I’m in Africa!

I’ve been trying to access my blog for quite some time now, but access here in Ethiopia is only very sporadic. I tried again this morning, and joy oh joy, I managed to get on! Hurrah!

We have been on a tour of some of the amazing historic and natural sites/sights in the north of Ethiopia, which was wonderful. We went to Ethiopian orthodox monasteries on Lake Tana, at Bahir Dar, to see the palaces at Gonder, to the Simien Mountains (breathtaking!), to the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, and finally to Axum to see the historic sites of the Axumite kingdom.

Had a wonderful time and the kids travelled really well. The Ethiopian people are wonderful: kind and generous. Ethiopia is one of the safest places in Africa, and the people are usually genuinely pleased to see you. They certainly have been pleased to see two pale little Australian girls!

We are now settled in our apartment in Addis Ababa, and my husband (a school librarian) and our girls have started at the international school they will be attending while here, last week. They are going well, and we are slowly getting used to life in Addis.

While they have been at school I have been doing some embroidery. I brought a big tablecloth to work on for my next book. Its worked in Portuguese embroidery, and I am having so much fun stitching it! I have also been reading (thanks to the librarian husband!), and… shopping!

Shopping is different, as there are no big supermarkets. Small ones only, and little roadside stores. I will be venturing out later on to do some more shopping. You basically have to FIND the local shops then see what you can get from each one. In terms of imported goods, each of the supermarkets seems to have a different range, so you have to go to wherever you can get it!

In terms of textiles, Ethiopians are very proud of their cultural dress, and you see people wearing it every day. Yes, some people wear Western style clothing, but many, particularly the women, wear cultural dress. The style that is most common in Addis and the north, is the Amhara style. It is usually made from a white cheesecloth style material, with very attractive woven bands of colourful threads, attached to the back hemline, on the sleeves, and down the front of the chest area. It is combined with a matching headscarf.

Sorry, I haven’t got any pictures yet, as many people here are not comfortable having their photos taken. However, tomorrow is Timkat, a BIG religious festival for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the baptism of Christ. Its so big that it can be quite a crush, so its not really suitable to take kids to. I will stay home with the kids, and my husband will take the camera and go with a friend. Hopefully he’ll get some great photos that I can share with you! It is a very colourful festival, so is extremely photogenic!

Don’t know when I’ll be able to access my blog again, so until next time, I hope I’ve given you a little taste of what we’ve seen and experienced!