The air still crisp and cool, flowers blooming in the beds surrounding the airport and the sounds of the city waking up met me as we walked to the car. I had missed this place more than I thought.
Four weeks ago I sat on a series of five consecutive flights and 7 airports to get to Winnipeg, Canada to spend some time with my family. My brother’s wedding the occasion, I had taken three weeks off work to spend time with my long-lost family in Canada.
It’s amazing to be a part of their world, but it’s much different than my (former) little universe in Copenhagen and the life I’m living in Dire Dawa. A trip of that nature usually also involves a series of practical tasks, things to be accomplished while in Canada – renew my Canadian driver’s license, check up on my banking, wax my eyebrows, get a haircut, etc.
The trip back was a little more eventful; set to be the reverse (more or less) of my five flights a little volcanic eruption on Iceland disrupted everything from my travel plans to the supply of Norwegian salmon in Hong Kong (I have very reliable intel to confirm that last bit). Winnipeg to Chicago was no problem, but in Chicago our flight was re-routed to Olso as Danish airspace was still closed. In Oslo they put us on busses and shipped us some 10ish hours through the Norwegian and Swedish countryside to the airport in Copenhagen. In the midst of all this I had missed my connecting flight to Brussels, which had been cancelled anyway, and left wondering how I would continue on the next part of my journey.
Rumours had it they were bussing passengers from Copenhagen to Brussels, a thought I couldn’t bear after the bus ride from Oslo. Luckily after a little bit of waiting, I managed to rebook my flight to Brussels, but my airline couldn’t reserve me a seat on my connecting flight from there. A little phone chat with Ethiopian Airline’s office in Brussels and they had remedied my predicament and I was all booked and confirmed for my flights to Addis Ababa April 25. Luckily everything on the way “home” went off without a hitch and I was Ethiopia bound.
I managed most of these tasks leaving just one undone. The haircut. I’m trying to remedy this tonight, before I fly back to Dire Dawa tomorrow afternoon. I figure my chances here in Addis Ababa are better than in the double d. I booked an appointment with a junior stylist (40 birr cheaper than a senior stylist) for this afternoon. I just need a trim, but let’s see how this goes. I went to the one place in this city I have heard of: Boston Day Spa. It’s in a building that houses one of the favourite café/restaurants for the ngo worker/ex-pat crowd here and has a jazz bar that’s rumoured to be nice. It seems to be a the safest bet…
Before I head back to Dire Dawa on the afternoon flight tomorrow, I’ll be running a few errands to the ex-pat grocery store as well. Mosquito repellent and a French press are on my list of things to get.
Sorry this update isn’t more exciting… one would expect better after such a long silence, but alas I’m out of the rhythm and falling asleep in front of my computer.
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