As for celebrating the day, we didn't do anything special. Just being in Africa on his birthday is pretty special. Maybe the safari next week could be the celebration!
 |
| A greeting written by one of Dave's students. |
I have spent the past two afternoons hanging out with Misgana, one of the staff from the street boys program. She loves to shop and enjoyed taking me around to find some souvenirs and other needed supplies. I wanted her to do all the talking and negotiating, hopefully not to be charged 'ferenji' prices. She said she preferred to go to the 'supermarkets' where there were fixed prices. The street vendor stalls have 'flexible' pricing as she called it. My confusion is the relative value of different items. For example, a bottle of shampoo is the same price as a chicken kebab dinner. The same ride in the bajaj can vary from 30 to 100 birr (the ferenji price) while a mini-bus taxi will be 2 - 5 birr for the same distance. Of course that one doesn't give door to door service.
Misgana and I went out for lunch both days at restaurants along Lake Tana. We had beautiful views of the lake, watching the fishermen in the papyrus boats putting out the nets and bringing them in again with some fish. The lake shore area by the one restaurant was a lush park with palm trees, papaya trees, and other trees I don't recognize. The flower beds were filled with the same flowers we plant out as annuals in the spring. There were also other tropical plants that we have as houseplants! The main streets of Bahir Dar are lined with palm trees and have medians filled with flowering trees. It is a very beautiful city.
No comments:
Post a Comment