Last day in Addis :( Hard to say bye!!

The final day in Ethiopia...

began with another breathless run, this time solo, and ending at a restaurant perched on a cliff that looked like it came straight from the Jetson's. Unique Cafe set us up with a great breakfast again before we boarded the minibus to the airport for a noon flight. Again, the scenery was really remarkable and I (plus some Dispatch on my iPod) enjoyed the ride, minus a tiny bit of car sickness form the windy roads!

The flight was uneventful, minus our little "layover" in Gondar and the extremely hot cabin that we waited in. We arrived in Addis in one piece and immediately missed the fresh, Lalibela air. However, we were happy to already know where we were staying (Buffet de la Gare), and haggled our way home for 200 birr.

This time we were given room 10, with some crazy zebra sheets and totally gross maroon bedspreads. But it was cheap and really, I'd only be sleeping for about 2 hours anyway, so it wasn't SO bad! Plus, hot water and high pressure showers are really all that matters. I decided to give away lots of my clothes that had already weathered Grenada (and pre-Grenada) as well as Kenya and Ethiopia, and the laundry ladies at the hotel were really excited to get them, which of course made me really exited to give them. With some newfound energy, Kwazo and I went on search for some internet to finalize some plans for our next steps (noooo, we are going to have to say bye soon...!!!) and then Kwaz kindly joined me to search for some earrings for my Mom in a city where there really don't seem to be any jewelry stores that sell real jewelry AND take credit card. It was a long search. Kwaz is a champ.

We ended up at the Hilton, and, the BEST earrings were there that looked just like my Mom's style. However. The price. Was. Insane. The cheapest gold earrings I could find were around $600! AH! Sorry Mom. But I definitely felt success in that I found just the ones I was looking for...maybe the price of gold will drop and I can have them shipped. Yeah right. Well, Mom got a cool, hand painted ornament instead and Kwaz and I got some nice scarves for gifts as well, so the long hike wasn't a waste.

After all that, we were very ready for a cab to take us to dinner to end our night. We had a romantic date night :) at a pizza place (couldn't find any veg injera anywhere for our last meal, so sad!), and then we met up with some of Kwaz's Chemonics friends at a Lebanese place for drinks (granny me had tea!) and they had all the hummus, falafel, etc. It was really fun to be in the world of international development for a few hours, and it is just amazing to think about how little I know of how so much of the infrastructure and groundwork is laid. Med school is certainly a whole other ballgame. I had a great time meeting everyone and hearing some of the crazy travel stories and unique places everyone had lived and worked.

After a late shower in good old Room 10 and a few hours of sleep in that special bed, Kwazo and I said a teary and drowsy goodbye, and I got a 1:30 am cab to the Addis airport where I waited with throngs of veiled women going to Sana'a, Yemen for a few hours before boarding my plane. Again, the perspective and thoughts about how different lives can be and how big the world is were in full effect.

The next 24 hours of flying and waiting in airports and driving in cars to get to Waterbury were pretty much gross as expected, although I did watch many movies and slept a tiny bit. It was 3pm when I landed and about 5:30 by the time I was greeted with a big hug from Mom. It was a wonderful journey, but so glorious to be home again!

Ethiopian adventures - chapter closed.