ARRIVAL
Well, we are in Ethiopia now. We arrived last week on Monday 15th at 6.00 am! By 10 o clock Ursula was in her first engagement at the African Union buildings. Madness I tell you.
We have arrived in the middle of the wet season, so it rains every-day, and often at night as well, usually as thunderstorms. And is quite cold, 12 to 16C (53-60F) and when it rains it feels colder. The other thing about Addis is that it is the third highest capital in the world at 2400 metres (about 7500 feet in old money) and it has taken us a bit by surprise. I am not used to feeling breathless after walking up one flight of stairs. An we need to drink lots of water as we dehydrate very quickly. And alcohol has a completely different effect, getting dehydrated for one. So we are hardly drinking anything, perhaps one beer if we go out.
I had not realised how Addis Ababa has grown over the years since I was here in 2011. Over 8 million people in a huge sprawling city that appears to be one enormous building site. Literally everywhere you look there are new skyscrapers going up, mostly built by the Chinese. We are in an 8-storey apartment block for the time being. Two large bedrooms each with a bathroom, with a lounge and small kitchen and TV in the bedrooms and lounge. And serviced as well so more comfortable than we are generally used too. But this will be temporary given the rent we are paying.
The view to the west from our bedroom. Don’t be fooled by the greenery, it is waste ground waiting for development.
And so to bureaucracy. Excuse me if I spend some time on this, but it is central to our lives at the moment. First our marriage. As you know we were married in Thailand. We have an official translation into English stamped and certified in Laos and with the Germans. With this we have lived in Zambia, the US, Laos of course, Switzerland and the Sudan, and it is also accepted in Germany. But not in Ethiopia. For it to be accepted here we need another translation from a certified Thai translator, and then have the translation certified by the Foreign Office in Germany, and then that must be taken to the Ethiopian Embassy where it must be certified again. Only then can we take it to the relevant Ethiopian government departments here to get me a residence visa.
And similarly, with our driver’s licences. We have to send our International driving licences together with our Swiss driving licences back to Switzerland. There the Foreign Affairs department must certify that they are valid, and then they must be taken to the Ethiopian Embassy in Switzerland to certify that the Swiss stamps are valid. With all that we can then apply for Ethiopian driving licences.
The more observant might have noticed a possible difficulty with all this. Marriage certificates and driving licences do not fall under the Foreign departments. They fall under Home Affairs, but Ethiopia wants Foreign Affairs! We will keep you updated, but I am here on a tourist visa – one month at a time – and this can only be renewed twice.
We did spend a morning attempting to get visas and licences when we first arrived, and that was an experience in itself. The authorities in their wisdom seem to have amalgamated into one office all those things requiring an official stamp. This includes getting your graduation certificates certified, driving licences, marriage certificates et al. So, when we went there was a “queue” (I use the word loosely to describe a long scrum stretching up two flights of stairs). On the land there was something resembling a proper scrum with about 30 people crammed together before a locked door which was opened periodically to let one person through at a time.
The ones remaining on the landing were becoming increasingly angry and impatient. A man in a light blue suit eventually forced his way out and set about shouting, kicking and beating about the head the waiting throng to force them downstairs. He then grabbed Ursula and I and took us inside and told us to wait. He took a cursory look at our documents and told us they were not acceptable! Later we went into an official’s office to argue our case and were confronted by the same man, when he became slightly more reasonable, no shouting, beating and kicking, but told us what stamps we needed. So now we are trying to get the official stamps we need from Switzerland and Germany. Altogether a frustrating experience.
Looking down on a wedding party from the terrace restaurant in Ghion Park.
More pleasantly there is a lovely park 15 minutes’ walk from us, Ghion Hotel and Park. It is a haven for birds in this concrete jungle and also a place for wedding photographs and receptions. We go there for coffees and toasted sandwiches and I go there for birdwatching when it is not raining. I do not get there very often.
As I say, we will keep you informed. I will try to be more regular in our blogs now that we are in Ethiopia. Best wishes to all