THE ADDISEY

Life lesson for July 23: A flattery circle never ends 

My last week here in Addis Ababa began a bit rocky, but has smoothed somewhat (still with pebbles, just no boulders).  On Tuesday, we got close to finishing collecting data for our projects and went to dance.  This was probably the best class we have had, doing a lot of partner work.  One of the things I will miss most from this trip will be our biweekly salsa class with our Heineken friends; next Tuesday night will be our last class.

On Wednesday, we went to the orphanage again.  I wish we could have gone more than twice.  That is one of the worst parts of my weekend illnesses, it cut out two afternoons at the orphanage.  While there, we helped with their spoken English lessons.  After teaching them some adjectives, we proceeded to go around the circle of students complimenting each other.  After one round, we expected to go to a new activity, but they kept going and we did two more rounds, adding reasons.  It was one of the most adorable things to watch, almost too sweet to handle (like the saccharine, yet addictive power candy corn has). 

We then met up with our friend Eva for the afternoon.  After some shopping and lemonade, I finally resigned myself to start packing.  Because we will only be back one night after our trip to Bahir Dar and Gondar, we will have to have all our belongings packed.  I got about halfway done before going to dinner at a French restaurant.  The food was not only amazing, but a welcome change from the usual cuisines.  I have never eaten out so much and appreciate variety from the usual fare (Ethiopian food, Italian food, or burgers, all of which are impossible to avoid here).  Plus, they had a delicious chocolate mousse.

This morning, however, what started as a slightly red-ish eye yesterday (I figured some dust had gotten in it) had turned into a full conjunctivitis.  This, combined with some congestion, made me appear like I was crying my entire last day at work.  They gave me some antibiotic drops and hopefully this will get better.  As much as I have enjoyed my time here, I don’t think the feeling is mutual.  At least this kind of illness means I can still eat.

Life lesson for July 18: a non-coffee drinker can purchase way more coffee than three coffee drinkers combined

After spending the first few days recovering still from my weekend sickness (going to work and napping being my main activities), on Wednesday, I began feeling more like myself.  In the morning, we finished the all the available charts we had for our LTF project and then headed to the orphanage to spend time with the kids there.  After meeting a few other volunteers, we went out to the yard to meet the children.  The entertainment set list included twister, hopscotch, art with chalk, and temporary tattoos.  In order to demonstrate how the tattoos work, I was the guinea pig that got a purple dragon tattoo on my wrist.  The tattoos were a huge hit and honestly impressively long lasting – mine is still on my arm.

Thursday, Akilah and I got out of work early and decided to go back to Shiromeda for some more shopping.  Last time we were there, we had found a store that sold amazing beaded jewelry in the Oromi style (a region of southern Ethiopia).  We went back and, once we had given her plenty of business, the woman who owned the shop taught us the Oromifa word for thank you: galatoomi.  That evening, we celebrated Chris and Jill’s return to town by going to Melody Bar, our local spot for shiro and tibs. 

Friday, we stopped by TO.MO.CA coffee after breakfast and picked up what is supposedly the best coffee in Ethiopia (really I have no way of knowing because I don’t drink coffee, but my friends seemed to really like what they ordered).  The main café is in Piazza, but there is another location only a 10-minute walk from us.  I bought tons as gifts for all the coffee connoisseurs I know at home.  That afternoon we stopped by Salem’s again, a store filled with artisan crafts, such as scarves, pillowcases, baskets, and jewelry, to show Jill our find.  This complex of several buildings also house rooms, in which you can see cloth being made on a loom and baskets being woven. 

We then skipped our Friday dance class to go to Shabbat at Dr. Rick’s house for the last time and found that was a popular plan.  There must have been almost 50 people at dinner (many part of high school or college groups)!  After dinner, we headed to Fendika with some friends to watch dancing and participate.  The woman leading the show would go up to each group and make fun of them after asking questions.  However, it was hard to know what she was saying because it was all in Amharic. 

Saturday, Akilah and I joined Chris and Jill at clinic with Dr. Hodes.  Most of the patients were spine patients, many of whom will be sent to Ghana next week for corrective surgery.  The pathology that I saw in clinic was nothing like what I have ever seen shadowing in the United States.  The group going to Ghana also got a “before” photograph taken, and Dr. Rick gave them all the risks and benefits speech before going having them sign consent.  These kids (from young to mid twenties) will be away from their families for several months and we could tell from how attentive and tense many of the parents were how much they will be missed.

After clinic, we stopped home before heading out to a nice dinner at Gusto’s, an Italian restaurant.  The food was fantastic, but unfortunately over the course of the day, my stomach began hurting and an hour after getting home for the night I got really sick.  All of Sunday I spent essentially in bed (besides getting up to say goodbye to Chris and Jill).  I was hoping to feel better today, but haven’t and was unable to go into work.  One thing I will not miss when I leave in 9 days is the amount of times I have gotten sick. 

 Life lesson for July 10 and July 12: every silver lining has a cloud

 Monday, after work and dinner, we went to the airport to see some of Dr. Rick’s patients that came back from getting spine surgery in Ghana.  Because these kids (and some adults) are gone for months, it was so sweet to see them reunite with their families.  It was like a real life Love Actually intro, with everyone hugging and crying. 

 Later in the week, to continue our Wednesday night/date night tradition with Chris and Jill, we decided to go bowling.  Wednesday started as dinner and a movie night, but we had to extend that definition once we saw what new movies came out this past week (Think Like A Man 2, which means we would all be lost, having never seen the first).  We then headed off to a faraway mall that housed a bowling alley.  While many of the balls had craters blown out of them and I still contend the lane was slightly tilted at the end, giving every turn a slight curve, it was still a fun way to celebrate the middle of the week.

 After bowling (battling crazy rain), we headed to Aladdin’s Restaurant, off of Bole Road.  This Mediterranean place had both amazing food and décor.  When we stepped inside, we saw carved wooden chairs, a water feature, and beautiful murals painted on the walls.  The food was incredible, as well, rivaling our local Lebanese restaurant, which had recently become a giant buffet for Ramadan (both beyond our budget and our stomach capacities).  I will definitely be going back within the next two weeks!

 Thursday was Chris and Jill’s last night before setting off to travel the north.  To celebrate, we ate doughnuts from our local bakery (which are amazing and addictive) and then went to a Yemeni restaurant with our friend Danny.  I didn’t really know what to expect for Yemeni food, as I had never had it.  However, our spread offered delicious hummus, a fried rice type of dish, and the most amazing lamb dish I had ever had.  Seriously I would go back any time just for that dish.

The only negative to this day was the fact that my iPhone was either lost on a minibus or stolen.  That means I will have to activate an old one when I get home if I want to wait and upgrade. (It is also why I have no pictures to present in this post).

 After settling down decently early on Friday night (after post-dance dinner), Akilah and I woke up ready to spend the day shopping for gifts for our friends at home.  We went to a cluster of shops right by Black Lion Hospital, which sold souvenir-y type goods.  This proved to be a bit more of a hassle to get to than we expected because the minibuses in that direction were monopolized by tons of people heading to the Addis Ababa University graduation.  After shopping a bit in that area, Akilah and I decided to go back to Shiromeda, where we had seen things that appealed to us more than what was in these stores (you didn’t want a sword, did you, Mom?).  This turned out to be the perfect place to buy gifts for friends and relatives at home.

Unfortunately on the way back from Shiromeda on Saturday, I began to feel nauseated.  I then spent the entire night – up until 5 am being sick.  This meant that most of Sunday, I was weak, dehydrated, and tired.  Instead of being able to go to the orphanage, like I had planned, I stayed in bed and tried to eat something.

By the evening, I was feeling slightly more alive and went to a World Cup Party at the Capital Hotel, sponsored by Bedele Special (invite courtesy of our friends at Heineken).  Akilah was rooting for Argentina (she said she liked the idea of underdogs winning) and I rooted for Germany (land of half my ancestors).  Clearly, we know who went home happy (after much overtime of course).

Life lesson for July 5: you can get sunburnt and soaked with rain in the same day.

Last night we celebrated the Fourth of July by inviting over some American friends over to our place.  After some games, we light up sparklers to celebrate our country’s independence right before midnight hit.  We then left our place and went out for the night.

Saturday, we went to Entoto, which is just outside of the city limits.  On our way up, we stopped at Shiromeda, which is a traditional textile market, selling clothing, scarves, and jewelry.  We then grabbed a minibus (two, really) and made our way up the mountain. Entoto is the highest peak overlooking Addis and provides beautiful vistas of the city, set in a picturesque farm and wooded landscape.

We walked around for around an hour and just as we started to make our way to lunch, the rain started.  The rain in Addis is not quite like anything I have ever experienced.  We were only outside for 5 minutes, but we got completely drenched.  Luckily by the time we had finished eating, the rain had stopped and we were able to head back without getting any wetter.  When I got home, I realized that I was sunburned in the shape of my V-neck (aka super attractive).  On the plus side, I also had two more bracelets coming home than I did heading out!

After a slow start to last week, this week has been chalk full (where does this phrase come from? Gymnastics? Hopscotch tournaments?) of excitement.  At work, we moved on to looking at control charts.  At home, we moved on to not spending all of our time in bed sick. 

Wednesday has been designated as our movie night.  There is a super nice theatre only a 15 minute walk away (at the Edna Mall) and movies are at least five times cheaper here than at home.  This week we saw 22 Jump Street before heading to an Indian restaurant that we had been wanting to try for the past few weeks.  It did not disappoint and we stopped for a samosa snack the next day as well. 

Thursday and Friday our mentor from New York was in town.  He checked in on our data and helped us plan the next few weeks of work.  After getting out of work early on Thursday (we had to wait for some control charts), the three of us went to the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum (http://rtmmm.org). 

This museum was an amazing chronicle of this dark period of Ethiopia’s history, in which half a million Ethiopians were mass murdered between 1977 and 1978.  The tours are led by survivors of this time, ours led by a man who was imprisoned for 8 years.  Although Mengistu Haile Mariam’s reign ended in 1991, an entire generation has been left scarred by this horrifying and tragic period. 

The museum is runs entirely on donations and aims to memorialize the martyrs and to inform the public about the Red Terror.  It features photographs, letters, paintings, and the actual human remains found in mass graves. 

After an absolutely delicious breakfast of French toast with Lalibela honey, accompanied by papaya juice, tea, and toast with fresh butter and citrus jam, we set out for the airport to return to Addis.  Traveling for one day on an airplane always has a weird surreal quality about it because not that much time has passed, but it feels like so much has happened. 

But getting back meant catching up on emails and buying bread for our weekly sack lunches. We decided on our way back from the corner bakery to stop by a cute coffee place that we had never seen open before.  We met the owner, who had a similar shop in Norway and just opened this café with his American-French wife.  He told us that there would be a wide selection of wine and barbeque coming soon. 

On our way back to our place, we stopped again just to see the new Washington Hotel that opened across the street.  As soon as we entered and started looking around, we were given a tour of the entire place, including the traditional and international restaurants, the rooftop terrace, which will be another restaurant, and the giant two-story penthouse.  We also found the gym and spa, which we may visit when we want to work out.  The bellhop that helped us was so nice and enthusiastic about the hotel, which is gorgeous and has 360° views of Addis.  He told us that the owners of the hotel are from Washington DC, hence the name, and we were introduced to the general manager, who invited us to come back and watch the World Cup on one of the many TVs in the lobby.  

Continued from the previous post

Life lesson for June 28: the sweetest honey comes from bees that accost princes

So with our Lalibella/bee story in mind, we set out to explore.  The churches were spectacular!  With thick walls and windows in many styles (Latin cross, Greek cross, swastika, etc.), the carvings were incredible.  Inside, the churches varied greatly, some just plain rock and other with painted frescos.  What they all shared in common were a curtained area to the east, representing the Ark of the Covenant (said to be in Axum), a chanting room, and crosses for each church/saint for which the church was built.  We even got to see a pool that supposedly cures infertile women on Ethiopian Christmas.

Our guide was amazing, not only because of what he was able to tell us about the structures, but also because he led us through tunnels and up notches in the rock (our shortcut out of Saint George’s) to get to see almost every church in a three hour window.  We even had time to pause and reflect at Saint George’s, which was necessary to take in the monolith and its detailed exterior.  Apparently, once the church was built, it needed a saint to be dedicated to.  Saint George (slayer of dragons) beat out the competition by riding directly down one of the pathway’s walls.  His horse’s footprints can still be seen in the wall, notches that we used to ascend to the look out point.  

I have so many pictures of these amazing rock hewn churches that I felt it would be a complete overload to post them all in one place.  There are some more on instagram and millions more on my phone.  I loved all the churches, as well as the tunnels, doors, and pathways. 

The terrain was mountainous and dusty (rainy season isn’t until July/August) and we definitely worked up a sweat getting to all the churches.  But considering we had from 2pm and 5pm, when they were open, to see everything, it was worth the workout.  The natural setting was also beautiful and there were tukuls dotting the landscape.  These used to belong to residents, however, the church recently bought them, causing the people to move to new homes (many of which are in the process of being built). 

We then told our guide that we were interested in picking up some honey on our way back to the hotel.  He took us to a store where honey is sold by the kilo.  It was bright yellow and delicious.  We then went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner, which we were having at a extraordinary Scottish-Ethiopian restaurant called Ben Abeba.  The views from this architecturally unique restaurant are fantabulous (which weirdly is not underlined as a misspelling.  Is fantabulous a word now?).  Also, the chutney was amazing – on pretty much anything you could think to order.  We ate on one of the main floors during dinner and then moved down to the bonfire for dessert and tej, the perfect ending to our Saturday in Lalibela.   

 Stay classy.  And remember the next time someone tells you:

Life lesson for June 28: the sweetest honey comes from bees that accost princes

This weekend we spent in Lalibela (formerly Roha), a town that boasts 13 stone carved churches that many consider the unofficial 8th wonder of the world.  We flew up on Saturday morning and flew back Sunday morning, giving us about 24 hours to see everything we could. 

The ride from the airport to our hotel gave us impressive views of the mountainous north.  That is when we were relaxed enough to take them in when and not focusing on the narrow, steep, winding roads filled with local people, sheep, and donkeys that we were ascending.  Our hotel too, sat on the edge of the mountain and overlooked the vast expanse of land surrounding Roha.

After eating lunch, we arranged a tour of the churches though our hotel.  Our guide told us that there was a market that brought people from many surrounding rural areas into Lalibela.  He showed us around and pointed out the different colors of teff, the grain out of which injera is made (the darker the color, the cheaper, making teff a marker of class), and the spice in shiro (our favorite dish made out of chickpeas).  We also asked about tej and Lalibela honey, which he told us was an integral part of folklore about the 12th century King Lalibela (cliff hanger!).

We then went to the churches (which are not cheap for non-residents to visit).  They are set up in two clusters, with Saint George, the most iconic church, on the outskirts.  All of the churches have been carved out of the rock, a feat that took around 40,000 people or a few angels, depending on who you believe (historians/scientists or local legend?).   So now to the origin story: Gebre Meskel Lalibela was born second in line to the thrown of Roha.  As a child he was swarmed by bees, which his mother took as a sign that he would be emperor.  His older brother was jealous and tried to poison him.  Lalibela survived, but was in a coma.  In his unconscious state, he dreamed that he would become king and build great churches carved from stone, creating a new Jerusalem.  Coincidentally, around the same time, his older brother had a dream that he should abdicate in favor of Lalibela, which he did as soon as he woke up.  Lalibela then took power and had these 13 magnificent churches excavated from the rock.

In honor of our guide who left us with a honey-themed cliff hanger, I am going to leave this post in a similar vein because it is getting too long.  With no further adieu:

Disclaimer: this was meant to be posted on Friday, but the wifi was down.

Life lesson for June 24: some dances you can just learn, others you need to be taught Although my week has been pretty unremarkable (mostly spend in bed feeling sick), I have gotten some exercise in. Through our new friends that held the Heineken party, we have been introduced to an amazing salsa class. Seriously, the instructors taught us so much in the two hours, and got us to sweat while we were at it!  We were doing well until the final dance came one, which was some kind of group dance that everyone knew except for us.  Next time, I am definitely asking the name of this Ethiopian electric slide type of dance! I ended up only going to work once this week, as after I finally felt better, Akilah started to feel sick.  But at the end of our second full week in Addis, I feel it is time to reflect on how much has happened here so far. Perhaps it is the the fact the power went out again, or perhaps it is the picture of two candles that mirrors my first post in Addis. Or it could just be the tej I keep under my bed talking (just kidding!!! ;) ;) ;P ).  Life in Addis has been somewhat unexpected, often inconvenient, and dustier that I could have ever imagined, but it has also been pretty incredible. We have met some amazing people, eaten delicious food, and worked with a great clinic. I can't wait for the next five weeks!

Disclaimer: I am feeling pretty sick and feel that this post will probably not be very funny or interesting (if my posts ever are).  There aren't even relevant pictures to make up for it. 

Life lesson for June 21: Before giving up camera control, get some contact information

We decided to work from home Friday because we needed wifi to convert most of the dates we collected from the Ethiopian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.  Unfortunately, around mid-day I began feeling really sick.  I ended up spending the rest of the day in bed.  I think it might just be a 24-hour illness, but I am not sure from what.  

Saturday, I started feeling better, just with a massive headache.  After some ibuprofen and lots of water, I began setting up for Jill’s birthday.  While she was at clinic, we filled her room with balloons and a happy birthday banner.  We also got her cake and made sangria.  We had dinner and went out after to celebrate.  After watching a bit of the Germany-Ghana game, we went to a Heineken party a couple blocks away.  We were told this was one of the greatest parties of the summer.  It was a lot of fun with dancing, a super broad range of guests (mostly,but not all expats), a campfire outside, and of course tons of beer (Harar mostly).

While these events all seem like a good opportunity to take photos, I didn’t.  Instead, we left that up to the professional photographer at the party and now have no proof that we went out (did we? Or did I just stay in to watch Orphan Black?). 

Sunday, I still had a bit of a headache and was tired, but was feeling overall better than Friday still.  We went to brunch and saw a movie at the theatre nearby.  I started feeling a bit ill before bed and then got sick again in the middle of the night.

So, I missed work today and spend a lot of time in bed.  But I am optimistic that the ramen I just scarfed down will heal everything (along with the cipro I started taking, naturally).

Life lesson for June 19: the key ingredient for any healthy hard drive-mother board relationship is communication 

This has been our first week working on our project, and there has been a pretty steep learning curve.  However, we finally got our commute down and figured out how to cut our minibus fee in half (getting on after the roundabout).   After trial and error, we also remembered which street to go down after the bus to get to clinic.  This means that I have gone to and from work every day and live to tell the tale. 

Because we haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping, we have been bringing small snacks for lunch and then just walking around the neighborhood for the rest of the break.  So far we have found a market that is filled with stalls, selling all sorts of household goods.  We found a gift (which I won’t give away) for Jill’s birthday on Saturday and scoped out the spice stalls.

  These brief walks are pretty much necessary to our sanity.  Doing a data project is another term for being sentenced to sit for hours on end.  That means I have also gotten to know the view from our window pretty well, using it as an excuse to stretch my legs. 

  Thursday turned out to be an amazing day (perhaps because it was a holy day at Saint Michael's Church, which we found out after asking why there were so many people out and about).  After coming back from work a little early, we stopped by the computer store around the corner to see what they could do for my laptop.  It turns out I needed a new hard drive to motherboard connector (that doesn’t sound too important, does it?).  The store was great and helped me right away (imagine that, Apple store on 60th, no appointment necessary and the absence of millions of people to wade through).  Not only did I finally have a chance to stop by the Apple repair shop and get my laptop functional, but the wifi was installed in my guest house.  The result, I look like a total tool in the lobby with my two phones, iPad and laptop, trying to catch up on everything from this week.   

For dinner, we went to Yod Abyssinia, an Ethiopian restaurant slash dance exhibition.  At first I was a bit reluctant, figuring it was just some sort of tourist trap, but the audience was filled with tons of locals, most of whom, we found out, were great dancers.  The way they moved their shoulders put us to shame when the professionals stepped out into the audience to encourage participation. The food was also delicious and insanely colorful (accented by the bright orange Tej, of course). 

All in all, a good Thursday.  Today, we chose to work from home with our new wifi connection.  

Disclaimer: Sorry for the long delay. My computer completely crashed and I’ve been working on downloading everything I need for my project onto my iPad. Also, I am terrible at remembering to take pictures. I always say I’m going to change, but you know how it goes for old dogs.

Life lesson for June 15: sometimes horoscopes are miserably accurate

On Saturday, Akilah and I headed to the Piazza area of Addis after sleeping in. We scouted out the jewelry shops, which are full of the usual array of silver and gold pieces, before heading to the Ethiopian Airlines office to book tickets to Lalibela. I am super excited for this trip! Because we flew in on Ethiopian airlines, we get a huge discount on domestic trips (unfortunately that doesn’t apply to international flights). This means we won’t have to take an achingly long bus ride, but do get to see the unofficial eighth wonder of the world. Regrettably, we weren’t feeling great the rest of the day and retired to our guest house soon after.

On Sunday morning, I woke up and my computer decided to crash. This was right on time according to my horoscope which told me I would have “technical difficulties.” As of this post, it has not started working, but I’ll take it to a computer store on my day off.

Anyway, on Sunday morning, we went to this awesome hipster coffee warehouse for brunch. I say hipster because it was lacking proper signage from the street, though this may have been because it recently opened. Either way, when we went in to the spacious, yet adorable interior, we felt both relieved (that it wasn’t a murder warehouse) and cool (like people who go to unmarked speak easies).

Plus, I finally got to meet up with Chantal, which I had been meaning to do since Wednesday. After brunch, she took us back to her host family, who was having people over for lunch. This meant tons of delicious homemade Ethiopian food (or, as they call it here, food) and tej (honey wine-type drink).

To continue the string of amazing meals, I went to dinner with Chris, Jill, and a doctor from the US who now works for the CDC. We went to an awesome Italian-esque restaurant. The ginger lemonade alone would have sold me, but add peanut-tomato sauce and I’m sold, wrapped, and shipped- like bottles of wine from Napa.

I then had to get back into Monday mode, for my first full day of work. We made a decent amount of progress before heading out early to find wifi. Without my computer and with the excel app only half downloaded, I had to painstakingly fill out print-outs of our spreadsheet and then enter them into Akilah’s computer. On the plus side … Nope, nevermind. There really is no plus side to not having a computer.

For dinner we checked out the Lebanese place right next to where we are staying. Despite being completely empty, it was delicious. Like, really delicious. And it was followed by a trip to Melody bar, a bar with an eclectic playlist and drinks that range from cheap Ethiopian beer to top shelf liqueur.

We found out two students we met on Friday will now be staying in a room next door to us (they found rats in their previous place) for their last week. It’s almost like a dorm, now, but cooler, with so many people at the same place.

I don’t have a snappy way to say goodbye, so I’ll just post another picture.

Life lesson for June 13:  High fives are like love and war – there are no rules

Day 3:  I finally figured out the intricacies of my shower and woke up ready to take on the world, with my fresh hair and my _^in da tub^­_ playlist stuck in my head (Shaki, you can do no wrong).  Today was our first day in clinic, where we will be working on our data project.  After meeting all the awesome employees, we familiarized ourselves with the charts.  They had already gathered a perfect list of all the charts we would need and we were able to leave early, ready to start on Monday. 

After a stranger refused to take a photograph of Akilah and I together, we snapped this gem at the clinic.  This blog is really not catching my best side, but if I don’t post it all my fans and admirers will be like, “post a picture, post a picture, we love you, we love you.”  To which I say, “meh:”

After getting our daily dose of wifi with lunch, we went up to our guesthouse roof to smoke some high grade magic marker – if you know what I mean (by which I mean we found a Crayola pen in an ash tray).

But the roof had views (only partially obscured by smog) of the best soccer game in town.  World cup, shmworld cup, these kids were pros.  They organized into the red-orange team and the other color/mostly-black-and-green team. 

  We were then invited to a Shabbat at an American doctor’s home.  There we got to meet other medical students, travellers in Addis, patients from his clinic, and his family.  One of my new friends, by far the tiniest, spoke neither English nor Amharic.  But he did high five.  A lot.  I can’t say I understood to objective of the game, let alone the rules, but I certainly high fived him a lot, which made me feel really accomplished.  

Life lesson for June 11: Never take a glamour shot with less than three hours of sleep After arriving in Addis at 7:30am, I was exhausted.  We were brought to our rooms and, after briefly unpacking, passed out for almost 3 hours.  This slumber was interrupted only by the sound of a sudden rainstorm, which was deafening on the surrounding metal roofs. When we woke up and got ready to venture out, we decided to go to the local mall to buy cell phones and SIM cards. Easy peasy, right?  Buying the phones was simple enough, however to get a SIM card, you need a copy of your passport, a form, and a passport style photograph of yourself. It was this last requirement that caused a problem.  We had passport pictures back in our rooms (remnants of the visa application process), but this would mean another trip and a lot more hassle.  

So, we asked around for where we could get photos taken and were directed to a place down the street.  When we walked in it was a full-on photo studio, which put the CVS photo center to shame.  We had pictures taken and waited while they were printed, watching as wedding photos were being retouched.  After seeing these carefully edited shots, my disheveled, crazy-eyed, non-smiling passport-style photographs looked especially harsh.  On the plus side, for under two dollars I found out what I look like without sleep slash what my mug shot would look like if I am arrested.  

The result of this outing: a phone, a SIM card, and my first photograph in Ethiopia (how else to document how tired I was than by glamour shot?).

We then relaxed in a luxe hotel lobby with wifi until it was an acceptable time to retire to our rooms.  When we got back, however, the power was out.  They gave us some candles, which I must say looked quite picturesque on my desk. It also gave me a glimpse into life without electricity (still with proper plumbing and a fully charged iPad, just no electricity).

The power eventually came back on sometime before 11pm.  The only reason I know this is because I woke up then and got freaked out that it was 11am.