Back to Addis

Posted by Serge - Saturday, April 19, 2008

Flying from Mekele back to Addis. Finally, internet access! After having been literally shut off from civilization for 2 days. Even if Mekele is the most important city in the Tigray region, you can’t rely on internet access. The special Vodafone card for extreme circumstances has also proved useless. Result: a blog backlog of several days and a more than worried spouse!

In the afternoon, we left to go souvenir hunting. We had exactly 60 minutes allocated for this and they started…now! For whom? What? Will it fit in my suitcase? Not too heavy? Fragile? Result: 3 traditionally handcrafted scarves for my lovely daughter, wife and mother, a colourful Ethiopian scarf, belt and sweatbands for my son, a few necklaces, T-shirts and, last but not least, 3 packets of fragrant coffee beans for my dad, my brother and myself. Mission accomplished in minute 59.05!

That evening, Sadie and I were interviewed for the last time. We told our stories on the roof of our hotel, with the magnificent sunset of Addis as a backdrop. We were having a hard time. After hearing ‘final cut’ it was all over. We left the interview to join the group with whom we had spent a week working under extreme conditions and sharing extreme emotions. We are flying in the St. George, the Ethiopian Jupiler (a famous Belgian Beer).

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