Well this isn't good news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20526380

A Few More Photos

 I didn't know Ethiopia looked like this

 This woman received goats through CPAR programming...she is also the leader of a women's income generating group in Guba!

Kevin and I went for Yemeni food in Addis. It was so so so good - fresh humus and baba ghanoush and the delicious layered juice or spris I talked about before.

Back In the Habit

Okay, that's the subtitle of Sister Act 2, a movie I just requested from the library but it's totally fitting...because I'm back in Canada. Canada, also known as 'the West' or 'the first world' or 'the developed world' or 'America'. I don't know if any of these make sense since they all depend on where you're standing and how you see the world. I like to think I don't see the world in these terms but no matter how we try to fight it, we're all still part of the system and it's hard not to buy into some of this stuff.

Thus, having returned from the developing, third world, here are some things I miss already. The smell of fire.  The smell of Ethiopian coffee (or buna in Amharic) beans roasting. Being somewhere new, different and unknown. The slightly warmer weather. Connecting with new people. Trying to learn a few new words and phrases in a new language. Then wowing people by using said few words. Being mocked for opting for a vegetarian option. Discovering new music. Getting driven around in a white land cruiser and being offered the front seat because I'm a lady. Getting called 'China!'

Okay this last one is amusing because in areas where the Chinese have a strong presence most people visibly identifiable as foreigners get called China. This happened mostly in Guba where the Chinese are installing electricity. It also happened in Addis though which was particularly amusing to me as I happened to catch the kid noticing me and saw the expression on her face as she did and then watched her point and say 'China!' much to the embarrassment of her parents who shushed her immediately. Apparently this was quite amusing to the other customers and the staff at the coffee shop/restaurant I was at. The other term for a 'western' foreigner is Farenji, which I didn't actually learn until a week into my trip.

Anyway, here are some more photos. Of what, I'm not sure yet as I'm just going to pick at random.

 The fleet outside the CPAR-Ethiopia office in Addis

 Private taxis used in Addis - aka the blue virus

 Drinking buna in Guba with two colleagues

Busy Busy

Well it's only 3:40 in the afternoon and I have had myself a pretty packed day. Started off with my usual Macchiato at Babu's next door and then decided it was time to take on Addis. Despite concerns about negotiating taxi prices solo, I sucked it up and asked one of the blue and white taxi drivers if he knew where the Ethnological Museum was. He didn't really and I could tell but he seemed to know the National Museum and since they are close by, I went for it. After a stop at the National Museum, we made it to Addis Ababa University campus where the museum is located. The museum focuses mostly on culture and tradition among the different ethnic groups found in Ethiopia. It was fairly interesting and I gave the museum my best effort. Situated in Emperor Haile Selassie's former palace, the museum had lots to read and included an Ethiopian art section with lots and lots of Orthodox Christian paraphernalia.

I strolled around the university campus for a short while after the museum. Now that I am travelling solo I get a lot more attention from people (men) than I did when I was strolling around with Kevin. Oh well, nothing too serious so far. Anyway, after a little stroll I hopped in another taxi and headed towards Tamoca cafe. This is a well known coffee shop that sells amazing smelling coffee beans and delicious macchiatos. This was my second trip and this round was much more pleasant. The last time I went in (as taken there by one of our gracious colleagues) it was loaded with faranjis! (foreigners - mainly western foreigners). Anyway, a group of them came in with a guide, cut the line after we'd been waiting quite some time and I may have lost my cool a little. This time, however, I took my time, purchased my coffee in peace and enjoyed a very nice macchiato.

Tempted to have a 2nd macchiato but realizing the importance of food, I set off to look for a place to eat or better yet a spris - this amazing layered juice concoction. I ended up walking for a very long time, this way and that, past the post office, into an area I thought might be a little sketchy but then down a road I'd been on a few times...also suspected to be sketchy (by me). I stopped at a fruit stand to buy some bananas and by chance, the guy selling them was also serving up fresh avocado juice. This place had spris! So I ordered a juice which included a layer of avocado, papaya, strawberry and guava...or something to that effect. These juices are really tasty and this one was my best yet. Avocado juice is actually amazing. The drink comes with half a fresh lime which really tastes great when squeezed on top.

Not really sure what to do next, I took my friend Kate's suggestion and headed to Edna Mall. The taxi I took, well I thought I might fall through the floor of the car. To say it was rundown would be an understatement AND my door didn't close properly so I was holding it shut. Ah well, I made it. I considered going to see a movie since it started to rain but ultimately decided against it. I ended up walking down to Cafe Parisienne to have some lunch. A crappy burger and fries - which is pretty standard and usually a safe option. I decided to walk back towards the guest house knowing I was close-ish. I saw a HUGE Orthodox Church that was pretty cool and just a lot of the area as I travelled on foot.

Still raining, I decided to take a taxi the rest of the way home. Unfortunately, I had had enough of the overcharging and despite negotiating a guy down from 120 birr to 60 birr, I didn't like the look of the driver's bloodshot eyes and was frankly fed up with paying so much for rides. I'm pretty cheap I think you all know. Anyway, I started walking. Maybe not the best idea but you know what, it worked out. I knew where I was going and actually ended up getting a ride from a kind older man. He knew where I was headed and offered me a ride. I accepted and it turns out he used to work for Save the Children Norway, had spent time at the Coady Institute in Halifax taking an International Development/NGO management course, has a brother living in Calgary and travelled all around Canada. Anyway, he was very nice, dropped me off pretty much at my door and invited me for coffee. This I pretty much declined even though I probably shouldn't have.

So the day ended on a high note for sure. I mean the day is not really over but there is not much else for me to do, especially not in this neighbourhood. I could wander around later tonight but I'm not sure what I'll do. Going to finish packing and prepare for my flight. I have the whole day tomorrow but I intend to go into the CPAR-Ethiopia office to work and visit one last time. Not sure how much I'm looking forward to returning home...it's been great being here but I guess all good things have to come to an end.

Oh also while I was wondering around, I was greeted by a gentleman who asked where I was from. I said Canada, he said Ontario? I said yes and he said he had family in Quebec. Then he invited me to chew chat with him and his friends. A nice gesture indeed...'chat' however, although legal in Ethiopia, is a narcotic of sorts and illegal in Canada and is said to give you some sort of high.

I'll leave it there. My camera died part way through the day so I missed out on some great photos but at least I observed with my own eyes.

Farming

I'm not actually sure if most of you (aka my 2 readers) know why I am here so here's a quick rundown of the two major programs I got to check in on. Farmers First is program running in all 4 countries where CPAR works and although it can take different shapes in different countries and regions, the main focus is on farmers. They idea is to organize farmers into groups and have them come together to share ideas, successes, failures and participate in training, receive inputs and discuss relevant issues as determined by the farmers themselves.

The 2nd project similarly focuses on agriculture but as it involves about 7 NGOs, working in directly with the Ethiopian government across a number of regions, it's way too complicated to explain. One key priority of it though is capacity building of government service providers.

Over the past week I travelled to our field offices in Guba, Dibate and Jarso, met with farmers, saw tree planting sights, vegetable gardens, crop storage sheds and all kinds of stuff.

Here are a few photos for you before I run off for a hopefully fun and positive adventure Saturday.

 We saw lots of goats - here's one by the Guba office

Here are some homes in one of the villages we went to

I think this is Dibate town

We raced to catch the sunset over the Blue Nile Gorge - pretty cool

Vast farm lands in Jarso

This area was totally bare but through a CPAR tree planting and natural resource management initiative the hillside is recovered. This has helped diminish erosion and the accumulation of silt runoff. Wildlife is returning to the area, plants and trees are making a comeback. Pretty cool stuff.

Now What?

Well that was my trip to the field. It feels like I have been gone forever but it hasn't even been two weeks yet. I just arrived back from 'the field', a trip which involved a ton of driving and packing in a lot. I learned a lot, saw a lot and now have a lot to process...so I'll tell you all about it a few years from now.

The phrase of the visit was 'development tourism' and this is really due to budget and time constraints. The experience was invaluable but having the opportunity to really shadow the field office staff for longer periods of time would be worth even more. Already I have a better perspective and understanding of what is going on but it could be further enriched by more time. Of course, this is not what donors pay for so it's a tough thing to pull off.

I still learned so much and it was a really great opportunity. I feel as though I've been gone forever and I'll have lots of stories and photos to share. Worth noting is the jacuzzi type bathtub in one of the random places we stayed in. I think all the money went into equipping a few rooms with these fancy tubs perhaps sometime in the 90s in an effort to distract from the bugs and lack of overall maintenance. Nevertheless a bed is a bed and a shower is a shower. Lots of variety when it comes to beds, toilets and showers to share stories of.

Happy weekend.

Traditional Ethiopian Dancing

I guess I should write while I have the time and internet.
Tomorrow I'm heading towards Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia for five days of intense field visits. We'll be in very rural places, spending a lot of time driving to try to visit some project sites. I suspect internet will be limited as electricity will likely be provided by generators.

With this in mind, I'll either publish this entry now or see if I can figure out how to do a delayed entry. Either way, last night we went to a restaurant called Abyssinia. This would be categorized as a high end 'cultural' restaurant where there are a number of performances of singing, dancing and live Ethiopian music. Restaurants such as these are quite common place and these are good places to go to try to learn or at least witness some pretty good dancing. I had been told about the 'shoulder move' which doesn't really help in preparing you for the greatness of this move. I can't do it, I can barely try but it is impressive. The dancers seem to have the stamina of marathoners and it's pretty cool to watch.

The food was also delicious. We had a wide variety of dishes and shared our food communally on a plate of injera. This is actually my preferred way to eat as you get to try a number of different dishes. There was far too much food and I wish I could wrap it up and bring it back to Canada with me.

Check out our feast!

There was some mandatory audience participation which led to me having to both refuse to participate while attempting to move my head back and forth in a manner that is physically impossible for me. Malawi, Ugandan and Tanzanian staff members were less shy and gave it their best shot. Some Ethiopian colleagues also matched some of the dancers in skill and enthusiasm. I still don't quite understand how some of these moves are possible - a personal favourite is one I call 'the running man on speed'. It's interesting to see the different dance styles and link them to some of the moves we see in music videos. Lots of similarities believe it or not.

The Band!

My PJ Bottoms...as Requested

Spot the squirrels and as many stupid things written on these as you can.

Donuts and a "European Wedding"

Here in Ethiopia (I'm of course an expert now), at least in Addis, most of the cafés also serve donuts and cakes. Kevin and I had debated bringing some timbits from the Toronto airport as a Canadian ‘treat’. We likely would have ended up eating them on the plane given the spacing of the meals but even had they made it the full journey, they probably wouldn’t have been met with as much excitement as we might have hoped.

Today, I stopped by a café to pick up a donut after my second macchiato of the day. After all, coffee and donuts are the perfect pairing, right? I wound up with a chocolate dip, somewhat unintentionally but considering my poor efforts at learning the language, I’m content to take what I get. Although more dense than the Tim Horton’s version, it would seem a donut is a donut.

As today is Saturday, we have a free day of sorts. The rest of the program staff left early this morning to head back to their respective home countries. The Canadian gang is sticking around for a visit to the field. As we leave tomorrow today is being used for checking out the city and finishing up some work. I’ve stuck around the hotel this morning for now and this has allowed me to witness parts of wedding that is either taking place in the hotel, has guests staying at the hotel or a combination. I met the groom, saw the white stretch limo and white Mercedes with flowers on them in the parking lot and heard some live saxophone! The crew working the front desk told me that this is not a traditional Ethiopian wedding, this is a European wedding or a white wedding as they say in Lesotho. Apparently at a traditional Ethiopian wedding, people would be using a horse drawn carriage rather than a limo. I think I’d prefer that too. Or even riding the horses might be better. The groomsmen have matching ties to go with their black suits and there is a film crew on hand to record the event. People seem to be milling about outside at the moment so perhaps I’ll catch a little more of the action later. I’ll seem about getting into at least one of the photos.

Speaking of photos, I have a few more I can post but also as I was walking back to my hotel I noticed a guy trying to snap a photo of me with his phone. I put my arm up a little as if blocking the sun from my face but then realised that as a traveller, I’m always trying to ‘discretely’ take photos of people so why should I care if this man tried to take mine from afar? Or if I do mind, then I should probably stop taking photos of people without their permission. Just something to ponder over your coffee and donut.

Jazzamba!

Last night, the whole crew, well almost the whole crew went to Jazzamba lounge. A jazz lounge in Addis that has live jazz 7 days a week. Kevin, my supervisor proposed the idea and the ever helpful Country Manager here at CPAR-Ethiopia organized the night for us. It was a very interesting place to visit. First off, Jazzamba lounge is attached to the oldest hotel - Taitu Hotel - in Ethiopia. Located in an area called Piazza, this seems to be somewhat in the downtown area. The place was packed with loads of Ethiopians and a few ex-pats scattered throughout. Apparently it is packed every night. Seems like a place for the upper class to go and hang. I know what you're thinking, Ethiopian upper class? What about all the starving people I've seen on tv. We can discuss that later but for now, let's focus on the music.

Last night's performer was Alèmayèhu Eshèté also knows as the Ethiopian James Brown or the Ethiopian Elvis. He has been making music for decades and is a legend in the jazz scene. He was pretty cool. The band was really good and a colleague translated some of the lyrics of his songs. We only stayed for the first set because it was a pretty late night but I think everyone had a good time. The hotel was quite cool too. Despite the high class clientele and overpriced food, it had the worst washroom I've used so far. But I digress. There was a cool gift shop with a range of Ethiopian inspired art and great people watching. I think the Ethiopian mob might have been enjoying the show that night too. I don't actually know that there is such a thing but there was a group of about 8 men, who had 1 man save their seats for about 1.5 hours before they showed up and they had bottle service. Yes you read that right, bottle service. Oh and iPhones. So whatever images of Ethiopia you have in your head thanks to Live Aid, adjust them a little.

In summary, the music was good. I got to see some of the downtown - think bright lights, big city. And now there is just one day left. I've started trying to take some pictures...still not going well but I'll have a few. Tomorrow we're going to a museum to check out some history so hopefully I'll have something to say about that.

Good night.