29 April

Thursday April 29, 2010

Yesterday was spent trying to make arrangements.  The Hilton IT guy tried to determine why my netbook would not connect to the hotel LAN.  He was very helpful and not very successful.

Attempts to connect with some folks here in Addis who are friends of folks we know in Indianapolis were also unsuccessful.  We seem to have some wrong numbers.

The better part of the day was spent with the owner of a local tour company, Tsegaye.  I had been in email contact with him for a couple of months and it was clear that nothing could be finalized until we arrived here.  So we met to plan a tour for Northern Ethiopia.  Then he left to make airline reservations, hotel reservations, and set up drivers.  He was back and forth a few times but by 5:00 or so we had a tour arranged.  Then Tsegaye took us on a quick drive around Addis.  The multi-million dollar Sheraton complex sprawls across the hillside just across the road from an area filled with tin shacks.  It makes the Hilton look like a Motel 6.  There are many new homes and apartments with fancy American SUV’s in the driveways.  On the wall surrounding each compound was a zebunya (guard) dressed in rags.

Tsegaye lamented the growing divide between the rich and the poor here in Ethiopia.  The poor are some of the poorest in the world.  The rich just keep accumulating wealth.  He attributes much of the problem to the demise of the extended family.  When families stayed together for generations they took care of one another.  No one was homeless because the family would not allow it.  Now those family supports are gone and people fall through the cracks.  Children came up to the windows of our car begging.

After the tour it was time to stop in a local kebele for a beer.  It is always nice to get away from the tourist spots and experience the real neighborhoods.  We were the only ferenjie (white/foreigner) in the place.  The children here did not beg but they sure did stare.  We sat outside and watched the moon rise over the city as we sampled the local brews.