Adulala Resort and Spa – Weekend break from Addis Ababa

My mother in law is here for a short three week visit, mainly to catch up with her grandson. Her last visit here was in May 2012 when she brought Vihaan over from India. Her previous visit was rather stressful as she was anxious about training the new nanny to take care of Vihaan and making sure that he settled in. The fact that we were also new in town, working full time and didn’t have a car meant that she practically spent  three weeks at home babysitting. Due to all the above, we were determined to make amends this time. Considering the paediatric and geriatric nature of our contingent, any expedition to the Danakil depression is out of question, so I played it safe and booked a weekend at the Haile resort at Awassa. For all my inherent disdain for soft holidays and overpriced star resorts, it is all I seem to do these days. God is cracking up somewhere up there.

Reunion with Dadi

Anyway, the best laid plans and all that..... About a week before Mummy was due to arrive, I started getting multiple notices of a Meningitis outbreak in southern Ethiopia with Awassa being in the affected region. So, I scrapped that plan ( “Indian toddler contracts meningitis on family holiday” -  medical education makes for very colourful parental nightmares  ) and induced Mummy to get along a vial of Meningitis vaccine in a ice box for her grandson. The meningitis vaccine is available in Addis Ababa at the Black Lion hospital (20 Birr) and at the Swedish Clinic ( 2800 Birr ). However, Vihaans paediatrician informed me that the vaccine being administered at Black Lion protected against only Meningococcal Groups A and C. The internationally available polysaccharide conjugate vaccine protects against Groups  A,C,Y and W-135. The latter is the one available at Swedish Clinic, however they have a long waiting list and were out of stock at the time. I have not been able to ascertain the exact  strain of the current outbreak but it seemed prudent to obtain the quadrivalent vaccine from Delhi. Mummy and the vaccine arrived, Vihaan promptly got the required jab and I was still left with a weekend to plan.

I’ve already been to Kuriftu Resort last year for a great day away from Addis, made even sweeter by the fact that they had a 50% discount on room rates at the time. I decided to take a chance on Adulala Resort and Spa because it had decent but limited reviews and cost the same as Kuriftu. For the record, the room rates are 159 USD per night for a double room and 299 USD per night for two interconnecting family rooms, on weekends. The room rates made my brain wobble for a moment but we decided to splurge considering the special occasion. However, I promptly pruned the weekend vacation to a single night stay. The booking office for Adulala Resort and Spa is at the ground floor of Robel Plaza, next to Cupcake factory. I whined about the cost and wheedled and coaxed for discounts and freebies at the booking office to no avail. Ultimately I played the toddler card and got them to agree to an early check in. They were pretty accommodating as we were checking in on a Friday and the room was free the previous night.   

It took us about an hour and a half to reach the resort, point to point, from Bole. We shamelessly reached at 10 a.m. but were immediately checked in. The resort is sprawling with huge cottages sprawling on the hillside by the Babogaya lake. All the cottages are overlooking the lake but are at varying distances from the lake. We stayed in a twin cottage with two interconnecting rooms.

 The rooms are huge and we could have easily managed with an extra bed placed in one double room instead of two rooms. The furnishings were pleasant and comfortable and the bathrooms were clean and luxurious ( bidet, bathtub, hair dryer and black head magnifying mirror et al ). Both rooms had mini refrigerators ( a major plus for us for storing midnight milk ) and the master bedroom had a flat screen tv with Arabsat channels which showed Hindi soaps and movies dubbed in Arabic.

But aside from all that, was the view. Oh, the view. Remember Iron Man and Tony Starks house on the cliff? Well, it felt a little bit like that. A huge peaceful lake surrounded by pristine woodland with hardly any sign of habitation. The rooms have huge glass windows facing the lake which makes you feel like you are outdoors at all times. There is also a large verandah with seating to further absorb the view. And no mosquitoes. Really. At least in March.

The much advertised pool was clean, though a little small. And the water was COLD. Even at midday after a really warm morning. There are nice lounge chairs scattered around the pool and the locker/shower rooms were rather fancy. My experience of the locker room was marred by a huge, completely nude lady who was too preoccupied by her animated phone conversation to wrap a towel around herself. Seriously. Hands waggling and breasts and butt cheeks jiggling in opposite directions in front of the mirror for twice the view. My scarred, modest Indian heart.

The spa and the poolside bar were practically deserted most of the time. The one time we ordered a drink and fries there, it took an hour to arrive. Which brings me to the food. The main restaurant is huge, with high ceilings and wooden furniture. Only two of about fifty tables were occupied at lunch time. We ordered a simple starter and pizza which did not arrive for an hour. We prompted the serving staff twice, at which point they yanked a half raw pizza out of the oven and plonked it in front of us. We left after requesting them to send the pizza to our room. This they did but no one ever came to collect the dishes. There was no housekeeping to speak off either. They had managed to make the beds in our absence but the bathrooms and full waste baskets were untouched. The complimentary breakfast, served on a patio with a view of the lake, was slightly better. There was a reasonable spread of continental and Ethiopian dishes with fresh juice and an omelette station. Good but definitely not the standard you would expect at the prices.

There was a bonfire in the central common area at night with swing seats around it and drinks and food being served there. Very romantic on a chilly night. The cottages at Adulala are scattered on a  hillside, so the lake shore is a steep but pretty 10 minute walk down. Although you can drive down directly to the lakeshore if you want. Boat rides are available for a small price although the boatman was not always around. They also have a lot of other activities like horse riding, tennis and roller skating which we didn’t use much.We actually had a lovely holiday because we went on a Friday and had the place mostly to ourselves and the early check in meant that it felt like a weekend break. It is probably less pleasant on weekends, a large wedding party was checking in on Saturday as we were leaving.  

Basically, Adulala is a lovely property with to die for views and great rooms, being ruined by poor management, non existent maintenance and bad food. Some of the lapses are shocking like the fact that there were no safety railings in the verandah outside the rooms. This meant that I had a nerve racking time, hanging on to Vihaan whenever he wandered out of the room. And the childrens playground is in such a sorry state of disrepair that I actually got a nasty cut on my arm from a rusty wire on the swing.

I would definitely visit again especially if they have a discount during the rains. But next time I would carry my own food and probably go for dinner to the Lakeview resort which is supposed to have great food. The final photo has nothing to do with the review but is definitely the best snap of the weekend.  

      

  

Addis Ababa for dummies – Part 6/ Playschools

When we moved to Addis, Vihaan was 18 months old and the baby of the whole extended family. The decision to start sending him to Playschool was definitely controversial but I definitely didn’t have too much choice.Reading,Riting and Rithmetic

It is probably easier for other expats to make a decision regarding the school to send their children to because they are either diplomats and have oodles of experience in country hopping or working for international aid agencies like the UN or USAID which have dozens of employees in the same position and official guidelines to help you settle down. When we arrived we were the only foreign employees of a small private Ethiopian health care concern and our only contact was our employer. In short, we were completely at sea. My intensive googling and obsessive blog reading threw up a few names and I decided that the best approach would be to visit each of the play schools and see which seemed a good fit with safety, distance and expense being our primary concerns. Since Vihaan was still a teeny-tiny baby boy with a proven track record for self injury, it was paramount that the baby:caregiver ratio be very low and there would be someone keeping a hawks eye on him all the time. And obviously the less time he spends commuting and the more time on the playground, the better. We don’t get an education allowance and would have to pay ourselves, so the expense was a definite consideration.

Vihaan joined his first play school in May 2012 and he changed to a new school in Jan 2013. So I have insider experience of two schools and have personally visited the others. However, all opinions expressed are personal and parents with more experience with other schools may disagree completely. I am just offering a primer to playschools in Addis with basic contact and fee information and you can take it and run from there. There are a number of non-English playschools as well, chiefly French,German and Italian, but I was obviously not interested in those. Note that the fee structure given is accurate at the time of posting but may change frequently. The fees are stated in Dollars but are payable in Birr at the current exchange rate. And of course, feel free to contact me for further information or to rant.

Head to Toe  

I heard about Head to Toe from a few expat discussion sites and it was personally recommended by a parent who was absolutely thrilled with it. Most importantly they take children from 6 months onward. Most playschools in Addis are located on leased residential premises which have been re-modelled to function as a playschool. Head to Toe is also hidden away in a residential neighbourhood and the high gates give no clue to what lies beyond. When I crossed those gates for the first time, I fell in love at first sight.

Open air class!

The huge lawn with the swing, slide, climbing apparatus and numerous bikes, trikes and what-have-you were enough to convince me that I needn’t bother looking any further for Vihaans first school ( Even though the fees were definitely cause for a pause ). In addition to the playground, however, they have well equipped play rooms crammed with enough innovative activities to send any self respecting toddler into a hyperactive frenzy.

The small window before chivalry is needed.

Head to Toe is owned and run by Jane Pyecha and her husband Teddy. Jane is an American with years of experience in early childhood education who set up Head to Toe as her dream school after working at ICS for a time. When you meet Jane and Teddy, you realize they are following their passion and not running a business. The teachers and teaching assistants at Head to Toe are well qualified, but more importantly genuinely love being around children.

Vihaan joined Head to Toe for mornings, three days a week, last May. His nanny went along with him for the first couple of months, after which he started going alone. He took to playschool like a duck to water. He couldn’t tell me exactly what he got up to but his general state of happiness was evidence enough that he adored the school. Some morning he would actually jump out of bed saying “ Skool”. He spent many happy hours messing around with paint, clay, water games, costumes to name a few and invariably returned home exhausted but happy. I will be always grateful to Jane and her staff ( Salem, Hannah and Babush in particular ) for giving Vihaan such an excellent introduction to the education system. The weekly e-mails, term end reports and photos were also much appreciated both by us and his grandparents.

It took him time to get over his "dirty" phobia.

So, WHY IS VIHAAN NO LONGER AT HEAD TO TOE ? There are two reasons for that. The first is that most of the arterial roads in Addis are currently under construction, with four lane highways and flyovers in the mix. In this process, however, the Wolo Sefer road which we took to reach the school has been cut-off from Bole. We were forced to take a circuitous route via the Ring Road which extended our 15 minute commute to 45 minutes. As the deadline for the road opening is May 2013 before the 50^th mega AU meeting, this means six months of being stuck in uncertain traffic, twice a day. The other reason is that I now wanted to shift Vihaan to a five day a week schedule and the hike in fees this meant made me green in the gills. After much soul searching and trans – continental debates, I decided to shift him to a new school. But first, the relevant information on Head to Toe.

Session structure – Two terms a year. Children can attend 2/3/5 days a week.

They take children from 6 months to 5 years. Head to Toe is one of the few places where they take children younger than 2 years. They have a special Infant and nanny program ( 6-24 months) where the nanny is also taught techniques to interact and play with the child.

Duration – Mornings 8.30 am to 12.30 pm. Afternoon sessions available on request.

Vacation School – Summer school is in June-July and Christmas session is for two weeks in Dec-Jan

Fees – 5500 USD / year for five days a week.

Location – Kera ( near the International Clinical Laboratories )

Contact – Jane Pyecha ( 0930012351 )

E-mail headtotoe.addis@gmail.com

Flipper Playschool

In December 2012, when I started looking around for an alternate playschool, I revisited Flipper on the recommendation of a friend of a friend. Flipper is a very popular school with two branches in Beklobet and Casanchis both of which always seem full to overflowing. Flipper was on high on my list the first time around because they take children from 18 months onward and it is much more economical. I visited the Casanchis branch in May 2012. The school is not very impressive and appears a trifle shabby. Though they have all the required trappings, slides, swings and toddler sized toilets, everything looks a little old. The grounds are also small and rocky with no grass or artificial turf to cushion the falls. The classrooms seemed warm with a low toddler: caregiver ratio. I reached there at lunchtime after battling a traffic jam and most of the children seemed in the 3-5 year age group, much older than Vihaan who had just finished 18 months. The office informed me that they could take Vihaan only in the next semester, starting September , so that took the decision out of my hands.

I visited the Beklobet branch in December 2012 because I had heard it was larger and better equipped than the Casanchis branch. The school is located in a residential area behind the Global Hotel. The grounds are much larger than the Casanchis branch with a well equipped play area. I cannot really fault the place in any way except to say that it felt like a school and not a play-school. The classrooms appeared to be traditional with a teacher standing and talking to a bunch of orderly toddlers on the floor. Also, this sounds petty but a lot of the class room conversation seemed to be in Amharic and I was afraid Vihaan would feel left out. At 18 months, he had started to understand Hindi and even speak a few words before we Ieft Delhi. After reaching Addis, his verbal skills had definitely declined and I was afraid that putting Amharic into the mix along with Hindi and English would just confuse him further. I realize that this is purely a first child-neurotic mother syndrome but it is a thought I had at the time. I  put Vihaan on the waiting list for the January session although my heart wasn’t in it.

The details :

Session structure : Three terms per year. Age group 18 months- 5 years.

Contact : Beklobet branch – 0114167895

                 Casanchis branch – 0115548095

Fees : For the Nursery class (2-3 years )

900 USD / year for 5 days a week

 650 USD /year for 3 days a week

Paintbox Playschool

Paintbox is probably the oldest and most reputed of the English language playschools in Addis. It is run by Jane Malone and is located close to The Sanford International School. In fact, most of the students have older siblings studying at Sanford. It was earlier located within the British Embassy premises but has now shifted to the current location. It can be frustrating to get any information on Paintbox unless you know a parent whose child is a student. It has practically no internet presence which is surprising considering its years of existence and sterling reputation. I got the contact info from a parent whose daughter is my patient and currently attends Paintbox.

I visited Paintbox during my first cycle of pre-school visits. It is located in another residence converted to a playschool. The yard area is not much but has a couple of slides and swings. The interior is divided into the usual playrooms, snack area etc. It was nice but not outstanding. I don’t remember exactly how much it costs but the fee structure is very reasonable. I had heard that Paintbox is notoriously hard to get into and has a long waiting list, so I paid the registration fee and registered Vihaan for the Jan 2013 session in May 2012. He had already started going to Head to Toe and I figured I could take a call 6 months down the line if I wanted to shift him to Paintbox. The pros for Paintbox was its reputation and the reasonable fees. The cons for me was that it is located rather far away and the fact that I wasn’t very impressed after seeing it.  

As my knowledge is limited, I am giving only the contact details below:

Contact-

Jane Malone 0911233083

janeaddis2003@yahoo.co.uk   

Jacadi

Jacadi is a new after school activity centre as well as day care which is located on Churchill Road near Lycee Gebre Mariam school. I have heard good things about Jacadi on the expat network but haven’t gone to see it because it is across the town for me and not practical with the current state of road construction. Here is an article giving more details-

http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=478:jacadis-open-space-provides-education-outside-the-classroom-&catid=44:arts-and-culture&Itemid=50

Contact-

Ruphael (0911214705 )

Fee structure – Approximately 2000 Birr/ 108 USD/per month for daycare for 5 days a week

Brana International Playschool

We had pretty much decided to let Vihaan continue at Head to Toe and to suffer the commute, when I saw an ad for Brana and decided to check it out. Also, this blog post was brewing in my head and I wanted the information to be as complete as possible. Brana is located in a dusty by-lane behind the Gothera condominiums with only its orange gate a clue to its being munchkin central. What can I say, for me it was love at first sight, again.

Note the giraffe-friend.

Brana has a wonderfully equipped, shady playground which Vihaan refused to leave on our first visit. And they have a mini merry-go-around with horches ! And Vihaan has a humoungous horch fetish. We have to go to Africa Park every Sunday just so that he can moon over the horch there for an hour. 

Africa Park Horch

Brana Horch(es)

Plastic horses aside, Brana has bright, well equipped playrooms and a number of innovative activity areas including art, computers and gardening. Great attention has been paid to tiny details when renovating to make the school child safe. I especially appreciate the padded driveway considering my son trips and stumbles every two steps. And they have tiny toddler sized toilets everywhere which Vihaan has not yet graduated to using but I live in hope. While we are on the cuteness meter, their classes are called Teddy bears (2-3 yrs), Brown bears (3-4yrs) and Polar Bears (4-5 yrs). Awwww!

I am done gushing now. Vihaan has joined Brana from the January semester and couldn’t be happier. I was mildly worried about the transition to a new school but it has been completely smooth. I am sure the horches helped. He takes one or more of his stuffed toys to school each day which he used to do at Head to Toe as well initially. This may be a sign of insecurity or maybe, he just wants to share the school experience with his friends. Either way I am thrilled to see how joyful the school experience continues to be for him and for that alone I am glad to have shifted to Addis.

Brana also encourages the inclusion of differently abled children. This is not only on paper as one of the Teddy Bears is a toddler with mild Downs Syndrome. Kudos for that. The school is run by Jeanette Reyes de Throp and Etsegenet Asamere, both of whom are very hands on. Brana has an informative website for further details.

http://www.branaplayschool.com/

Technical details:

Session structure – Three terms a year. Children can attend 2/3/5 days a week.

They take children from 2 to 5 years. Sometimes they take children from 18 months onward.

Duration – Mornings 8.30 am to 12.30 pm. Afternoon session is till 3.30 pm, most of the older children attend full day sessions.

Vacation School – Summer school is in July and Christmas session is for one week in Dec. They also offer a variety of after-school activities for older children including art, gymnastics and martial arts.

Fees – Very variable depending on number of days and number of afternoon sessions. We are paying approximately 4000 USD / year for five mornings a week excluding the holidays.

Location – Gothera ( near NIB Bank )

Contact – Jeanette ( 0930033536, jeannettethrop@gmail.com )

                 Etsegenet ( 0911726276, etsegenetbranaplayschool@gmail.com )

This is my longest and most technical post as yet and represents a lot of research on my part. So, now I can rest for about a month.Hope this is helpful, I know I would have been delighted with this info when I was blindly net surfing in Delhi last year. Cheers.

An Addis Ababa New Year

May the new year bring health, wealth, good cheer and less depressing news feed. And more regular blog posts even if my only audience is the middle of the night net trawler from Ukraine. Hi! Happy New Year and thanks for reading !

I am not alone in starting the year with aspirin and coffee

The featured macchiato

Mixed juice - Guava, Avocado and Mango

I am starting my Addis New Year very appropriately in a coffee shop, fighting and rehydrating an incipient  hangover with macchiato and juice. We had a wonderful end of the year celebration last night at the Indian Embassy which is the mother ship, shielding us from home sickness on the occasions which count. After much debate we decided a toddler free new year celebration would be in the best interest of both parents and aforementioned toddler, considering that his bedtime is at 9.30 pm and that the party would continue till, well, the new year. We executed the toddler bed time routine with military precision, stuff him with food till he is green- trick him into drinking milk twice-hurried bed time book-diaper change-double socks and lights out. Of course the toddler sixth sense alerted him to his impending abandonment and he tossed and turned and fought sleep with his last awake breath until finally succumbing by 10.30 pm, after which we did the change clothes-token make up-wake up nanny and careful right side of the road drive, finally arriving by 11.00 pm. It was all worth it. Drunk dancing under the stars on a perfect chilly night is the best way to bring  in the new year. And we were still back in time for the 2.00 am milk and cuddle.

So why am I rehydrating in a coffee shop instead of having a lazy morning in bed ? Because I work for an Ethiopian company and Ethiopia follows a unique Ge’ez calendar which means it is 2005 now, New Year was in September and Christmas is next week. The Ethiopian Christmas falls on a Monday – two day weekend! We are taking a short weekend break at Wolliso and will be back to start Vihaan off at his new play school after the Christmas break. My new year resolution is to post both a review of the trip and of Play Schools in Addis within this month, we should all keep our ambitions grounded and realistic.   

  

Note:

 I wrote this post on 1^st Jan but did not post because the photos were stuck in my phone because Google including Gmail is suddenly not working on Android devices in Addis and it took me four days to transfer photos by cable. Me and Ethiotelecom are a lethal combo, as of this date the glitch has still not been fixed.

Itchy and Scratchy - in Addis Ababa

It has now been more than six months since we moved to Addis and I am utterly confounded by a peculiar medical issue. I have crops of allergic papules erupting on my extremities every evening. Let me describe the symptoms in detail first and then we can examine the clues and literature to pin point the source. I notice a ferocious itching in my lower legs usually about half an hour after returning home in the evenings and changing into pajamas. Once I start scratching, of course the itching increases and then what started as one localized red spot has soon mushroomed into a whole crop of papules, scratches, erythema and edema and more itching. Of course I know the whole mast cell degranulation-histamine release-vasodilatation cascade but when it itches, you scratch and mast cells be damned.

Tasteful photograph taken with a view to minimize  the gore and skin show  

Thinking logically and being my fathers daughter and having inherited a fervent hatred of all indoor insects, I first blamed the ubiquitous mosquito. The problem is that mosquitoes are few and far between in Addis and of course, when the mosquito is the culprit you can hear it, see it and DESTROY it. I even contemplated a silent, invisible,ninja-Addis mosquito species for a while but as the problem persisted even with multiple mosquito repellents, I need an alternate suspect. As an aside, liquid mosquito repellents are not available in Ethiopia and you are well advised to carry it with you. I ran out and made my sister bring it in from Egypt when she visited.
Next I contemplated if an army of bed bugs was lurking in my mattress which silently emerged under cover of darkness to suck my sweet blood. So, I had the mattresses and sheets baked in the sun and sprayed the beds with whatever pesticide I could lay my hands on, to no avail. The itching and scratching continued unabated.Also, bed bugs are not microscopic so I should have caught sight of them at some point especially when I started switching on the light in the middle of the night and obsessively picking through the bed linen. My husband was not amused. Oh, and what of my husband amidst all the itching and scratching you ask. Well, he is as affected as I am but as he considers all non - Delhi places infested with phantom itch causing vermin, he is content scratching and grumbling and thinking no further about it.
 At the end of my wits, I called my neighbor, an eight year old Addis veteran, to pick her brains. I had an illuminating conversation from which I gleaned the following - the phantom itch affects most Indians who move here, some more than others.There is a cream called Mos-bit on the market which is of questionable use. No one knows exactly the source of the allergy. It can be reduced by rinsing your clothes in dettol, ironing your clothes on the inside before wearing them ( heat sterilization ) and putting naphthalene balls in the cupboards.
I have instituted all the above measures and shall return from Delhi armed with naphthalene balls ready to renew the battle with the phantom menace. Return from Delhi? Well, yes. We are off to Delhi for a two week break which includes a week in the Andamans where the azure water will cure me of all dermatological defects for a while.You can do the slow burn now.     

Please leave a comment!

I am really surprised that my stats show that with over a thousand page views from Lithuania to Zimbabwe, this blog has merited only one comment till date! One! So this is an open invitation to all you voyeuristic nocturnal blog trawlers from around the world - leave a comment. And of course, if you actually want to know anything about any of the topics I write about - Addis,Delhi, Ophthalmology,Diapers- don't hesitate to ask. 

Addis Ababa for dummies – Part 4/ Crime- II ( or how I got mugged and lost my phone )

Read the last line of my entry on prevalent crime on the streets of Addis here. Am I a regular Melisandre gazing into the flames or what? (Full disclosure – the reason I am writing after a month despite several blog-worthy incidents is because I was too busy working my way through five parts of Game of Thrones. I’ve never been into Fantasy fiction but this....I could wax lyrical for a couple of pages on the sheer imaginative genius and body and soul addictive power of the series but I have just one thing to say – Write like the wind - GRRM !)

But I digress. So, its been almost four months since I started wandering the streets of Addis and predictably my level of comfort was increasing and caution was plunging by the day. We have access to a car with a driver which I usually use for running errands but he has a weekly off day on Saturday. On this fateful Saturday, we were caught without any yoghurt on the fridge and no car. Now the seriousness of the situation can be grasped only by a fellow Tam-Bram. A day without curd rice! Gasp! Shudder!

At around six p.m. my mom and I set off by foot to obtain the weekend groceries, leaving Vihaan and Vishal at home. As if that wasn’t ill advised enough, we proceeded to load ourselves  with  more groceries than we could carry. Seven p.m. found us staggering home with a heavy bag in each hand in the gathering darkness. Suddenly, I was accosted by a street urchin peddling the ubiquitous chewing gum and telephone card. I politely brushed past him only to realize that now there were three of them and before I knew it a crowd of ten urchins of various sizes had surrounded me and cut me off from my mother. Some started yanking at my hand and some at my clothes while all of them were yelling at the top of their voices- Indian! Hindu! Telephone card! I was terrified and trying not to show it and trying to politely get out of their clutches all at the same time, I mean I couldn’t hit a child could I? Then as suddenly as they converged,the crowd melted away. I gathered my wits and looked around to see my mother watching the spectacle,stunned and then it struck me. I opened my purse and my beloved iPhone was nowhere to be seen.

 And that is how I got mugged for the first time in my life. Note recipe for disaster – Two inattentive ladies + heavy shopping bags +  darkness = Irresistible target. To our credit, this incident didn’t happen on a dark side lane but on main Bole road, a few yards away from Day to Day and Fantu supermarkets. I didn’t write about the incident immediately because that would have been an angry, bitter entry damning every thieving street urchin to the hottest corner of hell. I fully understand the economic disparity and the lure of easy pickings driving the pick-pocket industry but dammit, I loved my phone! Anyway, after resolving to live with a Nokia 1100 which lasted for about 5 days, I got my Dad to send me a Samsung Galaxy S II because I really can’t afford an iPhone 4 S. ( Bite sized review – Beautiful screen, crappy camera with a long lag time and some of my medical apps don’t function as well on an Android system )

I carry the Samsung only to the hospital and use a cheap phone when I go walking or shopping. But there is no denying the fact that I feel like a walking bulls-eye now and I clutch my bag for dear life and scuttle around on the streets darting suspicious looks at all and sundry.And  I know every street vendor on Bole has a hearty laugh when he views my pitiful-avoid-a-repeat-mugging-maneuvers.      

Ethiopia for dummies – Part 3/ Internet ( And how the Skype ban affects me)

I know I haven’t updated in weeks. This post was written a while back but not completed and with the recent uproar over the ban on Skype and its bretheren in Ethiopia, it seems an appropriate topic to pontificate on.

 When I was web surfing in Delhi for details on internet quality in Ethiopia ( I fully appreciate the irony ) I came across a lot of scary blog entries with facts like Ethiopia has the third worst internet in the world and a number of common social networking sites are banned etc. In fact since this blog is hosted by Blogspot, I actually wrote to their customer support to check whether I would still have access from Addis. They never replied but I have my answer now. I am unsure of the legal issues or the level of government sanctions still prevailing, so I can only write on the current internet situation as perceived by a non-tech savvy foreigner. The first thing to be noted is that there are no private players in the telecom or internet sectors and all services are provided by the government agency, Ethio-telecom or etc.

First – Internet access.

There are two ways to activate personal internet service. The first is by purchasing a plug in modem. EDVO wireless internet was introduced end of 2009 and offers a speed up to 3.1 MBs and you pay per bite. It requires a modem from a computer/phone store or the Ethio-Telecom office and costs around 2000 Birr(112 $ or 6500 Rs). The ‘limited data plan’ EVDO service (400-700Kb/s) provides three options: a 1 GB internet access for Birr 300 monthly payment, a 2 GB internet access for Birr 500 monthly payment, and a 4 GB internet access for Birr 700 monthly payment. In the recent past, Ethio Telecom provided unlimited EVDO that apparently was often used in Internet cafés but this is no longer available.

The EVDO modem

We use the EVDO modem with a 2 GB limit. Practically we need to recharge with 500 Birr at the beginning of the month which suffices for all normal internet surfing. We obviously keep downloads to the minimum but usually set a download on the last day of the month to use up all the credit. Needless to say, any money left at the end of the month does not carry over to the next and a fresh recharge of 300/500/700 Birr is necessary.

The Ethio-Telecom website is advertising that ADSL connections are now available with a 6 GB limit and up to 2 Mbps speeds. The pre-requisite is an available landline. I think they have just started offering this service and I don’t know of anyone availing this service at the moment.   

The second way to access the net is on your smartphone or notepad with a 3G Sim card. Though normal mobile Sim cards are dime a dozen  and regularly thrust in your face by hawkers on the street, 3G Sim cards are difficult to obtain. I first tried one out loaned by a friend, realized it worked well and then bugged my office until they obtained one for me. To the best of my knowledge,3G Sim cards are available only from the Ethio-telecom office at the Piassa. Normal Sim cards cost around 25 Birr (80 Rs/1.5$) while the 3G Sim cards cost around 200 Birr (650 Rs/ 11$)

The internet connectivity is good on most smartphones, I am using an iPhone while my husband has a Samsung Ace. I also have various news and entertainment apps ( Fashion Police, anyone?) to surf the web other than Google, all of which are fast enough to be functional. I think it goes without saying that we don’t have too many patients and I have far too much time on my hands.   

I have a prepaid connection so I have to recharge by buying a 20/50/100 Birr card and entering the relevant code. I don’t think the 3G Sims are used very commonly because it is working out to be really cheap.      

Update – In case you have no interest in things Ethiopia, you may have not heard this piece of stunning news. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18461292. I had downloaded some now unmentionable apps which let me call any phone number in India for a small fee. A payment of 13€ (20$/1000Rs) enabled unlimited calls to any mobile or landline in India. I was able to send a continuous stream of photos and videos of Vihaan to appease the grandparents. I could even send clinical photos to colleagues for a quick consultation. 

Hourly updates on the Vihaan channel

Now that these easy breezy means of communication are a thing of the past, a feeling of glum depression is settling in. Freedom is a right appreciated only when denied. Homesickness may be a palpable reality now that I can no longer call my mother at the drop of a hat to confirm a Sambhar recipe or a senior to ask the best way to sterilize iris hooks. Suddenly the scorching heat of Delhi doesn’t seem so bad and Ethiopia seems much more remote from home than a six hour flight.  

Reading,Riting and Rithmetic

I can’t believe this day is here already but my baby starts school tomorrow. Admittedly the day of leaving the nest, even if only for a couple of hours, has been preponed by our Addis Ababa move. Back in Delhi, I might have waited till he turned two before unleashing Vihaan on the world. Although I used to feel rather guilty about not providing him more company his age there as well. One of the advantages of living in huge housing boards is that your kid can create his own band of brothers just by stepping into the common playground, an advantage denied to me both in Delhi and in Addis. So basically I am going to pay a huge amount of money to get my son the companionship which I could get 30 years ago by venturing into the colony and my mom could get 60 years ago by venturing out of bed. Just to give you an idea of scale, my medical education was cheaper than Vihaans playschool.

Time to braid his hair

A few sentences of defence. Yes, Vihaan is too terribly young to actually start school but he really enjoys the company of other children or “Beby” as he puts it and I hope he will miss the 1001 people pampering him at Delhi a little less if he is busy. Also his social skills are a trifle cave man like at the moment consisting of random poking and shoving and hoarding of precious “taupies”. I am perfectly willing to send him to a clean ( and cheaper ) neighbourhood crèche but unfortunately, the number of establishments willing to take a child this young are few. Also, we really, really, really  liked this place. Also my school fees was Rs.5 a month so I have to compensate to the universe in general.We’ve decided to let him attend this playschool for a few months and to take a call on shifting him to a less premier institution once he turns two and more socially acceptable. 

I will detail more on the playschools I have explored in Addis Ababa once the experiment is underway. To the next eighteen years of education !

Too early for the arclights

Footnote : The first day was a huge success. Vihaan immediately waded into the toddler melee clutching his tiger soft toy and did not look back till it was time to leave three hours later. I realized that it was the first time he has ever been out of sight of a family member for any length of time and the first time I couldn’t get a detailed account of his activities. My nanny is lovely but has limited English skills. I could elicit that both of them had fun, that there were children younger than Vihaan as well in his group and that he pulled a child’s hair during the course of the morning. So, we will be back in school on Friday if they are willing to have him. Maybe the fee isn’t too steep after all.  

Last minute chaos

Vihaan and Vishals mom are due to arrive tomorrow by Ethiopian airlines. The trip has been planned for weeks, the tickets bought, a three month visa obtained and endless packing and re-packing done. And now we are keeping a midnight vigil and biting our fingers to the bone because Vishals mom packed the authorization letter for travelling with Vihaan in her suitcase which has been checked in.She can't clear immigration without the letter so we have mailed her another copy which Rahul is taking franctic copies of, as I type. The best laid plans of mice and men...... 

Addis Ababa for dummies – Part 2 / Crime

It is probably not fair for me to comment on the crime levels in Addis after being here for less than a month. What I write is mostly based on anecdotes of long time residents and how safe I feel walking on the streets. I lead an extremely sheltered life here, we live just off Bole Road which is Expat Central and the hospital we work in is one minutes walk away.

I feel reasonably safe walking around the main streets during the daytime. I don’t get harassed too much by the begging kids either because I am not obviously faranji. The constant advice we have received is to be wary of pickpockets and mobile-jackers. And to never talk on the phone on the street. The common technique is for a man pillion riding on a bike to shove you hard from behind and then to grab the mobile which falls down from your hand. Unfortunately, this has meant that I have been able to take very few candid street photos till now. Maybe we are being too cautious but obviously don’t want to take a chance. Recently I heard of another mishap – two Indian guys were returning home from a party around midnight. They parked their car outside their house and one of them got out to unlock the gate. A man hiding in the shadows jumped out and assaulted him, grabbed his laptop and phone and fled. The victim had to be rushed to a hospital in the middle of the night for stitches on his scalp. This was probably a one off incident but still scary.

The Indian community in Addis seems to be well settled and set on rapidly augmenting their numbers both by breeding and importing family members from India. The ladies also have tales of visiting the dreaded Merkato market to hunt down elusive Indian ingredients.Though Ethiopia is a virgin market and business oppurtunities are numerous, I am sure this would not supercede their concern for personal safety, so overall,that is a good indicator of the safety profile.

My sorry-ass photo of Merkato taken from INSIDE  the car

I went to the Merkato as well. Unfortunately my escorts were as lily-livered as me and we all pussy footed around the periphery, ran our errand and were back before you could count to ten.

Ethiopian women also seem to have a great deal of freedom, they travel by public transport and are walking and driving on the streets even late at night. Public transport, especially the ubiquitous minibus seems really safe, if cramped and are extremely cheap. I haven’t experimented with late night taxis till now but they are supposed to be a good option. 

  

I have heard it repeated again and again that serious crime is rare in Addis and only petty thefts are common. However, all the houses have a high stone compound wall topped with barbed wire or glass shards. I assume they are there for a reason. Also I am not terribly comfortable with the ubiquitous chat shops in every neighbourhood. I am of course, more used to the Indian attitude towards intoxicants of all types – it is indoctrinated in our systems that alcohol is an evil consumed by bad people which makes them do bad things – like wife beating ! Horror! Shudder! And the liquor shops comply by having forbidding  barred windows whence they stealthily dispense unidentifiable bottles securely wrapped in brown paper. {( Whence? Really?) and who passed the colour coding laws – Alcohol in brown paper and feminine personal hygiene products in black plastic packets} And the customers comply by approaching the shops in an appropriately furtive manner, obtaining the aforementioned wrapped bottles and slinking into a dark basement “ Government licensed Permit Room with A/C” – And the villagers throw stones at them! 

Compare this to the Addis Ababa way where come sundown you gather at the neighbouring watering hole for a few hours of meditative chewing and gentle hallucinating while watching the world go by. No wonder my gentle Hindu soul shudders. Kidding, love the 8 Birr beers which are EVERYWHERE.   

For now I am going to continue with the routine precautions, give a wide berth to the chat chewers and I bet I’ll still lose my phone six months down the line once I let my guard down.  

Easter Lunch

Lambs to the slaughter - literally!

Easter was last Sunday and I still haven’t posted about it which means my laziness is now pathological. I have only one thing to say about Easter in Addis Ababa – The Goats Die! From Good Friday onwards there was a goat invasion of Addis with herds of them in every market, even grazing on the grass growing on the road divider on Bole Road. Apparently they cost around 2000 Birr per goat. The chicken cost between 50-200 Birr with the prices being hiked up for Easter. One of the English newspapers had an amusing headline on Monday protesting the steep prices ‘Doro-What??’- a pun on Doro-Wot  which is an Ethiopian chicken dish. I understand Amharic puns now. Clap, clap. Although if you consider that the majority of the readers are probably expats whose Amharic is as sketchy as mine, then  reporter was probably just playing to our limited intellect. 

Grab a plate

When we arrived at our hosts house, the goat had already been butchered and the meat was marinating for the barbeque.The raw meat did make me squeamish as expected and I did not try it, but  even hardened non vegetarians steer clear of it so thats ok. The Ethiopian chilli pastes taste really good and are definitely not too spicy for the Indian palate.  I am developing a taste for Injera but not the wots.I think it will taste rather good with a curry instead. Will report on the experiment.

The more conventional way to eat the meat

Residence Permit

My Green Card!

Both my residence and work permit are here and not a day too soon as my one month Business visa expires today. Strangely enough the Ethiopian embassy in Delhi issues visas starting from the date of application for the visa and not the date of arrival in Ethiopia,so you have to time your departure well. For example, my mother in law and Vihaan arrive in Addis on the 3^rd of May ( Yay!) and she returns on the 26^th of May. Therefore, I’ve asked them to apply for a visa after the 26^th of April so she will be well within the specified period. The other option is to of course, get a visa on arrival which is possible for Indian citizens. But I don’t want her to stand in an additional line with Vihaan who will definitely be uppity and jumpity and probably poopity pants by then. The visa on arrival is definitely an option I’ll explore when my mother arrives as she will be travelling alone.

In other news, tomorrow is the Ethiopian Good Friday and the following Sunday is Easter. This would also mark the end of the fasting season. Selfishly, we were rather grateful that we arrived when the general populace was fasting because getting vegetarian food was easier. And we never had to explain what vegetarian food was, we just asked for fasting food. This actually consists of vegan fare as it is dairy free as well but works well enough for us. Come Sunday it is going to be every man for himself. Our social calendar is surprisingly full as we are invited both to an Easter lunch and a Tamil Sangamam event to celebrate the Tamil New Year.

I still haven’t figured out why there are so many Tamilians in Addis Ababa. Geographically, it is more distant without even a direct flight and yet..I did read that the erstwhile Emperor Haile Saillasie recruited teachers from Kerala to work in the state government run schools and Universities, so are the Tamilians part of that connection? Currently, I have to admit they are utilizing the business oppurtunities well and are rushing to meet the demands of a developing economy. Most people have established business interests other than the salaried job for which they originally came here.  And although they complain about the living conditions and food, they have also relocated entire extended families here.  It will be interesting to find out the rest of the story. As for the Easter lunch, I am steering clear of the kitfo.

Addis Ababa for dummies – Part 1 / Drinking water

As I’ve mentioned multiple times previously, there is very less information about moving to Addis Ababa on the net. There were a couple of decent blogs which gave a realistic picture of life here but I still had a lot of stuff I knew nothing about. This basically means I carted along a whole load of woollen warmers and cooking utensils when I would have been better off getting more formal wear for the hospital and electronic devices.

In India, it would be an understatement to say that the standard of hygiene where street food and drink are concerned is extremely poor. You know that scene in Slumdog Millionaire where the kids fill tap water in empty mineral water bottles, re-seal and sell them, that may not be too far from the truth. I know of Caucasians who have developed unrelenting gastroenteritis after eating a plate of Gol-Gappa ( Delhi Belly anyone? ) However, as a true child of the land I pride myself on my cast iron stomach and can easily enjoy the many culinary delights of Chandni Chowk without so much as an extra gurgle in my GI passage. In all fairness, I also need to disclose that we have no running water in my locality and a tanker delivers  water of undetermined origin as frequently as we need it. We run this tanker water through a Reverse-Osmosis water purifying system and drink that. Pretty horrifying when you actually think about it.

Despite this background, imagine the extent of cultural snobbery when I decided that perhaps the water in Addis may not be safe enough for me and actually spent some considerable effort in trying to obtain a water purifier which can be fitted on to the tap. Thus even the water I used for brushing and washing would be safe to an extent. I would of course use mineral water for drinking and cooking. In my defense, I have an eighteen month old son to worry about and I’d read lots of blogs where people were peeling and washing all vegetables in bleach before consuming them. Also, I had a lot of time on my hands.

In reality,my house in Addis has 24 hour running hot and cold water. The water looks really clean and tastes good and lathers well. Locally manufactured mineral water is freely available in the usual 1 Litre, 2 Litre as well as 20 Litre containers for household consumption. There are multiple brands of water available,of which I randomly selected the Aqua Addis at the supermarket. You have to pay an initial deposit of about 230 Birr ( 700 Rs ) for the 20 L container but the empty one can be exchanged for a new one for 25 Birr ( 75 Rs ).  I am currently drinking the mineral water but use the normal corporation supplied water for all other purposes including cooking with no ill effects. I guess the Indian and Ethiopian immune systems share a common pool of antibodies for water borne pathogens or maybe they are generic third world antibodies. Full disclosure – my son has been vaccinated against Hepatitis A, the pathogen which commonly causes jaundice, before coming here.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I write this blog in fragments as and when I have time. And a day after I finished writing the above section the water supply suddenly stopped and we had no water for two days. Franctic enquiry revealed that a water supply pipe had been broken during road construction and no one had any information to how long it would take to repair it. The less said about those two days, the better except we discovered a new restaurant in the vicinity with great cheese pizzas.In Delhi, we have huge plastic water storage containers for just such eventualities but we were caught completely unawares here. We remedied that soon after and bought this plastic water can which should be able to store enough water for a day.

These water storage cans are available in Addis in all hues and sizes and their very presence indicates that water cuts are not an unusual occurrence.Our house also has a overhead water storage tanker which buffers us for a day, so actually there was no water for three days. I saw the familiar sight of water tankers parked on the road for replenishing the tanks, at an exorbitant rate of course. That is one aspect of Delhi which I am glad to forget and am fervently praying this was an isolated event.     

First movie in Addis

The first thing you need to know is that shifting to Addis is entirely my idea, so of course if anything goes wrong,then the responsibility is completely mine,at least in my head. As Vishal has very few requirements to keep him happy, I was hoping at least part of his list would be available.Before leaving Delhi, I went almost crazy trying to dredge the internet for details on internet speed ( I get the irony) and which, if any theatres would be playing Hollywood movies.So, weeks before arriving in Addis I knew about the Matti Multiplex which had opened a few months back and screened three different English movies at any given time! They even had a website where I checked out what shows were playing while I was in Delhi. Vishal was mightily relieved to realise that John Carter was on and which meant that every cheesy, special effect crammed, nonsensical, big budget extravaganza would be seen in Addis pretty much as soon as it was released.

Yesterday, we went to check the quality of the popcorn. Matti multiplex is located in the Edna Mall near the Bole Medhnalayam church. We took a taxi which cost us 60 Birr ( 180 Rs)but needn’t have bothered as it is actually a pleasant  15 min walk. The tickets cost 40 Birr (120 Rs ) on weekdays and 45 Birr on weekends. The theatre was small but with comfortable seats. There were barely 15 people in the theatre which was expected, considering that it was a weekday afternoon and the movie was a sappy chick-flick with a rating of 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. The only thing which was different was that the trailers of forthcoming movies had subtitles in both Amharic and French although the main feature didn’t. Disconcertingly, the upper third of the screen was fuzzy and blurred during the trailers but cleared up soon thereafter. Maybe someone cleaned the projector lens. A good time was had by one and all although the movie was on the awful side of the spectrum. And the popcorn? We didn’t get to try it because there was no interval.

On the subject of popcorn, we brought about half a dozen packets of Act II microwave popcorn with us and of course, we don’t have a microwave. Yesterday evening,it rained and was perfect popcorn weather so I popped the corn in the pressure cooker and what do you know, better than when microwaved. No charred paper and burnt bits at all, although I did have popcorn flying all over the kitchen when I opened the lid prematurely.You live and you learn.
P.S. The popcorn and Pepsi at Matti multiplex are decent and tickets for 3D flicks cost 90 Birr (270 Rs) with an additional 50 Birr deposit for the 3D glasses. You have to return the glasses and collect your deposit at the end of the movie. For real.    

First Addis Ababa post

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. 

5,4,3,2,1,1,1,1

I've been telling everyone that I'll be leaving by the 15th of March once all our certificates are attested and bank formalities completed. We got the all-clear from the bank on the 16th of March and asked our company to book tickets for the 19th, so we could arrive in Addis on a Monday. They took some time to confirm but finally  called to tell us that the first available tickets were for 20th (Tue) We were thrilled to spend another day wallowing at home but spent all day Monday in a final frantic round of repacking and getting last minute attestations. However, just to prolong the anticipation, we didn't receive the tickets till 5.00 p.m. And what I saw was this.

Flight Information

22 Mar 2012 Ethiopian Air Lines  (ET)  687 Economy (V)   Ethiopian Air Lines Confirmation Number: FGLODC   Depart: Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL) , Terminal 3 2:45 AM *Baggage: 40 Kilos Fare Basis: VEERTINA Arrive: Bole Airport (ADD), Terminal 2 Addis Ababa 7:10 AM *Contact airline to confirm  baggage allowance. So,of course we promptly stopped all the packing and commenced yet another round of farewells. The brilliant thing is Vishal and Rahul both got to celebrate their joint birthdays together again ( 21st) Also, I contacted a friend of a friend of a friend who is travelling on the same flight and he graciously agreed to take some of our baggage. You would be surprised how less 80 kgs actually is when you are attempting to transport six different types of  dal along with six different textbooks across the Indian Ocean. This is really my last post from Delhi. I swear. See you on the other side.