Last day in Addis

I finally got up to Emtoto yesterday, the site of the former capital city and the palace of Emperor Mellieck (I’m pretty sure that is not spelled correctly...) There isn’t really a whole lot left there but there is a beautifully coloured church and a museum. The real draw though, at least for me, was that Emtoto is on the top of a mountain. Surrounded by eucalyptus trees imported from Australia and the local juniper trees it is like an oasis above the craziness of Addis. The air is fresh and smells strongly of eucalyptus. The breeze is cool and light and it feels like a completely different world. It is higher in altitude than the city by almost 2000 ft (at least according to my tour guide) but I could actually breath up there. No pollution. Looking out over the city you can see a cloud of smog obscuring the view so that you have to try to make out the different buildings. I will post some pictures once I am back in the land of fast internet.

Last night Fiona and I went out to 2000 Habisha, a traditional Ethiopian restaurant with really good food and music and dancers. Don’t get it confused with Habisha 2000, another traditional Ethiopian restaurant not too far away... Interestingly the majority of people there were Ethiopian – the local people go there often so it is not just a tourist attraction. There was also a tour group made up mostly of old white people. It was hilarious to watch some of them join in the dancing and Fiona and I both decided that we hope we're traveling the world and dancing when we're that age. The dancing is interesting to watch with very jerky motions of the neck and shoulders. At one point I had to look away because of the way the women were shaking their heads around – it looked like they had no neck left and their heads were going to go flying off.
Fiona had to leave early this morning for Arba Minch, the work trip that was supposed to have happened last week, so we said goodbye last night. Even though this wasn't the trip I has planned I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun hanging out with Fiona. I'll just have to come back to Ehtiopia another time to see the rest of the country - but I don't think I'll spend much time in Addis next time around...
Today is my last day in Africa and I spent most of it trying to figure out how to pack all my stuff so that I don’t have pay extra for a heavy bag. I’m still not sure if I’ve succeeded since I don’t have any way to weigh the bags. I had also planned to do some more wandering, maybe in Piazza again or down Churchill Avenue but the weather didn’t cooperate with my plans and it has been raining off and on (mostly on) all afternoon. So instead, I’m back in Limetree Cafe having coffee and trying to use the internet which has also been going off and on (mostly off) all afternoon.
My flight leaves Addis at 11:30 tonight and I get into Frankfurt at around 6am. The flight to Toronto leaves at 10 something am and then I have 2 hours to get my bags, clear customs and check into my connecting flight to Halifax. That should be interesting!

I am really looking forward to going home. It is a weird feeling because my last few trips I wanted to turn around and go back as soon as my plane landed in Toronto. I think Pearson Airport has something to do with this (my least favourite place on earth) but there was also a feeling that I wasn't ready to leave Africa behind. While I am in no way saying that I won't be back to Africa someday soon, it is interesting and in some way disturbing to me that I am so excited to get back home. I'm not sure that I can explain this very well, but I guess I'll have to reflect on it over the next little while.