Markets & bars
In todays language session we started to learn how to tell the time, which would be so much easier if Ethiopia didn’t use a different system – their day starts at 6am. So 2pm in ferengi (foreigner) time is 8 daytime in habasha (Ethiopian) time. Even our teacher was getting confused when he was asking us to translate one time to another. Plus the calendar is different too, so 3am on Jan 1st 2009 is 9 (nighttime) on 23rd Tir 2001 in Ethiopia!
We were given our equipment allowance to head off and spend in the shops/market in Addis today, our houses are set up with the basics (bed, table, chairs etc), and were given blankets, kerosene stove etc, but we need to buy things like pots/pans/cutlery. It’s a good way to get practicing our Amharic and getting used to haggling. Things were a bit easier for me as Marcel and I are sharing a house so we can split the costs. In Mekelle we should be able to buy most things, but they might not be great quality. Some of the pans in Shola market, especially the frying pans, were made of really thin aluminium. I managed to find a non stick frying pan for 90 birr (around £4.50) and a stainless steel pan for 60 birr – I was unsure about using aluminium pans for boiling water.
Being Friday night, and the fact we’re starting to get a little stir crazy staying at the Red Cross centre, some of use headed out on a little pub crawl. All the places were very friendly, though one tried to charge us too much. It’s difficult to tell if this is because they’re trying to get a little more money out of you, or if it’s just because their maths isn’t great. We managed to get to the right price in the end, and had some practice with our Amharic numbers. Most of the bars here have butchers next door – which consists of a side of beef hung up on a wooden pallet. Not sure I’ll be buying much meat here as I’m quite unsure of their hygene standards! The toilets in the bars are quite disgusting, you’re wary of even touching anything in them!
