Hawassa

I am sorry if you have been trying to contact me since last week.
  Sometimes I think this is why our internet doesn't work very
well but this time it wasn't that....

 The government run internet has censored all social media (click here to read BBC on this topic) starting last week and this week it has also included all internet services since Monday- The internet came back on Wednesday- Social media hopefully tomorrow.. Apparently it had to do with university exams.  However it has been a bit isolating and frustrating.   













As hiring nurses, writing OR instrument lists ect does not make for fascinating pictures or dialogue this is a post from a few weekends back when we went to Hawassa for the weekend. It was a well needed break. 
We flew instead of bussing as it is safer and the flight was cheaper then hiring a driver ($80 round trip) Air service to Hawassa is new as of May- it is a 30min flight from Addis in which (take note Air Canada)- The plane takes off and the stewardesses run down the aisle- pour drinks, toss out a sandwich to everyone and then collect garbage and then land!! Once you land you realize that the airport really did just open.... get off the plane and follow every one else down a dirt road to a out building where there is a bus to take you the 13km down a dirt road into town

Once we reached the center of town we realized that we were in the middle of something.... but what that something was we didn't know.  There were hundreds of people dressed in cultural clothes, carrying big sticks and yelling and chanting... we popped into a little coffee shop to have a coffee and to get a feel of whether what was happening was a good something or a bad something. Turns out for that little region alone it was New Years-  Ethiopians already have a different calendar- it is 13 months, New Years is in September and it is only 2008 but in this town and its surroudings they celebrate in July

We were forsure the only white people in the entire crowd... between the cell phones and real cameras I am sure our picture was taken a lot.. this guy was taking one of me.. I figured it was fair game to take one of him

Elders and young people alike dressed up for the occasion- note the furs...

Small differences in colour and outfits showed what region people were from..

This fountain is the center of the town square where the parade was held

We stayed at the Haille Resort... started by the famous marathon runner-.  It was gorgeous and not to busy... rainy season bonus... mostly middle class Ethiopians out in Hawassa for New Years

Views around the grounds

Sunset by the marshes... Dogging Mosquitos- did not want Malaria.. and looking for Hippos 

Saturday we had a Bajaj driver take us around town.. This is the fish market.. the main industry in Hawassa is fishing.  Here the fisherman come in with their catch and sell it to local housewives, restaurants ect.  It was a interesting mix of people, cranes and dogs running around.  The stork stand about 4 feet tall and are abit aggressive as they fight for fish scrapes.  Forgive the photo overload.. it was just so visually appealing

This stork was doing its own fishing

Nicole bought some fish guts and fed the stork..

This shows the amount of storks, people and mud!!

Learning from Papa and older brother while the stork watches for scrapes

Just for size comparison... full sized goats... a stork

Then we headed to the local market.. it was abit of a mud hole... also don't think that many white people come through here... a young boy literally set down his wheelbarrow and sat and stared at Nicole...

 

Being in the countryside means the produce is just gorgeous.... also need some shoes?? 

 
This lady was so filled with joy as she sold us some baskets.

Beside the fish market was a park with monkeys... now  I am not a fan of monkeys... aggressive monkeys in India kind of put me off of them... but these ones were cute and didn't come to close...

Saturday Afternoon we went out on the lake for 1/2hr boat ride.  we were pretty lucky and saw some hippos.. There is a pod of about 10 that live in the lake.  As much as hippos make cute cartoon characters they actually are the second most dangerous animals in the world- per human encounter mosquitos rank #1 (malaria) and hippos #2. 

Papa, Mama and Baby

One of the drivers that we occasionally use in Addis was down in Hawassa for the weekend as well and he invited us out to his brothers little courtyard restaurant... He had just opened and had a local band for the night. 

Sunday Morning before we headed back up to Addis Nicole and I went for a walk along side the lake.  It was gorgeous...storks, local people just out for some recreational fishing and we spotted some hippos too!!

Boys out on boats made of nothing more then water jugs strapped together and topped with cardboard

Donkeys getting the day off..

Heading back to Addis....The airport was so ghetto... hand written boarding cards... could go through security as much as you wanted.. which you needed to .. the bathroom was outside, you could take your water through security ect... and then we walked the dirt road back out to the airplane and headed back to Addis.

The Airstrip is still new enough that it attacts lots of kids from the nearby village to see the planes takeoff and land.