Intro to Africa
My first experience of Africa is through the window of a KLM airplane. We are flying into Khartoum, Sudan - honestly, one of the more scarier items on our agenda. Through the window I can see desert with settlements sporadically decorating the landscape. The settlements consist of a house and a surrounding wall - Maarten and I believe the wall is for their livestock although the distance between the aircraft and land were much to far to confirm our assessment.
Soon the Nile came into view. What I believed to be a naturally large part of the river or the separation of the Blue and White Niles was actually the site of a flooded Nile as grass soon began to appear in the middle of the river and water rose to within several yards of many settlements. As the city came within view it was a sight of small buildings no more than a few floors high, narrow highways, and desert roads.
We finally touched African soil on the landing strip in the center of the city. As we were bused to our destination on the platform we passed U.N. charter planes, stationary weapons with guards on alert, and safety. Honestly, I thought that I might be afraid entering Khartoum airport even though I knew I wouldn't experience life in the streets. I was nervous for the unknown as I had never been in a predominately Muslim country and certainly not one that was experiencing civil war and genocide. However, it was a quiet airport as only a few flights enter the airport every day due to security and the lack of insurance companies willing to provide for the airlines in such an area.
During our stop over we were required to wait in the plane as we were not allowed to leave its confines. Passengers boarded and again, as to Khartoum, the plane was filled only about a quarter of capacity with its new destination to Addis Ababa.
Arrival in Addis Ababa was pleasant. I enjoyed that directly off the plane there were people dressed in traditional Muslim attire and lines of people. I wanted to know where everyone was from; were they local people, expatriates, traveling on vacation or Ethiopians returning from the Diaspora? I wanted to know and although I want find out, it was fun to guess.
We first had to apply for a visa as is required for all Americans. It was a good lesson in Ethiopian business. First we had to hand our passport to a clerk then she would give us a receipt. Then we were sent to go to the clerk at the end of the line to pay and process our application. The clerk didn't have any change. After waiting for the computer system to acknowledge our request we were then required to return to the first clerk in order to receive the visa. Finally our passports were returned with my first visa for an African nation! Our next venture was customs, which was simple with minimal security, however the line was making me nervous as we hadn't received our luggage yet and I was afraid it wouldn't be there when we would be allowed to retrieve it. However, I was just being uptight-it was in perfect condition.
The personal driver from the African Child Policy Forum awaited us in the reception area and then drove us to its guesthouse. The drive to the guesthouse was safe and I never felt insecure, however it was obvious that poverty pervaded every faucet of life. Everything was locked-up with tin doors and bars. It was dirty, the sidewalks were home to many, and construction on many large building had been halted (I later learned that it was because cement prices soared).
Upon arrival I was surprised by the security as there were several guards at our entrance to the compound. Everything was walled with shards of glass gracefully decorating the tops of them for extra security. It was frightening, but quiet and I was soon calmed. The guesthouse is perfectly livable, however, the water cannot be regulated, there is no gas for the gas stove, there is no microwave, but there is a refrigerator. I immediately love the glass and rock mosaic on the wall. I'm doing alright :)
After a little unpacking we make our way outside. Honestly, I was surprised that Maarten allowed me outside at night as it is my first walk in the city. However, I soon realized that the streets are safe, at least with a man in company. We walk for a while looking for a restaurant and we finally decide on a Pizzeria. We walk in and of course people look at us a bit funny, but we sit down. The music was extremely loud, but I enjoyed it as it helped me relax a bit, but Maarten didn’t enjoy it much. We began to look at the menu and soon realized that there is no pizza at this pizzeria, which is no problem, but we had a good laugh. We both decide to skip the hamburger and pasta and order traditional Ethiopia fare. I enjoyed my plate and was happy that I had survived my new taste-testing adventure, though it was extremely spicy for this Midwestern-Minnesotan. No complaints.