My last week in Addis was great. I’m not sure what made it so different. I think it was a combination of seeing an end in sight and realizing the little time I had left.
On Monday we went to Entono which was really cool. We walked around the church, checked out the museum which had all of Emperor Menelik’s belongings, saw the first church in Addis and checked out his palace. I’m normally not one to enjoy museums but since this is all a part of my family’s history, I genuinely enjoyed it. After Entonto we went to Addis Ababa University. My mom’s friend’s nephew was a student there and agreed to show me around. We started out at the Palace which used to belong to Emperor Haile Selassie and is now a museum. The museum was pretty cool because not only was it a tour of his palace but also had a lot of his old stuff and historical information.
Much like my day out with my cousin, this was one of the best days I had. I think I just enjoyed being out, walking on the streets and being one with the locals. After touring the museum, we went to the lion zoo. It’s smaller than most zoos that I’ve been too but still pretty cool. After the zoo, we walked around the town all the way back to Ghion. After the walk, I felt rejuvenated. It was refreshing to meet someone my age, to talk about our cultural differences, our upbringings and childhood. It was funny because the form of communication that worked for us was a bit different. I spoke English fluently but could understand Amharic and he was vice versa. So even though we spoke different languages, we had a mutual understanding of each other and it made it easy to communicate. I think I liked this aspect the most because after learning all the different types of communication, it was cool to be able to actually practice it. It was also great to just see the city on foot, it made me feel more apart of the town, rather than just driving through it.
The next day I had lunch with another uncle of mine on my dad’s side. They took us to this restaurant called top view. It was really cool. The restaurant was on a hill and had two seating sections, one inside a building and the other in a large gazebo. We had a lovely lunch with way too much food. It was a nice lunch because this was another uncle that I rarely got to see since he’s lived in Ethiopia my whole life.
The week flew by and before I knew it, it was already Thursday. Thursday was kind of a big day for my mom and I’m glad I got to be a part of it. We went to lunch at her aunt’s house and then we went to visit her sister Azeb. I had never met this aunt and my mom hadn’t seen her in over 36 years. I also got to meet her son; it was a crazy experience and one that left me feeling so proud of my mom. I know this all may sound confusing, but just know my mother is one of the strongest ladies I have ever met, and this day just proved it. My mom’s sister is beautiful and I am so grateful that I got to meet her. That night we had dinner at Avanti’s again—so GOOD.
Friday was a day of last minute things. I finished my shopping, got more movies, coffee and finally picked up my dresses! After that I went with Kirbuel to check out the mercato. The mercato was basically a congested flea market. There were so many booths, all essentially selling the same stuff. A lot of the stuff was like trinkets but there was also a lot of household stuff like mattresses and furniture. To me, it was overwhelming because of how many things there were, not necessarily because of the amount of people there. After the mercato, Kiru and I went to this rooftop café and it was cool. After that we basically just walked back to the hotel.
The next day, I went to this event called Bazaar. It was an expo of a bunch of stuff all made from Ethiopian products, no imports. It was more expensive than the mercato but it seemed to be on a different level than the mercato. The items were being sold by the creators and a lot of the people were foreigners. I kind of felt like I was at an American event because there was so many people are around me speaking English and it was set up differently than any other event I had visited.
My last day in Addis was spent packing. It was frustrating to try and fit everything we bought and brought into our suitcases. I did take a break to visit Meskel Flower with my uncle to see my brother’s friend. We had our last dinner at Ricos before heading to the airport. Flying at night was the best idea because we weren’t rushed and had the whole day to do any last minute thing. It was nice :)
On Monday we went to Entono which was really cool. We walked around the church, checked out the museum which had all of Emperor Menelik’s belongings, saw the first church in Addis and checked out his palace. I’m normally not one to enjoy museums but since this is all a part of my family’s history, I genuinely enjoyed it. After Entonto we went to Addis Ababa University. My mom’s friend’s nephew was a student there and agreed to show me around. We started out at the Palace which used to belong to Emperor Haile Selassie and is now a museum. The museum was pretty cool because not only was it a tour of his palace but also had a lot of his old stuff and historical information.
Much like my day out with my cousin, this was one of the best days I had. I think I just enjoyed being out, walking on the streets and being one with the locals. After touring the museum, we went to the lion zoo. It’s smaller than most zoos that I’ve been too but still pretty cool. After the zoo, we walked around the town all the way back to Ghion. After the walk, I felt rejuvenated. It was refreshing to meet someone my age, to talk about our cultural differences, our upbringings and childhood. It was funny because the form of communication that worked for us was a bit different. I spoke English fluently but could understand Amharic and he was vice versa. So even though we spoke different languages, we had a mutual understanding of each other and it made it easy to communicate. I think I liked this aspect the most because after learning all the different types of communication, it was cool to be able to actually practice it. It was also great to just see the city on foot, it made me feel more apart of the town, rather than just driving through it.
The next day I had lunch with another uncle of mine on my dad’s side. They took us to this restaurant called top view. It was really cool. The restaurant was on a hill and had two seating sections, one inside a building and the other in a large gazebo. We had a lovely lunch with way too much food. It was a nice lunch because this was another uncle that I rarely got to see since he’s lived in Ethiopia my whole life.
The week flew by and before I knew it, it was already Thursday. Thursday was kind of a big day for my mom and I’m glad I got to be a part of it. We went to lunch at her aunt’s house and then we went to visit her sister Azeb. I had never met this aunt and my mom hadn’t seen her in over 36 years. I also got to meet her son; it was a crazy experience and one that left me feeling so proud of my mom. I know this all may sound confusing, but just know my mother is one of the strongest ladies I have ever met, and this day just proved it. My mom’s sister is beautiful and I am so grateful that I got to meet her. That night we had dinner at Avanti’s again—so GOOD.
Friday was a day of last minute things. I finished my shopping, got more movies, coffee and finally picked up my dresses! After that I went with Kirbuel to check out the mercato. The mercato was basically a congested flea market. There were so many booths, all essentially selling the same stuff. A lot of the stuff was like trinkets but there was also a lot of household stuff like mattresses and furniture. To me, it was overwhelming because of how many things there were, not necessarily because of the amount of people there. After the mercato, Kiru and I went to this rooftop café and it was cool. After that we basically just walked back to the hotel.
The next day, I went to this event called Bazaar. It was an expo of a bunch of stuff all made from Ethiopian products, no imports. It was more expensive than the mercato but it seemed to be on a different level than the mercato. The items were being sold by the creators and a lot of the people were foreigners. I kind of felt like I was at an American event because there was so many people are around me speaking English and it was set up differently than any other event I had visited.
My last day in Addis was spent packing. It was frustrating to try and fit everything we bought and brought into our suitcases. I did take a break to visit Meskel Flower with my uncle to see my brother’s friend. We had our last dinner at Ricos before heading to the airport. Flying at night was the best idea because we weren’t rushed and had the whole day to do any last minute thing. It was nice :)
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