At the University: We have had problems with no electric power twice on Fridays. Last Friday the power went off and on three times which was difficult as I was trying to use the computer. I just found out the main library has a generator for about six months donated by an NGO. We really need something like that at the Institute as the interior rooms of our building get too dark to use the library or visit the museum.
I tried to start reference work at the Foreign Language Library . I found people are not accustomed to reference and a few that did ask questions spoke in Amharic. So I will continue and try and also recommend some basic reference sources for my colleagues.
Someone that I knew from the Embassy was just here and they donated some materials for the library and museum. I ran into this person as he was leaving and he asked if it was at all possible for him to use the bathroom. I told him not to expect much (no running water) and found the key (things like that are just for staff usually and are locked). I told him it would be good for him to see what the conditions were like since he is a newcomer to Eth. At another time, I will have to discuss with him the lack of water, lack of flushing, lack of soap and toilet paper-of course, and see if he can suggest solutions.
Different foreigners handle the lack of bathrooms or the horrible bathrooms in different ways. It is interesting to see how everyone copes with this problem found throughout this country.
Other: The past couple of weeks, water pressure at home has been weak or there has been no water at times. I did go out about 2 weeks ago and purchased two 20 liter jerry cans for washing and cleaning. I think it will get worse in the coming months as that has been my experience before. I was told that due to the high volume of construction, poor reservoirs and other things, water is meagre at times.
Yesterday was a holiday-Id Aladaha. This was to commemorate the time when Moses was told to sacrifice Isaac and the saved, I am told. Lots of people were up and about in town. The Muslims were in new clothes and went to an outdoor arena, Meskel Square, to pray early morning. Lots of good cooking aromas from my apt. building! Some long known friends from AAU invited me for lunch which was pleasant. Then visited some Ethiopian friends in early evening.
Hope to attend a holiday tea at a friend's house this week. "European Christmas" is around the corner and the Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas in January 7.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Meetings and Merriment
Marie Paiva, Institute of Ethiopian Studies Library, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA.
Mobile: 251-11-913-1744-55
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the University: meetings continue with the Institute's planning and organizing of future activities. There are plans for a new building and hopefully there will be a groundbreaking ceremony when I am still here. The library acquisitions committee work continues. We met the regional manager for Africa from Blackwells Publisher-a vendor- and hope to set up a Horn of Africa profile with him so that library materials will automatically be identified for us for possible purchase. We also met with some distinguished scholars and donors from abroad and were busy preparing the Museum and Library with special displays and meetings. While awaiting the group, I happened to look out the window for them on the second floo where the library guards were hanging around. It looked like someone had thrown up on a windowsill-some disgusting looking mess. When I looked closely, I found it was almost a whole ingera (Ethiopian spongy bread) covered with some remnants of greay wot (stew).When I asked why it was so prominently displayed, the guards said it was for the doves (pigeons). I told them that sight was not impressive and to immediately clear it off before the speical guests saw it. It was cleared off-probably someone shoved it off to the first floor windowsill...The guests seemed happy to be visiting us and a few of them asked questions about my work as well as about life in Ethiopia.
Last week was a lecture about possible Ethiopian images in western art and just got the text of that speech. It was an interesting topic.
Other:I received a phone call about a town meeting at the U.S. Embassy for its citizens living in this area. The group was 90% Ethio-Americans. There were addresses by the security officer, the political officer, a nurse and then Ambassador Yamamoto also gave a brief speech. They had some little snacks but the whole event was held outside and we were freezing. After 6pm temperatures drop sharply from the 60-70s range to 40s or below. Some of the info was useful, some familiar and I saw some familiar faces from the wildlife group and a couple of new people as well.
Attended a holiday concert and tea held at an area church. It was good and enjoyed that as much as another holiday choral group (Motley Singers) singing Christmas music.
Now I just noticed a few days ago some greenery and Christmas trees in local supermarkets and restaurants.
Mobile: 251-11-913-1744-55
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the University: meetings continue with the Institute's planning and organizing of future activities. There are plans for a new building and hopefully there will be a groundbreaking ceremony when I am still here. The library acquisitions committee work continues. We met the regional manager for Africa from Blackwells Publisher-a vendor- and hope to set up a Horn of Africa profile with him so that library materials will automatically be identified for us for possible purchase. We also met with some distinguished scholars and donors from abroad and were busy preparing the Museum and Library with special displays and meetings. While awaiting the group, I happened to look out the window for them on the second floo where the library guards were hanging around. It looked like someone had thrown up on a windowsill-some disgusting looking mess. When I looked closely, I found it was almost a whole ingera (Ethiopian spongy bread) covered with some remnants of greay wot (stew).When I asked why it was so prominently displayed, the guards said it was for the doves (pigeons). I told them that sight was not impressive and to immediately clear it off before the speical guests saw it. It was cleared off-probably someone shoved it off to the first floor windowsill...The guests seemed happy to be visiting us and a few of them asked questions about my work as well as about life in Ethiopia.
Last week was a lecture about possible Ethiopian images in western art and just got the text of that speech. It was an interesting topic.
Other:I received a phone call about a town meeting at the U.S. Embassy for its citizens living in this area. The group was 90% Ethio-Americans. There were addresses by the security officer, the political officer, a nurse and then Ambassador Yamamoto also gave a brief speech. They had some little snacks but the whole event was held outside and we were freezing. After 6pm temperatures drop sharply from the 60-70s range to 40s or below. Some of the info was useful, some familiar and I saw some familiar faces from the wildlife group and a couple of new people as well.
Attended a holiday concert and tea held at an area church. It was good and enjoyed that as much as another holiday choral group (Motley Singers) singing Christmas music.
Now I just noticed a few days ago some greenery and Christmas trees in local supermarkets and restaurants.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Theft and Assela
At the University: More meetings with good outcomes (hopefully), and plans for purchasing more books and discussion of library security.
In this country, theft is common in libraries and the main library even recently reported a whole set of encyclopedias being stolen in the evening hours. To complicate things, the main library is now open about 22 hours a day (actually 24, but they close for 2 hours for cleaning) and I wonder if things will continue disappearing but at a faster rate. I heard you can go to the big mercato and find used books and stolen library books for sale. I would like to see that for myself some time. I keep hoping to start a small reference service a couple of times a week with another librarian. Perhaps this coming Friday we can do that. The Internet continues up and down each day. Many other projects are moving along.
Other:Adentures in Assela
A group of 25 headed out to Assela via a stop at Nazaret to enjoy juice and coffee last Saturday. The bus passed through much acacia studded land with camels nibbling on the sparse vegetation. Our first stop was to check out a clothes outlet which was lackluster. The next stop was to look at some mining excavation for pumice. Many were fortunate to view a hyena hiding out in the nearby bush. Later, we had a picnic lunch close to a pond and watched cattle that were brought in to be watered. It was very scenic with large pastures and fields with boys and men tending the oxen, goats, donkeys and horses. We arrived in Assela, home of runner Haile Gebreselassie, around 2pm and looked for our hotel. This trip was without our usual leader, so we were a bit on our own. She had provided some info for us but the hotel simply could not be found. Plus, there was a meeting that weekend and we were told all the hotels were booked up. A small group went scouting for rooms and came back an hour later to successfully report they had found a few hotels for us. Some of us stayed in the Olympic Hotel, on the second and third floors. The door handle and lock plate fell off when I attempted to close the door. The hotel had small rooms with screeching music coming from area shops. Assela has just built a road going through town there was much construction still going on. Garis, trucks, animals and people zoomed along the road. A group of us met up at Hotel Daaratu, for drinks and dinner. We feasted on vegetable soup, roasted veal, zil zil tibs, fish goulash and other menu items. We then decided to find a tej bet and were unsuccessful so we settled for beer at a nearby bar. It featured deafening western music, a strobe light, Britney Spears on screen and a few prostitutes milling around.
The next day, after a full breakfast at Hotel Daaratu (which was built by the famous female 1990s runner Daaratu ) we headed by bus to Mt. Chilalo accompanied by a local guide. We split up into groups and hiked for 4-5 hours trying to reach as close as possible to the top (13,000 feet?). It was a bright sunny day with beautiful views all around us. The wind picked up in the afternoon and became chillier. Our group sampled large string beans and encountered fields of oats, wheat, and legumes. Locals offered to carry our backpacks and bags which was helpful as we walked uphill. Thanks to mobile phones, we were able to check with other group members to ascertain their whereabouts. Children, dogs and goats often came to greet and meet us on the path. There were many tukuls, children tending cattle, fields of grain being ruffled by the wind, clumps of eucalyptus trees, woodsmen chopping down trees, women tending the fields, and people working and walking on the mountain. We came across an elderly couple sitting on the cow path. The man claimed he was 130 years of age and his wife was 90 (but did not offer birth certificates). They agreed to photos in exchange of a few birr. On the way down we saw some beautiful black and white colobus monkeys, wildflowers and a few birds. We made a quick tea/beer stop in Mojo on the way back to Addis.
In this country, theft is common in libraries and the main library even recently reported a whole set of encyclopedias being stolen in the evening hours. To complicate things, the main library is now open about 22 hours a day (actually 24, but they close for 2 hours for cleaning) and I wonder if things will continue disappearing but at a faster rate. I heard you can go to the big mercato and find used books and stolen library books for sale. I would like to see that for myself some time. I keep hoping to start a small reference service a couple of times a week with another librarian. Perhaps this coming Friday we can do that. The Internet continues up and down each day. Many other projects are moving along.
Other:Adentures in Assela
A group of 25 headed out to Assela via a stop at Nazaret to enjoy juice and coffee last Saturday. The bus passed through much acacia studded land with camels nibbling on the sparse vegetation. Our first stop was to check out a clothes outlet which was lackluster. The next stop was to look at some mining excavation for pumice. Many were fortunate to view a hyena hiding out in the nearby bush. Later, we had a picnic lunch close to a pond and watched cattle that were brought in to be watered. It was very scenic with large pastures and fields with boys and men tending the oxen, goats, donkeys and horses. We arrived in Assela, home of runner Haile Gebreselassie, around 2pm and looked for our hotel. This trip was without our usual leader, so we were a bit on our own. She had provided some info for us but the hotel simply could not be found. Plus, there was a meeting that weekend and we were told all the hotels were booked up. A small group went scouting for rooms and came back an hour later to successfully report they had found a few hotels for us. Some of us stayed in the Olympic Hotel, on the second and third floors. The door handle and lock plate fell off when I attempted to close the door. The hotel had small rooms with screeching music coming from area shops. Assela has just built a road going through town there was much construction still going on. Garis, trucks, animals and people zoomed along the road. A group of us met up at Hotel Daaratu, for drinks and dinner. We feasted on vegetable soup, roasted veal, zil zil tibs, fish goulash and other menu items. We then decided to find a tej bet and were unsuccessful so we settled for beer at a nearby bar. It featured deafening western music, a strobe light, Britney Spears on screen and a few prostitutes milling around.
The next day, after a full breakfast at Hotel Daaratu (which was built by the famous female 1990s runner Daaratu ) we headed by bus to Mt. Chilalo accompanied by a local guide. We split up into groups and hiked for 4-5 hours trying to reach as close as possible to the top (13,000 feet?). It was a bright sunny day with beautiful views all around us. The wind picked up in the afternoon and became chillier. Our group sampled large string beans and encountered fields of oats, wheat, and legumes. Locals offered to carry our backpacks and bags which was helpful as we walked uphill. Thanks to mobile phones, we were able to check with other group members to ascertain their whereabouts. Children, dogs and goats often came to greet and meet us on the path. There were many tukuls, children tending cattle, fields of grain being ruffled by the wind, clumps of eucalyptus trees, woodsmen chopping down trees, women tending the fields, and people working and walking on the mountain. We came across an elderly couple sitting on the cow path. The man claimed he was 130 years of age and his wife was 90 (but did not offer birth certificates). They agreed to photos in exchange of a few birr. On the way down we saw some beautiful black and white colobus monkeys, wildflowers and a few birds. We made a quick tea/beer stop in Mojo on the way back to Addis.
Monday, November 26, 2007
"Students Shouting Like Monkeys"
At the University:Finished touring the main library and visited the Computer Systems Dept. and the Binding Dept. Making contacts with out of print dealers for our library acqusitions. Visited the Office of Sustainable Development and chatted with the director. She gave us some brochures for our library collection and promised a price list for their other publications. Met with the Head of the Foreign Languages section who also showed me around the Manuscripts reading room. I hope to work with him at the Reference Desk there in the near future.
A few days ago some students were walking by our building which also houses the office of the President and other university administrators. There are university police posted at each entrance, including for our building. These students were very excited and talking at the top of their voices. I saw the police telling them to buzz off as they were disturbing the place. Then I heard one of the institute staff describing the event as "students shouting like monkeys" and agreed they had to be shooed off! The students quickly hurried out of the way.
Other: Attended a wildlife talk by Prof. Shoshani from the Biology Dept. He spoke of the disappearing elephants of Ethiopia and Eritrea as there are poachers hunting these animals. A newly created Kafta Shiraro Park will help with wildlife conservation and perhaps educating the public about elephants.
A few days ago some students were walking by our building which also houses the office of the President and other university administrators. There are university police posted at each entrance, including for our building. These students were very excited and talking at the top of their voices. I saw the police telling them to buzz off as they were disturbing the place. Then I heard one of the institute staff describing the event as "students shouting like monkeys" and agreed they had to be shooed off! The students quickly hurried out of the way.
Other: Attended a wildlife talk by Prof. Shoshani from the Biology Dept. He spoke of the disappearing elephants of Ethiopia and Eritrea as there are poachers hunting these animals. A newly created Kafta Shiraro Park will help with wildlife conservation and perhaps educating the public about elephants.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Indians and Red Indians
Today is the fifth day of the third month of the year 2000, according to the Ethiopian Calendar. Warm days 70F and cold nights upper 30s F.--------
At the University: The first week I was here two people asked me if I was a Red Indian. I explained that term was no longer in use and Native American was the proper term of today. And then I explain I am Asian-American, etc. One of these people wanted me to find photographs of Native Americans and I referred him to some websites. Many people I casually meet-on the minibus or in shops- ask me if I am Indian and I say yes as that is the easiest answer!
My colleague tells me that the Univ has been hiring professors from India for about 7-8 years to fill in where they do not have local experts. I take it that many Ethiopians are dismayed to see these people getting USD$1500 a month when the local people get less. I see Indians around my apt. building and on campus but they are very serious looking and go about their business. When I take the mini-bus to work, I see a few professors each week as well. One architecture professor and I exchanged phone numbers but she teaches on a different campus from the one where I am. Another one also talked to me-he is from the Informatics Dept. and came to visit my office last week.
I had an excellent appt. at the Embassy last week to discuss higher education resource needs in Ethiopia. There will be follow-up later & I look forward to working with them.
The local book vendor had not responded to our library's questions for about 6 months. I volunteered to contact them. They said they were not aware of a book list that was given to them in May. Anyway, things seem to be settled as the book vendor and his director came to visit me to smoothen things out.
Other: The US embassy held a concert with Addis Ababa's Millenium Committee in the Municipality Theater. I was invited and so were some of my colleagues from the Institute. It was crowded and filled with mostly Ethiopians. First we had some nice hors d'ouvres and soft drinks and I found some people from the Wildlife group. The group Chicago Trio played a series of light jazz and American folk tunes. Later, a group from the Yared Music School played serious Ethiopian songs on their string instruments. The Americans finished up with a few pieces accompanied by a sopranist.
Some friends and I decided to hear the popular Ethiopian singer, Teddy Afro (stage name), last Saturday even at the state owned Ghion Hotel and there were no chairs for the audience. We had to wait 2 1/2 hours to hear him sing and so we bought expensive drinks and food from the hotel. Teddy first started with new tunes which I did not know but later sang a new year song and then his favorites. It was excellent (he writes his own songs), but the cold was intense. My feet froze as it was in the upper 30s by the time we left at 1:30AM! I was surprised by the coldness as I had a long winter coat. Some of the women in the audience were wearing sleeveless tops, skirts, or dresses. But, I do not think they came jus to hear the music. We spent over 6 hours at this open air venue.
At the University: The first week I was here two people asked me if I was a Red Indian. I explained that term was no longer in use and Native American was the proper term of today. And then I explain I am Asian-American, etc. One of these people wanted me to find photographs of Native Americans and I referred him to some websites. Many people I casually meet-on the minibus or in shops- ask me if I am Indian and I say yes as that is the easiest answer!
My colleague tells me that the Univ has been hiring professors from India for about 7-8 years to fill in where they do not have local experts. I take it that many Ethiopians are dismayed to see these people getting USD$1500 a month when the local people get less. I see Indians around my apt. building and on campus but they are very serious looking and go about their business. When I take the mini-bus to work, I see a few professors each week as well. One architecture professor and I exchanged phone numbers but she teaches on a different campus from the one where I am. Another one also talked to me-he is from the Informatics Dept. and came to visit my office last week.
I had an excellent appt. at the Embassy last week to discuss higher education resource needs in Ethiopia. There will be follow-up later & I look forward to working with them.
The local book vendor had not responded to our library's questions for about 6 months. I volunteered to contact them. They said they were not aware of a book list that was given to them in May. Anyway, things seem to be settled as the book vendor and his director came to visit me to smoothen things out.
Other: The US embassy held a concert with Addis Ababa's Millenium Committee in the Municipality Theater. I was invited and so were some of my colleagues from the Institute. It was crowded and filled with mostly Ethiopians. First we had some nice hors d'ouvres and soft drinks and I found some people from the Wildlife group. The group Chicago Trio played a series of light jazz and American folk tunes. Later, a group from the Yared Music School played serious Ethiopian songs on their string instruments. The Americans finished up with a few pieces accompanied by a sopranist.
Some friends and I decided to hear the popular Ethiopian singer, Teddy Afro (stage name), last Saturday even at the state owned Ghion Hotel and there were no chairs for the audience. We had to wait 2 1/2 hours to hear him sing and so we bought expensive drinks and food from the hotel. Teddy first started with new tunes which I did not know but later sang a new year song and then his favorites. It was excellent (he writes his own songs), but the cold was intense. My feet froze as it was in the upper 30s by the time we left at 1:30AM! I was surprised by the coldness as I had a long winter coat. Some of the women in the audience were wearing sleeveless tops, skirts, or dresses. But, I do not think they came jus to hear the music. We spent over 6 hours at this open air venue.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Cards and Monkeys
At the University: Address here: Marie Paiva, Volunteer Librarian, IES Library, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA.
Visiting the main library to see one of the Cataloging Dept for a tour. They use the LC sytem and an open source program, Koha, to get titles into their online catalog. They also maintain a card catalog but in some years hope to discontinue that. We are looking for some out of print and other materials here at the IES Library. Heard back from the local rep. and hope that it works out soon. I had a nice meeting with the head of the Library and got some good feedback. Our database review on Friday mornings continue, but last week the Internet was not that great. Made some more appointments for the main library for this coming week. All in all, lots to discover and learn about the Univ. system and work keeps moving along.
Other: A friend from the UK invited a couple of us to attend an art exhibition at a gallery some distance away. All in all, very nice and I got to see some interesting art work from a local artist and meet some new people. On Saturday, the wildlifers climbed Mt. Menangesha at about 2,900 meters. I chose the easier path which was steep! An Ethiopian woman who knew something about plants hiked with me. There were lots of wildflowers including delphinium and many ferns. It was cool and windy on this hike. We all met up on the top of the mountain and had our lunches and rested. Then, we went down and this time saw several black and white colubus monkeys with their sweeping tails leaping from tree to tree. We also saw a few vervet monkeys hanging out at the cemetery looking mischievous. A few bird sightings as well. On the way home, we stopped at a flower farm and walked around a bit to admire the carnation, geranium, agapanthus, day lillies, and more.
Visiting the main library to see one of the Cataloging Dept for a tour. They use the LC sytem and an open source program, Koha, to get titles into their online catalog. They also maintain a card catalog but in some years hope to discontinue that. We are looking for some out of print and other materials here at the IES Library. Heard back from the local rep. and hope that it works out soon. I had a nice meeting with the head of the Library and got some good feedback. Our database review on Friday mornings continue, but last week the Internet was not that great. Made some more appointments for the main library for this coming week. All in all, lots to discover and learn about the Univ. system and work keeps moving along.
Other: A friend from the UK invited a couple of us to attend an art exhibition at a gallery some distance away. All in all, very nice and I got to see some interesting art work from a local artist and meet some new people. On Saturday, the wildlifers climbed Mt. Menangesha at about 2,900 meters. I chose the easier path which was steep! An Ethiopian woman who knew something about plants hiked with me. There were lots of wildflowers including delphinium and many ferns. It was cool and windy on this hike. We all met up on the top of the mountain and had our lunches and rested. Then, we went down and this time saw several black and white colubus monkeys with their sweeping tails leaping from tree to tree. We also saw a few vervet monkeys hanging out at the cemetery looking mischievous. A few bird sightings as well. On the way home, we stopped at a flower farm and walked around a bit to admire the carnation, geranium, agapanthus, day lillies, and more.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Ahead at full speed
At the University: Last Friday was an interesting day. When I approached my building to unlock the door at 7:50am, I saw a note posted in Amharic pasted on the edge of the doors and forming a seal. I spoke to the Univ police and they said they would send someone else to look at it. That took about an hour. Evidently, they found the door opened during the night and wanted to make sure the interior of the offices was okay. My office was fine and hopefully all other offices were as well.
Then I finally got to start the Database Review with 3 librarians. I had asked if I could do this the first two weeks and nothing was said. The University receives probably 50 databases through donation or arrangment with NGOs. I observed that most of the staff here were unaware of these resources which might be extremely helpful in their work. So the 4 of us met in my office for about 1.5 hours to check on the databases and we searched under the keywords of Ethiopia and Horn of Africa and tried boolean operators, truncation, and nesting. Each resource has to be opened with the User ID and password in order to deter non-educational use as was recommended by the vendors. It was fun and I learned some things and hope they did as well.
Also, the US Embassy called twice. There are new staff there and they want to see what resources the library here has and perhaps what they need. This week I shall be trying to organize a list of online and print sources and perhaps prioritize them. I also briefly spoke with the director of the main Library about getting suggestions for this list. The result is that I have a meeting with the embassy folks in 8 days and can't wait. I would like to invite them here to visit our library, the main library (where I worked 7 years ago) and perhaps the National Library where I worked 10 years ago. One of the problems with online resources is that there seems to be a lack of training for users, from what I have observed. Thus, library patrons continue to use the card catalogs and print indexes.
Other: Visited St. Mary's Church in Arat Kilo as they have a special millenium exhibit. These pieces on display reflect the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. I joined in with some Ethiopian friends and of course the tour was in Amharic. A deacon found me listening from a distance and took me on a personal tour in English. There were paintings of saints and religious events, photographs, historical items, church books and musical instruments and much more. It was very colorful and packed with items. It was very nicely done and quite educational. The other group had a lengthy tour and we left with the tour still going on after more than 2.5 hours! Attended the Flower Show to see plants and flowers raised by loal gardeners as well as flower arrangements. I should have entered something!
Then I finally got to start the Database Review with 3 librarians. I had asked if I could do this the first two weeks and nothing was said. The University receives probably 50 databases through donation or arrangment with NGOs. I observed that most of the staff here were unaware of these resources which might be extremely helpful in their work. So the 4 of us met in my office for about 1.5 hours to check on the databases and we searched under the keywords of Ethiopia and Horn of Africa and tried boolean operators, truncation, and nesting. Each resource has to be opened with the User ID and password in order to deter non-educational use as was recommended by the vendors. It was fun and I learned some things and hope they did as well.
Also, the US Embassy called twice. There are new staff there and they want to see what resources the library here has and perhaps what they need. This week I shall be trying to organize a list of online and print sources and perhaps prioritize them. I also briefly spoke with the director of the main Library about getting suggestions for this list. The result is that I have a meeting with the embassy folks in 8 days and can't wait. I would like to invite them here to visit our library, the main library (where I worked 7 years ago) and perhaps the National Library where I worked 10 years ago. One of the problems with online resources is that there seems to be a lack of training for users, from what I have observed. Thus, library patrons continue to use the card catalogs and print indexes.
Other: Visited St. Mary's Church in Arat Kilo as they have a special millenium exhibit. These pieces on display reflect the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. I joined in with some Ethiopian friends and of course the tour was in Amharic. A deacon found me listening from a distance and took me on a personal tour in English. There were paintings of saints and religious events, photographs, historical items, church books and musical instruments and much more. It was very colorful and packed with items. It was very nicely done and quite educational. The other group had a lengthy tour and we left with the tour still going on after more than 2.5 hours! Attended the Flower Show to see plants and flowers raised by loal gardeners as well as flower arrangements. I should have entered something!
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