Sitting on the Fence

I was not so happy about the possibility of not being able to take up the job in Ethiopia on a tangle of red tape. But upon thinking about it I thought it would be really nice to go to the Edinburgh festival again, and wonderful to catch up with a few friends in Scotland (a couple of friends in particular). I was considering waitressing work there over the summer. I started remembering things like the smell of hair dye and the sensation of walking in heels. I miss a few things that I just don't get here.

But I also want to really spend some more time in Africa and I find East Africa just a little bit too easy. If I could take up the job (by getting the correct entry visa) I'd have the opportunity to go to Djibouti and from there it's possible to get into (safe - Rosa) areas of Somalia, Eritrea and Yemen. Also I'll make money, not much, but enough so that I could visit Palestine and a few places in Europe that I missed out on or need to go back to. And after working a summer in Edinburgh next year I'll be able to go back to Aus and NZ with a bit of cash to travel around, hopefully I'll go back with a friend too.

So swings and roundabouts. The grass is green on both sides.

As it stands, I have met the man who recruits for the school who is on his holiday here with his family. he has given me an email from the Ethiopian Embassy in Melbourne that says the Ethiopian Embassy in Kenya should definitely issue me with the visa. If that doesn't work then I'll see if I can post my passport to Melbourne. They don't do email visas (understandable) and I don't do long haul flights for a bit of paperwork.

I got to the snake park, the national archives and Carnivore (a restaurant that specialises in exotic game meats) but went into none of them as they were all too expensive and in the case of the latter they only had ostrich on the menu (aside from standard chicken, pork, lamb, goat and beef). I did however get to the giraffe centre, I even paid the entry fees and fed the giraffes. Chilled animals, much nicer than horses.

I'm now staying over the dodgy end of the city. still haven't been robbed but I also haven't been out by myself or with a bag after 11pm... Nairobbery is thankfully not really living up to it's reputation.