Finally updated

It has been far too long since I updated my weblog. And the longer it took the more difficult it became to update properly since more had happened. So now finally decided to settle for a short update, otherwise it will never happen.

Much has happened over the last 2 months. My amazing nephew Jefta is growing to be a real good-looking man.

Further I ave the feeling I have settled down now and it will be hard to leave again in January. Made a couple nice hiking trips outside the city and have to confess the nature here is really amazing. There have further been several new people who have arrived either as intern, UN-staff or miscellaneous and who we now regularly hang out with. Esti, a Spanish JPO, has moved into our house and really lightened up the two-guy household (and also cooks on Sunday when our maid has off).

But most important: Gerdine is coming over in the end of this week!!!!!

She will be coming to Ethiopia until the end of my stay here (2nd of Januray) after which we will travel back home together with a small stopover in Israel to visit her sister Joke. I really can’t wait for her to arrive and have planned a nice trip for us together when she gets here (I also need a nice holiday and am looking forward to visit more of the country). Anyway next posting with pictures of me and Gerdine together in Ethiopia.

Political situation in Addis

Since several people seemed to be concerned after hearing news that Ethiopia might get into a border war with Eritrea and that there has been large unrests in Addis and the rest of Ethiopia I thought it would be good to update you a bit and explain how far my experience has been. First of all, though a war would be a terrible move by any of the countries, the situation would hardly affect life in Addis Ababa, besides some shortages like fuel as the army would get priority in supplies. This based on the experience of several colleagues who were here during the previous war with Eritrea.

The protest though are much closer, but as a foreigner you experience much less the hardship that the Ethiopians themselves do, especially the poor families. The riots have closed many businesses for quite a while and police-forces have gone from house to house arresting youth as potential protesters. Though this week the police released around 4500 prisoners who they admitted had nothing to do with the protests, many are still held in custody including the main opposition leaders. The situation has now gone back to stable, but underground tension remains probably until the political situation is settled. But unfortunately there are no signs at all that a settlement would be reach soon.

Personally I have hardly bee affected by the situation. The closest to any protest I got was during the Meskel celebration in September. During the last protest, where around 40 people died, I mainly stayed within the compound of our house or the UN-compound, which both were very safe places to be.











It is a very strange experience to hear some gunshots and further read on Reuters and the BBC what is going on in your own city, while you are just enjoying yourself to kill time. Especially since afterwards you hear all the horrific stories of people being arrested, or shot since they refused to come with the police, and families who don’t know where their sons have gone.

On a more light perspective we handled the situation really calm. Stocked up a lot of drinks and food and enjoyed our time together. As many friends were staying in areas that were not as safe or they would be home alone we had several guests over. This resulted in a house packed with 7 people, sharing beds (don't worry I shared a bed with Jens), sleeping on the sofa or ground and cooking or browsing the Internet for news the whole day.

For now Addis seems back to normal, but nobody can say what will happen next. Protests might erupt tomorrow or in half a year again it all depends. But for now we are back to normal again and enjoying the greatness of this beautiful country, that deserves a better future.