May 5, 2024 Sunday

Good morning

That morning, we woke at 7 a.m. instead of 9. I felt we were getting more rested from our midnight arrival a few days before. Since we got to the dining room to eat earlier than the day before, breakfast was a little fresher. John cared less about the freshness since he tended to lean towards the prepackaged yogurt anyway, but I was a bit pickier.

Once he finished eating, John went back to the room to read. I saw Janet come in and invited her to join me. Then Becky and the boys came in and sat at the table next to us. I enjoyed the conversation.

Omelets

While we talked, I noticed a cook in the back of the dining area and a server bringing an omelet to a man at another table. Since Becky had not eaten yet, I asked her if she’d find out if she could get one. She did, and when it arrived, she said it was too much for her. She asked if I wanted some. I’d eaten, but not much, so I said sure, I’d be glad to have some. She gave me about a third of it, which I enjoyed. That’s more than I can say about the rest of the breakfast buffet. Thank goodness for fresh omelets. I had them every morning we were there.

After breakfast, I went to the room with Becky and the boys. We played Uno until it was time to meet Melaku and the group at 10 in the lobby.

Money exchange and ZOMA museum

Before we left for the museum, I exchanged the last $140 in US dollars that John and I had for Birr 7,945 at an exchange rate of 56.76. John said if you multiplied Birr by 0.2, that was approximately dollars.

Melaku again used his and a friend’s car to transport us to the ZOMA museum.

The O.A.T. travel booklet they sent us before we left on the trip says the following about the ZOMA museum: “Witness contemporary art at the ZOMA museum. ZOMA opened its doors in 2019 to showcase the timeless and structurally-sound architecture of Ethiopia. Their main hope is to function as a bridge between artists and architects from around the world to create cutting-edge, ecological art and architecture. The museum itself was built using ancient practices and eco-friendly products, like mud, straw, wood, stone, and cement. While here, you can visit the gallery, library, edible garden, elementary school, art and vernacular school, and amphitheater.”

We didn’t see all of that, and yet we saw enough. We did see where the playground for the school was, and we saw lots of edible plants. I paid about Birr 400 for our entry to the place. I was glad to have the Birr. They had discounts for young and old people so what we paid may have been 350. I lost track of how much it was as I counted out the money and then was told there was a discount until I just handed over some Birr, and they seemed happy.

It was a beautiful space with walkways between lots of plants. I swear Melaku knew most of the plants and all of the birds we saw. The man was a walking nature encyclopedia. The straw and mud-sculpted buildings were fascinating with the creative artistry involved in their making.

Tea and coffee shop

Finally, at the end of our walk, we stopped for coffee and tea in the museum’s outdoor coffee shop. I ordered cinnamon tea, and was it ever—more cinnamon than I liked. Melaku said we were to dip the tea bag into the cinnamon water, but I couldn’t tell that the tea bag made much difference. He also said one tea bag would be good enough for three cups. I could see that. Early in the trip, I thought I’d track our spending. After the coffee shop, I decided it was more trouble than it was worth. My resolve lasted two days. Ha!

After our tea, Melaku and his friend brought us back to the hotel. My little family group had lunch at the hotel. This time, we ordered much more sensibly than the day before. We got one hamburger, the boys split, and one panini, which Becky and I split. John wasn’t interested in eating. He went up to the room and had snacks, probably trail mix.

In the afternoon, I played Uno with the boys again while Becky started building a Shutterfly book about the trip. John and I downloaded the Shutterfly app and gave her access to any photos we took. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Orientation

At 6, we reconvened on the 9^th floor for our orientation. We introduced ourselves, and Melaku explained some things like being on time, or he’d leave you. Not that that ever happened. He reiterated not to drink anything except bottled water. Not even to brush your teeth. He said he wouldn’t trust greens, even though the hotel promises to wash them in boiled water. Whoops, I’d had a salad the day before for lunch. I guess I dodged a bullet that time, or maybe the hotel did wash the greens in boiled water.

We met our cast of 12 characters.

There were the five of us.

6. J. lived in California.
7. Josephine and Ebony were Becky’s age and were friends from high school. They left their husbands at home and came on this trip together. Girl time! Josephine worked for O.A.T. and lived in Boston. She helped explain O.A.T. things to us.
8. Ebony lived in Brooklyn and worked for a non-profit.
9. Janet was about our age and lives in a small town in Oregon. She does real estate.
10. Roger was a single guy our age who lived in Sugarland near Houston.
11. Lee was another single guy our age who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Both men were big travelers with O.A.T.
12. Armando was our oldest member, at 80. He said he was Indonesian and lived in San Diego with his wife, who declined to go on this trip.

Khat

After orientation, Melaku took us for a walk from the hotel to a street market. Janet took the photo below from her hotel room. We walked along the road you see on the left of her picture.

I saw dirty and littered roadways and itched to pick it all up. We stopped at one hole-in-the-wall “store.” It was about a five-foot by five-foot shack built out of corrugated metal with an opening on the front side that the man could sell from. It stood side-by-side with many such businesses. Melaku bought a bundle of khat from the vendor at this store.

He showed it to us and explained that the leaves contain a lot of amphetamine. The locals chew the leaves for the high. He said people lose a lot of productivity because it takes much chewing to get to the high. He told us that classmates of his would chew it, planning to study when they finally got high. By the time they did, he’d already finished his studying. None of us took him up on the opportunity to chew it. When we left the stall, Melaku gave the bunch of khat to a nearby woman.

He told us about one tour when he gave the bunch of khat back to the vendor so he could repackage and resell it. The vendor was quite insulted, so from that time on, he said he gave it to a bystander instead.

Whenever we walked in a public space, we gathered people following us. Some of them may have been hoping for handouts, some may have been hoping to try pick-pocketing, some may have just been curious about a group of white people walking around in their city.

Snacks

We went around the corner, and Melaku stopped at another “booth,” where he bought one of his favorite snacks, roasted barley and chickpeas, usually with a light seasoning. He shared it with us. I liked that it was mildly seasoned and crunchy. He gave the rest of the bag to a 7-year-old girl following us who was peddling gum.

A little farther along our walk, a group of people were selling goats along the roadway in front of a partially finished building. I will say that goats are not my thing. The goats had different colors spray painted on their backs to distinguish them from other people’s goats.

Still farther, we came upon a small, littered market selling cheap, poorly made goods from China spread on the ground on blankets. Melaku didn’t have a lot of good things to say about China. He and Becky said that goods made in China are made on different levels. The stuff they manufacture and send to the States and Europe is best made. Probably because those companies set standards for what they will accept. But things going to places like Africa, where they are sold on the street, are poorly made.

Orientation dinner

Then we were back at the hotel, ready for the welcome dinner. Melaku ordered a surprise birthday cake for Becky, whose birthday was the day before, May 4. That was sweet of him to do.

We finally ate at 8, which was the worst thing for my stomach. Then, we were back in the room by 9. Of course, I was too full, so I took some antiacids and slept propped up on two pillows, which helped.

The next day, Melaku took us to visit Signum Vitae, an organization that provides low-cost eyeglasses to people and jobs to make eyeglasses.