ET - Day 2 - The Great Adventure

(Saturday - August 21)

Since we were a 1 trip family, S and I decided to go to ET a few days early to get in some sightseeing before we picked up our little man.  We knew once we got him, all of our attention would be on him.

We had previously arranged to meet up with a friend's brother-in-law, Beninim, in Ethiopia.  We had met a wonderful Ethiopian couple, and his family still lives in Addis.  Of course, we didn't know anything about Beninim, except that he was a "nice guy".

We got off to a rocky start.  He was suppose to pick us up at the hotel at 8 am, but we didn't end up leaving till almost 11 am.  He had loaned his car to a buddy, and the buddy hadn't brought back his car.  We were just going to call it off, but he said that he would try to rent a car.  Well, he did.  And, 2 hours later, he was at our hotel with a beat-up barely running car.  It was not at all what I expected. 

We say our hellos, pay for the rental, and then the owner gets in the backseat with me.  Kinda weird, but we go with it.  After about 10 minutes of being on the road, the car runs out of gas.  S, our new friend Beninim and the owner get out of the car and push it to the side of the road.  The owner then grabs a gas can from the trunk and takes off on foot.  This would prove to be preview to our day.

While we wait, we find out a little bit more about Beninim.  He is 22 years old, is studying accounting and lives at home with his mom and dad.  He is very gracious and doesn't seem the least bit unsettled by us running out of gas.  After about 10 minutes, the owner returns with some gas, and we are off once again.  Our goal is to get out of the city and head south to the country.  G is from the country, and it's important for us to see at least a piece of it.

Before we can head out of the city, Beninim needs to change clothes, so we head to his house.  Of course, we have to go by way of his University.  I get a sense that it is kinda cool for him to be with some Americans just like it is cool for us to be with him.

The traffic is just crazy, little shops and people are everywhere, the owner is still in the backseat with me, he doesn't speak any English, there are no street signs, no street lights, the exhaust is overwhelming, 3 of the 4 windows won't roll down, livestock is in the road, and the roads are half-paved with the other half being rocks and mud.  It was quite commical.  Typically, I'm not a go with the flow kinda girl, but I had told myself that I was just going to soak it all in on this trip. I have always wanted to go to Africa, and now I was there.

We are in a constant state of stop and go when the owner of the car just gets out and waves good-bye.  Again, Beninim is not unsettled by this at all.  I'm still just going with the flow in the backseat :)

We finally make it to Beninim's house.  YEAH!  I wish I had taken pictures, so I could remember it.  We did get to meet his dad and his servant.  His dad was very gracious and asked us to stay awhile, but we needed to leave in order to make it to the country.  Before we left, he did show us his kitchen which was outside in an alley.  It looked like what I had seen in pictures including a place for the coffee ceremony.

As we head out of the city, we have to go through all of the traffic and congestion that we just went through.  From the backseat, I can tell we are on empty.  Gulp!  It's not like there's a gas station on every corner.  S must have been thinking the same thing, because he lets Beninim know that we are on E and need to stop at the next one.  We make it to the gas station.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  I'm feeling comfortable enough to get out and snap a few pictures.  Here we are just pass where all of the traffic was.  (OilLibya must have owned almost all of the gas stations we saw.  And, all of the gas was leaded.)

 

These blue taxi vans are EVERYWHERE and they are PACKED with people.  They are the main mode of transportation as most folks cannot afford a car.  The taxes on a car are 200% of it's cost.  ($10,000 car really costs $30,000)  That seems just horrible; but once you are there, you can't imagine the chaos and exhaust if more people drove cars.

 

 

 

We are finally heading to the country.

As we make our way out of the city, there is a check point to get in and out. However, it doesn't seem to be in operation today.  We see more women making their way into the city carrying huge bundles of firewood on their back.  Most are from the country and have walked hours to sell their wood in the city.  (We only saw women doing this, and Beninim confirmed that this was a woman's job.) 

We are on the main highway headed south, and you share the road with livestock.  This is the equivalent of our I-40 or I-65.

(Note: Most of these pictures are taken behind a dirty window glass.  Remember the windows didn't roll down.)

 

The herders use these long stick/whip things to make the animals move for the cars.

 

 

We pass several small little cities where there would be a grouping of houses and shops.

 

This was at a bus stop.  You would see shoe shiners everywhere.  Since it is the raining season, there is mud everywhere, and this is how people get their shoes clean.  I assume during the other seasons, the folks are cleaning the dust off their shoes.

The country is vastly different from the city.  It is flat and lush with mountains all around it.  Houses dot the landscape, and it is beautiful.  It's a place where you would imagine a high-end resort community.  But, then you snap back to reality, and you are in Ethiopia.  Those houses do not have running water.  A few might have electricity.  They farm the land by hand and with oxen.  Life is hard for these folks.  If something goes wrong with a crop, they don't eat.

 

 

A small boy beside the road all by himself.

This is a traditional house.

Beninim and me

This is luxury transportation for the folks out in the country.

We're driving down the road, and there in front of us are 3 herds of about 30+ steer each.  And, we were starting to have problems with our car.  If we idled, it quit; and we're about 1 1/2 hours out of town.

Each herd had 1 or 2 boys keeping the herd together.  They were walking them ALL the way to Addis to sell.  We also saw herds of goats.  The boys herding the goats seem to be younger than the steer herders.  But, all of them looked pretty young.

This was a stretch of road LINED with trucks storing gasoline.  They sit abadoned along this road until they are needed to replinish the gas pumps in the city - maybe there were around 50.

After about 1 1/2 hours out of the city, it was time to head back.  We didn't want to be out in the country at night, especially with our car.  Our adventure and my constant prayer were just about to start.

As you can imagine, there is constant stop and go.  Even on the highway, you have more stop and go than you would think due to the livestock and people.  And, everytime we would stop, our car would quit.  In the beginning, Beninim could just start it back up with the key.  But, you could tell with each key turn that the battery was getting weaker and weaker.  We finally hit a stretch of road where it was wide open giving the battery a chance to recharge some. 

Then.....

  

We hit the city and bumper to bumper traffic.

Now, it seems like all the cars are manual drive.  Ours was.  And, you need 3 feet to drive when your car can't idle.  You need a foot for the gas, one for the brake and one for the clutch.  Also, remember our gracious friend is studying accounting and knows nothing about cars.  (No knocks on accounting folks)  Luckily S knows something about cars/engines and puts my mind at ease a little.  He comes up with a system where he will be in charge of braking by way of the emergency brake.  That way Beninim can keep his foot on the gas.  The goal is to keep the RPMs up.  Unfortunately, it takes a while for Beninim to understand.  Instead of holding it at a constant high RPM, he keeps reving it up.  And of course, everytime it hits the low idle, it dies in bumper to bumper traffic.  At first, we can just turn the key.  But, the battery is quickly dying.  Since Addis is hilly, we start using that to our advantage.  We either roll forward or backward and pop the clutch to start the car. This whole time I am in the backseat just praying and coming up with how we are going to get back to the hotel. 

Then, we hit another round-about.  This one is completely FLAT, and the car dies.  We are in 2nd inner lane of the middle lanes of 4 lanes of traffic with cars all in front of us and all behind us.  Beninim had been so cool up until this point and never really complained.  Now, he was starting to get a little more upset wishing he had his car.  Amen to that!

Beninim gets out of the car and waves traffic around and opens up a spot for us to push backwards.  He and S push and get the car rolling backwards.  Now keep in mind, there are people everywhere, and we are the only white people we have seen all day.  So, I'm sure people were wondering what in the heck was going on and maybe chuckling to themselves about the crazy Americans.  Now, I'm still praying, and I have come up with my plan B.  I'm just going to rely on Jesus to get us back to the hotel.  67% of the people are Christians, and I am just going to keep saying Jesus' name until I find another brother or sister in Christ that speaks English that will help us get back to the hotel.  It's weird, but I'm really not that freaked out.

God is good, and the car starts.  Just ahead there is a main road where the traffic is actually moving.  It's the highway back to our hotel.  We can charge the battery and just keep the gas down.

We FINALLY make it to the hotel even with a wrong turn by our rattled friend.  (Luckily, S caught it.)  I felt like kissing the ground, but I'm trying to play it cool in front of our gracious host.  He still has to take the car back.  We offer to pay for a taxi for him, but he declines.  We had brought a sports T and cap for him. I am so glad that we did.  He truly was such a good sport to spend the day with us.

Within our 6 hour adventure, our car died about 100 times. 

 

Now that it is over, I can say...

This was a great adventure!