I left Brittni in Lilongwe and flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by myself. I'd talked to several other people before hand and everyone assured me that I would be safe traveling there on my own. I didn't do my homework before I arrived, and that was a big mistake! Landing and leaving the airport was stressful, it was dark, about 9pm. I found out on the flight over that pretty much all ATMs did NOT accept Mastercard. I ONLY had mastercard and had very little cash on me. Not a good way to start off in a new country. I could tell that we were driving into the slums when heading toward the "hotel" and that made me really nervous. The hotel was pretty shabby and not at all what I expected. I did not sleep well at all that night and managed to royally freak myself out. The bath tub was awful, so I didn't even take a shower.
The next morning (7 days till my flight back to America!), I talked to a few guys that were travelers and staying at the hotel. One guy told me that this place was pretty good for Ethiopian standards (that didn't make me feel very good!). All I wanted to do was get on a flight out of the country. I was tired and worn out, ready to be done with Africa. I wasn't able to change my flight, so I just had to make the best of the situation. I bought a ticket to fly to Lalibella, to see famous old churches. Addis has very little violent crime, but lots of pick pocketing and other annoyances. There were tons of handicapped people and beggars. I realized that I can handle rural poverty pretty well, but urban poverty is a whole other story. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it! I was on edge and uncomfortable 90% of the time.
Then a Korean guy and I walked around the city. I felt a lot better having someone to walk around with. We took a mini bus and then walked to the National Museum. We got to see "Lucy" who is REALLY OLD, one of the ancestors of the homo-sapien. Then we went to the most famous coffee shop in the city "Tomoka" where I had my first Ethiopian coffee. Coffee and food are my favorite things about Ethiopia! I ordered a "machiato" which is a shot of espresso and a tablespoon of milk. I had to add a LOT of sugar.
The next morning (7 days till my flight back to America!), I talked to a few guys that were travelers and staying at the hotel. One guy told me that this place was pretty good for Ethiopian standards (that didn't make me feel very good!). All I wanted to do was get on a flight out of the country. I was tired and worn out, ready to be done with Africa. I wasn't able to change my flight, so I just had to make the best of the situation. I bought a ticket to fly to Lalibella, to see famous old churches. Addis has very little violent crime, but lots of pick pocketing and other annoyances. There were tons of handicapped people and beggars. I realized that I can handle rural poverty pretty well, but urban poverty is a whole other story. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it! I was on edge and uncomfortable 90% of the time.
Then a Korean guy and I walked around the city. I felt a lot better having someone to walk around with. We took a mini bus and then walked to the National Museum. We got to see "Lucy" who is REALLY OLD, one of the ancestors of the homo-sapien. Then we went to the most famous coffee shop in the city "Tomoka" where I had my first Ethiopian coffee. Coffee and food are my favorite things about Ethiopia! I ordered a "machiato" which is a shot of espresso and a tablespoon of milk. I had to add a LOT of sugar.
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