2 Weeks in Africa: Being Spoiled Rotten in Addis

One of the things I've said jokingly for a few years now is that I know how to vacation well.  When I was younger, I'd pack my vacations full of tourism and not get any rest.  But I've learned the point of vacation is to slow life down and relax a bit, and for me, that comes in (a) getting away and (b) having some down time.  So while a 3rd world country seems like an odd place to get spoiled and just relax, it's exactly where I ended up doing those things.

I started off by sitting in a German bakery having a pastry and strawberry mango juice while reading my Kindle.  

Then I had a macchiato while continuing to read my Kindle.  I got so absorbed in my book that I almost lost track of time.  That's a great feeling.

The reason I had to pay attention to the time was that I had to make sure to give myself enough time to get a pedicure.  I caused a small bit of confusion when I showed up at the salon.

Me: "I'd like to have a pedicure, please."
Them: "In 30 minutes is okay?"
Me: "Well, how long does it take?"
Them: "About one hour.  Or we can give you an appointment at 1 o'clock."
Me: "Well, my friend is coming to get me in about an hour.  She'll wait for me though, so I'll just take your next open slot."
Them: "There is no slot in one hour.  You want the 1 o'clock appointment?"
Me: "No, I want the one in 30 minutes that you said at first."
Them: Blank stare of confusion.
Me: "When is your next opening?  I'll take that one."
Them: Blank stare of confusion.
Me: "I'm sorry, I've confused you.  You said you could take me in 30 minutes?"
Them: "Just sit over there."

I wasn't sure how long I was going to wait, 30 minutes, or several hours...but then within about 3 minutes, a woman told me to follow her, and she set to work on my feet right away.  Check out her awesome hair.

I sat in this Pepto Bismal Pink salon in Africa and listened to Material Girl by Madonna on repeat and just enjoyed this woman scrubbing all the Marseille funk off of my feet.  I watched these two ladies just chat it up for an hour and other ladies sit under the dryer hood with curlers in their hair and thought about how we women all over the world are just the same.  Maybe the music in the salons is different and some colors are different and languages are different but we all love to get dolled up.

Cali came and met me right as I was finishing up.  From there, we headed across town where we had an appointment to get a Swedish massage... for $15.  Seriously, if I lived there, I would go every single week.

Then we popped into a restaurant where I had a mint lime juice.  Yum.  This restaurant had a small bookstore, and I was able to buy a children's book in English called "Peter gets a letter."  It's a sweet story about a farmer who gets a letter, but doesn't know how to read.  After much hardship finding someone to read it to him, he is motivated to learn to read.  It seemed like a good book souvenir of Ethiopia, since I write letters to little my little Ethiopian girl.  I also bought a book in English and Amharic (the national language) about the Queen of Sheba (who was Ethiopian) to give to my Compassion girl.

I tried to take a few more pictures of what normal life looked like there.

This is the cattle market, which we passed every day.  Would you like sheep, goat, or cow for dinner?

The cows there have humps!

Another storm that night, and no electricity.  We went to a ladies gathering, but it was all in candlelight, so no photos.  I made some new friends, met some people who I had mutual friends with, and saw some people I hadn't seen in years.  It was such a sweet, quiet, pleasant evening.

That was one good vacation day, I'll tell you.  It was just what I needed.  I went home so relaxed and so excited and ready for the day to come: my Compassion day!