Office of Gatieyeh, Addis Ababa, 3:00pm, October 23:
Amazing how time seems to drag on longer and longer the closer I come to my departure date. Wrapping up loose ends: Said most of my goodbyes, finished up swapping and organizing data at the Observatory, wrapped up my money and receipts, photocopied the site logs, ate kifo (raw this time!), ripped some of Shimeles’ CDs (though we’ve listened to them so many damn times I think I’ll scream if I ever hear those songs again)… Only things left are to buy an anti-worm drug (gotta watch out for that raw kitfo) and figure out how the hell I’m going to get home with three full GPS units (I only came with two) plus all my souvenirs and assorted hodgepodge. I think that extra baggage costs about $25 per pound for international flights. Can you believe that?? So if I have a 36 pound box… Shit! My plan: to dismantle all the units, and take the heaviest parts (receivers, satellite dishes, bi-pods, masts) and try to put them in my one little carry-on Kelty backpack. Can I get away with this?? Unlikely. Plus, I’ll probably be stopped at every airport terminal and strip-searched when they find all those suspicious electronics in my bag. But I’d do almost anything to avoid having to cough up $400 (well, I’ve only got $364!) just to send one extra box back with me. Stress, stress. Need to get to the airport a bit early, me thinks. But once I get my fanny end on that plane, I know the euphoria will set in. And then the air sickness, and fatigue, and body odor, and fuzzy-teeth feeling, and the bloodshot eyes… But it doesn’t matter. Becks will be gone for my full first week back, and my Friday class is cancelled, so… Oh Joyous Joy of Joys!!! – I’m going HIKING! And Biking, and Boating, and Camping, and Loafing… (insert gleeful grin here). There’s only the horribly long flight home, and the anxiousness about what chaos awaits me there, that could detract from this blissful moment… but hell, let’s be honest: I’M SO HAPPY TO BE GOING HOME!!!
That’s not to say that I didn’t have a wonderful time here my last two days in Addis: Shimeles and I stayed very busy taking care of our final business, and I spent yesterday morning hanging out with Shim and Dr. Tigistu and Dr. Alias, and Teddy as well, who showed up and tagged along, for which I was very thankful. Dr. Alias is sort of the Anti-Shimeles, Shim’s counterpart from the Observatory who’s working with Ebinger’s team (I really don’t want to call our groups rivals… it’s just that there seems to have been some animosity over who’s ‘turf’ this part of the Ethiopian Rift is… ridiculous really… and I hate to think that Dr. Alias has to watch what he says around me because our bosses are in some sort of scientific tussle.) Anyway, he is a delightful man, and I really enjoyed talking with him over coffee and lunch. Shim took me to a coffee joint in Piazza called Tomoca… my God, what a coffee-lover’s wet dream! Beans of all different shades, from white to black-brown, were displayed across the counter, each from a different coffee region in Ethiopia, each with a distinct flavor and scent. The place smelled heavenly, and the aroma of coffee seemed to have worked itself into the beautiful old carved-oak walls so that they radiated a dark, pungent aura. We bought two kilos of Harar Coffee, from the northern Somali province… cream colored beans which become a strong dark brown when ground up, and smelling almost too strong for me to handle… and rumored to be the very best. Almost makes me want to become a regular addict.
Root called and told Shimeles to drop me off in Piazza to meet her: her mom was preparing dinner at her house, and I’d go with her and then spend the night there. I think Shim was relieved at the opportunity to be rid of me for a night, and made the drop-off, though it felt to me like a bad time to be fooling around in the suburbs… I had SO MUCH to do still, including making a call to Becky, in which I had hoped Shimeles would participate. But much more so, I was thinking ‘Great, now I’ll be trapped at her place far from town, and will have to fend off Root with a stick, all the while pulling out my hair about the things I’ve put off for the last day…’ But I met her on the sidewalk, and she didn’t try to be romantic at all… took me around to introduce me to her friends in the Mercato, and then took me shopping for jewelry as promised. We joined up with her nice friend Cuba (looked Cuban, too), and I really had a fantastic time. The Mercato was a blast… I don’t think I’d go there alone, but only because I wouldn’t get fair prices and would probably be trailing a battalion of beggars and street kids, not because I’d fear for my safety. You can find anything and everything in Mercato… and cheap! I mean, the thing is a friggin’ yard sale about five miles wide, and since I was in the mood to shop, I was having a blast. Cuba and Root were fun companions, and we wandered all over the place just browsing for souvenirs… I didn’t buy too much because I was almost out of money, but Root was wonderfully nice and bought a few things for me to give to Halle when I ran out of Birr… I really had to admire the way she accepted how I felt about her and was a great sport about it. Damn nice girl, I have to say. Walked and talked for a bit, said bye to Cuba, and wedged myself into the back of one of the ‘blue donkeys’ with Root and she took me back to Shim’s apartment and said goodnight, although I could tell she was sad about it. We said goodnight and I thanked her profusely, and she hopped in a bus and headed home, sans Lewis. I actually felt a little pang of regret that she hadn’t protested harder (oh egotistical self!) but I was damn glad that the whole affair had been peacefully averted and knew that her self-restraint meant we could actually continue to be friends, which made me happy.
I felt very good about staying in almost immediately, as I started to attack the pile of things to do. Was well into writing thank you notes, when the key turned in the door, and in walked Shimeles, followed by a good-looking middle-aged woman in an evening gown. The surprised halt. The confused look. Me thinking, oh shit. Shim, ever the gentleman, said, ‘Lewis! Ah, what happened? I thought you’d be with Root tonight?’ …
Pause while I stutter a jumbled excuse.
‘Oh well, never mind! I’m glad you’re here! Did you have a good night in the Mercato?’ I had to bless the man, he didn’t skip a beat and his voice was loud and happy. I could just discern the very well-veiled hint of disappointment in his eyes. I asked if I should make myself disappear for the next few hours, but Shim said, oh, of course not! And sat down on the couch with me and motioned for the woman, who looked extremely put off. They went into the bedroom, but after only about fifteen minutes, she walked out and Shim said she wanted him to take her home and if I wanted to go out with him for a special dinner at a secret place he knew. Datebuster. Oooh, feeling very guilty right now. But, actually, my date with Shimeles was really nice, and we went to a little hidden-away place for doro wat, or something-wat, and it was quite fantastically tasty. Good conversation, and then we went home and chatted and watched Borat for a while and laughed and laughed until Shim fell asleep and Mimi came in with Missee. And I felt actually quite glad that I’d chased that other girl away and had him to myself for our last night together in Addis.

Time is ticking by. I don’t know where Gatieyeh is, (I’ve never met him, he owns a construction firm and is one of Shimeles’s best friends. He was the one we drove all the way into Aftera for, to check on one of his machines) but we’re still in his office and I’m still letting myself worry about the baggage. What if I have no choice but to send an extra box… and maybe one of my bags will be overweight too… and my $364 doesn’t cover the cost? Ooh, Becky will be pissed if I have to leave one of the units here for Shimeles to send. I’d be tarred and feathered. Really should have located the KLM office to check out the details yesterday. Well, I’ll just have to cross my fingers, take my anti-worm medicine, and hope for the best. Will be saying my farewell to Shim and walking into the terminal and living off Clif bars in only about four hours. Five weeks… Four hours. Why does it seem even more now like an eternity than it did at the beginning? Oh lord, for my home, home, home!