Melkam Millennium!!!!

Hot and burning news from the New Addis Ababa, where we just turned into the new Millennium among fireworks, crazy parties, crowded and expensive concerts. Ethiopians, indeed, follow the Coptic calendar instead of the Gregorian one: this means 13 months and 7 years behind compared to our “schedule”. September 11 was the fatidic date; millions of people got out in the streets, squares and all public spaces to mess around yelling HAPPY MILLENNIUM. We were dragged in all this happy event, and we celebrated as we were real HABESHA. It was fun, check out the pics to believe it.
After the millennium a series of celebrations are taking place all over Addis to continue greeting the new year: tomorrow there will be a free Flamenco concert kindly offered by the Spanish Embassy. We will be in pole position.
Last weekend I finally got some good rest with my colleagues Belen and Abraham, and we decided to go to Langano, a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains 250 km far from the capital, in oromia region. A two-day of sunbathing, swimming and walking, completely absorbed by the Nature, with baboons running on our heads, singing and colourful birds and annoying mosquitoes, we spent our Meskel days in a very productive way. Oh sorry, I did not explain what Meskel is. Actually it may recall the Mexican liquor, but it is not exactly that. It means CROSS, in Amharic, and gives also the name to the main square in Addis, were all celebration and manifestations take place. During Meskel day it is celebrated the finding of Jesus’ cross from a lady, and every year in Ethiopia (where the majority is ortodox) thousands of people gather in the main square to burn a HUGE fire to welcome this finding and the new year. Then, once all the wood, trees and materials they burn is almost done, they see where the left over falls, if north, south, west or east, and from that people understand if this could be a lucky or unfortunate year. I was really lucky, since I got the PASS to the press zone, so that I managed to watch the fire from 5 metres, an unforgettable show, itàs even difficult to describe it.
Finally, the pearl of these past few weeks: the movie on BOB MARLEY’S idea of AFRICA UNITE… at the presence of the Ethiopian President – Girma Woldegiorgis – Rita Marley (BOB’s WIFE!!!!) UNICEF country representative and other VIPs, in the Royal Palace it was shown the preview of the movie which wants to recall Bob’s idea of Africa Unite. Actually is a retroactive history of the relations between the RASTFARI and Ethiopia, and all the linkages between HAILESELASSIE and his influence on other African and world leaders. It was interesting, especially because it was a great opportunity to see from close was the RASTA culture is, often mystified with the idea of smoke and nothing else. I still think that it’s something out my deep understanding, but it’s colourful, harmless and…fun! In this regard pls also look at the pictures, with one the most important RASTA singers in the world after BOB’s death: LUCIANO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess is everything for now, more updates after DUBAI’s travel with Valentina and Davide:
You will see lots of pictures of desert, beach, expensive hotels and… a ski track…. Yeah, I’m not kidding.. in Dubai there is a real – artificial – ski track, and we will be there, like always, in pole position…………………………..

PS: Thank you Trezeguet for scoring in the derby… bye bye Toro, like always you are behind…….

A

Back: In Addis, on the Blog!

Hi everybody, after such a long time!!!

In Ethiopia the exact word to define someone who disappearead for quite some time would be: Tefah!! But now, I'm back, with some new updates, new pictures and lot to tell about.

First of all, I changed house. The owner of that beautiful place said that they wanted to run a business (restaurant for the millennium) so we have been kindly asked to pack and go... not too bad, though, the situation was kind a burning, the landlady was becoming too annoying. In any case the last night i could not avoid to make some little, annoying spite... like blocking the shower, fire and cut the plants, flushing mangos, papayas and avocados in the toilet.. I'm sure the landlord will have hard times.

We found a nice house downtown, same style: two bedroom a big living room and just one bathroom. But it's ok, we will be just Valentina (Just back from Italy...) and myslef. It's very close to the major supermarkets, gym, clubs etc... and the price is the same as before. So no financial losses, you all know how sensitive i am to this matter....

Work is doing great, we are always more involved in this Icome generating Assesment secrectly im setting up the basis for an extention of my contract.. but shhhhhhhh I don't wanna say anything until i sign a paper. Abraham and Belen are doing also great, new gossip, as u can inferr from the pictures.....

We formed a footsala team, but we were not that lucky... 2 defeats in three matches, but at least we won the last one against the swedish embassy 15 - 4, and I scored 7 goals, some of them even registred.. (see the attached video and picture...) our name was Pitura freska, don't ask me why, I did not choose it! But at least we had great fun, and we have the FAKE Ethiopian jersey as a memory of this funny adveture.

Finally, we adopted a puppy. Her name is SCIMU, and all of you cane asily understand why... she is extremely cute and quiet, she does not bark and she is very playful. She lived with us for a couple of days but now Bilu is taking care of her. She is our little daughter, infact she half italian half habesha, look at her stains on the fur!

I'll try to write more often now, i have some free time and internet is faster... yahooooo!!!!! A big hug to everybody guys, from Addis! PS: check this golassso out :)

Hurry up, Valentina!

My roommate Valentina left the country due to medical evacuation... Serious nervous problem. We miss you "Valantaina", hurry up I cannot stand Raissa & c. too much, she keeps on stealing my mangos and my NUTELLA... pleaaaaaaase come back!!!

Abraham also left the country, he went to Hong Honk and Thailand for vacations.. and from his pics i can say he is having lot of fun. By the way, thanks for the i-pod, buddy!!

Yesterday night first VOLLEY match, so much fun and a honest result 2-2... but next time we will kick your ass.

Byeeeeeee

AWASH NATIONAL PARK

3 weekends of Addis Ababa nightlife is definetively too much. So, Olga, marialaura, Michele, Corrado and myself decided to explore the famous nationa park of Awash. Lions are supposed to be there, but we mostly think that the only lions that were there decided to withdraw to better places... so the most attractives animals are the Dick Dick (pls do not comment on that.... :)) Gazelles, Monkey, Crocodiles, Ostrichs, Baboons...... We brought tents, soft mattresses and a sleeping bag, so the camping would have been more confy. We spent 2 great days, among the dick dick and the flies, playing 7 and 1/2 and making fun of each other. Enjoy the pictures........

Finally: CALI!!!

Voila, il Cali eccolo qua!!
Landed last week, we have been enjoying so many places, restaurants, clubs… and the next weekend will be dedicated to the discover of WONCHI, little village WITHIN a Vulcan!!
We first went to Sululta, a green and flat area right behind Addis Ababa, at 3000 mt, In the middle of nowhere, with no cars, no buses, no bars.. Just small wood houses, cows and sheep, but above all little kids playing SOCCER. We brought along a ball, which we suddenly threw among the guys. 2 teams, with us leading. The ground not less than 200 meters, and from the close villages people were running to welcome us. A never ending match took place, no result, just fun. If you look at the pictures you will notice it.
Then Memo at night, “interesting” place where you are assaulted by local beauties, especially if you are a foreigner. But paying and that does not count J So it might be good for your self-confidence.
Other than that we went to Sodere, to get some tan, relax and watch the monkeys.
But words cannot really explain everything, so pls look at the pics I’m posting and leave some comments….

BRAVO LUCA!!

BRAVO LUCA!!!

Congrats for winning the scholarship which will take you to the Yellowstone park for one long year....

Work... in progress

Hi everybody.

Days are coming and going very far, here in Addis Ababa. The work at UNAIDS goes further amonh highs and lows, meetings and forums, discussions and deadlines, but the overall situation is good. I'm mostly quite busy, and that's the most important thing.

In 1 month my russian supervisor will leave and we are expected to welcome an American guy (...) from Geneva as the bew M&E supervisor. I don't know what to expect, so let's see and keep fingers crossed.

Yesterday, april 12 2007, we had a great video conference with BAN-KI-MOON (UN secretary general) where all the UN duty stations were connected. Jakarta, Geneva, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Santiago, Wien... it was so interesting! Topic discussed: UN reform. Most of the speakers were worried about mobility, salaries and UN welfare system... not at all about the situation in the developing countries!!! Welcome to the UN...

Other than that I'm feeling ok, my halth has stopped giving me troubles and I can finally practice Athletics and Soccer (even though at 6.30 on saturday morning, sigh....) and I have planned to call Haile Gebreselassie's agent to fix a meeting with him. I would like to talk to him about my plan to train ethiopian kids in track and field, and I really hope to get his help for a large scale project. And i also want a picture to show to Pablo... I know he is his idol.

So, these are the news. No picture in the last days, Just so much rain and even more mud. Really annoying. But this is Addis Ababa, what can you do???

A presto - A

Africa, finally!

Big Boss, little kids, dusty roads, people living with Hiv and Aids and much else. Finally the real Africa.
We (UN/AIDS staff and Mark Stirling, the Director of Eastern and Southern Africa) went on Sunday for a field visit to a big Ethiopian city placed North West from Addis Ababa, Bahir dar.
7 hours by car with amazing landscapes: green fields, mountains, children barefoot running from their village to another one that might have been 10 km far, donkeys and cows, goats and sheeps. We first stopped in Debre Markos, another big town on the way to Bahir Dar, always in the Amhara region. We visited different place that had as a trait d'union the people living with Hiv. They are organized in associations, and they have their own business (bakeries, granding mills, etc..) in order to stop the discrimination towards them. Brave, corageus people, especially in a country like Ethiopia, were habits and traditions are very strong, as well as misconceptions and stigma.
We met many children, smiling children that used to say: "YOU... (pointing us with the finger)... WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" and we had to reply the same.. My name is Andrea, I'm from Italy.. what is your name?? And they were proud o their english, and for having spoken to a FARANGE (foreign person). We spent the night in Debre, and the following morning we travelled all the way to Bahir, following the Blue Nile river. We finally came, and we had a few meetings at the regional HAPCO (HIV and AIDS Prevention & control office) and to the local hospital we patients are treated with ART (anti retrovial treatment). If italian hospitals are not well considered, and if you are afriad of them, then don't come here. Walls that almost falls to the ground, flies everywhere, a never ending line of patients, and a few doctors. Heat. So much heat, that even breathing is hard. After that, a relaxing trip to TANA lake, the third biggest lake in Africa, in particular to some islands in the middle where old monastries survive since 1300. Some monks received us, explaining all the history and showing us ancient Amharic books with more than 700 hundred years of history. Impressive. Ah, i was forgetting: ladies (as you can see in the pictures) were not allowed cuz they represent a temptaion for the moks. He said, to a specific question: "ladies are like the grass for the fire, goats for the lions and cows for the tigers......". So, how can you reply to that??? So no women for their whole life, they just don't need them... wow, that's really strong!
Yesterday (tuesday) we had to come back to Addis, but we found time to visit the Blue Nile falls, the most important turistic attraction in Ethiopia. Unfortunately this is the dry season, so the falls were not to impressive, but still it has been great. Nothing compared to Iguazu, but in any case a nice experience.

Fields trips are the best for you to understand how people are really living, to escape from the bllody meetings and to see what does really mean living with this killing virus. I wish I could go more often, to see all the kids staring at you like if you were (a white) God, there to help and to feed them. Unfortunately i'm neither God nor a meal, so you cannot help them but still many things can be done. All this makes you think a lot, about everything. This is Africa. The real Africa. Everyone should come here and see. Not to forget anymore....

Leprechaun!

Hi everybody from Addis Ameba. I got sick another time, this time some bacteria kindly entered my stomach in Nazareth (God bless this place….eh eh…) and they kindly remained into it. So now, after two sleepless nights I figured it out and I’m taking powerful antibiotics. Other than that life goes on “pretty” well: they still haven’t paid us (“just” 15 and more day of delay), I’m getting a bit bored at work because there is not much to do but at least on Saturday we will celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with the huge Irish community here in Addis. A fancy charity ball at the Sheraton Hotel (not my style, especially with British people, but for once…) with food and beverages included…. It is gonna be a long night!!! I will surely take some pictures, and you won’t miss them if you keep on visiting the blog checking for updates. So, see you on Monday with some news.........

Long & Nice weekend

Monkeys drinking Coke, a never ending Rift Valley, dust, sources of extremely hot water, pool, roasted chicken (delicious!), dives, tennis matches, mango juice.... This was more or less my long weekedn, started friday (national day, clebration of Adwa victory) and ended in SODERE, beautiful place just 130 km south of Addis Ababa. Relax and fun, a right mix. These are the pictures, enjoy them!

Settling down: New House, New Friends, New lifestyle

Hi everyone. Fist week of work, way intensive but nice. I was assigned for two majors:

1) 2007 Training workshop on methods for HIV and Aids Estimates and Projection in cooperation with HAPCO (Hiv/Aids prevention and control Office) to work on the implementation of the M&E system in Ethiopia

2) Five year evaluation of the Global Fund impact on three major diseas: TB, Malaria and AIDS.

Very hard issues, but step by stepo i'm going trough them and they are not ununderstandable.

I have to go almost every day to the Ministry of Health, 5 minutes far from here , and always with a UN official driver... and that is so cool! All the kids say Hi to me, people see the UN car and they stop moving, trying to see if one big boss is in.. But it's just me!

Amharic lessons with Abraham are going quite well, and we establish a rule called ''a word a day'': heb teaches me one word of Amharic, i teach him one word in Italian. I wonder how long it will last to learn a language... but I might hire an official teacher to learn seriously, and faster.

Other than that we finally settled down. The new house is amazing, a huge villa with a nice garden, satellite tv (rai international = serie A every sunday for free!!!!!!!!!!), big living room, confortable beds, new fridge, a guard 24/7, a maid that washes & cleans 3 days a week.... this is life! We even met lots of people: 2 french guys working here, many ethiopians, and the Irish roomate just came yesterday. Everything all right, I even recovered myself after the terrible first week.

That's all folks, new updates coming soon

First days in Addis Ababa, first negative records...

After a never ending flight, we finally came to Ethiopia. A UN driver came to pick us up, and we had no problem with bags and luggage, even tough we exceed the weight limit. We went directly to the Atlas Hotel, where 2 comfy room were waiting for us.
The following morning was dedicated to the discovery of the city: t-shirt, snickers, shorts and our unchanghable white skin. A taxi driver took us to the University and then we followed walking without a direct target... just willing to know how the real Africa was. Well, unfortunately all what people say about it, seems to be true. People begging for money every 50 metres, old people lying on the sidewalks, a noisy and smelly traffic jam... we went down the menelik road where the Ethiopian white house is, and we got lost in a `favela` where everyone was looking at us. But I have never felt in danger, people seemed to look at us but not to hate us because we were "whites" . They were smiling us, and that was leaving us astonished. We recover our way to tha Mezkal square, where some young guys were playing soccer. Normal traffic, but no shadow, no refuge from the African burning sun. We ate a sandwich, but our skin was already read, and that, lately, would have been a big problem.
We accidentally found the only internet point open at sunday, and we had the chance to say hi to our families with a text message from the vodafone web site. Then, burned and tired, we got home to take a shower. My face was completely red, my neck as well. My head was spinning, and my legs were tired. We had a brief dinner and then I tried to go to sleep... but i could not.
I did not sleep at all, i was so fricking sick! So thew following morning we went to the office, but before anything I asked to go to the CLINIC inside the compound. Diagnosis: fever (38.5) and gastrointeritis. The nicest wasy to begin. But after a shot in the bottom and some salty water I recovered my energies and I was ready to face the first day. The compound is gorgeous, an oasis in the desert with offices, shops, gym, conference rooms (Prodi came here 2 weeks ago) 4 restaurants, 5 bars...... its like a (rich) city in the (poor) city. It makes u thing about the words UNITED NATIONS, when you see a 3-metre-wall and beyong house made by wood and mood...

But still.... so during these days we are arranging all the burocratic stuff: UN id, UN passport, Bank account and research of accomodation. Yeah, that will be the major point.
On Friday, tomorrow, we will have the first contact with our agencies (UN/AIDS for me, UNFPA for Valentina, my experience buddy). I'll you guys know. I took some pictures, Ill post them tomorrow. In the meantime a huge hug from Addis......

BONN - UNV Briefing, January 21-23

48 participants from Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Czech Republic.

4 days in Bonn, old undiscovered and elegant capital of the Nordrhein-Westfalen region. UN campus, just right in front of the Rhein.
These are just the premises of the 2-day-briefing that took place in Germany. It was a moment of careful consideration of what we are gonna do in a couple of weeks, a moment of sharing of the ideals of the organization and a brief introduction of our duties in the host country.. in other words a real brainstorming made of practical indications (insurance, security, logistical tips) and a way to know our colleagues sent all over the world. Burkina Faso, China, Uzbekistan or Laos. Nicaragua, Uganda or Swaziland. Most various destinations for young dynamic guys, united by love for volunteering and developing countries but also interested in an international career (just like me). The campus was incredible, a skyscraper close to the Deutsche poste's one -see pic- with an extremely helpful staff that has tried to clarify all the aspects on the internship. I was even given a medical kit and the exceptional UN PASSPORT, can you guys believe it??

I finally met Valentina and Caragh, the two "Ethiopian"girls from Vercelli and Dublin that will accompany me in this long travel: educated, friendly, smiling and cute.. everything seems to be almost perfect so far, but better not saying it loud.. Murphy and his laws are just behind the corner...
I'll probably be flying on the 10th, so I still have 2 weeks here. Enjoy the pictures!