Leaving Ethiopia

Our time in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia draws to an imminent close. On Monday, 27 Feb 2006, at 4am in the morning (so practically - Sunday night), we fly Egypt Air to Casablanca, Morocco and then board the train to Marrakech to start another 3-month stint getting to know another small part of Africa.

Over the course of the last 9 months, John has become a part of our extended family. He will be joining us in Morocco and continuing with us all the way to Brooklyn, USA. John's never been on a plane let alone out of the country. Needless to say the kids are eager to introduce him to everything they think is important in the world outside Ethiopia. The adults are happy to have another adult to share the joys and logistics of life and travel.

Egypt Air is flying via Cairo and they had us on a 24-hour layover, which we extended by two days for a total of 3 days. We met an Egyptian woman at the kids' gymnastics class who happens to work for a travel agency in Cairo. She's arranged for our extended hotel stay and a few tourist-y activities (e.g. Nile Cruise, Dinner/Light show at the Pyramids, etc.). It will be nice to get a taste of Cairo and environs. Our actual arrival in Casablanca and Marrakech is 2 March 2006.

What do we expect of Morocco? It'll be different. Less English spoken (we'll rely heavily on Miriam's French). Racially heterogeneous. Religiously homogeneous (99% Muslim). More cities to choose from. More expensive because of European tourism. The same? Lots of lamb. As much as we enjoy Ethiopian food, the lack of variety has become tiresome. A spicy Tagine is sounding really good.

When we arrived in Ethiopia we had our bags and a hotel booking for 2 nights. Similarly, we've booked a riad in Marrakech for a week starting 2 March when we arrive. We'll try to get oriented and see where we want to live. If we don't like Marrakech for an extended stay, there's Fez, or Rabat on the ocean, or Casablanca, or Essouwara (also on the ocean, so beautiful they make lots of movies there).

One delightful perk is that Miriam's mom, Kathy, will be finishing her own tour of Morocco about a week after we arrive. She'll finish in Marrakech and stay with us for about a week. We plan to ply her with couscous and try to learn what we need to know about other places in the country.

The extended working plan is ~3 months in Morocco followed by ~3 months in Ghana. Of course, we planned 3 months in Ethiopia and ended up staying 9.5 months. Plans change. We are planning a firm but un-ticketed return date in mid-August - in time to get resettled and be ready for school.

We're spending this week going to places for the last time and visiting friends. Last night we went to John's family home for a farewell dinner. In classic Habesha style we watched a video - this one that John had taken of the day his sister Mekdi left to join her husband in Birmingham, UK. We also shared pictures of our trip to Northern Ethiopia (Axum, Lalibela, Gonder, Bahir Dar), featuring John prominently so that his family could see him at all the famous historical sites of Ethiopia. The night ended with 22 people standing around hugging and weeping.

No one is sadder than we are about leaving Ethiopia. (Except perhaps our landlord, T.D.) It has been a wonderful experience all around. We are leaving friends and loved ones and we mourn deeply for the life with them that we will not be living. The bonds we've formed guarantee that we will return here in the not-too-distant future. But a visit is not the same as a shared life and we feel that loss acutely.