Adventures in Adama

I'm falling behind on blogging - sometimes because I'm too tired, sometimes because the internet connection is so slow it's painful... This was supposed to be posted yesterday.

Yesterday we made the trek from Addis to Adama - we were expecting worse, but it only took us about 2 hours to get here, even with the Saturday traffic. Our driver said that this is the road to Djibouti where there are major ports, so it's quite busy. Lots of huge trucks - lots of overwhelming fumes. We followed the 'China road' which is in excellent condition almost all the way here. I think this means it's another projected funded by or contracted out to the Chinese.

I jotted down some impressions along the way.  As we were leaving mid-city, Avril was blaring from our driver's speakers - as Adrian called it, we were definitely in the 'party bus'! I also saw they had kind of bus lines in the middle lanes of the highway in the outskirts of town.  It's very pastoral - lots of agriculture going on. Comments in the bus were that it looked like central California. There were Brahma bulls and cows all over the roadsides, along with donkeys and goats. We also started to see donkey carts as a mode of transportation (and some little 3 wheel taxis!). Then the dwellings changed and there were more of what we are told are the typical rural round huts with mud/straw walls and thatched roofs.

The hotel looked pretty good upon arrival with a very nice lobby area and a pool, but based on the rooms, it's a far cry from the Hilton - which itself needed some updating.  Pretty small, no storage, 3 hangers, 2 outlets (both occupied) and mosquito netting over the bed. Wow - we've finally made it to something closer to the REAL Ethiopia!  And did I mention, the rate is around $27 a night - more than 10x less than the Hilton. So it keeps looking better - except for the crazy road noise.

Oh, don't let me forget. After practicing the Process Mapping exercise for a couple of hours, Friday night Deman took us to a cultural restaurant for dinner. We ate from an Ethiopian buffet, compete with a hand-washer at the beginning of the line! There was typical Ethiopian music and dancing - definitely the best part of the evening.