Being in Addis

One of the cool things about living in Ethiopia, or perhaps any place abroad, is that I'm always surprised by something and learning new things.  Many are those which strike me as odd, and so I have to take pictures.

 It specifically says not for sale, and yet this is a supermarket doing just that. For those of you who also donate clothes to Africa, they also end up in the hands of people selling them.  Or I've heard of a Salvation Army shipment of clothes being burned.

Yes, this is hail.  And it came without warning.  I was in a line taxi and it just parked and no one got out during the 20 minutes it came down. Large hail pieces too, like the size of my thumbnail. They crunch when you walk on them, and cause lots of traffic for humans and cars.  During the hail, everything just stopped, plus there was construction nearby.  We all just walked in the street weaving between cars.

I've seen hail in country before, but it always strikes me as odd. Cuz, well, this is Africa.

Life Snipits

• Bought two chocolate bars to eat in honor of getting rid of most of my stressors, but was so hungry polished both of them off with out the time for enjoyment. Did notice however that while both are supposed to be off brand Snickers one was much closer to a Three Musketeer bar.
• Zambia is awesome. People don't harass you, there are paved roads, and is that a sushi place across from the hostel?!
• OMG, capsizing on a level 4 rapid is terrorizing.
• It it weird to miss your own shintbet when away?
• I love buying strawberries in Adama and then bringing them home. Everyone just stares at them and goes 'what is this' because they're such a rare sight.
• You know your sweet input is really low when you have a bunch of berries and your teeth ache like a post trick-or-treating candy binge.
• Wabam! A little fiddling with the TV cable and we suddenly have ETV3. Which apparently plays American movies. Back to back. With no commercial breaks. And they mostly (aside from Sister Act that one time and apparently wed nights it's all crime films) are Disney/Pixar films. Life here just got better. Who needs to rewatch Doctor Who on my laptop when Ratatouille is on?
• Reading an article from Popular Culture: The International Journal of Media and Culture that mentions Inspector Spacetime and SuperWhoLock. I feel so smart for being a geek right now.
• I think the one novel I've read more than any other is my own. I keep rereading and rereading it for edits and flaws and refreshing my mind before continuing to work on it.
• My year of saving plastic bags and candy wrappers has now paid off. I have a crocheted plastic bag doormat and a table with a glued mosaic of candy wrappers. I feel very accomplished.
• Cold, cold, go away!
• It's sad watching Ghostbusters with people who don't know what a ghost is.
• I ate a fish, and didn't mind the head was still attached. Or the spine still in it.
• I now have an electric kettle! Got along fine for a year without one, but I just wanted it. Something about having an American gadget on my floor just makes me happy. Primus, I'm turning materialistic.
• Still trying to figure out a good way to clean my yoga mat. Today, I'll hang it between two laundry lines while it rains.
• Cut my hair today and then handed over the scissors to Dani. Who doesn't understand that curls, well, curl away from the head, and so they must be long pieces that need to be snipped. Thus, I'm pretty sure all of my curls are now living amongst the grass. This will probably be my last haircut here, I rather miss my curls.