Getting settled in Addis Ababa
Written by Lonny (October 23, 2009)
Our second trip is underway, but my body still thinks that day is night and night is day, so I had a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep until early in the morning. This morning we had a good breakfast at the Harmony Hotel. They had a buffet with fruit, fruit juices, pastries, meats, and breads. The fruits were wonderful and the rest was average compared to what I've been eating at home, but quite good for Ethiopia.
Lloyd & I walked around Addis for about an hour looking at the new construction and the different shops and stores. We had numerous street vendors trying to sell us everything from sunglasses to books to clothes. Remembering how full my suitcases were on the way out made it easier to not give in and purchase too much!
The internet here is very, very slow, and our connection in our hotel room isn’t working at all. I picked up a wireless USB plug at the office, so hopefully I'll be able to get on when I need to. My phone has 5 bars sometimes and no service other times. It's very strange, because it doesn’t correspond with Evan's phone service availability, when I have no service, he has 5 bars, and vice versa. I'm not sure what affects those things here.
We walked to the Morrell Agro International office this afternoon where we met with some of the staff. We found out that our secretary, Worknesh, and her fiance, Danny, are getting married on November 15th! I am excited for them, they are a good couple. Danny is also working for Paul now - as a repairman and driver.
I made some calls about our training appointment for tomorrow. They were not ready for us, so we had to delay our start until Monday. This is going to shift our schedule around quite a bit. Tomorrow will be a sightseeing day for us instead of the work that we had planned. Luckily, the second call was more successful, and I found out that the second group is all ready for us to get going. I was very glad to hear that. I sent emails to everyone that I could think of who should be involved. I am hoping and praying for a good turnout so we can get as much training and work done as possible.
Wally, Carol, Kate, Worknesh, Danny, Evan, Haven, Mark, Lloyd and I had a good buffet dinner at the hotel tonight. We had a great time telling stories and laughing. I am very tired now, and I will probably sleep very well tonight. It will be a very welcome change!
I'll post more tomorrow about our sightseeing around the area.
Until then...Dehna hunu! Ciao!