I met Yanis Ben Amor today, my manager/project leader for my assignment in Ethiopia. From the Hilton Hotel on 6th Ave it was 8 stops on subway Line 1 from Columbus Circle to 116th St. A little trouble getting into the station when my multipass ticket failed and I lost $10. But got on I did. Was almost pushed of at one of the following ststaions when a whole crowd tried to get off - some swearing at me....The Columbia University precinct is a nice area by the Hudson River, I arrived early so managed to walk over to Grants tomb and around some of the streets. Lovely architecture, well at least it stood out from some grey drab buildings.
I met Yanis in his office in the Interchurch building on 120th St. The subsequent 2.5 hrs was quite divergent. I also met Eliana from Millenium Global Villages for a short period. Yanis and I covered alot but key was the date of arrival and trip to Mekele and Hawzen. We settled on about 26 August to go to Addis Ababa and spend a week before meeting up with Yanis about Sep 2 and flying north on Sep 4. Where to stay initially in Addis -the Hilton - the Australian embassy is based there so a good choice. In Hawzen, the choice was really only the Gheralta Lodge otherwise a place in town. - Mud brick huts either way. Phone SIM card and USB dongle for internet of which the best service I am likely to get is e-mail. Transport will be supplied by the MGV team as I will spend 2-3 days in the villages around Koraro and 2-3 days in the office. The work load is high with Yanis mentioning that they stay back to 11 pm.
Hygiene is important - wash your hands with sanitizer even after shaking hands with someone - discretely of course.
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