Also second non Delhi post and first post from Africa, not that anyone cares as after the brief blip of popularity when Vishal posted a link to this blog on his facebook page (60 views!) it has managed to slide back to comfortable anonymity.
We arrived in Addis on Thursday at 7.30 a.m. local time. The airport is decent, maybe comparable to the Chennai one.
When you reach a new country,especially somewhere like Ethiopia which is far removed from our cultural conciousness, there are so many aspects to write about. I am only going to mention the overall impression of the city and the people now and save the specifics for later. I have been diligently trawling the internet for information about Addis for three months now like a lonely single haunting the dating sites and found precious little information. I came with low expectations and 106 kgs of baggage mostly consisting of rice,dals and masala. Well, I needn't have bothered. So far, Addis has far surpassed my expectations and I am sure things will only get better once we are actively at work.
The overall feeling is pretty much the same as if I had moved to a city in India which I know of but have never visited and has a language I don't speak, like Bhuvaneshwar. Like being in a Bizarro version of India, the same beggars and potholes but with subtle differences.
For example look at this mushroom and onion pizza we ordered at a Pizzeria close to home. Standard base,tomato topping, cheese and onions ? What distinguishes the Addis Ababa pizza from the Big Chill one is that bowl of green chilli paste served with it which the Ethiopians slather on generously before taking a bite. Also, how cute are those knives with 'pizza' cut out in them?
Same,same but different.
We arrived in Addis on Thursday at 7.30 a.m. local time. The airport is decent, maybe comparable to the Chennai one.
When you reach a new country,especially somewhere like Ethiopia which is far removed from our cultural conciousness, there are so many aspects to write about. I am only going to mention the overall impression of the city and the people now and save the specifics for later. I have been diligently trawling the internet for information about Addis for three months now like a lonely single haunting the dating sites and found precious little information. I came with low expectations and 106 kgs of baggage mostly consisting of rice,dals and masala. Well, I needn't have bothered. So far, Addis has far surpassed my expectations and I am sure things will only get better once we are actively at work.
Same,same but different.
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