Millie
I'm legit close to breaking down when I bump into some guy. He looks Ethiopian to me, but not quite.
" Hello." he greets me
Amen, finally, someone who speaks English. I think.
"I am lost" I blurt out. He chuckles.
'Should you be telling people that?" he asks.
I can't quite place his accent, but I don't feel threatened by his presence.
"My name is Matt; I am a Kindergarten teacher from Barbados."
"I am Millie; I live near the Vatican,"
The vatican is the name of the only Catholic Church in Addis Ababa.
"Come with me, I will walk you back to the crossroads and help you find the way home." He offers. I follow him. He walks me back to the cross roads and tells me to just walk on straight down the hill.
I later come to discover he works at the same school as I.
....
Luke
I am seated outside Kaldi's coffee house, in Adams Pavilion, Sarbet-Addis Ababa. I am enjoying a cup of Buna with my friends. Buna is what we call coffee here in Addis Ababa. It's past 8pm, and the moon is up.
I stand up and pay the bill.
"Thank you Menga." My friends answer in a chorus. Menga is short for Mengesha. Most people call me Mengesha, but my Christian name is Luke.
I live in Gabriel, which is quite a distance from Sarbet. However, I like walking because it gives me time and the opportunity to clear my head. Besides, I have been working on this TV script, and I need inspiration to get me out of writer's block that I am currently experiencing.
As I walk towards the junction between Sarbet and Bisrate Gabriel, I notice her, A young lady, walking all alone in the night. She is petite; I can tell that she is not from around here because she seems to be walking around in circles.
I can also tell that she is not Habesha because, while she is very pretty, her face does not have any hint of Cushitic features on it. I am about to cross the street to go and say hello when a certain gentleman appears out of nowhere and comes to her rescue.
I cannot hear what they are saying, but I can tell she is asking for directions. They exchange a few words and head in the direction she had come from.
As I walk home, I am feeling a little weird, I feel like I should have offered to take her home.
I try to focus on my manuscript, but my mind seems stuck on the little foreign beauty.
...
So, am finally home, at 9.30 pm. We have a new arrival; she's fresh out of college, graduated ten days before travel; lucky girl, getting a job 10 days after graduation. She is quiet, but the kind of quiet which you can tell is temporary, like when we get used to each other, she will open up. Her name is Bibi.
Now we are four new girls. The school year starts in two weeks, but apparently there is a series of training sessions which we are supposed to go through before we can teach. The Guesthouse has a 'prefect. He is elderly, and has been in Addis for a number of years.
The training starts. It is being held in a place called the Bole Convention Center. It is raining cats and dogs, and the cold is vicious. I am starting to wonder if they were lying when they said Addis Ababa is 13 months of sunshine.
