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Articles tagged with: Tiru Gondar

029 – Opulence

October 30, 1998 – 7:48 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

It was a shower and shave day for me and I steeled myself for the shock and plunged my head under the ice-cold water. The flow of water was very meagre on top of being refrigerated, which made it even more of a shock. A heavy flow would mean I could leap in and out quickly. With the irregular drip I had to contort my …

023 – That First Exuberant Profanity

October 24, 1998 – 7:40 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

My third attempt at cycling in Addis was as difficult as the first. I hadn’t gone more than a half kilometre from the Tiru Gondar when a boy ran out into the street in front of me. He waited till I was right on top of him, took careful aim and hit me on the chest with a sticky smelly banana peel. I hit the …

022 – The Bunna Enfelal Take 2

October 23, 1998 – 7:37 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

I was sitting outside on the back steps the next afternoon. The family was going about their day. One woman was washing clothes over by the water tank. Another was spreading out red peppers to dry in the sun. The brown and white cat sauntered past and I called out to it. “Demet demet demet,” I crooned, demet being Amharic for cat. My first few …

021 – Bira effellegallo

October 22, 1998 – 7:35 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

Most nights I was extremely tired and not good for much so I went to bed early. I liked the early nights. It meant I got a good night’s sleep and I was woken gently by the sun peeping through the cracks of the shutters, shutters which, again for reasons unclear, Zebachew insisted I close tightly each night. I never knew if these things on …

018 – A Family Tree

October 19, 1998 – 7:28 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

Afternoon was a time for taking more pictures of the Tiru Gondar family. Zebachew, Sisay and Tadele traded sunglasses and jackets amongst themselves to achieve just the right note of affluence for the camera.
It was also time to learn more about the family and Zebachew drew me a family tree. Their family came from a rural area near Bahar Dar in Gondar on the shore …

014 – You You

October 15, 1998 – 7:14 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

When Dawit stood me up on the trip to the market, I took the plunge and unleashed the powers of my “Route 66” mountain bike with its Rhino rims, Python tires, Snakebite tubes and 24 speed LX gears on the city. I simply chose a direction and went. The layout of Addis was still a mystery. I find if my first day in a new …

013 – Tiru Gondar And The ‘Only You’ Bathroom

October 14, 1998 – 7:10 pm
Tiru Gondar Sons_opt

After breakfast I went back to the Palm’s small office to talk to the owner about my desire to find a quieter place to stay. I knew I just wanted to simply move next door to the Tiru Gondar Hotel, a place I’d seen the previous afternoon, but I didn’t dare go over on my own. I was afraid a chance misunderstanding could lead to …