This autobiography of Leonard Wolf sums up the travails of travel. last few days in U.K stressy and with too much to do and too little time things inevitably got forgotten most spectacularly the spare set of car keys (Sophie please remember to bring them out for us!!) Splendid farewell party and then chaos of clearing house (ha ha) and packing before setting off for airport and our first taste of Ethiopian hyper bureaucracy-weighing in-which results in queues of querrulous passengers and general bad temper. Such was the chaos and also the breakdown of the duty free tills-Terminal 3 is appallingly shabby-that we failed the get Gin test so are sorely bereft.
Arrival in Addis marked by silent imigration man and being pulled by customs not for carrying unmentionables but for having a scanner and printer-needs taxing. Much protest and looking smiling and senior with assurances that they will leave the country with me allowed me through-result!
The day was spent trying to get paper work sorted, hampered by Friday prayers, a closed consular section of the Embassy-stated hours on the web site and actual hours on the printed sheet in the window are very different- suggesting that government cuts have hit here too. Now not open till Tuesday. Getting paper work is like snakes and ladders-we will invent a new board game called 'Going to Gimbie' when you start at Woking and via a trail with many mishaps you finally get there-we may even make it into a computer game that two or more can play.
Karen got her work permit in a day which must be an international record, though there was a near snake at the last throw of the dice as one government form did not have a signature but there was a copy. So she has a little green book and I don't. In order for me to get a work permit it seem that regtistration with the Food and Drugs Agency is required, but happily the paper work for this is in order bar a covering letter that needs to come from the NGO here and hopefully will appear on Monday as some approval committee meets on Wednesday so perhaps thing will happen then...well perhaps or perhaps not-stay tuned.
Had amusing lunch with old mate Gordon and got further insights into Ethiopian life together with some useful contacts which may prove useful in some of the training work we have in mind. The local obstetrician I will be working with seems very young possibly even pre-registration by our standards so look forward to interesting times. Also greeted with the news that a surgical team is flying out from Oregeon to undertake prolapse surgery-they brought a lot of equipment out on a previous trip which they hope is still there-it will either be unopened or long gone. Anyway it should prove an interesting diversion. i will be interested to hear of their adventures in Customs.
There is no doubt that we are entereing an 'Alice in Wonderland' world and I am bagging the part of the 'Mad Hatter'. Currently now having a totally inert week end but stay tuned for the further adventures of the 'Mad Hatter' (Bates hat of course).
Good to see you arrived in one piece.
ReplyDeleteCycled to Abbey wing today to get away from the stereo baby crying scene at home and to go to the Cons meeting. Came back to find my lovely bike is gone and the lock too! Security was trying to tell me I've got premature dementia and must have parked in A&E until they saw me on their CCTV coming in.
Hope this helps you not getting homesick!
Have fun.