Lexxie: Drama Queen Gets a Haircut!

Let's face it when most of us go to a Hair Salon, we're excited.  It's makeover time: a new haircut, maybe new colour to create a whole new look; it's all good!  Somehow when I pull out our Lulu Bag of Grooming Tools, Lexxie always attempts or tries to make a fast exit. She doesn't buy-in to the make-over concept.

Going somewhere Lexxie?

 Paul and I are dumbfounded, but not surprised when Lexxie, AKA the Drama Queen (DQ), does her 'dead man walking' routine.

Paul, put down the book! Lexxie has escaped!

Why does she feel so threatened by our attempts to make her into her birthright: a poodle? It seems she would be just as happy being a dust mop, rather than a groomed poodle. Desperate times, call for desperate measures. Paul and I know we're not trained 'groomers', but "necessity is the mother of invention." Living in Ethiopia has transformed us into reluctant groomers. Lexxie attempts to run, but she cannot hide. She behaved the same way in Ottawa when I took her in for grooming. She shakes like a leaf, yelps when you pick her up and uncontrollably displays her 'Elvis' curl when we touch her feet. We don't take it personally. She's just being a DQ.  Sunday marked the day slated for "poodle clean-up" and Paul and I were the reluctant dispensers of this honour.

Paul began by brushing her:

All smiles: the calm before the storm.

 For those of you who are familiar with the 'Elvis' curl, you will notice the beginnings of one in the picture below. She doesn't like anyone touching or brushing her legs so she's getting ready to lunge and her mouth is beginning to curl into a snarl. The good thing (for Paul!) is she doesn't try to bite, but rather, tries to nudge or lick the hand away. The 'Elvis' curl is her attempt to appear vicious or threatening.  It rarely works!

I dare you to touch me with that brush.

There's no turning back now.  Paul has out the razor. We need the razor for her face and judging by her expression she doesn't agree and definitely doesn't like it.  Oh well, just add it to the list.  She hates everything connected to grooming.

I'm warning you.  Don't let that razor touch me.

She's only 4.1 kilo grams so her struggle with Paul is moot. Her expression and overall body language let you know she is not enjoying it one bit. You can't tell from a picture because our camera has motion stability, but she is just shaking like a leaf. She doesn't appear to have a tail and her back foot is balanced at the very edge of our cooler-table as she is just looking for the chance to take flight.  The very picture of a stressed DQ.

Disclaimer: To all would be poodle groomers, don't be distracted by the panting, the shaking, the whining and the lolling tongue.  These are just normal DQ tactics.  Remember: No poodle was hurt during the hair removal process.

Are you even listening? I said don't touch.

Little help here Ma! I'm starting to hyperventilate.

No, seriously, make him stop. My tongue is starting to restrict my breathing.

My tongue keeps growing and my hair is falling out. HELP!

....and the poodle is re-born or close enough.

Now that it's over she is so forgiving as she tears around the house, shaking off loose hair and rolling off the effects of her imagined torture. She even stops this typical routine (I'm free at last!) to pose for a shot of Paul's handiwork. Paul is becoming quite an accomplished groomer. In earlier attempts he left behind sideburns, which sadly, I missed too during my inspection. A lot of help I am. That caused a lot of laughter as the girls began calling her 'Wolverine'.  But these blunders have made Paul a better groomer and me, a better inspector.  Wolverine sideburns (as we affectionately refer to them as), and any excess hair, find their way to piles on the floor. Despite it all, we feel she's a lot better off; short term 'pain' for long term gain.

She twirls as her ears swirl around her head.

OK, I hear you. I'm beautiful, yada, yada, yada. But I still don't like grooming.

I'm begging you on my knees. No more grooming!

Oh yes, Lexxie is a Drama Queen! She can do all the begging she likes, but when her hair grows out again and she begins to resemble a dust mop, Paul and I will be back in business.

Journey to the South

Driving south of Addis Ababa we came upon the sprawling expanse of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR). SNNPR  provides diverse scenery in its south-central location of Ethiopia. SNNPR is considered Ethiopia's most rural region.  Considering it is not currently rainy season I was surprised at how green the region was. Fields were being worked and there was more evidence of livestock being penned rather than roaming free. There are of course many livestock still roaming across the road, but in some cases enclosures were made. The landscape includes high and rugged mountain ranges, undulating plateaus and farm fields, stunning views of gorges and deep river valleys and grassy rolling plains. SNSF currently supports 8 woredas and 8 zones within this area. Our destination on this road trip was Sodo or also known as Wolaita Sodo. Sodo is a zonal headquarters and the woredas in that zone report to them. It is located only 200 kms from Addis, yet the drive (nothing unusual) took us close to 5 hours.  Roads though paved are winding, and drivers have to be alert to the dangers of  pot holes, and other road hazards like pedestrians, livestock, passing vehicles or vehicles swerving into your lane to avoid said hazards. The posted speed limit may be 80 km/hr, but this is only possible for very short stretches at a time and seriously not worth the risk.  

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region

We left from Paul's office in Addis around 1:30 and we were in Sodo and checked in before 7.  The hotel here was much nicer than the one in Jijiga. We were met by the local food security co-ordinator, who had us already checked in and he then took us to a nice restaurant for dinner.  He had arranged for us to meet the following morning with members of the woreda office in Boloso Sore, just 20 minutes outside of Sodo.  This meeting was also being attended by Celeste (Deputy Head of Operations for the Canadian Embassy), as well as two senior representatives from the Ethiopian Government's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. This was a meeting for the woreda to show the results of their hard work since the inception of this programme. For me it was an eye-opener.  I sat in the room among employees of the woreda office as their admin officer gave a PowerPoint presentation. Despite the fact that the presentation was made in English, by a non-Native English speaker, the enthusiasm and genuine buy-in to the programme's successes clearly came across.  During the Q &A afterwards there was full participation from the members as they addressed the questions from senior government representatives from both Canada and Ethiopia.  It was so rewarding to hear personal experiences and view evidence of activities that are working and having such a profound affect on the lives of beneficiaries. 

Afterwards Paul invited the members of the woreda office (@ 25) to join us for lunch. Among things I have come to love about Ethiopia is how friendly and genuine Ethiopians are.  It was nice to meet with them in such an informal setting as we sat at various tables and ate traditional Ethiopian fare: injera, lentils, spinach, and shiro. It was a Friday, which is a fasting day (sometimes hard to keep up!) so there was no meat served. It was very traditional (no cutlery) and I,  like a good habesha tore off pieces of injera and scooped up my food. I can do it in a pinch, but obviously still prefer the use of a knife and fork; to each his own. Another distinctive feature of rural Ethiopia is the cost of local food at a restaurant. 25 people ate all they could eat and drink and the total bill, with tip was 500 birr or around $25.00.  You are never going to beat those prices back home. 

After finishing lunch and bidding them farewell we continued north towards Addis.  We stopped again along the way at the woreda office in Lemo.  Lemo is another zonal centre, similar to Sodo.  It was an impromptu stop by Paul to see how the woreda office was doing and he was not disappointed. We were warmly greeted and members were open and willing to discuss and show us evidence of their work successes. 

Our journey home was long  and I must admit that for much of it I lay sprawled out in the back seat of our Ford Everest.  It's pretty comfortable despite the bumpy roads.  I did manage to take some pics which spoke to the rugged landscape complete with greenery, farmland, gorges, mountains and people. These pictures were also taken from the backseat of a moving car so please excuse the electrical lines and some poor definition; still don't really know the features on Paul's camera.  

Some houses were built back from the road

Stick wood frame construction

Plowed fields

Farm structures

Stores along the way

Loved the fact that livestock in this picture weren't on the road

Green, green, green

Mountain range landscape

Growing up nicely: false banana

Greenspace!

Journey to the East

Paul's development project encompasses a large portion of Ethiopia.  He manages the National office from Addis Ababa, but he also needs to travel to various regions, and woredas to assess progress.  On some of these excursions I have accompanied Paul.  These trips have broadened my perspective of Ethiopia and of the work and positive results of SNSF (Safety Net Support Facility).

My first trip with Paul was back in September when we visited Bahir Dar.  It was the first time going beyond the congested confines of Addis and it was like a breath of fresh air.  There was so much open land space, and much fewer people and cars. We also stayed at Kariftu which is a very nice resort by North American standards.  There was no roughing it here, but in my defence, this was my first road trip.

Fast forward 4 months and it was time for further discovery.  Paul asked me to accompany him to Jijiga, a city located in eastern Ethiopia. It is the capital of the Somali Region and it lies just 60 km west of the border with Somalia.  The most noticeable difference when entering Jijiga is the dominant presence of the ethnic group known as Somali.  They inhabit the Horn of Africa (Somali Peninsula) and they are predominantly Sunni Muslim. The language they speak, unlike Amharic which is spoken throughout the rest of Ethiopia, is Afro-Asiatic. Of course this didn't really matter much to me since I don't understand either language. Jijiga's close proximity to the Somalian border provides it with a convenient stronghold for smuggled contraband. Travellers going to and from Jijiga are given close inspection. We found time to visit the 'market' though surprising perhaps to some (?), I didn't buy anything.  The market is very large with many kiosks selling everything from clothes, shoes, material, cosmetics to household goods.  We didn't visit the electronic market, but apparently you can pick up cell phones, TVs, etc for a 'steal'.

The other distinguishing feature about Jijiga is the prevailing use of khat (pronounced 'chat').  Khat is a flowering green plant native to the Horn of Africa. It is an amphetamine-like stimulant and is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite and euphoria.  Khat enclosures (usually just a corrugated metal lean-to) line the streets in Jijiga and chewing khat is a very popular lunch hour past time.  Sacha remarked that these khat 'dens' are the reasons behind 1.5 hour lunch hours.  We were told that chewing khat is the equivalent of drinking 3-4 cups of very strong espresso.  It's not illegal and khat fields all over the area are doing a brisk business, however like any drug there are harmful side effects. It's sad because despite harmful side effects, there appears little reduction in consumption.

We flew to Jijiga from Addis and arrived Thursday before noon.  It's a short 2 hour flight, but our return trip home was by car, so that proved to be considerably longer albeit more scenic.  After the first hour (of a 10 hour trip) however, the scenery somehow lost it's appeal!  But, I digress.  Jijiga was my first experience with typical African travel.  We stayed at a hotel - 1 of only 2 in town where ferenjis stay- which gave new meaning to the term: 'bare bones'.  The room was clean, just very basic and somewhat run down.  They offered 'free wifi", but curiously, it only worked on my phone, not my laptop. There was a TV mounted on the wall (I believe it was a 12 inch), but it didn't work which was fine since I doubt there would have been any English channels. This hotel did offer excellent accommodation for the SNSF training event that was being presented, so it clearly served it's purpose.

The town is quite large (not by Addis standards), but there were only 2 restaurants (aside from the hotel's, which was fine) that Sacha (Mgr teaching the training) had gone to and felt were 'okay'.  It only takes experiencing the effects of "African Revenge" to make you cautious in your eating choices.  It's always wise to take the advice of someone (in this case Sacha) who has eaten at a restaurant. We weren't offered a menu as it appeared the only food being served was: injera, shiro (crushed chickpeas) and beef tibs (grilled with onions and peppers).  Didn't matter, the food was excellent. We sat outside on the patio and the place was just hopping - clearly a popular choice.  If not for the abundance of flies everywhere I would have had nothing to complain (only to Paul) about.  Later that evening we went to the other restaurant that was quite similar except this one had nice cold draft on tap.

After Paul's meeting the following morning we visited the market again because our travel companion, Sega (Paul's Admin) wanted to do a bit more shopping.  After lunch and shopping, we were on the road.  We cut up the trip by stopping 4 hours in and staying at a hotel in Dire Dawa called the Samrat.  This hotel was really nice, with pool, TV that worked, and a lovely restaurant that offered Western food.  The cost of our accommodations, including breakfast: 800 birr or around $40.  I will never quite get use to how reasonable (to down right cheap) the cost of living is here.

The rest of the trip was a lot of driving courtesy of  our driver Robel.  We didn't have our camera (d'oh) so I did the best I could using my phone. It wasn't like our safari of course, but we did manage to see a few baboons and lots of camels.  Camels are very common beasts of burden in these parts.  I found it fascinating to see them roaming about or being lead, laden with sacks or wood.  

Common sight on the streets of Jijiga

Rocks everywhere

Scenery along the way

Camels too!

They almost blend into the background.

My favourite trees: acacia

Rock formations are so 'henge' - like!

Tanzania Trek Continued

We journeyed across Serengeti National Park towards Mwanza. Mwanza is a regional capital bordered on the north by Lake Victoria.  It's a very beautiful lake, but like most free standing bodies of water in Africa, you would not want to go swimming. Parasitic worms are very common in Africa and this lake is no exception. Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia is a disease caused by these worms. Hey, we had safely avoided the curses of African belly, Tste fly bites and malaria. We weren't planning on taking a dip any time soon. Besides it would be too hard to pronounce (spell) that disease! The approach was nevertheless very scenic, especially the unusual rock formations that lined the roads.

View of Lake Victoria

What's the meaning of these Mwanza henge's???

Mwanza "rocks" the pastoral feel

Rock or Henge?  Pretty amazing!

We drove through Mwanza City to the community of Ukiriguru.  This is where the Ministry of Agriculture Training Institute (MATI) is located.  Paul worked at the Institute from 1991 to 1997. During this period of time Paul was employed by Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, Manitoba. He headed up a project based in Ukiriguru and likely made an average of 2-3 trips per year.  It became like a second home to him and he forged many friendships that continue to this day.  One such friend is Beny Mwenda and his wife Mama Mwenda who were there to greet us when we arrived.  Beny had arranged for us to have access to the Guest House which is used by the Institute for visiting lecturers, project people or visiting students. It was not in use so we had full access. We arrived in our 2 vehicles and Ray and Alfa set up our tents on the large grassy lawn outside the guest house.  We were excited to have the accommodation and security of a guest house after our camping experience with Cape buffalo and elephants.  There were "regular" bathrooms, a kitchen, a comfortable living room and beds for those who wanted to sleep inside.  The place had water, lots of it, but unfortunately there was no running water. The guest house gave a whole new dimension to the term "bare bone basics".  Okay, so our definition of a guest house was a bit different from an African one.  In the end it made no difference; water is water even if you have to use buckets to apply it.  All part of our African experience.

On our first night Beny and his wife invited us to their home for dinner.  Beny still works at the Institute although he has made numerous trips to Canada in pursuit of higher education and in support of the Institute. It was a very emotional reunion for Paul to be able to come back to Tanzania, with his family to reconnect with a very happy time in his life. Paul has been working in development since before 1991 and it was so wonderful for me and the kids to touch base with some of the fruits of his labour.  We enjoyed Beny and Mama Mwenda's hospitality and made plans for the following day.  Back at the guest house the kids used their creative skills to improvise the absence of critical amenities like dishes. Yup, Paul and I will take credit for their ingenuity and it was better than drinking straight from the bottle.

A whole new approach to drinking water.

The next morning after breakfast prepared by Mr Delicious, Eric we began our day of exploring Paul's old stomping grounds.   Paul and I went with Beny to the Institute to meet some of his former co-workers. Beny presented a power point presentation of the work they are currently working on at the training Institute. Their approach targets youth with the intention of making them productive contributors to society. Later we would go and meet some of the graduates. We also met an amazing lady that Paul has worked with and known for years, Mama Kapande. She is an amazing lady who has worked in development most of her life.  She has won numerous awards both local and International and even though she is well into her 70's she is still working.  She is scheduled to visit Canada this summer to attend a conference in London, Ontario. She will be presenting a paper on  Early Childhood Development practises in Tanzania on behalf of the Tanzania Association of Home Economists. It is the conference of the International Federation for Home Economics.

MATI: Ministry of Agriculture Training Institute

We went back to the guest house and picked up the rest of our group to continue our tour.  During the next few stops we were introduced to a people who have applied the skills they have acquired through MATI towards establishing or working entrepreneurial enterprises.  We saw evidence of  woven baskets and cloth, amazing peanut butter, honey and wine, and pottery.  What is amazing is how all these people have risen above bare subsistence living.  Mama Shigella, for example, has had incredible success in designing and making pottery 'stoves'.  Her design went to International engineers for assistance, and it  is now a design template.  She knew Paul as soon as she saw him and was very proud to show us her crafts and explain the impact MATI has had on her life and her family's standard of living.  We saw the same sense of pride in all the people we met.  No one was looking for hand outs.  They were working their skills and in so doing were making for themselves and their families a better way of life.  The school we visited was a real eye opener. Unfortunately there were no children there as it was Christmas break, but the Principal and one of the teachers came out to meet us.  We listened to them speak of their school initiatives and of the successes they have had with raising attendance as well as the nutritional health of their students. Allison as a fellow teacher was able to recognise the pride they took in their students.  It is humbling  to see how basic the actual conditions are and yet the outcome is the same: education.  Allison took down emails from Beny as she intended to establish a mentoring program between her class in the UK and this class here in Ukiriguru.  The schools in this area are helped by MATI. MATI works with all the local schools to help with vegetable production for the food programs and for sale and income generation.  I know I felt proud to see some of the results of Paul's work.

MATI grads 

JoJo and Jenn, soaking it all in.

School's breakfast program

MATI construction

Peanut butter, honey and wine, oh my!

Mama Shigella pottery enterprise

Mama Kapande accompanies us for lunch

We left all this evidence of Paul's good works and headed to what we all do best: eat! After our late lunch we headed to the Culture Centre where we wandered though museum exhibits and then were entertained by cultural dances; some more that others.

Cultural dance involving a snake

Girls getting snaky.

Girls taking part in traditional dance, minus the snake

Cultural Centre

This was a full day and it was late by time we returned to the guest house and our tents.  We sat outside for awhile, under the stars and enjoyed each others company.

The next morning we were up early (nothing new there) and once again enjoyed breakfast prepared by Eric. It was then time to pack up and head back to Sunbright Campsite, just outside of Arusha.  This was by far our favourite campsite and a perfect choice for our last night in Tanzania. The journey from Mwanza to Lake Manyara was long and tiring.  We stopped for lunch, and although the trip was on mostly paved roads it was still bumpy and long.  I suspect the fact that we saw few animals added to the length of the journey.  Perhaps we were a little sad knowing our safari was coming to an end.  Maybe we should have been in the Girls' safari vehicle cuz they managed to make the most of the long trip.

Drinking Games

Followed by sleep

More sleep

And getting ready to sleep!

We saw lots of ordinary animals along the way.

At least these cows kept to the shoulder

Miss Goat preferred the main drag

Cows and Goats,oh my!

 And we had our last glimpse of wild life.  It seemed fitting that a giraffe was the first and last animal of our safari.  Not surprising, we all showed the same degree of excitement!! It just never gets old.

Just imagine seeing this scene as you drive down the highway!

Giraffe and his best friend the Acacia tree!

He turns to look towards us.................

But the tree is definitely more interesting

We arrived at the Sunbright Campsite around dinner time.  We were tired, but happy and satisfied safari trekkers.  It was our last night of what had been an incredible experience.

Next morning we drove back to Arusha.  We stopped at a touristy shop where we, and by we I mean the ladies, all bought souvenirs of our safari.  Wood sculptures of giraffes, zebras and elephants, canvas oil paintings of safari animals we  had seen up close and personal, jewellery, scarves and  wooden bowls. There was something for everyone and now these souvenirs have special places in our homes, our friend's and family's homes and most of all in the memories they had inspired. We stopped again in Arusha to eat our last lunch prepared by Mr. Delicious, aka, Eric. Remember guys? It was a deep dish pizza-like quiche.  Wow, was it good!  And then it was time to say good bye to Ray, Alfa and Eric.  We had arrived full circle and we were now back at Kilimanjaro Airport.

The flight back to Addis is under two hours.  We had just taken off, when the pilot made a public announcement.  I've flown so many Ethiopian flights over the last year and typically announcements are completely unintelligible,  You can usually catch the odd word, but for the most part it's wise to just tune it out.  In this instance the message was loud and clear: "Ladies and Gentlemen, on your right, Mount Kilimanjaro!".  He said it so calmly, but what an absolute thrill to look out and see this magnificent vista right below us.  Ammmmmaaasing and not a view any of us will soon forget.  What a spectacular way to end our Terrific Tanzania Safari.

Ladies and Gentleman, Mount Kilimanjaro

Spectacular!

Thank YOU JoJo for these amazing pics

It just never gets old!