After a little lie in I got up at 6am feeling very down and lonely. The reason was simple; it was Eid and I had no one to celebrate with despite the thousands of Muslims around me. In retrospect i should have asked the night before what the events on Eid would be. I also felt compelled not to put my own desires before the project but in the end I knew i simply should have made more effort.While packing up i heard above the loud speakers of the mosque, the chant of Ill, la Allah (not sure on the spelling) and turned to see a procession of Muslims marching. It was the first time i had seen Muslim marching in a quiet positive manner and I wish i had been part of the procession. The procession was joined by children and also mums and I felt really proud to be a Muslim!
With us ready to leave at 7:30am i went to get my clothes that were supposed to have been washed and ready at 7am. Unfortunately this was not the case and we ended up waiting until 9am and further more my clothes were wet! Having finally got my clothes we left Sodo, heading into the unknown as we had no gps data or maps for the route we were taking; only a few paragraphs about the road. We managed to find the road and although it was good dirt road, it was not tar as we had been told...oh well isnt this always the case!
I was driving and narrowly missed the lifeless body of an unfortuante canine. Along the way we noticed that most livestock were cruelly hobble to prevent them straying to far or more easily pliant to their masters instruction. They do this by tying a rope from their neck to their rear leg or simply folding one leg in half and binding it so that that have to hop along!
The road passed through beautiful scenery as we descended into the Omo valley. The views were breathtaking, especially crossing the steel bridge over the Omo river, its muddy waters flowing strongly. Around 1pm after passing through the junction village of Chida the dreaded right rear shock started clanging. Ten minutes later, Simon C who was navigating, realised we had taken the wrong direction at the last village and so we turned around and headed back some 20min, with the shock doing its best impression as a pair of symbols. We have come to realise that we need to trust our own instincts rather than locals who often provide us with the wrong information.
We arrived back in the village of Chida to more shouts of Faranjis and waves and smiles from the little kids. Despite the unlikelihood, we asked around for a mechanic but alas there was none. Simon inspected the shock and determined it was still attached and that the bush that had been fitted just yesterday was torn and broken. This meant that it was metal on metal, the cause of the cacophony. As we left i experienced a rather disturbing incident with a young boy who thought it funny I guess. First he indicated the slitting the throat motion, then various sexual actions. I pretended to be cross and get out and he ran, but was quickly back with more actions and swearing. Also the local teenagers were asking for ciagrettes which i found sad :(.
With no other choice we continued north ot Jimma, Simon taking over driving duties. Shortly after he took over I had to ask nicely if he could keep the car in gear on the downhills as freewheeling on the loose gravel is like walking downhill on ball bearings! At 1:40pm we received an unexpected sms from March asking us to check our email as there was a change of plan. When we had a chance we pulled over and checked our email. From what the email stated it seemed like March thought that the two teams were not working together and that we were doing our own thing. He seemed extremely unhappy and wanted us all to regroup in Addis and call it quits on the project. We had no idea how he had come to this conclusion and could only imagine that maybe the other team had said something. Since we could only go forward to Jimma we continue onwards.
Arriving in Jimma around 3:30pm we were disappointed to find it to be a rather small town. However we were able to stop and have a mango icecream, our first in Ethiopia! We also noticed that there were lots of "Pastry's" selling various type of sweet bread, biscuits and cakes. I bought i a nice piece of chocolate cake, sharing half with Simon. I got to chat with March and things seemed a little better. After searching around for a bit we found an awesome hotel for a ridiculously cheap price. It had a restaurant, cafe and wait for it....swimming pool! Without hesitation we checked in. Afterwards we went to the restaurant; with me having a meat dish and the most awesome juice smoothies i have ever had. One was avocado and the other a mix of mango and papaya. The avacodo one was rich,cream and just sweet enough. The mango and papaya one had 3 levels in it. As usual the service was impeccable.
After our fantastic meal we headed for a swim. Leaving my top on a I jumped in and enjoyed the refreshing water. When i was done i came out and was approached by a gentleman who apparently was the guardian of the pool. Unbeknown to us the pool incurred a separate fee. Suspicious i checked it out and then paid. They were also not happy with me wearing a shirt but i explained to them I was Muslim and could not take my shirt off. They were happy with the explanation but not the fact that i had swum with a shirt that i had already worn. Oh well, for next time i know :P
Afterwards we took a walk along the streets and i was amazed and happy that so many people were walking on the streets; so different from Cape Town. I managed to get to a local mosque for Magrieb and was treated with a few stares. Parking a big 4x4 filled with electronic gadgets outside a humble mosque i could hardly blame them. Once again i was welcomed and shown right to the front with a gentleman offering to stow my crocs for me. I guess the have a shoe theft problem at the Mosque to!
In the evening we found out the bad news that there was in fact no Toyota dealer in Jimma which meant we would in any case need to head to Addis :(. The others we going there as well. We really wondered what they had said to March for him to think what he did. In the end it turned out that Taryns emotional emails had probably led March to think we were not working together. I would have to type up and email to March explaining our decision processes and why we made the decisions we did.
In the evening we had another yummy meal, this time pieces of beef in a clear salty sauce kept warm by a piece of charcoal underneath. Simon C's meal was not as yummy and he look at mine longingly :). In the evening i accompanied Simon to an internet cafe and then we head to bed, another early night for us.
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