11:30pm, Rodeo Addis, Addis Ababa:
Ohhhhh, my head hurts… I must be severely dehydrated. I think I’ll go take care of that in a moment. The flight was fine… another huge KLM jet, but my seat was better and those Dutch flight attendants are HOT! Nice people on the flight, and I wanted to strike up some longer conversations, but I was so damn tired… been up for about 24 hours at that point, and was in no mood to struggle with language barriers. Pulled the blanket over my head and slept hard for a few hours. We landed in Khartoum in a bit of a sandstorm… it looked like an interesting city, but I had always imagined Sudan as being a bit more lush and jungle-y. Nope. Great big desert. Seems like a lot of Africa is like that, so I’m very happy with Addis right now. Managed to disembark, go through customs, change my money, get my bags, and find Shimeles really without a hitch. Ethiopians here seem to be generally very genial and open, and most everyone in Addis so far seems to speak some English. Plus there are a lot of American-Ethiopians here for the Millennium celebration. Not really too stressful at all. I’ll find out what I think of the city tomorrow, but right now, the weather is PERFECT! Very pleasant night here. Most of the hotels are booked, I guess, so we found a little place called Rodeo Addis, off the Bole Road, and it seems like there’s a huge disco party going on just adjacent to this place. Nice, very small room, and a nice caretaker. Daniel? I’ll have to ask him again. I am tempted to go dancing, but I think maybe I should ask Shimeles first if all those girls are regular girls or prostitutes. Not that I mind dancing with prostitutes… they’re probably good dancers. I just don’t want them following me back to my room. Anyway, it seems to be a general rule of thumb that Ethiopian girls are spectacularly beautiful. I counted out my money, and am thinking about getting used to tipping. This’ll be a big step for me, eh Halle? Little and often… that sounds like good advice.
Oh, and forgot to bring any damn pens. Annoying. I’ll have to go take care of that tomorrow. Breakfast at 7:30, Shimmy coming to meet me here at 9. He’s REALLY nice, by the way. I’m very much looking forward to getting to know him better. Right now, it seems very formal, but I think we’ll be good friends. I need to get water, email Becks, and sleep!!