Coming off the plane the warm smell of Africa hit my nose, those who have been anywhere in Africa know the warm dirt smell laced with exhaust and garbage it seems. An experienced traveler knows how to avoid the porters at the baggage claim and avoid the taxis while keep ones eye on the prize…. a friend waiting at the end of the ramp with a giant smile on their face, Friday the 22nd I arrived to a giant hug from Melanie as she pick me up. She had been in Ethiopia for 9 days prior to my arrival. In true Nicole fashion I hit the ground running…. We stopped by the house to unload my bags, ate breakfast and made our way to the hospital for an orientation to my new work place! From there Melanie brought me to a new favourite spot, a restaurant packed at lunch time with only locals, its called Happy! We ate Injera with Shiro (large sourdough flat bread and stewed crushed beans). From there we returned home, I picked up a local sim card for my phone, and proceeded to nap away the afternoon. A successful first day indeed!
All of us international workers for the hospital are living in a house together. Egyptian, Canadian doctors and us nurses, Mel and I. We each have our own room, and share a common dinning room/living room. Our TV sits in the middle of the room on two cardboard box’s with cables stretching across the room and under the door running out to the street, I’m assuming to connect to a satellite. I have only arrived a few days ago and still finding my place in the house. How to work, live and communicate best with all the same people day and night I imagine will be a struggle at times, but I do hope rewarding in the end.
That is a nice little summery of the start to my six month adventure working in Addis Ababa! I already have so many more stories and adventures to share!
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