Onward ho

And so quickly, it’s over. I’m ashamed that I complained so much during my short sojourn in Ethiopia, but as my Ethiopian colleagues tell me, the frustrations of Ethiopian life anger them too. The extortion and arbitrary rule of landlords. No water, then no hot water. No electricity, and I was treated to one last evening of reading by candlelight yesterday. All the hustlers out on the street trying to find you taxis, shine your shoes, hold umbrellas for you, all for a tip. Pick pockets. People on the street teasing foreigners. The dust. The mud. One colleague said that he grew up in the countryside, and even he gets pissed off by Ethiopia.

I’m still embarrassed to be such a complainer because with all I learned about law, trade, development, and people this summer, I’m sure I’ll remember the good parts much more than the bad. I’ll miss fasting food (I’ve been to eat at my favorite fasting restaurant four times in a week and a half). Cheap food and beer. My colleagues. I’m having difficulty filling this list with more entries.

I wasn’t supposed to come to the office today, but here I am for a few minutes. Yesterday was my last day of work, and in 8 hours, my Emirates jet will be departing from Bole International Airport. I’ll arrive in Dubai in the middle of the night, then leave Dubai in the middle of the next night. There’s supposed to be a desert safari somewhere in between. I’m going to sleep in the airport. Dubai International is supposed to be lovely. Sunday I’ll be in Singapore. Monday, school orientation starts.

And with that, I sign off from the Addis Ababa portion of this blog, though I do have a few more summation entries to post at a later date, but they’ll be posted in Singapore.

I should have enough birr leftover for some St. George’s beer at the Bole airport.