I took some time off work on Tuesday morning to get my electricity issues sorted out. I had planned on going all the way to Nairobi and waiting in a line for hours at the KPLC office. I decided to stop by Westlands to pay my rent and mentioned my problems with electricity to one of the guys there. Almost immediately he produced a large fuse (“Is that something behind your ear?”) and said it would do the trick. “Can you meet me at your house in 30 minutes?” Sawa sawa (ok)!
Cold Showers Aren’t So Bad
And I always loved toast with peanut butter and honey. I forgot to pay my electricity bill on time and KPLC came and disconnected me. That was almost a week ago, and I am still trying to figure out how to get it turned back on. Surprisingly, my hot water heater was hot for about a day, and then lukewarm for another day beyond that. Hot water is great for shaving, but lighting the bathroom with a candle really sucks.
Steer Clear of Tibs Firfir!
If you don’t like the sour Ethiopian bread injera, steer clear of “Tibs Firfir”! It’s number 50 on the menu at the National Cafe in downtown Addis, next to the National Theater and the big lion statue. In Amharic it looks like this: ጥብስ ፍርፍር. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I made a bit of a mistake ordering dinner tonight with a friend in Addis Ababa. We decided we both liked tibs, an Ethiopian dish with roasted meat and, sometimes, tasty sauteed vegetables. What we didn’t know is that the “firfir” changes the game completely! Your itty bitty pieces of meat come mixed with shredded injera wrapped in a huge, pancake-like injera!