spent time living in Oman, and from what I gather, other parts of the Middle East as well. I think she also spent some time working as a lecturer. In her current position, she is responsible for purchasing all of the food/stuff that is required for multiple airlines that fly out of Addis. They also provide food/stuff to private flights. She told me about how the operation works, the challenges they ecounter meeting the wants of high profile clients (like when they get requests for Haagen Dazs), and the stress that sometimes comes with schedule changes and the difficulty of getting many things in Addis.

It was fascinating, and actually sounds like a very dynamic and rewarding job. I can imagine that each day brings something new, and that it is rarely boring (can't say the same for my job here at the UN). It also got me thinking again about something one of my professors said this semester. It was something along the lines of ...you should be honest about what your passion is and if you love to cook and want to be a chef, you should be a chef and you shouldn't be in policy school. When he said that, there was a brief moment when I thought maybe I should walk out of the room and quit school. But, luckily I have multiple passions, and hopefully I can one day combine them. Maybe I will open a pastry shop with all the money I'm going to make working in development. 

Bottom line: It's fun to learn new stuff and I love to bake.

Rainy Days

I haven't felt inspired to write in the past few days. Perhaps I have the "it's cloudy or raining all the time and i miss the sun blues." Today was an especially lovely morning as I woke up and didn't have electricity. I peeked outside to see if any of the staff were awake, but none were, so I braved a cold shower. I only managed for about a minute. 50 degree temperatures plus ice cold water is not so enjoyable. When I lived in Namibia, we used to save money by not turning on the hot water heater. I have no idea how I took cold showers there where it was much colder. Today it was almost impossible, and after doing so and shivering for the next hour, I decided never again. I will just go to work dirty.

Let's just be honest...the weather in Addis right now is terrible. But it will surely make the 100+ temperatures much more bearable when I return to Austin. Ethiopians seem to manage just fine in the cold. They wear a light sweater or a light jacket, and often wear a gabi (which is kind of like a large scarf) to cover their upper body. I have been looking for a jacket/sweaters but the lovely Chinese imports are just a bit too pricey for my budget. I don't want to spend 600 birr ($35) for a cheaply made sweater. On the positive side, the rain is great for farmers outside the city, and I will try to keep them in mind when I am next caught in a torrential downpour with my $5 umbrella.

Addis Night Life

In addition to questions about food, I am sure that many are also wondering what the night life is like in Addis. I can't claim to be able to give a full overview at this point, but I can share my experiences thus far. First, I'm too old to go out to clubs. If I am not in bed by 10:30pm, then it is highly unlikely that I am going to be able to get up when 6:30am rolls around. This I learned from experience. 

Last Friday night, I met up with a girl from work who is a couple of years younger than me and her friends at a bar called Black Rose. It was very dark inside and had more of a lounge feel. It was a nice atmosphere, but I was quickly reminded how much I enjoy smokeless bars (sorry to those of you who smoke :)). It was a mixed crowd of expats and locals, and was packed full. We then made our way to a couple of other lounges, one which was more casual and a couple of others that were clearly more VIP (I'm not sure how else to describe them). People clearly dress up to go out, which could explain why most stores seem to sell "going out" clothes as opposed to work or normal clothes. In my jeans and black shirt I felt incredibly underdressed and undermakeuped. They weren't exactly my cup of tea, but I don't think that there are more casual lounges.

On Friday I didn't make it to a club, as they start to fill up with people around 1am, and I was home and in bed by that time. Last night (take note that this was Thursday), I found myself at the club in the early hours of the morning. The evening started at the Italian Club, where I was invited by a friend of a friend, Nibret, to watch the European Championship semi-final match between Italy and Germany. Apparently there are similar clubs/hang out spots for most of the European communities in Addis. The crowd was mostly expats, but there were quite a few Ethiopians as well (including the three guys that I was with). The bar got pretty rowdy at times, but it was quite enjoyable to watch a game (when I could actually see the screen) in a room with so much energy. 

After Italy's win, I was convinced to join for the post-game celebration and that is when I found myself at club H20. It's quite a big place, and it took about an hour for the dance floor to fill with people. The crowd seemed to be mostly Ethiopians, with a few expats mixed in, including three awkward white men who were clearly looking for a hook-up. We danced there for a couple of hours (at the side of the dance floor), before one of the guys decided he was hungry. We made a stop for some late nite shiro (delicious at 3am), and they dropped me at home. I had fun, but the struggle to get out of bed this morning was quite unbearable. I was told that most Ethiopians call in sick to work if they have such a night, but of course I made my way to the office, where I quickly ordered some eggs and a cup of tea. So for those of you who say that I need to live a little and have more fun, last night was for you. I can't guarantee that it will be repeated. :)

Smell Before You Buy

Please, take my advice. In a desperate attempt to find an article of clothing to keep me warm in the evenings (given it is often a brisk 50 degrees with no heat), the woman who lives in the main house, Jo, kindly offered to take me to a market. Being my frugal self, I didn't want to pay the price of a sweatshirt in a regular shop. We arrived at the market and I quickly acquired a pair of flip flops for 40 birr ($2.50) and some socks. I then moved on to searching for a sweatshirt. By the time we arrived most of the stalls were closing, so the options were limited. There was a stall selling many sweatshirts, clearly used and imported from the US. I found one that looked suitable (it was the thickest one on the table), and Jo negotiated the price down to 220 birr ($12). I took it home and dropped it in the laundry basket. The next day, my laundry was taken from the basket and I received it back a few days later (yes, there is someone who does my laundry but that requires another blog post). When I put on a piece of clothing that had been washed, I noticed that it smelled of gasoline. I thought it was odd, but as the day wore on, the smell started to give me a headache. I couldn't figure out what might have caused it. Then, that evening I went to put on the green sweatshirt andthe  gasoline smell was so intense that it caused me to cough. Ha. My sweatshirt must have been used to mop up a gasoline spill. I would have never ever thought to smell a piece of clothing before I bought it. Now, it will be part of my routine. 

Update: I have no idea how, but they were able to get the gasoline smell out of the sweatshirt. Yeah!

14th Day Reflections

I have now worked at ECA for 14 days, and I think it's time to share some thoughts about the work that I am doing. My first task was to compile all of the guidelines that have been created for the clusters and sub-clusters of the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) into one document. I have also worked on some concept notes and the editing of documents. This week I summarized sections of a longer document so that the summaries could be incorporated into a report. And today, I researched and reported on various entities that provide financing for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

Yesterday, I sat in on a meeting of the Gender Sub-cluster (which is part of the Social and Human Development Cluster). Just a reminder, in case this is not your area of expertise :), the clusters are groupings of UN agencies that are part of the RCM. They work to support the African Union Commission (AUC) and NEPAD in accomplishing the NEPAD agenda. Present at the Gender Sub-cluster meeting were UNAIDS, UNWOMEN, UNDP, ACGC, FAO, WFP, etc. Their discussions centered around joint activities that they had agreed to undertake as part of their yearly work plan. They are in the process of planning a gender audit of the different clusters, and organizing a retreat to increase coordination between the Gender Sub-cluster and the Agriculture, Food Security, and Rural Development Cluster. Clearly, the purpose of the sub-cluster and thus the meeting is to enhance coordination between the agencies around gender issues in support of the AUC and NEPAD agenda. However, it just seemed that they were meeting to arrange other meetings to discuss more about coordination. I didn't quite understand (although this was my first introduction to this sub-cluster) how what they were doing was improving development. However, their discussions did indicate the work that they are doing to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in agendas and present in discussions at important meetings, etc.

I am certainly learning a lot about the work of my department, the RCM, NEPAD, the AU, etc. However, I am finding it difficult to understand how all of the work being done in this department is ultimately contributing to better development outcomes. I understand the importance of ensuring that agencies are working together, and the importance of increasing the capacity of the AUC so it can better support and carry out the objectives of NEPAD. But I think I would learn a lot about how this is/is not working by meeting with those working in government tasked with incorporating the NEPAD agenda into their National Development Plans. What challenges do they face in ensuring that their NDPs are aligned with the NEPAD agenda? What do they see as the benefit of the work of the RCM? Does it really work to have a unifed development plan for the entire continent? 

I still have a lot to learn and understand about how this process actually works, but the glimpse that I have had so far raises many questions about the resources devoted to these activities and what they are ultimately accomplishing. Today I will go to the African Union with my team for the presentation of the Ten Year Capacity Building Work Programme to the AUC. It is a plan to enhance the capacity of the AUC which was created based on a review of the AUC's capacity needs. I'm very excited for this field trip! :)

Side note: I apologize if these ramblings are not your cup of tea...I will try to intermingle them with discussions of much more juicy subjects like advice on buying used clothes in the market. And I have tried to link some stuff which could better explain what I'm talking about just in case you're interested. :)

If you have delicious honey, you must eat pancakes.

According to The Guardian, Ethiopia is Africa's biggest honey producer. Bee products including honey and beeswax are a major contributor to the economy, and there is a special white honey that is produced from flowers at high altitudes. Ethiopia's national drink, Tej, is a honey wine. More importantly, honey is cheap and delicious. I bought this small jar at the supermarket, and plan to try a couple of other varieties while I'm here. I would even love to visit somewhere where they are harvesting honey. But of course when you have honey, you must find a way to eat it. I put a teaspoon in a cup of hot water every night to try and get myself warm before I go to bed. AND I eat it on homemade pancakes. The pancake pictured was without a doubt the best pancake I have ever had.

Lunch at the UN

I know that people are always interested in food. And I'm sure when I get home everyone will ask, "So what did you eat in Ethiopia?" So, the purpose of this post is to help answer this question (and I'm sure this post will be followed by many other posts about food). During my first week here, a fellow in my office (who is on vacation this week) from the UK took me to all of the eating establishments within the compound, in addition to a couple of places that are close by. Here is a rundown:

• Kaldi's Coffee - Has pizza, sandwiches with fries, coffee, fruit juices, etc. I have not been impressed by the food, although the oatmeal I had from there yesterday was quite good, and the homemade fruit juices are delicious!
• Bon Cafe - They seem to have a mix of traditional food and pasta dishes. I ate the tibs there and it was quite good.
• Sheraton - I went there for an incredibly overpriced buffet (130 birr or $7.50). I was not impressed and won't be back. They have pasta, rice, salads, dessert, etc. Apparently they also have a cafeteria but I haven't tried it yet.
• Lalibella - This is a cafeteria and they serve an "international dish" and a "national dish" designated by two very prominent signs. It's cheap and convenient because I can grab my food, eat, and go, without having to wait to be served.
• Lime Tree - This place is outside the compound and has an eclectic mix of food, from pita wraps to Indian food. I had the chicken tahli and it was amazingly delicious. I wish I would have had my camera because it came with all of these cute small dishes with different things in them. The only drawback is that it is a bit of a walk, but I will definitely be back.
• The Greek Club - Ok, this place is not nearby but I was taken there during my first week so I'm including it here. It is an exclusive club-ish place that definitely struck me as something that you would find at a country club in the US (I even think that there is a tennis court there). It's not that expensive (I think my food was 75 birr), but I have no idea where it was and I probably won't be back. I had some chicken with watery mashed potatoes.

I have decided that Lalibella is my preferred locale for lunch. This is where I had lunch today and is pictured above. As always, my frugality wins out, and this lunch only cost 22 birr or $1.50. Today I splurged and added a Coke Light and a piece of bread, so it set me back 32.50 birr or $2. What you are looking at is shiro and some kind of greens and seasoned tomatoes and onions. The shiro is made with chickpeas, spices, and sometimes onion and garlic. Yesterday, they had shiro plus some reddish dish with lentils and injera that was soaked in something delicious. It was fantastic. It is my go-to lunch as I have decided against making the effort to bring my lunch (especially when there isn't a fridge or microwave in the office and sliced meat costs $35 per kg). And aside from the injera (which I can never finish), I think it's rather healthy?

Full Fat Deliciousness 

This post might seem random. It is. I just thought I would share how much I love drinking full fat milk. Luckily for me, I have only once seen low fat milk, and it was very expensive, so I will gladly continue to drink the full fat variety until I come home and am forced to return to drinking skim.

Note to Self: Walk = Hike 


So...I'm trying to meet people in Addis, preferably interesting and friendly people. A friend from UT suggested I get in touch with a girl who was here last summer. I emailed her and she suggested I join something called the Hash Harriers walk/run group on Saturdays. She connected me with her friend, Nibret, who filled me in on the details. I showed up on Saturday at 2:00pm at the Hilton parking lot, and had absolutely no idea what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that I was early, but it gave me ample time to meet and greet, and it was an interesting mix of people who were there for the run and those that came for the socializing. The second thing I noticed was that this was not your typical run/walk group. There were whistles being blown to call us to attention and a couple of the older men were wearing kilts and tall socks. I quickly learned that this was a walk/run/drinking group. :)

After everyone had gathered (it was quite a large group), we headed outside of town. It was so wonderful to get outside the city and breathe some fresh air! We divided into the walk/run groups and followed our hares (leaders) for our "walk." However, this was not a walk. It was a very intense hike often at very steep inclines through the forest. There were many prickly bushes that I had to avoid, branches to step over, cliffs to descend. Thank goodness I dressed appropriately and was wearing sturdy shoes. Along the way, we encountered many adorable goats (and children), and stopped in holds to enjoy the gorgeous views.

Upon completion of the 1.5 hour "walk," we returned to our starting point for beers and coke, and as I quickly learned, to participate in the Hash rituals. I was called into the middle of the circle as a Hash virgin, and while they sang a song, I had to drink a cup of beer. Any I didn't finish had to be thrown over my head. Luckily, I finished the whole glass. :) Now that I have been officially inducted, I think that I will have to return. They do a different route every Saturday, and I would love to leave the city for another "walking" adventure! And next week, I will bring my camera, so you can share in the gorgeous views.

Oh yeah, I have a job :)

So the reason I am in Addis is to complete an internship with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. I am working with the Economic Development and NEPAD Division, and have at the moment been assigned to the NEPAD Support Section. The office is located in a very large UN compound, along with other regional and country UN offices. 

I spent most of my first day waiting, but things have slowly picked up. The office is quiet, very quiet. It is filled with smart academics producing very long and important documents. So far, I have been tasked with working on a few of those documents. 

I will explain a bit about what the NEPAD Support Section does...but since I don't want to bore you...I will try to keep it brief. In order to support the NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa's Development) agenda for development in Africa, a Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) was designed to improve coordination between UN agencies. It organizes the agencies into clusters based on the topic areas of NEPAD (i.e. Governance, Social and Human Development), and these clusters work to support the NEPAD agenda by increasing the capacity of the AU and NEPAD to carry out their agenda. So, essentially, the RCM coordinates UN support to the AU and NEPAD.

So...what does this mean for development? This what I'm still trying to figure out. The idea is that improving coordination at the regional level and supporting the AU and NEPAD will ultimately improve development work on the ground. Currently, this is happening in some countries through an increase in the incorporation of NEPAD into National Development Plans. The goal is that all National Development Plans would reflect the NEPAD agenda...and that this will lead to better development outcomes.

Anyways, I'm still figuring it all out as I read and read and read. Right now it all seems very abstract. Hopefully by the end of the internship I will be able to better articulate the work that is being done and my thoughts on this work.

City Planning?

Addis is very different from any place that I have visited before. Before I came, I knew that it was the headquarters of the AU, UNECA, etc., and hosted many important conferences. I was shocked to discover that the area around the UN compound was in such disrepair. I have also never seen so much construction. I’m still not sure what is going to fill all of these buildings, but hopefully I will figure that out while I’m here. I know that Addis is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, but many of the completed buildings seem to be empty. 

Also different from other cities I have visited in Africa is that there is informal housing (i.e. shacks) right next to 5 star hotels. There doesn’t appear to be much segregation throughout the city. I’m clearly not opposed to this, but it’s an interesting mix which creates a number of challenges. When I mentioned this to my mom, she replied, “well at least the British were good city planners.”  Very good point, mom. Apparently the Ethiopian government has pushed a lot of people out of certain areas to make way for new buildings, etc., but clearly not with the same vigor as some African governments. I'm interested to learn more about the history of Addis to better understand why it is set up the way it is and how it has evolved over time.

Arrival

It is day 14 of my adventure in Ethiopia. Realizing that I have been here for two weeks makes me question why I haven’t accomplished more, but I’m starting to realize that I should be proud of the small accomplishments that I have made, like figuring out how to walk home and mastering the names of my regular taxi drivers.

I arrived in Addis at night, and I think there were more people working inside the airport at 11pm than got off the plane. My flight from Amman to Addis only had maybe 20 people on a plane that seats 200. I spent more than an hour looking for the taxi driver from the guest house, only to discover that he had the sign with my name on it in his pocket. He was supposed to be standing on the exit ramp with the sign, but maybe he found it amusing to watch me walk from one side of the parking lot to the other, clearly lost and exhausted.

The guest house was nice, and had very fast internet. The staff were friendly, and I spent my first day walking up and down the street. Exploring on my own was a bit daunting at first, and I quickly discovered that I would have to reject the pleas of children over and over again. However, by Sunday, I was able to find the mall where I watched a movie, Men in Black 3 (don’t waste your money).

I really only looked at one place to live and decided to stay there. In hindsight, I wish that I would have spent more time looking, but I suppose that my sparse digs are forcing me to live with less, which may not be a bad thing. I’m living in a compound that is owned by a couple (the woman in British and her husband is Ethiopian). They live in the main house with their two adorable children, and there are multiple living areas around the main house. There is an older American couple who are here volunteering that live in the nice guest house, and I live in a two room area that is connected to the housing where the staff of the house live. I won’t elaborate on my living conditions, but will just say that I have a bed, couch, and have finally acquired hangers.

If you ever want to visit Ethiopia, don’t come in June, July, or August. It’s cold and rainy! And when I say cold, I mean it’s actually cold. Last night was the first night that I didn’t wake up cold, thanks to the kindness of the American couple who shared with me one of their heavy blankets. You should also not trust historical weather data found on random websites. I was expecting highs in the mid-80s, but have found highs in the low-70s and lows in the 50s. That’s cold when you don’t have heat and never see the sun (although as I write this the sun has appeared as if to taunt me). If you've never lived in the cold without heat, I don't recommend it. It's not as cold as it was in Namibia, but I also didn't bring any warm clothing.

I have slowly discovered the area around where I live, and I think that people are starting to recognize me as I walk from my house to the main shopping area (about a 5 minute walk). I rarely see other foreigners walking anywhere, so at first I think people couldn’t understand why I didn’t need a taxi. I was taking a taxi to work, but have met a guy who works in my building that lives rather close to me. He is now giving me a ride in the morning, and I walk home in the afternoon (it takes about 30 minutes). I decided that it would be better for my health to only inhale excessive amounts of exhaust and dust once per day.

Thus, I have arrived. I have a place to live and a cell phone (feel free to fill my inbox with low cost text messages from skype: 251912626902), and am slowly learning about how to negotiate my temporary home.