Brief reflections on my first day in Ethiopia

It’s 9PM Sunday September 7th here in Bahir Dar and I’m completely beat, having forced myself to stay up until a reasonable hour to try to beat out my jet lag.  I would love to collapse into bed but wanted to scribble down a few first impressions while they were still fresh.

Ethiopia is beautiful in many ways.  It’s lush and green, even more so than usual given that the rainy season is just ending.  On the streets, very little English is spoken, and it definitely seems as though I’d be wise to put in some time up front learning the language.

I’m living in a spacious 4 bedroom house with two other staff members, both of whom seem really nice.  We spent most of the day together chatting, laughing and getting to know each other. The house has a beautiful garden and is in a walled compound with a 24 hour guard and barbed wire fencing around the perimeter.  I am told this is par for the course here, despite the fact that this area is quite safe given its proximity to a major oil depot which is heavily guarded.  Ethiopian food is great, as expected.  I’ve had it many times back in Toronto and that was one aspect of life here I was really looking forward to.  Injera here is much more sour than the injera in Canada though, I’ve been told that’s because the teff flour in Canada all has to be imported, so it is usually mixed with wheat flour which cuts the sourness and lowers the cost.

The airport lost my bags.  I was told they would be sent on the evening flight but they never came, I will have to look into this tomorrow as I wasn’t smart enough to pack a change of clothes in my carry on.  This week is Ethiopian New Year so the office will be closed from Wednesday through Sunday.  Also, most of the rest of the team are all away for various reasons at the moment so my two roommates are the only foreign staff on the ground.  People should start trickling back in next week, but the expat staff team here is currently only 7 in total.  Can’t keep my eyes open much longer, I think it’s time for bed.  Excited to go into the office for the first time tomorrow…zzzz