Seemed to have gotten sicker last night. Up and down, all night long, to toilet. Was thinking, "When will this end?" and slept most of the day.
But then! At 7:30 p.m., there was a rap-tap-tap on my door. I opened it to find Ashenaffi standing there! Ashenaffi was a nice young man - a security man, working at the hotel. He'd been sweetly worrying about me for the past 2 days. Every time he saw me walking in the hall, or sitting listlessly in a chair at reception, he'd ask, "How are you feeling? Are you any better?" For the last 2 nights, he had been offering to take me out to a club where there is traditional Ethiopian music and traditional dancing. I had declined both nights. That's how sick I was, folks! Can you imagine me *declining* such a thing? He had told me that the best place in all of Ethiopia for traditional music and dancing was right there in Bahir-Dar. I'd had to say, "Gee, sounds great ... but sorry ... just can't. Maybe I'll come back to Bahir-Dar one day." And then go back to my room for more sleeping.
So, there was my friend, Ashenaffi, standing at my door at 7:30 p.m., the evening before we are scheduled to leave. He said, "I just wanted to see how you are doing. I know you're leaving tomorrow. If you can, I would love to show you that music. I think you'll like it." I did a quick mental check of my stomach and was actually feeling fine! Elaine (the group nurse) had given me a bunch of pills, including an anti-nausea pill, just a few hours earlier. This may have explained why I was feeling fine. But I didn't care about the reason. The point was... "Sure!" I said, "Let's go! But not late, huh? Maybe only 1 hour?" Ashenaffi said, "O.k.!"
OH MY GOD! Forget Sudan! I've decided that it is Ethiopia that I love! It was a great night, dampened only by the fact that I wasn't drinking. All the pill packages Elaine had given me said, "No Alcohol." Not that that's ever stopped me before, but I didn't want to risk another 6 days of this Sickness (with a capital S).
This club was so cool, I can hardly describe it. Never seen anything quite like it. We walked in and the little room was full of incense. It looked like there was grass scattered on the floor, but when I asked Ashenaffi, he said it was papyrus, which is always used at weddings and other
events with traditional dancing. The seats were stuffed cowhide Ethiopian traditional stools. It is hard to describe this little club much more, but if you can picture a very small nightclub from New Orleans, where you can hear great music but only about 20-30 customers can squeeze into the place, that's what this place was like. Plus, of course, the incense, papyrus, and Ethiopian stools! And the music was definitely not New Orleans style. Here is a picture that might help.Ashenaffi was drinking beer, while I was on coke. I kept joking with him, though, about how I wanted to just hold and smell his beer, so that I could pretend to be drinking it, even when I wasn't. (This was another huge difference between Ethiopia and Sudan, of course. In Sudan - alcohol is outlawed.) It is unbelievable what an absolute *saint* I was. The whole ambiance and music and friendliness of the (all-Ethiopian) crowd had me in such a mood. When Ashenaffi's breath smelled like beer, that even added to the atmosphere! Eventually, not being able to stand it any longer, I let him order me one. But, as I told him, "This is just so that I can touch it, hold it, smell it, and wet my lips with it so that I can have the taste without actually drinking it." Which is all I did, honest. I'm telling you, I should be nominated for sainthood for that one! In the end, after much teasing, Ashenaffi drank it.
When he walked me back to the hotel, it had been significantly more than the 1 hour I had requested. Not too late though - 10:30 p.m. Every once in a while, my stomach rumbled, but I pretended to ignore it. Ashenaffi and I exchanged addresses. I hope he writes so that I can put the stamp into my non-existent stamp collection.
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