Ferengi's in Addis

Our first day was eventful. Sam and Tzedeke met as at the hotel and introduced us to Menachem and Bialen. Tzedeke is a JDC employee, he is from Addis, attended University here and has never left the country. Menachem is the other Fellow in Addis who has been here for 3 months, working directly with Dr. Rick Hodes. Bialen is Ethiopian and assists Dr. Rick. He has the warmest smile that never leaves his face.  

We headed out to the Mercato with our driver, Alemu (constantly makes me think of my best friend, Al Lem). I was pleasantly surprised by the good smells that filled the air. They hit us unexpectedly during our ride and throughout the Mercato and none were offensive. I am impressed with the beautiful colors here. It may be a fence around the highway or rope hanging from a shop but all in bright colors. Nothing matches, nothing coordinates, just splashes of color everywhere. I was shocked by the unstable, rocky roads winding through the market where we walked along with cars going in every which direction, no stop lights or order to the mess. The Mercato is huge, you head to one area for car parts, another for spices, another for housewares... Habesha's carrying enormous boxes piled high or mattresses on their head from one place to the next. 

Overwhelmed with the smells, color and sounds of the Mercato we piled back in the car and were off to the CURE clinic to visit Dr. Rick. He is everything I could have imagined. A true miracle worker. He has a way about him that puts his patients at ease. Everyone is happy to be seeing Dr. Rick even with their own life on the line. It is awe inspiring to see the work he does first hand. Max and I were invited to sit in clinic with him while he attended patients. A little girl came in, Imami, with scoliosis. She was a huge fan of Max’s which didn’t surprise me a bit, he has a way with kids. She didn’t stop giggling and smiling as Dr. Rick took her picture with all of us around. Someone in her position is then nominated by Dr. Rick to travel to Ghana to be elected for surgery there. Reminded me of, although was vastly different from, my days working with orthopedic spine surgeon, Dr. Goldsmith in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 

The afternoon rain was rolling in as we drove up the mountain to Entoto. I hope to return there soon. The steep climb lent it's way to mystical looking trees with exposed roots, women running down hill with large amounts of fire wood on their back and donkeys returning home alone along a well traveled route. It began to pour and Alemu drove down the mountain to bring us back to the hotel.

First experience with an awful smell. We sat in horrendous traffic while Alemu maneuvered his way back to our hotel. The thick black fumes from the other cars can choke you. The roads were so bad because the city is shutting down for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s funeral tomorrow. It was very interesting to hear what a certain local thought of the government here but we’ll have to chat offline about that.

Max and I rest up a bit and met Sam and Menachem in our lobby for dinner. I tried the local Axumite sweet wine and Max had the popular St. George’s beer. I mean, what can I say but it’ll do for a year J. We walked to an Italian restaurant and had delicious brick oven pizza. The last time I had pizza twice in one day had to have been in college. Max broke his trend of tibs and went for a pizza too. We figure we’ll have our fill of Ethiopian food in Gondar.

In orientation we had to say how we felt in one word and mine is still excited but I have to add "in awe" too.