well yesterday Laura left for home..........i am happy 4 her as she was ready and missing abby and a soft bed in room that wasn't musty smelling, but i sure miss that girl already seems like it's been a long time since i am travelling w/o her.
yesterday i went to railway museum and just walked around nairobi clutching my bag tight so it wouldn't get swiped....i hate that town really don't feel safe there. i did talk to a man that told of restaurant to get crocodile and ostrich(it is at that game farm we passed laura) so i'll treat myself to that when i return to Kenya on way back home in 12 days. last night i stayed up all night as was scared to sleep in and miss flight. our hotel was in a nicer neighbourhood and i noticed about 6-7 fancy cars/suv's and went up to the bar part w/a guy from Montreal i met and it was full of local Kenyans from the neighbohood. All of them in suits and gold jewellery saying that they come here cause it is close to their houses so they can drive drunk back home and not get blackmailed for money by police cause it was just residential streets to their houses. most worked for banks, a lawyer and supposedly a newsman...either way lot was full of mercedes n bmw's .
funny that they were al rich big wigs as i sat unshaven in my smely clothes drinkin a beer next to them.
well arrived safely here.(in addis ababa-ethiopia) cannot believe the guy at airpport money exchange had to use a calculator and was adding my money 10+5+20+10+10+20 ect. i guess he couldn't count it in his head. it took almost 10 mins for him to add it up 3 times then x by 13.357 birr/dollar then count the bills out 3 times. cray how uneducated he must be. then i asked 3 german tourists if they wanted to share a cab into town. they agreed, we all sat n had a coffee together then they spoke german to each other and the guy sad sorry to me but his g.f. had heard of a tourist mugged in ethiopia so they didn't want to share a cab? there was 3 of them and 1 of me. i just got off your flight, i have no gun or knife, there is more risk of u guys mugging me i explained. i can't believe it. oh well maybe i shoulda shaved or maybe i do look like a bum. i seem to go all to hell after laura leaves when she's not here to keep me in line i guess.
I chose a hotel that would have other backpackers in it, but it s totally shitty no tiolet seat, sheets mighta been changed, hard to tell there wasn't electricity the first 5 hours i was there, plus it has locals living in it. y'know how north main bars have people living in the rooms in Winnipeg, kinda same thing.no toilet seat, stained walls, u gotta push this rod down to flush the toilet, but it has a good view and i did see many other touriss names in the sign in book as tonight i must get info about the country of which i know nothing about.
oh and i never had a problem with stomach on 10 hr bus ride after eating that chicken but now i worry someone doesn't break into my room. guess i'll find out when i return. should be safe i spoke to manager and there was a western tourist in there working for hotel running tours
darn their is a tour going tomorrow to the lower omo valley. remote part of ethiopia where tribespeople wear those clay plates in their lips and are all painted up white face paint n stuff. would be adventure and 2 aussies r looking to split cost on the land rover, i saw 3 boxes of spaghetti,fruit, and canned foods being packed for the trip. wish i had more time. wish i had laura here although i think by now after 6 hours or so she'd wanna leave. this is quite the place.poor por poor but people seem happy.
lready many homeless children have asked me for money, crazy how many there are. sad to see
i slept 3 hours, oversleeping my alarm so i missed bank to exchange trav. checks. i asked at hotel next to ours about where to cash trav checks and the girl looked at me strange and asked what a trav check was. i thought she was joking but her look showed she had never ever heard of such a thing! guess that is how many tourists come to this country, there r some but not many. so here i am wearing the most expensive 400.00 flip flops i've ever owned. my in laws bought them for me with a hollow compartment in the heel so i got about 200.00 cash stuffed into each one plus money stashed in my bag all over, that prob is being ransacked while i sit here typing............ah prob not!
i went to see a hotel built in 1898 and it is still being used. like a living museum, the wooden chairs n velvet curtains n flowered wall paper looks like from the 50's or 60's. the woodwork is amazing and the mirrors sorta have waves in the glass, if u know what i mean, showing that they are very very old. cool place i will go for beer there to sit in those chairs. had a deluxe burger n fries n coke in glass bottle for lunch. man the patty was 1/2 meat and 1/2 spices. either the local dishes are all spicy or the meat was 1/2 rotten so spices hide the rancid taste. prob a bit of both but my stomach fels fine so far. yikes there were flies on the patio while i ate watching the world go by in front of me. u know on commercials u see a ethiopian child with flies buzzin round it's face. well picture that kid being fat, unshaven, white, and about 35 and u can imagine what my lunch was like. not quite that bad but pretty danmed close.
things r so cheap here it is stupid. i just asked for prices of bottle of water 2 litre .50 and local smokes .30/pack.....i joked to guy at hotel n said 'there we go now i can get by for the next 12 days i know price of water n smokes, what more does a man need to live on!. i guess i never ased price of beer, ah gotta be cheap to.
shit raining outside i got no rain jacket. might go early now
laura sure miss you but u'd prob be miserable here. think me n ethiopia will get along just fine so i prob won't come back early, then again been out n about less than 3 hours now after waking up. quite the lil area i am staying bars n rest's everywhere close by so that is nice.
mom tell grandpa we gave money to a school for deaf for him and also to a elephant sanctuary that rescues orphaned baby elephants from poachers.
crap raining harder! crap
well i booked a ride in a mini van leaving at 3:30 am tomorrow. guy agreed to come knock on my door even so i cannot sleep in and outta this capital city out to see the country side and town that has a lake beside it and on an island a bunch of old rock churches plus blue nile falls close by.
oh laura know how i gave that sweater to security guard at that hotel, already it is cold here, addis ababa must be high elevation as cold now and only 5:03. all fun n games till i gotta buy one here
miss ya laur bet u are having sweet dreams abotu me and my dirty shirt right bout now! luv ya
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