Great Ethiopian Race, part 1

For the past nine years, Addis Ababa has held the “Great Ethiopian Run.” Kevin came across this fact before we moved here however we didn’t sign up immediately because we though a) all Ethiopians run way faster than us and b) we won’t be acclimated to the altitude to be able to run a 10K. Well, we were partially right. We aren’t in shape to run a 10K. However, we found out that not everyone runs this “race” and there are plenty of walkers. So, we signed up.

We signed up as non-residents (all the resident slots were full and officially we’re not residents) and along with paying a higher price, we were invited to a pre-race pasta party. People from all over Europe and the US were there to eat pasta and mingle with other running enthusiasts. We sat by a man from England who is an official race measurer and a doctor from Florida whose husband owns a running store.

Since moving to Ethiopia, we have learned a bit more about one world-famous runner: Haile Gebreselassie. He lives in Addis Ababa, has broken 26 world records, won many medals, and holds the record currently for the fastest marathon. We knew there was a chance he might be at this dinner and sure enough, he showed up! In addition, the world’s fastest female marathoner, Paula Radcliffe, from the UK, also had been invited. They shared a few words and we did our best to snap pictures of them. Something came over us and we decided to try to get a picture with them—and we were successful! Even though I didn’t know much about either of these athletes before that evening, we were so very excited to be able to stand next to them and have our picture taken.

After the dinner, we decided to stop by Kaldi’s (Ethiopian Starbucks) for some evening dessert and coffee before heading back home. We sat in comfy Starbucks-like chairs and reflected on our excitement from the evening. We then found a taxi home and once arriving there I reached in to my purse to find my camera (with the precious pictures on it). It wasn’t in there. Oh, no.

Our option was to race back to the Kaldi’s as fast as possible to see if the camera was still there. By now, it was around 9:30pm. We grabbed the first form of transportation we could find: a mini-bus. From the mini-bus, we took a taxi. Driving up to the Kaldi’s we could see that it was dark. Closed. We were looking in the windows to see if we could see the camera when a security guard told us to stop. The taxi driver got out and the four of us tried to communicate the issue: our camera is in there and we need it back. The guard pulled out his cell phone and gave us a number. At first we thought it was the phone number for the store, but as we were driving back in the taxi, I thought, maybe it’s the owner’s cell phone so let’s try calling it now rather than in the morning. Kevin called the number and again, with the help of the taxi driver, we communicated the issue and found out they opened at 8am the next morning so we could go by there at that time.

After an unrestful night of sleep, we prepared for the race and waited for our language instructor, Dawit, who was going with us, to arrive. When he did, we explained the issue and took a taxi back to Kaldi’s once again. The owner there greeted us and asked us what kind of camera we had left. We were so grateful for his thoroughness. He then went to the back and brought out the camera! I was sooooo relieved! Then, onto the Great Ethiopian race with camera in hand!

November Newsletter

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November Update

Paradise Special

So this Friday we decided to venture out a bit, beyond our walking radius, to a place 2 mini-bus stops away. We found a restaurant and once we confirmed that they actually had food and not just drinks, we sat down. We ordered water to drink but then were informed they were all out (all out of water???). So we ordered hot tea. We also ordered chicken pizza. No, we were informed, there is no more chicken pizza either. But, all the other kinds of pizza on the menu are available. Well, we’ll try the “Paradise Special.”

We should have known better because all the other pizzas had descriptions but this one did not. We asked our waitress about it and she said it has all kinds of things on it. We also ordered French fries as a sort of appetizer (a pretty safe menu item generally). The service was slow and also rather random. Maybe 15 minutes after we ordered, forks, knives, and napkins were brought to our table. A few minutes later, salt was dropped off. 15 minutes later, we received the French fries. A few minutes later, we got our tea. Then, finally, we received our pizza.

This pizza was definitely a cultural experience. The toppings included: typical tomato sauce and cheese, hard-boiled egg, spinach, cabbage, carrots, and lastly, and certainly our least favorite—tuna. Overall, not horrible, but I won’t be ordering a “special” pizza anytime soon. Thankfully, the entire bill was just under $5.

One Friday night

Here's a glimpse into a weekend night in Addis Ababa. After a busy week, we decided we wanted to rent a movie. There were a couple of movie-rental places nearby so we checked them both out. The first one was playing loud American pop music. This store is on a dirt/gravel street where horse-drawn “taxis” transport people up and down that way. We commented on what a mixing of worlds that store illustrated. The next rental place was just off the dirt/gravel road and along a paved road. This store has movies for rent on one wall, and computers on the other wall where people pay to get on the internet. (We used that service a couple of times before we got internet at our home). There we found a movie that looked decent and also looked like it would be in English. (Many looked like they were Chinese versions of American movies). We had to pay 5 birr (42 cents) to rent the movie and put down 50 birr (about $4) as a deposit that we will get back when the movie is returned.

(below is the first movie rental place with 2 very different, yet both commonly seen modes of transportation seen on this road)

On the way home, we bought some bread from a very friendly bread-seller for 25 cents to eat with our leftover chicken. After we ate our dinner, we popped some popcorn in a way I remember my mother doing a long time ago. We put some oil in a big covered pan, heat it up, add a few “test kernels”, and when the oil is hot enough, add the rest of the popcorn, cover, and shake over the heat until the popping slows. The end result was so tasty! Better than microwave popcorn any day!

The movie worked out well for the most part except for the audio was out of sync wit the video, making it seem like a poorly dubbed Chinese film.

We have arrived in Addis!

Much has transpired since our last post. We finished packing with a total of 5 action packers, 3 large suitcases, and 4 carry-ons. Both sets of parents plus Kevin's brother Kyle accompanied us to the Fort Wayne airport in Indiana. We had some extra "goodbye" time that day due to our flight being delayed about 3 hours. Thankfully, we still made all our connections--to Detroit, Amsterdam, Khartoum, and then arriving in Addis Ababa. We were greeted by Gary and Peggy Ifft who took very good care of us for our first two days in the city.

We are getting settled and are truly enjoying life here. God has abundantly blessed us. Hopefully, I will be able to post some pictures soon.