Day 7

Here it is, my first week! Once again, i am writing from my room and will post it from the office tmw.
So, a wrap up… I moved in on Wednesday, Thursday was the last day of the workshop. We finished late to close the report. Then I went with my roommates (James & Jaïsha) to a restaurant where we ate sizzlers (like in India), before going to the newt door Jazz bar Alizée. There was a band of Ethiopian, playing a mix between traditionnal-jazzy-reggy-smothie music. It was very nice. It ended up with a guy coming up the stage and dancing like crazy. He was dancing traditional Ethiopian dance, with a very special shoulder’s movement very impressive as it goes faster and faster. It was great.
Friday was a normal reading day at work. Just got a good news : every Friday at the UN in Ethiopia, we finish work at 2pm. Great news. I am already realizing a many week ends outside of the country i need to actually see a little bit of Ethiopia. Dam big country !
Saturday was a quiet day with my roommates. We had breakfast at home then we went to the National Museum and stopped on the way to visit the Hilton and check out the prices of the famous swimming pool. Arrived at the museum with Jaïsha, we decided we were hungry and stopped first at the museum’s restaurant. Then we met some of Jaïsha’s friends who told us we should go to the Ethnological museum on the University campus. We changed plans and did that.
While visiting the museum, the rain started to pour outside and never stopped until the morning. We had a quiet evening with a movie in the cozy living room. We also encountered couple of cockroaches in the fridge. James was just talking about the inhabitant of the fridge corner in the kitchen when they showed up. Demonstration.
On Sunday morning we decided to go horseback riding. Mouhaha that was fun. We went with a friend who has a car. We drove for about an hour outside of Addis, which allowed me to realize how spread the city was. The buildings of the centre are slowly replaced by small mud house looking like countryside villages. More and more goats are on the roads and more and more kids look dirty and not cared of. The countryside was beautiful, even though it was very foggy. We finally arrived after a (too) long car trip. Actually, we had been told there was a new road to reach the place and that it was a big straight clean road. But the road we took was just muddy, bumpy and curvy. Weird.
Then the whole horse riding thing under the rain was of course hilarious. There was two Danish (very posh and well equipped women, with white pants, leather boots and proper gloves). There was also two English medicine students in Ethiopia for holidays. And there was us, with Jaïsha riding quiet good, James and the Ethiopian friend (too hard name, still not used) riding for the first time, and the three of us scared like hell. Finally we did a 2 hours promenade in the area. We had lots of fun, after having found a bit of courage and confidence, after having managed to trot a bit and left the too good running in front. James had a horse that was so lazy he looked like being on a stubborn donkey, bouncing on all sides. I was quiet proud of myself and was impressed of how capable I was. I stopped being stressed and started having fun. We all did very well, even though no special inner talent has been discovered.
We came back to the city. We realized how bad the air of Addis is. So much pollution, dust and smoke. It was really nice to be out in the fresh air. I think it will become a “must” of every weekend: get out of the city at least once, to go breath air. On the way home, we ate in an Italian restaurant. Too much food for me, I got so tired (also maybe a bit the horse riding and the 7’ o’clock wake up) that I did a nap and here I am, writing to you. Now, I ll go in th eliving room to take care of the fire we just made. Hooo yes, we have a cheminee in our home !
Tomorrow work with every one back in the office.

So to sum up: my first week was excellent. The work seems interesting. I meet lots of people, even outside of work, who are interesting. I get already plenty of ideas for a potential thesis. I really like my roommates who are very nice and very easy going. I like my room and the house. I love the food and the smiles of Ethiopian. I know there is so much to see and do in Ethiopia that I will fill my days without any problems. Anyways, good conclusions, every thing is great around here! Hope it is the same back home(s).