Farewell

Today was my final day on assignment. It has been a difficult assignment due to a number of factors beyond my control.  Also, due to the difficulty of the assignment it was hard to enjoy Bahir Dar for itself and it was hard to stay positive even outside of work.  Given that, it was good to have a final wrap-up with the client and clear the air.

Beautiful resort (for the well heeled)

I had the afternoon off so I decided that an "attitude adjustment" was in order.  I didn't want to leave Bahir Dar in a totally negative frame of mind.  I had lunch (nothing spectacular) by the lake at a restaurant and then walked around for a while on my own.  While at the lake I happened, by chance, to bump into someone Hilda had personally befriended and worked with.  What are the chances of that happening in a city of a quarter of a million people?  I also happened to bump into a Canadian colleague I had met earlier.  He was having lunch at a particular resort when I came walking by.  It was good to stop and chat and compare notes.

It's a beautiful area to walk around in, especially during the day.  You have your assortment of hawkers and peddlers selling everything from handcrafts to traditional bags and garments.  It's also the main boat docking area so up and down the sidewalk there are tour operators trolling the streets looking for "ferengies" (foreigners) to sell overpriced sight-seeing tours to.  We are like magnets!

Take an overpriced boat tour of Lake Tana

Bajajs (taxis) ready to take the tourists home after sight-seeing

The day was capped off by having dinner with the Irelands, a wonderful family Hilda worked along side for 2 weeks here in Bahir Dar.  Andrea made linguine with tomato sauce and it was like a taste of home!  Jeremy had just returned from the US so he did his best to fight fatigue.  It was good to debrief with them after my experiences with this assignment.

Tomorrow I say, "Farewell Bahir Dar. It's been a slice". I fly to Addis in the late afternoon and then on to the "promised land" (Canada).  I trust the tales Hilda and I have shared with you have touched you like the experience has us.

So long! 👫

Attitude Re-adjustment

I had the afternoon off so I decided to do an "attitude re-adjustment" (a.k.a. take time for myself).  I went down to Lake Tana area and hung out there for a while.  I hired a bajaj to get there, had lunch by myself and enjoyed the quietness by the water.  Lunch itself, roasted lamb, was rather disappointing because it was absolutely tasteless and so dried out I could only eat a small portion. Nevertheless, the company was good (myself and the birds) and I took my time.

Relax and chill...

One of my companions for the afternoon

I decided to go for a walk to the Blue Nile Resort down the road (very posh) and came across an art exhibit by a couple of Ethiopian painters. The one artist seemed to know something about Canada because when he found out I was Canadian he said, "You have a very young prime minister and also very cool!"  Could it be because the Rastafarians (both Ethiopians and Jamaicans) like the idea of pot legalization? Makes you think...

I was supposed to meet a Bahir Dar University contact from 2016 at my hotel so just asked him to meet me at the lake. A colleague of his met us there as well. We had a wonderful visit, discussing academics, research and life in general as well as the business at hand which, incidentally, may result in more Ethiopian time in the future.

I decided it was time to relax for the evening in my room. As I got home I got another call from a class participant in my first assignment who wanted to get together on Saturday to discuss collaboration. I better stop taking these calls or I won't get home at all, and I really do want to see my wife again.