On the Mend

OK, that was brutal. I don't know how or where or when I picked up this daggone amoeba but let me tell you IT IS NOT FUN. I was miserable and the treatment was a bad as the illness. Tinidazole makes your mouth taste like you have been sucking on corroding steel. I was weak and nauseous and if it had lasted one more day I seriously would have cut my trip short… It was that bad. Without going into too much detail, I visited a clinic for a 'test'. They told me they didn't see any more eggs or parasites but suggested I take their findings to a physician as soon as possible. (scary!) So, I left there and took the results to the doctor at the orphanage where I am working and he prescribed Ciprofloxacin for five more days—making eight days total I was on some sort of pharmaceutical drug. I was so hating taking drugs but by that point I was plain desperate and would have done almost anything. The doctor (Dr. D) is nice though and he was cracking me up. He told me in his thick accent, "Lohra, I do not geeve you pairmeesion to take ow-er Afreecan amoeba back weeth you to the States so we must be sure eet ees eeradicated!" The Cipro worked like a charm, though. I can't complain. By the second day I was pretty much back to my old self. So, here it is though that I have only one week left but with so much I want to accomplish. I was jet lagged and dealing with altitude changes the first week, sick the next two and now at week four I am finally feeling like my old self so it's time to cram in as much as possible!!

This weekend was fun. I have been really only been seeing bits and pieces of all that Ethiopia has to offer and being sick as a dog hasn't helped at all. But this weekend I did get out. On Friday night I went out for dinner with my neighbor in DC's friend and one of the volunteers.



A group of his friends came along as well. We ate some traditional Ethiopian food—shiro wat, doro wat, maser (sp?) and, of course, injera. It was fun to watch the traditional dancing and I even got up to try the whole shoulder thing. I will post pics and a video of that when I get back home. After dinner we went to Bailamos, a salsa place, and then to listen to some live music. We didn't get home until after two. Addis has some really cool spots--but they are hidden. You really have to be in the know in order to hear about them.

On Saturday I went shopping with one of the volunteers, Zahabu. We hired a taxi to take us to The University of Addis Ababa where there is supposed to be a really interesting museum.
Unfortunately it was closed when we got there so we went shopping instead. In my guide book it mentioned checking out The Women's Fuel Wood Carriers Project, so when we spotted signs for that we followed them.

Tucked away behind a tin gate we came to three small buildings where women were making baskets,
weaving scarves
and grinding grain.

It was pretty cool to see them sitting at their looms in a dark room making scarves. We each bought two. (OK, I bought three!) When we peeked in on the women grinding the grain we discovered they were as fascinated by us as we were by them. We ended up taking many, many photographs because they were so intrigued by our digital cameras.

We did so more gift/souvenir shopping and then hopped on a mini bus to find our way back home. Minibuses are an adventure on their own, especially when you don't really know the city. They can be a bit rickety, quite packed and the fare is always anybody's guess. But they are always cheap--most rides I have taken have cost less than one birr. So we hopped on one thinking it was taking us to the direction of our house (and maybe it was) but we ended up getting off at the wrong stop.

It had just started to rain so we wandered through the streets for awhile until we happened upon some shops. Z wanted to buy some jeans so we peeked into a few shops until we found one that carried jeans. I had not planned on buying any, and they weren't particularly cheap (300 birr) but the men working in there insisted I try some on. Since I hadn't packed any I was easily swayed. The third pair I tried on fit perfectly so I bought them. Z also found some she liked but being that she is only 5'2" they were too long. The cute salesman said 'No problem!' ("Chigarrellum!") -- that he could get them hemmed.
Zahabu asked them where this was going to get done and he flicked his right hand about as he stretched his arm out the front door. "That way" he said in Amharic and asked us if he could buy us a macchiato while we waited. We were a bit damp from the rain and thought a warm cup of coffee would make the wait a bit more pleasurable so we agreed.

We chatted and laughed and flirted and sipped strong, sweet coffee with the salespeople and 30 minutes later her pants returned perfectly and professionally hemmed. We were able to figure out the next two minibuses and made our way back home just before dark.

My last week here in Addis is going to be quite busy. I have been asked to paint the kindergarten room where I am volunteering, I want to get to that museum, I hope to visit the Meta beer factory, get my hair braided, I have more shopping to do, I have two field trips where I am expected to chaperon, I have tons more pictures I want to take, but most importantly I want to spend as much time as I can hugging the babies, playing with the toddlers and chatting with the older kids. I have really developed some special relationships with many of the kids here and I will miss them. I have even gained the trust of many of the toddlers. On Friday, one of them started crying when I told him I had to leave. Broke my heart. So sweet!