Safari....

I cannot beleive it!!!!! Ethiopia has Safari..... I didn't think safari was exported let alone to be found in Ethiopia...

A bit of background information..... Safari is a juice produced and packeted in Malta, its my favorite make of juice in the whole world - after the fresh fruit juice in Egypt. I spent my childhood drinking this juice, and most importantly, the peach nectar, and pear juice are my favorite!!! The flavours i had been craving for the past 3 years....

Anyhow i was getting water in a supermarket, when i passed the juice section and found Safari... I was amazed at first, and thought that maybe my long lived thought that Safari was Maltese was about to end. Until i picked up the carton and found it saying Manufactured in Paola - Malta!!!!

Amazing!!!! I was sooo happy that i went running to Michelle - my manager:

'Michelle michelle they have Safari, look Safari its Maltese'

She did not seem as thrilled as i was........ but anyhow was still willing to help me carry the 5 packets of 1ltr peach juice i decided to buy and take with me to the office!

Good old Ethiopia...
Finally, after postponing my flight once cause my visa did not arrive on time, and almost twice cause my laptop did not arrive on time I'm finally in Ethiopia!!!! It was sad leaving Egypt, leaving my friends, and most especially Tom.... a couple of tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked out of the airplane window and saw the hustle bustling lights of Cairo, thought of all my friends, memories and realizing that I am heading to Ethiopia!!!
The flight was smooth, we had an initial scare as Michelle, my manager who was accompanying me lost her boarding pass, but thank God the Egyptian friendliness and helpfulness came in use.... We slept all throughout the flight until we landed.... and that is when the initial shocks began...
The airport is almost as big as the Maltese airport, and almost as nice and modern... it did not feel as though I was in a developing 3rd world country which just came out of war and who - according to my 24yrs of life, only had starving children..
The people at the airport were really nice and helpful, obviously expecting to get a big hefty tip from a white person with massive luggage...
The second shock came in soon after when we walked out of the airport and found a big fat limousine waiting for us!!! Ahhh my first ride in a limousine!!! I kicked off my shoes and put my feet up on the seat in front of me enjoying the 20min ride in luxury!!! And what luxury!!!
We then arrived at the Sheraton in Addis Ababa, which apparently has won the best hotel award for the past five years, thus making it the best hotel in Africa, but this was not all.... as soon as we got to the reception desk we were told that they were sorry, but there were no rooms available... so the hotel was putting us in an Executive Suite each!!!!!
Ahhh the Suite was massive!!!! bigger than my apartment in Egypt!!!! 2 toilets, a bureau, a bath with a Jacuzzi, a shower, a sitting room, a dining room, a kitchenette, 2 TVs, a sound system in every room.... ahh what luxury!!! The bedroom was massive, bigger than two bedrooms in the house in Cairo, the room had an exercise cycle, a massive bed that could fit 4 people, 5 big feathered pillows and much more...
It was 4am when we got to the hotel.... it was 5am by the time I got to bed... can you imagine I spent 30mins trying to find the light switch, my simple mind could not comprehend the complicated technology of all the buttons in the suite... until I totally gave up and decided to turn off the power of the whole suite so I could sleep in peace..... and slept thinking ahhh what a good start.
The following morning I woke up to a lovely shower, a nice soft fluffy bath robe and the view of Addis...... which was, I must say quite contrasting.... on one balcony I had a view of the slums of Addis, houses made out of metal and dirt with little metal roofs, and children playing football, on the other balcony I found greenery, limousines, people dressed in suits and luxury.
Michelle and I had a nice luxurious breakfast and thus headed off to my first day of work in Addis, the people in the office are pretty interesting, I got to meet the Ethiopians as well as the expats, and got to enjoy a nice Italian lunch of spaghetti carbonara - with bacon!!!!! Ahhh I can't believe there is pork, the people on the table were mainly Arabs and thus did not eat pork, so they were pretty shocked when I picked up the menu, and asked in astonishment 'Does bacon mean pork?' and as they replied 'Yes' I exclaimed in joy 'Yeah good old Ethiopia!!! It has pork!!'
The day was pretty hectic, I was a bit hard getting used to the altitude, I had a splitting headache all day, and Michelle even exclaimed that she felt light - thinking that she might fly - for those who are not aware, Addis is 2400 above sea level, and thus the air is pretty thin, making it hard to breathe at first.
The day ended with a really good briefing... I'm really exited to start working.. the work here is pretty challenging, due to the Ethiopian culture as well as the people working there - but I'm definitely up for the challenge.....
I've now just returned from a place called Milky House - strange name for a pub, where I sat with some Swedish, Irish, Lebanese, Moroccan and Egyptians having beer (gosh!!!! 6 beers cost 12Birrs - 8Birrs is 1$ so I guess you can make the maths!!! cheaper than Egypt!!!) - again what luxury!!!!
I'm now lying in my new room (we have been moved to a normal room now) where I can at least find where the bathroom and the light switch is, nonetheless with the same luxuries in the suit.... Good old Ethiopia - how about that for a 1st Day!!!

ps- internet connection is shit!!! and my new number is +2519503032

Wandering through the streets of Cairo....

Saturday morning, after a nice breakfast of Tom's amazing scrambled eggs, Tom and I decided to venture into the unknown and explore the unexplored streets of Cairo.

A man on horse and carring carrying iron in the middle of a busy street

We thus first took Metro to Attaba to get myself another piece of luggage, as I discovered that I couldn't fit all my stuff into the bags I had, then we decided to find our way to Hussain – (Khan el Khalili)

Through our instinct and memory, we followed a bridge that we thought would lead us to our destination……… not knowing that this bridge would lead us to amazing discoveries!!!

The maze of bridges in Cairo

We walked along streets selling thousands of stuff; we found the cloth street, and the spare parts street, and the shoe maker street, and the shoe polisher street as well as the clothes street……. We walked and walked followed by choruses of 'Welcome to Egypt' and 'Where you from?' from Egyptians who either wanted to show us that they could speak some English, or were just trying to be friendly.

We strolled through unknown streets, and found ourselves in the middle of old cairo, with magnificent towering mosques, the infamous Bab Zawela and the old city walls!!!

The street leading to Bab Zawela, one of the entrances of the Old City

It was a great afternoon, although we are dying in the scorching heat, we still managed to enjoy the beauty of the old city.

Vegetable vendor next to a beautiful mosque

We then treated ourselves to a nice big Cheese feteer and Banana feteer and a cold can of Coke!!!!

Around the old city

Still more to see.....

This is awsome!!! I've just discovered that over a 24.5yr period, i've managed to see 30% percent of the world!!! Its not the ideal but its still a lot!!! Considering that i've also spent 2yrs in Belgium and 1yr in Egypt, and i've visited many of the countries such as Tunisia, France, The Netherlands, UK, Germany, Luxemburg, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland more than once!!!!

Nevertheless a big bulk of the world is still waiting for me to go and see it!!!! My next target is to fill most of Africa up, at least the Eastern part...... and then hopefully move on to the Middle East and Asia!!



The red parts are where i've already been...... (including Ethiopia, which hopefully I'll be in tonight!!!)

The Beauty of the Mediterranean....

How can I ever be sick of the sea??? Especially the Mediterranean, my home, the place where i had my first swim, my first sun burn, my first skinny dip, and my first sea kiss........

After a surprise weekend Tom prepared for me in the Hiton on the north coast, my love for this wonderful sea has been strenghtened!!!! I made sure i had a good dose of this sea before i head off to Ethiopia, the country with one of the most beautiful seas stolen by Eritrea, and with all its lakes poluted with Hep A, liver fluke, and Malaria Mosquitoes!!!!!

EGYPT!!! What a Country!!!!!

Eating Yemeni?!?...

So, after hearing Yasmine going on and on and on about Yemeni food, and how good it is, and the amazing Yemeni restaurant and the even more amazing bread, Yasmine finally decided to take Chris, Simona, Mai, Hebba, Hadia and me to this legendry restaurant...

The 6 girls all jumped into Mai's car (the egyptian way) and headed off to my first experience of Gulf Cuisine.....The first impression did not really reach our expectations, we imagined this luxurious Yemeni place, but instead found a hole in the wall, with 4 tables, flipcharts as table clothes and metal plates - a small version of Mohammed Ahmed..... We were assured the place does not reflect the food, which i then verified for myself!!!

The food was amazing, we feasted on chicken, amazing rice, funny tomato sauce, some meat pastry, the most amazing flat bread i have ever eaten in my life, and to top it all up an amazing desert made of pastry, banana and honey!!! It was awsome!!! This was not it, the cherry on the cake was the bill!!!! It only cost us LE11 each!!!! (approx $2) Ahh what a life!! I only wish i had bothered to stop feasting, taken my camera and out and taken pics, but i was too fascinated by the exquisite flavours and texture of the food - besides, no cutlery were in existence, everything was done by hand - so why dirty the camera!!!

After this none of us could move, nevertheless, Hadya, Yasmine and I decided to digest the food and have a chat over a coffee at Beanos!!!!!

The day then ended with Sheesha in the Ahwa under my house and a good movie!!!!

Next Destination - ETHIOPIA

I can't beleive i am actually saying this, never in a 100 years would i have dreamt of saying that i'm heading to work in Ethiopia with an awsome multinational company - Especially a telecommunications company, knowing how IT ignorant i am!!!

Anyhow today was the final do!!! After a long 2 1/5 hours teaching Egyptians how to write English i headed off to Ericsson to sign my agreement and thus give my final yes.

The job is great, the salary is awsome, plus I'll be a border away from Kenya (the country I have been wanting to go to for the past 5yrs)

I am now in the heart of Africa, I'll thus acheive my childhood dream of living amongst the tribes (though i'll doubt if i'll find any in the Hilton) and getting to experience the untouched Ethiopian Culture. I'll make sure to write in detail....

No my dear Kate no AIESEC in Ethiopia... Yet!

Anyhows, all more than welcome to visit me - Jen will be waiting for you!!!

Should be stationed in Ethiopia for 4 months or a bit more!!!

And if anyone has any contacts there - especially of Rastafarians (have to make Tom jealous), or knows anything about the country please tell me!! :D

Finishing a Chapter and starting a new one...

My one year in Egypt is now almost at an end..... 8 months in lovely Alex, and 2 months in chaotic Cairo.... looking back, (although had loads of ups and downs) I can say that I don't regret a single day of them.

So now what next??

The logical answer to that question, 5 days ago, was go back to Malta get myself a job which involves a lot of travelling, save money, get myself a nice car, a lap top, a cool mobile, travel a bit more, and live life.....until.....

Until I got this awsome job offer with Ericsson in Egypt. The job is HR Country Manager, an awsome job description, the country is the shock - ETHIOPIA!!!!

When this was first offered to me, my immediate reaction, was 'Ethiopia? No way...' until i realised that i knew nothing about Ethiopia, I knew where it was, I knew it was a famine stricken country (due to the fact that my mother used to make me eat all my food cause 'The children in Ethiopia are dying of hunger')

After extensive research i discovered that Ethiopia is quite safe afterall, still stricken by slight famine due to the draughts, has a couple of those African diseases, is a democracy, etc etc

Thus the idea of going to Ethiopia was very tempting!!! Plus the job and its extras were also very very tempting. Imagine living in the hilton hotel, having medical insurance covered, having your driver, a laptop, food, plus a salary, in Africa (my favorite continent after Europe), and working with one of the top Telecommunication companies in the World......

Yes i did break the news to my parents, and yes they did get hysterical, nevertheless i guess they are used to this now (its the 4th time afterall) and although they strongly adviced me that Malta is the best place on earth and that i should come home, as well as offering me an appartment to live in, they also told me that its my life and my descision. My father has now been sending me links to 1000 jobs all over the world and convining me to accept this job he found in Malta...... My mother even tried hitting the boyfriend issue, asking me what is Tom doing, and if we will stay together bla bla, but as soon as I told her that Tom is going to work in the Netherlands again, she got hysterical again and said:
'Don't stay with him, God knows what things he will do when he is away from you ESPECIALLY in the Netherlands'
I then explained that a relationship is usually based on trust and then she exploded again and said:
'How dare he go to the Netherlands and send you to Ethiopia'

I thought it was actually really funny!!!

Thus, negotiations are in process with Ericsson, and if all works well, i guess my next destination would be Ethiopia!!!!

Anybody interested in visiting, is more than welcome to stay with me in my humble home, the Hilton in Addis Ababa.....