Addis and On

Well a week in Addis eating endlessly in the Greek Club because we could think of no where else to go, though latterly we have found a bar with football machines and cold draft St Georges in the friendship tower, also home to dodgy dongel dealer, several trips to get it to work and still very temperamental. Dodgy is however what it is about in that neck of the woods. People come and talk to you, not a bad thing you might think but next time tell them politely to F off. This one persuaded us that he worked for an Irish NGO, had a day off and would take us to good shops. shops ripoff and while he was chatting us up a small boy came and nicked my camera-far to close. Any way he gave chase and returned 20 mins later with camera sans case, and spare memory cards but with tough guy pretending to be (no probably actually)gangster and took 800 birr offme for returning it. 800 birr aprox 40 quid. So in summary I was mugged by an 8 year old-great! Have found micro brewery German style beer garden which was fun, but unmentionable things begining to happen in the transit times locally.

Other painful experience was driver conveniently parking next to pavement and on opening the door and stepping out-no pavement just 4 foot hole down which I descended to shoulder height. Luckily landing soft as full of rubbish though smelly, dusty and humiliating-motto look before you step,though difficult when you are climbing down from a land cruiser - no not ours - clutching computer cases and what ever. Theeek has been spent touring various government offices of varying degrees of scruffiness with long queues bobbing up and down on chairs and pedantic form checkers who seem visibly upset when they can not find anything wrong, so check again and again. Payment for a work permit 600 birr £30 involves going to one office where a receipt is written out, next door where the receipt is stammped and money taken, before going to two more offices for further stamps. Getting registered, tedious but friendly enough once the endless form checking was passed had held me up a day as i had topass muster infrony of some committeee (kafka again!) The same has to said for the British Consular office too who are both never open when you want to call, have long queues when they fleetingly are and treat you extra-ordinarily badly while signing photo copies of your driving licence at 900 birr £50 a throw, stirling or credit cards not accepted. You do not feel welcome in what should be a small part of England. at the end of the week I have a medical licence, rare it seems where we are going and awork permit. Karen however is one up having licence to stay and all the rights of an Ethiopian women but I am sure she will tell you about that. Long car journey to Gimbie now and more anon. Land cruiser import is just a matter of
enormous despair.