Diaries from Dire Dawa: July 2010

It was a rough weekend. At least domestically speaking. On July 17 I got up thinking it was Friday. I even went to bed by 11 the night before because I was thinking work-day today. I got up, did my normal morning routine which today included cooking veggies and meat for Peanut's food (I was running low on dog food and thought it’d be smart to make it ready in the morning, so I could feed her second meal of the day during my lunch break), put Peanut on her leash, gathered my things and took her for a walk to the office to drop my stuff and then around the neighborhood. I was slightly miffed that at 10 minutes to 8 am the office still looked so empty, but I dropped my things and continued on our morning walk. By 8:10 I’d dropped Peanut at home again and was on my way back to the office. That’s when my neighbor asked me, “Are you working today?” Of course, was my reply.

The whole preparation of Peanut’s food had started the day with a bit of a shock. Literally. On Thursday night I’d run out of cooking gas for my stove, right in the middle of boiling some whole wheat pasta. Let’s just say my pasta was definitely al dente that night, even after I’d left it to stew in the hot water for an extra half hour after the gas ran out. The point was that instead of the usual throw-everything-into-a-pot and boil it together routine (rice, veggies, meat), I had to roast it in the oven. So I unplugged the fridge (I only have one outlet in the kitchen, so I have to alternate which appliances to plug in), and plugged in the oven and let it pre-heat while I chopped everything up and wrapped it in tinfoil. Then I opened the oven, and reached down to put the baking tray in. That’s when my elbows did this strange buckling thing. At first I thought it was strange for my arms to give out, but maybe it was because I was still half asleep. When it happened again I realized it an electrical shock from the stove. So I carefully closed the oven door trying not to shock myself again (although having no idea why I was getting shocked). After I’d eaten breakfast I decided I’d fill up the kettle for coffee. I reached to the stovetop to grab it, and again the stove sent an electrical pulse through my body. So I took an oven mitt to grab it with, thinking that might help, but the same thing. In short, before leaving for the office that morning, I shocked myself at least seven times. My kitchen was staging some sort of rebellion. First the cooking gas has run out, now my oven and only way of cooking, was shocking the living daylights out of me.

Back to the office for another seemingly normal day at the office just after 8:10 in the morning: The office was completely empty still. Strange, I thought but sat down at my desk and turned on my computer. Only when I started opening my emails did I realize that it was not, in fact, Friday morning but Saturday morning. So there I was, at 8:15 am on Saturday morning, checking my work email. I’d like to blame the repeated electrical shocks for the whole confusion, but perhaps it was the altered work week I’d had from traveling from Copenhagen to Addis and then working for a day in Addis office before flying home to Dire Dawa and Peanut following a last-minute intermezzo in Copenhagen last week (more details to come on that later).

After realizing that it was Saturday, I briefly considered going home and crawling into bed again but that seemed silly after getting up and getting ready for the day. Then considered going for coffee at Elga and stopping for breakfast (a most awesome chapti from our street lady), but a quick glance in my wallet revealed it to be empty. I’d have to go back to the house to get money. And if I went back to the house, I might as well go to bed. So I stayed at the office and had some quality internet time, taking advantage of having exclusivity over our bandwidth.

The night before, I’d made plans with a friend here to come over for dinner on Saturday. Of course, at that point I’d thought it was Thursday evening and I’d do the shopping for dinner on Saturday. It now being Saturday, meant I had to make a plan for what I needed to buy to make dinner. After a few hours of surfing the internet, I went home, cuddled Peanut, and decided I’d bake banana bread for dessert. But after I’d started, I realized I was missing half the ingredients. I had the bananas, but nothing else. So I made a list of what I needed for the banana bread and dinner. I also arranged to steal the single electric hotplate from the office so I’d be able to cook. My time in the kitchen that weekend would prove to be a dance around the outlet, coordinating which appliance to plug in when. And when to unplug the stove so I wouldn’t electrocute myself further.

Dinner and the banana bread turned out great, and I managed not to electrocute myself any more that day. The remainder of my energy on Saturday went to adjusting my internal clock to the idea that it was the weekend. The danger with thinking Saturday is Friday, is that Monday is more torturous than a normal week. But I managed to adjust well and spend Sunday reading, sleeping and hanging out with Peanut.

Now it’s Wednesday and I’m looking forward to the weekend in a few days, this time with houseguests coming for the next week on Friday evening. Now what to make for dinner and Friday, and is Peanut really ready for this? Hopefully she’s going to remember all the training we’ve been doing and be on her best behaviour for our houseguests!