Walking to Work

Walking to Work in Addis

 

Hello folks. Hope everyone is well. If you read my last blog then you'll know how busy work has been. But I am enjoying it so far. I also enjoy the walk to work. It is about 45 mins and quite different to the cycle I had through Pollok Park to Lourdes. I do miss the bike. I have seen a few cyclists here, but it is more dangerous than London, I reckon. Also a lot of my walk is uphill, which is good as I haven't yet worked out how to get some proper exercise here. Apparently the British Embassy has a tennis court, but a tree fell on it last year and it hasn't been cleared since – so not many tennis lovers there. I leave my compound (that's just really my house behind a big wall and 'don't-come-near-me' gate) at 7.45. I turn down my dusty dirt track, trying to avoid the many stray dogs which bark constantly during the night, onto a larger road which has tarmac on it and head up towards what we call the embassy road. I have no idea of its real name. Roads here don't have sign posts. I did see a sign post once, Queen Elizabeth II Road, but it had fallen over and was lying in the dirt. We call the main road Embassy Road as the British embassy is on it, and right next door is the brand new British Council building. It is a gorgeous building, all wood panelled and glass. Needless to say both buildings have huge security gates. The British embassy has 88 acres of land which includes an 8 hole golf course and a vast forest out of which leopards apparently roam. What strikes me most about these two buildings is they are directly across the road from where the real people of Addis live, in mud huts and corrugated iron roofs. It looks like what you would call a shanty town. I don't think I could live and work in the embassy and see that across the road every morning. But it does cross my mind how soon I may become 'accustomed' to seeing the poverty around me every day. The poverty and simplicity and basic way of living here is a fact of life and a fact of the city. Unlike Lima where you could avoid the poorer slum areas in Addis it is all around you. All people of Addis, rich and poor, live check by jowl, almost literally. It is quite humbling really. I can safely hide away behind my big walls and gate and not see, hear or smell the 'real' Addis. For the moment I try to take in all the scenes around me each morning and be aware of the people and lives I walk past every day.

---

Chat to your friends for free on selected mobiles. Learn more.