The Highland Run - part 2
Recognized
“You must be Kenyan,” someone interrupted my walking pace, as I headed to the Engineering block from Research Block 2. She then extended a hand, even as she blocked by path.
“My husband said that someone overtook him so fast. He said it must have been a Kenyan”
I shook her hand back.
“True, am from Nairobi. Here for a short project”
“How long are you here for?”
“I have done two weeks. I have one more week”
“You know,” she continued, “My husband is quite fit and fast. He has been running for years”
She paused to gauge me.
“He said that you passed him as if he was at a standstill”
“Oh, thank you. I just run for fun. The campus circuit is quite good for a relaxed run”
“It was a pleasure meeting you. I think Kenyans are now on top of the world in running,” she said.
“Sure,” I agreed, “This is our year.”
“I envy you. Nice to have met you”
“Bye, see you again later,” I concluded.
This was quite a pleasant surprised at this lunch hour break. A stranger recognizing your efforts through a story from a third party! It couldn’t be any better. I spent the afternoon at Engineering block office feeling on top of the world, even as I planned for the evening run.
Since my arrival on the wee hours of Monday, October 3, I had somehow managed to do my runs on this new land, some one thousand two hundred kilometers out of Nairobi. On Tuesday, TJ and I decided to check out the routes within the new campus. We just hit the tarmac and followed our instinct in making a run path from the hostels, to Engineering and back to hostels. The circuit turned out to be only five minutes, at our very relaxed jogging pace. This was therefore just under one kilometer. We did a second circuit.
“You know,” I started, “I will have to do forty-two such circuits if am to prepare for the marathon”
“By then you shall be dizzy, with the locals wondering at your sanity levels,” he responded, even as we kept jogging looking for alternative routes.
We decided to just run through the compound through different paths, to find out if we could elongate our running route. We stumbled upon dead ends, closed gates and even a football field – all in the quest for a route that was worth our while. When we were warming down, thirty minutes later, the time being about six-twenty, we were at least happy with this inaugural run, hardly one day after our arrival.
For TJ, his arrival was actually that very morning. We were however booked on the same Sunday night flight, but he could not make it. I remember his call while I was seated in the plane ready for takeoff.
“WB, I do not think we shall make it. We arrived at the check in when they had already closed”
“How did that happen?,” I asked in shock.
According to the itinerary that we had got on Friday before the travel, he and our other colleague were to be picked from Zimmerman at 6.45pm, for the nine o'clock check-in. I was to be picked at eight.
“The chartered van delayed, while the jam on Thika road was just crazy”
I remembered my own experience. By eight there was no sign of my own transport. At 8.15pm, the tour company had called to inform me that there would be a twenty-minute delay on my own pick up, though they assured me that they shall ensure that I check in in good time.
“So that is it? The two of you are not traveling with us?”
“Yes. That is it. We hope to join you on the next available flight. We may stay overnight at the airport, if the next flight in early morning. Tell Kef of this development”
“OK. Bye then. Let us meet there kesho”
Keep running
The first run did not take a toll on us, at least not on me. It was quite relaxed. Generally a day of discovery. The next run occurred the next day. We decided to explore the compound some more. We left our residence and went towards the gate that had marked a dead end the previous day. Through this gate we found a graveled path, that led to a second gate, about twenty meters away. After this second gate, we continued on the graveled path to yet another third gate hardly fifty meters away. Running, stopping to open these gates, then closing them behind us was not fun at all. However, we were on discovery and the route seemed more like it.
After the third gate, we headed left on the fork, instead of straight on. Our left path met the perimeter fence some one hundred meters ahead. Then we just followed the path adjacent to the perimeter wall all the way to join the main tarmac road that leads to the compound, just after the main sentry gate. Through the familiar tarmac, we ran until we reached the right turn that headed towards Engineering. At this point, we turned left to yet another graveled running path. This led through the other extreme perimeter of the compound on the left, and a thicket on the right.
“Eh, look at this field. Is it not the same one that we ran though yesterday,” TJ asked as he pointed to the visible field on the right side, just across the long grass.
“The high grass prevented us from seeing this running route,” I responded.
Finally, we were back to the familiar tarmac next to Borena cafe, where we crossed through the small sports field behind Borena and back to our starting point next to the swimming pool.
“That wasn't bad”
“It was a 15-minute circuit,” I checked my stopwatch before speaking.
“Let us do another one,” I encouraged.
So we did three circuits on the same path, finishing at 0.47.02
“Good run,” TJ declared as we warmed down.
“But stubborn gates,” I decried.
During dinner at Zebu club, I met Dan once more. My other three Kenyan colleagues were also around.
“Take it, here it is,” I said as I handed back his phone.
During our previous evening's coincidental meeting, we had found ourselves seated on the same table at Zebu. Four strangers, one table. We just introduced each other and that is how we got to learn about his craze for smart phone technologies. He had explained the kind of research that he proposed to do, using the various monitoring sensors on the phone to collect and interpret data. He had said that such phones, being cheaper, would be cost effective in some operations instead of buying fully fledged measuring and monitoring systems.
“Look here,” he showed our table of four, “This is the map of Addis”
People craned their heads to glimpse the small screen.
“I can use this phone to record movement, and they shall be as accurate as ever.”
That is when I had challenged him to let me jog around with the phone and see if it could trace my path.
He pressed a few controls on this keypadless phone and then beamed.
“Look at this!,” his excitement was evident.
“I can tell you that you ran three times along this path here,” he pointed out as the group gathered over him to view the wonder.
We saw some three red lines that were the definition of our run. He managed to zoom in and we could surely see the path as exact as we had taken it.
“This phone has a built in GPS. That is why it can trace your route. It can also communicate your coordinates to another device. This ability to communicate its own location is the subject of my research.”
Four circuits
On Thursday I did four circuits of this path, starting at five-thirty and ending at stop watch time 0.49.26. On Friday, I did another four circuits. The time recorded was 0.47.57. TJ made sure that he did not run with me, either by failing to show up altogether or starting the run earlier or later. He claimed that I was getting too fast for him. “And the food here lacks energy!,” he complained.
During the Friday run, I tested an IDEOS phone as provided by Dan. Since he was engaged for the evening, we had agreed that he would pick the phone immediately after my run around seven, instead of meeting at the cafeteria. When he picked the phone, he confirmed that it had recorded the four running paths. He promised to send the information and map, just as he had done with the previous path. But I had to complain about the IDEOS.
“The phone was a bit scary. It was interrupting me every four or so minutes with an announcement”
“What announcement?,” he asked.
“At every kilometer, it gave me a warning. Each announcement was quite unexpected, making me jumpy”
I added, “The lady's last message was something like, 'Mytracks distance is eleven kilometers in fifty-eight minutes twelve point zero eight seconds. Average speed thirteen point one kilometer per hour'”
“It was possible to shut her up, though I forgot to show you how”
Heavy
The running experience here was different. There was some heaviness that one felt when running. Almost like the route is fighting your advance. This, I later learnt, was due to the high altitude. That is why athletes train in high altitude so that they are ready to fight with any other 'lighter' altitudes. The other difference was how fast darkness fell. By 6.20pm it would be quite dark. Running would became difficult due to the very low visibility. Back home, it did not get dark until seven or thereabout. This was explained by the far distance from the Equator. Since it was past September 22, the earth has shifted along its axis, making countries in the northern hemisphere have longer dark hours – and winter to follow soon. “We experience winter in Ethiopia,” one local had quipped when I brought it in the topic of early darkness.
Another differing experience on my runs was running with the wild. Throughout the run, a dikdik would cross the path, run alongside or run after you. Sometimes I met the small ones, which were easily scared. Sometimes I encountered the bigger new, which would be scary. With every run, I got used to them. However, running when dark, anytime past six-twenty, was scary. You could just hear some swished in the bushes. You would wonder if there was a predator-prey run going on there or they were just dik diks running around. And the dik dik's are preyed on by lions, leopards and hyenas! These are not thoughts that should go through your mind when you are running – just keep running.
Daily runs
In the new week, I found myself running every day from Sunday to Saturday, apart from Thursday, when I stumbled upon a farewell party for the DDG. The Sunday and Monday runs were four circuits each. The timings were 0.46.34 and 0.47.46. On Tuesday I did two circuits, as trained one of my new found friends at this campus. I did not time this run. It was more fun talking and sharing experiences. The Wednesday and Friday runs were five circuits each. Their timings were 0.59.30 and 0.58.21. I was surely getting almost ready for the October 30 international marathon in Nairobi. I was feeling good about it. Four weeks ago, when I learnt of the travel, that was to occur at the peak of the training, I was not quite happy with this trip. This is because I knew that my training would be affected. However, the high altitude and good jogging track was still a good practice ground, albeit the occasional stony areas that were hurting the soles. The running track was also relatively short, which I estimated at 3km, while the smartphone put it at 2.8km.
Sunday run
You may wonder why I was running almost daily. Well, I was in a strange land with nothing else to do. How about the Sunday run? Just after the tour of the city?
After finalizing the commissioning works at the new generator, we got into a Land cruiser and headed to town. The driver has been specifically assigned to show the four Kenyan the sites of interest in the city.
“Salamno,” I greeted the driver.
He was kind of surprised, “Salamno,” he responded, then asked, “You know Amharic?”
“Ishi! Ishi!,” I responded, much to his surprise.
After some chit chat, “What does the name of the city mean?, ” I asked.
“Addis means beautiful,” said the driver, as he settled to a comfortable driving pace on the wide road.
“Oh,” all of us responded almost in unison.
“And Ababa means flower”
“Oh,” we found ourselves responding once more.
We went to an open air market, where some of the team bought shoes and clothes. After than we went for lunch at some joint, which I can not pin point.
“Here you get raw meat,” the driver informed us.
“Very sweet raw meat,” he added as we disembarked in the compound of the hotel.
The place was not packed. About five of six other couples were seated, scattered all over. Let me emphasize that they were couples. I started to believe that love was brewed in this country. I had observed it for seven days. I had seen it and I was seeing it.
“I wish Kenyan men were like this,” Kefy observed, even as the guys were just awestruck with the beauty.
“No wonder WB wants to stay around,” TJ quipped as we now settled on the two tables that we had deliberately pulled together.
They brought a menu written in Amharic. Each of the four Kenyans looked at it and just laughed. They could not decipher even a jotter of it. We left it to the driver to try the interpretation.
“Here, food like... like... teff, you know teff, and another like... eh, firr firr. You like firr firr. Eh or ambasha?” he struggled on.
“Drink is taj... eh 7-up, Pepsi, Mirinda, eh beer. Want taj? You know it!”
To save him from the tough task, we asked various questions on the type of foods we wanted, just to see if he could confirm them.
“Chips, you know, fries”
“What? Chips, fries? What that? Eh, you mean what?”
“How about meat, cooked meat”
“Ah, yes, yes, meat. Meat there. Want raw?”
Initially we thought it was a joke. We now believed that raw meat was a reality.
“No, fried meat”
“Yes, cook meat, OK, Ishi, Ishi”
“What will we eat it with?,” we asked.
“Eh, injera?”
I just started laughing. This is the food that I had avoided for the last week, only to go for an outing and find it waiting for me. The rest of the Kenyans started laughing at me. They had known that injera was not my favourite. In fact, I was the only one who had managed a 100% resistance to this fermented pan cake. The two other Engineering staff had resisted just for two days. However when the pangs of hunger caught up with them, after many days of long works hours, they gave in and ordered injera.
My misery was made worse, when they finally brought me plain rice, even as the others got their injera and beef stew.
“But where is my beef stew?”
“Sorry, beef stew is only served with injera”
Museum
After lunch we went to Menelik's palace and museum. At the museum we were prevented from taking any photos. A guide took up around the almost circular room, hardly ten meters in diameter. There were saw Menelik's things including swords, robes, bed, books, umbrellas, chairs, headgear, stuff and shoes. We paid fifty Birr each to gain access. We paid ten Birr for the entry of our driver. The guide was quite humble and almost religious in his presentation. He was quite good, though he would most often start his sentences in English and finish them in Amharic, before realizing that his audience was lost. He was quite softspoken and convincing.
“We should proud of Africa. Only Africans build Africa. Menelik he know this and setup strong nation,” he told us while showing us the artifacts.
“Here you see Manelik's bed. Where he was rest,” he continued, “See how simple. He want to be like people. United with people. Simple wood bed. Make of skin. Nothing special”
We kept moving around.
“The medals won by Ethiopian runners. Real gold', he pointed so some three gold medals. One of them had been engraved Standard Chartered marathon.
He continued, “They pray Lady of Guadalupe bless them win. If win they give medal. You see, they win, and give medal to museum.”
After doing the round, we were back to the entrance area.
“Finally, some items for Menelik,” the guide showed us with the stick he was carrying, while pointing at a glass pane, “These are gold shoes”
“Ethiopia has many gold. When Menelik win war, his people give gold shoes. But Menelik he is humble. He say 'No'. He can not wear gold and not people. So he not wear gold. He want to be like people.”
“But this glass has no lock!,” I asked or rather wondered loudly.
“Yes, no one he steal Menelik's shoes”
The Kenyans in the room just laughed. They knew better.
“Amasagnalahu,” I told the curator, as we left.
“Amharic, you know! Ishi, Ishi!,” he responded in excitement.
We then walked next to an Orthodox temple, then went behind it to see Menelik's house. We found there another guide.
“You pay?,” he asked as we descended the steps from the temple towards the house compound.
“Yes, we paid,” we answered even as we showed him the pink tickets.
“Then here I show,” he pointed to a house and led us through the very high door.
“You see Menelik's sit room. And here, horn, of cow. For he put raw meat. Raw meat he put here and here and here,” he said as he shown the various horns protruding out of the wall.
“Look up, the top. You see top made skin of cow. All sticks together, skin of cow only”
In another upstairs room, through a side staircase. He then told us, “Here, Menelik and wife Taitu, they sleep together,” he then pointed through the window, to the grounds below, “And down there, the people, they watch King!”
We just burst out laughing, loudly! Of course, the two sentences were not related, but he had accidentally related them.
Parting with additional Birr for the guide, despite having already paid, was a pleasant surprise. But the history lesson was worth it. After all this history, a Sunday evening run was surely the proper thing to do. That is why the 0.46.34 four-circuit run happened.
WWB, Addis, 15-Oct-2011
Recognized
“You must be Kenyan,” someone interrupted my walking pace, as I headed to the Engineering block from Research Block 2. She then extended a hand, even as she blocked by path.
“My husband said that someone overtook him so fast. He said it must have been a Kenyan”
I shook her hand back.
“True, am from Nairobi. Here for a short project”
“How long are you here for?”
“I have done two weeks. I have one more week”
“You know,” she continued, “My husband is quite fit and fast. He has been running for years”
She paused to gauge me.
“He said that you passed him as if he was at a standstill”
“Oh, thank you. I just run for fun. The campus circuit is quite good for a relaxed run”
“It was a pleasure meeting you. I think Kenyans are now on top of the world in running,” she said.
“Sure,” I agreed, “This is our year.”
“I envy you. Nice to have met you”
“Bye, see you again later,” I concluded.
This was quite a pleasant surprised at this lunch hour break. A stranger recognizing your efforts through a story from a third party! It couldn’t be any better. I spent the afternoon at Engineering block office feeling on top of the world, even as I planned for the evening run.
Since my arrival on the wee hours of Monday, October 3, I had somehow managed to do my runs on this new land, some one thousand two hundred kilometers out of Nairobi. On Tuesday, TJ and I decided to check out the routes within the new campus. We just hit the tarmac and followed our instinct in making a run path from the hostels, to Engineering and back to hostels. The circuit turned out to be only five minutes, at our very relaxed jogging pace. This was therefore just under one kilometer. We did a second circuit.
“You know,” I started, “I will have to do forty-two such circuits if am to prepare for the marathon”
“By then you shall be dizzy, with the locals wondering at your sanity levels,” he responded, even as we kept jogging looking for alternative routes.
We decided to just run through the compound through different paths, to find out if we could elongate our running route. We stumbled upon dead ends, closed gates and even a football field – all in the quest for a route that was worth our while. When we were warming down, thirty minutes later, the time being about six-twenty, we were at least happy with this inaugural run, hardly one day after our arrival.
For TJ, his arrival was actually that very morning. We were however booked on the same Sunday night flight, but he could not make it. I remember his call while I was seated in the plane ready for takeoff.
“WB, I do not think we shall make it. We arrived at the check in when they had already closed”
“How did that happen?,” I asked in shock.
According to the itinerary that we had got on Friday before the travel, he and our other colleague were to be picked from Zimmerman at 6.45pm, for the nine o'clock check-in. I was to be picked at eight.
“The chartered van delayed, while the jam on Thika road was just crazy”
I remembered my own experience. By eight there was no sign of my own transport. At 8.15pm, the tour company had called to inform me that there would be a twenty-minute delay on my own pick up, though they assured me that they shall ensure that I check in in good time.
“So that is it? The two of you are not traveling with us?”
“Yes. That is it. We hope to join you on the next available flight. We may stay overnight at the airport, if the next flight in early morning. Tell Kef of this development”
“OK. Bye then. Let us meet there kesho”
Keep running
The first run did not take a toll on us, at least not on me. It was quite relaxed. Generally a day of discovery. The next run occurred the next day. We decided to explore the compound some more. We left our residence and went towards the gate that had marked a dead end the previous day. Through this gate we found a graveled path, that led to a second gate, about twenty meters away. After this second gate, we continued on the graveled path to yet another third gate hardly fifty meters away. Running, stopping to open these gates, then closing them behind us was not fun at all. However, we were on discovery and the route seemed more like it.
After the third gate, we headed left on the fork, instead of straight on. Our left path met the perimeter fence some one hundred meters ahead. Then we just followed the path adjacent to the perimeter wall all the way to join the main tarmac road that leads to the compound, just after the main sentry gate. Through the familiar tarmac, we ran until we reached the right turn that headed towards Engineering. At this point, we turned left to yet another graveled running path. This led through the other extreme perimeter of the compound on the left, and a thicket on the right.
“Eh, look at this field. Is it not the same one that we ran though yesterday,” TJ asked as he pointed to the visible field on the right side, just across the long grass.
“The high grass prevented us from seeing this running route,” I responded.
Finally, we were back to the familiar tarmac next to Borena cafe, where we crossed through the small sports field behind Borena and back to our starting point next to the swimming pool.
“That wasn't bad”
“It was a 15-minute circuit,” I checked my stopwatch before speaking.
“Let us do another one,” I encouraged.
So we did three circuits on the same path, finishing at 0.47.02
“Good run,” TJ declared as we warmed down.
“But stubborn gates,” I decried.
During dinner at Zebu club, I met Dan once more. My other three Kenyan colleagues were also around.
“Take it, here it is,” I said as I handed back his phone.
During our previous evening's coincidental meeting, we had found ourselves seated on the same table at Zebu. Four strangers, one table. We just introduced each other and that is how we got to learn about his craze for smart phone technologies. He had explained the kind of research that he proposed to do, using the various monitoring sensors on the phone to collect and interpret data. He had said that such phones, being cheaper, would be cost effective in some operations instead of buying fully fledged measuring and monitoring systems.
“Look here,” he showed our table of four, “This is the map of Addis”
People craned their heads to glimpse the small screen.
“I can use this phone to record movement, and they shall be as accurate as ever.”
That is when I had challenged him to let me jog around with the phone and see if it could trace my path.
He pressed a few controls on this keypadless phone and then beamed.
“Look at this!,” his excitement was evident.
“I can tell you that you ran three times along this path here,” he pointed out as the group gathered over him to view the wonder.
We saw some three red lines that were the definition of our run. He managed to zoom in and we could surely see the path as exact as we had taken it.
“This phone has a built in GPS. That is why it can trace your route. It can also communicate your coordinates to another device. This ability to communicate its own location is the subject of my research.”
Four circuits
On Thursday I did four circuits of this path, starting at five-thirty and ending at stop watch time 0.49.26. On Friday, I did another four circuits. The time recorded was 0.47.57. TJ made sure that he did not run with me, either by failing to show up altogether or starting the run earlier or later. He claimed that I was getting too fast for him. “And the food here lacks energy!,” he complained.
During the Friday run, I tested an IDEOS phone as provided by Dan. Since he was engaged for the evening, we had agreed that he would pick the phone immediately after my run around seven, instead of meeting at the cafeteria. When he picked the phone, he confirmed that it had recorded the four running paths. He promised to send the information and map, just as he had done with the previous path. But I had to complain about the IDEOS.
“The phone was a bit scary. It was interrupting me every four or so minutes with an announcement”
“What announcement?,” he asked.
“At every kilometer, it gave me a warning. Each announcement was quite unexpected, making me jumpy”
I added, “The lady's last message was something like, 'Mytracks distance is eleven kilometers in fifty-eight minutes twelve point zero eight seconds. Average speed thirteen point one kilometer per hour'”
“It was possible to shut her up, though I forgot to show you how”
Heavy
The running experience here was different. There was some heaviness that one felt when running. Almost like the route is fighting your advance. This, I later learnt, was due to the high altitude. That is why athletes train in high altitude so that they are ready to fight with any other 'lighter' altitudes. The other difference was how fast darkness fell. By 6.20pm it would be quite dark. Running would became difficult due to the very low visibility. Back home, it did not get dark until seven or thereabout. This was explained by the far distance from the Equator. Since it was past September 22, the earth has shifted along its axis, making countries in the northern hemisphere have longer dark hours – and winter to follow soon. “We experience winter in Ethiopia,” one local had quipped when I brought it in the topic of early darkness.
Another differing experience on my runs was running with the wild. Throughout the run, a dikdik would cross the path, run alongside or run after you. Sometimes I met the small ones, which were easily scared. Sometimes I encountered the bigger new, which would be scary. With every run, I got used to them. However, running when dark, anytime past six-twenty, was scary. You could just hear some swished in the bushes. You would wonder if there was a predator-prey run going on there or they were just dik diks running around. And the dik dik's are preyed on by lions, leopards and hyenas! These are not thoughts that should go through your mind when you are running – just keep running.
Daily runs
In the new week, I found myself running every day from Sunday to Saturday, apart from Thursday, when I stumbled upon a farewell party for the DDG. The Sunday and Monday runs were four circuits each. The timings were 0.46.34 and 0.47.46. On Tuesday I did two circuits, as trained one of my new found friends at this campus. I did not time this run. It was more fun talking and sharing experiences. The Wednesday and Friday runs were five circuits each. Their timings were 0.59.30 and 0.58.21. I was surely getting almost ready for the October 30 international marathon in Nairobi. I was feeling good about it. Four weeks ago, when I learnt of the travel, that was to occur at the peak of the training, I was not quite happy with this trip. This is because I knew that my training would be affected. However, the high altitude and good jogging track was still a good practice ground, albeit the occasional stony areas that were hurting the soles. The running track was also relatively short, which I estimated at 3km, while the smartphone put it at 2.8km.
Sunday run
You may wonder why I was running almost daily. Well, I was in a strange land with nothing else to do. How about the Sunday run? Just after the tour of the city?
After finalizing the commissioning works at the new generator, we got into a Land cruiser and headed to town. The driver has been specifically assigned to show the four Kenyan the sites of interest in the city.
“Salamno,” I greeted the driver.
He was kind of surprised, “Salamno,” he responded, then asked, “You know Amharic?”
“Ishi! Ishi!,” I responded, much to his surprise.
After some chit chat, “What does the name of the city mean?, ” I asked.
“Addis means beautiful,” said the driver, as he settled to a comfortable driving pace on the wide road.
“Oh,” all of us responded almost in unison.
“And Ababa means flower”
“Oh,” we found ourselves responding once more.
We went to an open air market, where some of the team bought shoes and clothes. After than we went for lunch at some joint, which I can not pin point.
“Here you get raw meat,” the driver informed us.
“Very sweet raw meat,” he added as we disembarked in the compound of the hotel.
The place was not packed. About five of six other couples were seated, scattered all over. Let me emphasize that they were couples. I started to believe that love was brewed in this country. I had observed it for seven days. I had seen it and I was seeing it.
“I wish Kenyan men were like this,” Kefy observed, even as the guys were just awestruck with the beauty.
“No wonder WB wants to stay around,” TJ quipped as we now settled on the two tables that we had deliberately pulled together.
They brought a menu written in Amharic. Each of the four Kenyans looked at it and just laughed. They could not decipher even a jotter of it. We left it to the driver to try the interpretation.
“Here, food like... like... teff, you know teff, and another like... eh, firr firr. You like firr firr. Eh or ambasha?” he struggled on.
“Drink is taj... eh 7-up, Pepsi, Mirinda, eh beer. Want taj? You know it!”
To save him from the tough task, we asked various questions on the type of foods we wanted, just to see if he could confirm them.
“Chips, you know, fries”
“What? Chips, fries? What that? Eh, you mean what?”
“How about meat, cooked meat”
“Ah, yes, yes, meat. Meat there. Want raw?”
Initially we thought it was a joke. We now believed that raw meat was a reality.
“No, fried meat”
“Yes, cook meat, OK, Ishi, Ishi”
“What will we eat it with?,” we asked.
“Eh, injera?”
I just started laughing. This is the food that I had avoided for the last week, only to go for an outing and find it waiting for me. The rest of the Kenyans started laughing at me. They had known that injera was not my favourite. In fact, I was the only one who had managed a 100% resistance to this fermented pan cake. The two other Engineering staff had resisted just for two days. However when the pangs of hunger caught up with them, after many days of long works hours, they gave in and ordered injera.
My misery was made worse, when they finally brought me plain rice, even as the others got their injera and beef stew.
“But where is my beef stew?”
“Sorry, beef stew is only served with injera”
Museum
After lunch we went to Menelik's palace and museum. At the museum we were prevented from taking any photos. A guide took up around the almost circular room, hardly ten meters in diameter. There were saw Menelik's things including swords, robes, bed, books, umbrellas, chairs, headgear, stuff and shoes. We paid fifty Birr each to gain access. We paid ten Birr for the entry of our driver. The guide was quite humble and almost religious in his presentation. He was quite good, though he would most often start his sentences in English and finish them in Amharic, before realizing that his audience was lost. He was quite softspoken and convincing.
“We should proud of Africa. Only Africans build Africa. Menelik he know this and setup strong nation,” he told us while showing us the artifacts.
“Here you see Manelik's bed. Where he was rest,” he continued, “See how simple. He want to be like people. United with people. Simple wood bed. Make of skin. Nothing special”
We kept moving around.
“The medals won by Ethiopian runners. Real gold', he pointed so some three gold medals. One of them had been engraved Standard Chartered marathon.
He continued, “They pray Lady of Guadalupe bless them win. If win they give medal. You see, they win, and give medal to museum.”
After doing the round, we were back to the entrance area.
“Finally, some items for Menelik,” the guide showed us with the stick he was carrying, while pointing at a glass pane, “These are gold shoes”
“Ethiopia has many gold. When Menelik win war, his people give gold shoes. But Menelik he is humble. He say 'No'. He can not wear gold and not people. So he not wear gold. He want to be like people.”
“But this glass has no lock!,” I asked or rather wondered loudly.
“Yes, no one he steal Menelik's shoes”
The Kenyans in the room just laughed. They knew better.
“Amasagnalahu,” I told the curator, as we left.
“Amharic, you know! Ishi, Ishi!,” he responded in excitement.
We then walked next to an Orthodox temple, then went behind it to see Menelik's house. We found there another guide.
“You pay?,” he asked as we descended the steps from the temple towards the house compound.
“Yes, we paid,” we answered even as we showed him the pink tickets.
“Then here I show,” he pointed to a house and led us through the very high door.
“You see Menelik's sit room. And here, horn, of cow. For he put raw meat. Raw meat he put here and here and here,” he said as he shown the various horns protruding out of the wall.
“Look up, the top. You see top made skin of cow. All sticks together, skin of cow only”
In another upstairs room, through a side staircase. He then told us, “Here, Menelik and wife Taitu, they sleep together,” he then pointed through the window, to the grounds below, “And down there, the people, they watch King!”
We just burst out laughing, loudly! Of course, the two sentences were not related, but he had accidentally related them.
Parting with additional Birr for the guide, despite having already paid, was a pleasant surprise. But the history lesson was worth it. After all this history, a Sunday evening run was surely the proper thing to do. That is why the 0.46.34 four-circuit run happened.
WWB, Addis, 15-Oct-2011
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