June 26, 2008

This morning I worked on the computer until lunch time. I wrote the blog
and a whole lot of emails to family and friends. I left the hotel and
decided although I wanted a good meal I just didn't feel like dealing with
the masses I would encounter if I walked the 40 minutes to the good
restaurant in town. So I opted for the little café about four blocks from
here that has a limited menu. I was 'swarmed' on the way by a group of
street kids and I think there may have been two women in the crowd. At
first it was one kid but the next thing I knew I had no fewer than 12-15
beggars pushing to get at those meal tickets. Because I have arthritis in
my fingers I am somewhat clumsy with my hands. I keep the meal tickets in
my front pocket so I don't have to open my purse on the street. I had
about four lose tickets and a whole book of tickets in my pocket. After
passing out the lose tickets, I tore out the tickets from the book and was
handing them out. As the group got more desperate they started shoving. I
said 'slow down' and one of the kids said the same thing, realizing the
need for everyone to ease up a bit. As I was nearing the end of my
tickets, one of the kids to whom I had just given one a ticket, snatched
the last ticket from my hand. I had an immediate reaction of anger and
walked off, mumbling something unpleasant under my breath. When I got to
the café, I thought about what had happened. I think I was angry because
it was 'rude' to take snatch something like that from my hand. My southern
upbringing comes into play here. But I had to think about this from the
kid's perspective to be fair. He was hungry so he was either thinking
about tomorrow's meal or some other family member who didn't get one of my
tickets. He was just taking care of business as it were. It is times like
this that my heart breaks for those who have so little and the realization
that there is nothing I can do to fix it. I am reminded of the adage 'Give
a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a
life time.'

Today Ron had a meeting with all the staff who are involved with this
project. So there are people here from four cities. Ron said the day went
well but he now has to make some revisions on the plan. Whatever that
means….

Meat markets here abound as this is a meat eating culture. So the market
is a little alcove with a side of beef hanging on the wall. One person
waves the flies off the meat. No refrigeration. Oy! Of course this is how
it used to be in the US but now that we are so antiseptic and totally anal
about cleanliness and germs, it is pretty gross. The most favorite dish
here is raw meat served with a sauce that has lots of spices. We will
resist what isn't even a temptation for us!

I read yesterday that leather is another huge export for Ethiopia, coffee
being the biggest export. Thank you very much Starbucks! I have looked at
three shops that carry leather coats and jackets. Most appear to be sheep
skin. They are quite soft and retail for a wee bit over $100.

June 27, 2008

Today I went to two banks in order to get cash for our trip tomorrow.
Remember credit cards are useless here other than two high end hotels in
Addis. That wouldn't be where we are staying! The first bank I went to
would not cash the travelers check so they sent me to one of their other
branches. The town we are going to has no banks! No pharmacies!

I never came back to this and now it is Monday, June 30, 2008 and I have
little recollection of what happened so many days ago. Next installment
will be our trip to Lalibela.