After getting out of the airport with only a few issues (slightly traumatising after 20 hours of travel and no sleep + langauage barriers) I found my sister ....phew. We went out to eat traditional Ethiopian food, she asked whether I wanted meat or veg, ofcourse I went for meat so she ordered me 'kitfo' it was like a beef stew with different breads, chilli powder and cream cheese, was very tasty then she told me it was completely raw beef...... We finished with some beers bought for us by a local wanting to welcome us.
On friday I went with Billie to the school she works at, it was only a half day as the weekend is 'Timkat' the biggest Ethiopian celebrations. I met her boss Menna who offered me a job as a classroom assistant, she said I could not be a teacher as i do not have a degree which is required, I hope this is not the same everywhere. The school is semi private which is not why I am here but I took the job anyway I know it will atleast give me good experiance and am going to try and volunteer for a charity in my spare time, this is how I justify working in a semi private school. Menna also asked me to take out my tongue peircing grrr.
We were going to go out friday night but i had diarrhea :-( Saturday I felt better and we went with some neighbours to watch the Timkat celebrations and went out that night, there are some nice bars here atleast I can feel at home with the good nightlife. To be honest im sure this is the city that never sleeps there is constant noise here. Our flat is small but is one of the richer places to live. We have cockroaches but only in the kitchen, thankfully I am already used to this thanks to my time in South Africa, just have to open cupboards with caution, dont want them falling out on me.
People here are really nice but everyone is ridiculously poor, therefore will do anything to get by so I need to be careful incase nice people I meet are actually after something. There are so many beggers here amd shoe shine boys I already have a soft spot for one shoe shine boy, and he knows it, I haven't let him shine my shoes yet although he keeps telling me they are dirty, I have bought him chocolate and given him 1 or 2 birr which is nothing but the standard amount to give to beggers or as a tip. This is one of those places you walk around constantly thinking why the fuck cant i do more? wait can i do more?
I havent really made any friends yet except form a couple of guys who are a little annoying and consistent but im in no position to pass up friends right now. The problem is the guys usually have ok English but ofcourse want more and the girls are really nice but have little English and I am only starting to pick up some Amharic words so we can pretend to be friends and communicate a little....... I have not been here a week yet so hopefully I will find some good friends or that will be the cause of me becomiing homesick.
I have not yet met my brother in law (Gold) as he is away working as a tour guide, I have spoken to him on the phone a couple of times and he is lovely and funny, everyone here seems to know him and are very fond of him, he is definetly making my sister very happy so all is good there.
Couple of things I've learnt....
why use curtains when you can use silver spray paint???
wooden scaffolding is just as safe as metal???
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