Guest blog post

As we sit on the 33rd floor of our 5-star hotel in Dubai and log on to a free high speed Internet connection, our minds drift back to the wonderfully bizarre land that Sar has chosen to call "home" for a second summer in a row.  Ethiopia, where the water runs like diarreah and the people flock to Faranjis (foreigners) saying things like "My name is Money.  Can I have some Money?" 

 

First off, Long Live the Sar!!!  He orders macchiatos and egg sandwiches in Amharic like a Habasha (Ethiopian), smells remarkably decent for showering once a week whether he needs it or not, navigates the labryinth that is Addis Ababa better than Diana does the grid that is Manhattan, and is making a HUGE difference to patients at the Mission.  If we had to choose one highlight for the week, it would be visiting Hanouk, Sar's patient/friend who had his leg amputated in an attempt to prevent cancer from spreading -- see previous blog posts.  Watching Hanouk's face light up when Sar walked into the hospital ward and seeing Hanouk playfully stroke Sar's hair, it was obvious that they shared a special bond.  The same guy who lost his shoes on a drunken bender in G'boro this summer, also showed a tremendous amount of maturity and responsibility during our entire weeklong visit (except when he tracked Addis street poo into our hotel room at the Sheraton).   

 

Yeah yeah, Sar is a ninja, moving right along...

Back to the wonderful and bizzare land of Ethiopia.  To write about all of our experiences would take a few hours and Diana is already itching to get back to her Internet backgammon.  Some highlights:

 

- Eating a traditional dinner while watching live dancing (it is all about the shoulders and jumping here)
- Our taxi driver getting an actual running start to get the cab going- think Flinstones.  ari and sar returned the favor to a different (and very surprised) taxi driver stuck on a hill in Gonder.  he must've thought it was the Apocalypse.
- Playing with the kids at an orphanage- they loved being lifted up- awesome bicep curls
- Getting an impromptu but extensive tour of the Danshen Beer brewery in Gonder and then sitting down for a free "all-we-could-drink" session with our tour guide and cab driver...don't worry moms we got home ok.   
- Drinking juice that looked like a parfait, the layers of thick lovely mush: mango, papaya, banana, and avocado YEP that's right avocado.  we totally dug it!
- Diana getting a massage from a woman who thought her body was unbruisable.  during the massage she took two phonecalls and anytime dia felt only one hand on her, she opened her eyes and the masseuse was text messaging someone.  but who can complain?  it was only 8 bucks. 
- Being chased by little Ethiopian ankle biters saying "hello! hi! hello!" they all want to shake our hands.  rule:  If we saw them just picking their nose, we only wave. 

- Our first night we stayed at Sar's "hotel"...we did not stay there a second night.  Sar is hardcore.  we've seen prison films with better accomodations. 

- Shabbot at rick's is a sight to see.  his 17 kids and 15 guests gathered in a circle wearing funny jewish-themed hats and sang "if i had a hammer" and "shalom alecheim".

- Finding out that ari sounds like a pterodactyl when he gets sick.  in gonder, diana nightingale took care of ari and sar, who both vomitted every 45 minutes for 5-6 hours (don't know what caused it, but both were in serious 'GI distress'), and managed to finish a 400 pg. book cover to cover in the same day.   

- The breakfast buffet at the sheraton.  here, we repaid sar for his hospitality and kindness towards us.  we played a game for the next few days trying to think of breakfast foods that were NOT included in the buffet.  the first morning at the hotel, we each made at least 6 trips.

- Asmari beats.  amharic freestyle rap + traditional string instrument + heckling the crowd (tips expected) + shoulder shaking dancing + hysterical laughter whenever the uncomprehending faranjis get picked on = good times had by all.

- The second to last day, ari and sar went to beautiful entoto mt. to play soccer while dia experienced all the sheraton had to offer.  soccer was nearly interrupted by wandering donkeys and dribbling around piles of dung added to the defensive nature of the game.  there was also an irrigation ditch that ran down the middle of the field -- it was an orthopedists worst nightmare. 

- Getting from gonder back to addis was an "adventure".  because of ari and sar's illness, we missed our flight from gonder to lalibella (where we were to spend a day before flying back to addis).  we ended up needing to drive 180 km to Bahir Dar where we would hopefully catch a flight to Addis.  our taxi drove 60 km, where we learned that "the bridge was out".  we got out with our bags and walked across a bridge that had a huge smashed up truck on its side and an abyss covering half the bridge.  mind you, this road is the main artery in northern ethiopia (only real road) and it did not look like they were in any big hurry to reopen this bridge.

 

We know this post is all over the place, but that's sort of the nature of the country.  You can't take anything (power, water, flight schedules, cab fares, gas at the gas stations) for granted, but the unpredictability of it all can be cathartic.  Sar, with his laid-back good nature, clearly thrives there.  Then again, once a week he says he does lose it on some unsuspecting Habasha kid who tries to sell him gum for the 47th time in a day.

 

Sar, we salute you.  The Medoff MD tradition is in good hands.  Thank you for introducing us to Ethiopia, Addis, and Rick's amazing family.  Ari could keep writing, but Diana has the patience of a goldfish with ADHD.  

 

Love,

A+D