Just as I was planning to re-start my street signs project, someone (I assume the City Administration of Addis Ababa) put up new green street signs in Old Airport. It is fairly amazing, I gotta say. Now, we just need to know what the signs mean, right? Or what our house # is…
After almost two months with the new gig, I am finally back into tennis. I played yesterday for 1 1/2 hours, and it was fun. Especially since I won… We’ll see how much I can sustain this, though…
…smack in downtown Old Airport. Had to take the video and here it is…
So, what do you think?
Joy… pure joy…
After two years of being a stay-at-home dad and doing various project related to our family (construction, moving, kids, new schools for kids, vaccinations, moving again, etc.), I am finally gainfully employed. Big kudos go to the Department, the Embassy, AAFSW, EPAP, and my immediate/extended family for a variety of reasons. (OK, I did have a 7 week full-time stint as a Macedonian Language Instructor at FSI, I know…).
At any rate, I am loving the first few weeks. I’m learning a lot, each and every day. And I am finally starting to contribute, at least a little bit. An equally important thing – I am starting to get my life back into balance (I am basing this on the fact I played tennis twice last weekend, and I managed to go to the CLO luncheon, sufficient early signs in my book…).
Again, I would recommend the EPAP program to EFMs looking for a professional challenge (well worth the trouble and wait)…
(I really like it when people write cool stuff in parenthesis, it makes the reading much more interesting, no?)
So, almost a year after I applied for the job, I started in my new position as an Econimic/Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Exciting beyond words…
I will have to be a bit more careful aout what I post, though (ahem…)…
The wait is over…
Yes – after almost exactly 11 months, I was finally notified I am able to start my new job under the Expanded Professional Associates Program (EPAP). Let me just summarize the stages I went through to get there (and how long it took):
I am very, very happy that this process is over. A huge amount of people helped in the process (will not mention them here, but will thank them personally when I get the chance!)
Conclusion:
Hear ye, EFMs – definitely go after EPAP jobs, they are worth it (I am fairly certain my will be). Be ready for the long haul and the many steps it takes, though…
Some things do change with the New Year – Bambis has milk at the start of 2012! Nicely done folks. (FYI – Novis has no milk, didn’t check the others…)
In the latest shipment from Dubai we received a bit of a surprise. Two prongs: the “long-life” milk has about a month more to “live”, instead of the expected six months. Why would you even ship something with 6 weeks to go? Gimme a break…
What’s more – it is made out of cow milk “powder”, not out of actual milk. I understand a lot of folks like and use it, but we did not plan to buy or use powdered milk – there’s plenty of it here right now!
Luckily, the good folks from the AMCOM will take it off our hands, just in time before it goes. Good save, for sure!
In any case, I’ll certainly check the expiry date and origin of the milk before we buy next time…
So far the best pizza we’ve had in AA is… Metro Pizza in Old Airport. My personal favorite is the four seasons one (which has nothing to do with any other four seasons I’ve ever had anywhere…).
The place inside is as uninviting as most in AA – old rocky tables, simple steel chairs, you can almost miss the place because the entrance is not clearly marked. But the pizza is good, and certainly the best I’ve had so far in AA. Island Breeze was good too, but I had it a while back, so I’ve forgotten the taste…
Other favorites are the margheritta and the same, just with onions and red/yellow/green pepper slices…
Final score – Metro Pizza vs. Abu Goben = 4:1
As I wrote a few weeks ago here, Bambi’s did not have any milk then, which was a total shock for me. Today was the first time I’ve went there since then.
Guess what? Still no milk! I mean, I don’t need to drive all the way there and back for a few kgs of flour…
Who said what when