Day 1 – Dust, Potholes, and Super Highways… (or in other words Addis…Nazret...Travel)

The first thing I noticed was the dust…

Even as we left the airport grounds my sinuses began to plug and I was thankful for the bottle of water we had picked up in the airport. Traveling through Addis dust covered everything.

The tangled web of construction scaffolding and brightly coloured tin roofing/fencing – in the colours of Ethiopia’s flag – greeted my eyes at every turn. The city was a buzz of activity – everywhere overloaded trucks belched out diesel fumes as they struggle to mount a hill or navigate a roundabout. Even as traffic jostled for position, or attempted to avoid the gapping potholes that seemed to appear at random, pedestrians wove their way between the cars, some with goods to sell, most engaged in a conversation on their cell phones, others tackling the congestion with the proud gait of intention.

And everywhere dust (and potholes)…

 

I didn’t have any real expectations of Ethiopia. I was curious about what I would find, but in the busyness of preparation, I hadn’t taken the time to wonder – to paint a mental picture of what expected Ethiopia to offer. What would I see? What would I notice first?

As we boarded our flight I was pleasantly surprised to see Richard & Jewel Showalter and during the long delay of boarding a Boeing 787 had a chance to reconnect with them. Richard is the retired President of Eastern Mennonite Missions and his wife Jewel grew up in Ethiopia as the daughter of missionary parents. The Showalter's are heading to Kenya for a 3 month assignment.

Our nearly 13 hour direct flight was uneventful apart from a couple of small children doing their best to make their presence known at key points as I drifted off to sleep. I had a chance to watch a couple of movies which I had wanted to watch a while before…I choose a movie that would make me laugh, but being a family movie the jokes tugged at my heart strings and I began to miss Rose and our boys.

We wove our through the streets of Addis searching for the home of Solomon – the translator who will assist me over these days of teaching. When we finally found the right neighbourhood, street and finally narrow alleyway, we were greeted by a warm and gracious family who seemed to instantly produce injera and cold drinks. Our conversation was topped off with a wonderfully strong cup of coffee which chased away the STRONG desire to sleep!

From Solomon’s home we began to make our way to Nazret. I marvelled at the driver’s ability to avoid potholes, but finally curiosity got the better of me and I had to ask how often he has to change his tires…

His answer…every 6 months!

The frost damage after a Canadian winter has got nothing on the potholes and gapping fissures in the roads of Ethiopia.

Of course that all changes once you get to the new super highway – 6 lanes wide – that connects Addis and Nazret. Apparently the result of Chinese investment, the smooth highway lulled me to sleep…I couldn’t resist it anymore and missed much of the ride to Nazret as I began to dream about the experiences these weeks would reveal…