Blagoevski-Trazoff Family

Yesterday was a very nice day – a foreign service spouse organized a nice get-together for the spouses here in Addis. The CLO was involved as well, and we got to meet her. These things are always so good, and I appreciate them immensely as a newly inducted EFM…

An interesting development – there was just one other guy there, which I didn’t get to speak to during the event. However, just as we were leaving, we got to chat a bit. The most surprising thing – he was a candidate for my job! Meeting an “adversary” was a first for me. A bit awkward, I must admit, but ultimately more interesting than not. Ohh, so many firsts in one day.

OK, back to hunting for appropriate shoe shelves and hopefully (finally) some tennis, it’s been a week almost since the last time I played (damn PE classes at ICS Addis…).

As I wait for my clearance to come through, I am thinking about doing a project on street signs in Addis Ababa. My goal is to take photos of the many main squares and street corners in AA and than paint on the street signs which should be there in the first place. I’ll keep you posted in the coming weeks about how this is going. A side project will be to take some shots of the crack-me-up-everytime-I-see-them business signs and posters… More soon…

The work gig I announced yesterday was just cancelled. Shoot – I was looking forward to having a project outside of the home.

Hah, let’s get back to shoe racks and CO2 containers…

PS the last post had visitors from 22 cities in about 24 hrs. I think this one will get about one…

Well, it’s been a while since I posted anything. After packing out everything and leaving the States, the kids and I went for a few weeks back to good ole’ MKD for a few weeks vacation. The kids had a blast. Me, not so much, as I had to deal with a big admin backlog. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed all the BBQ, rakiya, friends and relatives… It was very good for everyone to re-connect with folks they knew.

In early August we all landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We landed in temporary digs for a few days, and then we got our own place.

I’ve gotta say, the city was a bit intimidating at first. Perhaps it was the location of our temporary house (nothing to walk to) and the lack of transportation. Or perhaps the mud during the rainy season… Or perhaps the piles of garbage in the street… Or the thick, black smoke coming out of 80% of the cars/trucks/vans/buses… Oh, well, doesen’t it sound fun?

After a very short while though, the kids went to school which was great. We LOVE ICS Addis Ababa!

I started with some light tennis in the past few weeks, waiting to start my new job (DS, please let me see the light!). And one of the people we hired is a fantastic, fantastic cook! Even the kids branched out and started to eat most of what she makes. At this point, with all our stuff here (including our car), with a very nice network of new friends (including a American/Macedonian couple)and the rainy season over – it’s a really nice and fun place to be! I need to figure out the tambourine situation, though…

Last weekend was fairly social as well – had visitors from the 154th in town (congrats on the engagement again, R&C!), a hike up Entoto Mountain to see the hyena den, dinner at Yod Abyssinia, day trip to the Portugese Bridge at Debre Libanos, and dinner with friends at home (farewell and smooth sailing, H!). A few pics below…

Oh, did I mention I got a working (and paying) gig next week? More soon…