This morning we returned to the Eden Genet Church in Addis Ababa as I (Andy) had been invited to preach. We quickly realised that this would become another “Chigga Yellum” day when we arrived to find the Church in darkness – the electricity had failed. This did not deter the Ethiopians as they started the worship with no instruments, microphones and in semi-darkness ....the only light was that which seeped through the corrugated iron panels that clad the building.
The worship was the usual blend or enthusiastic praise and fervent prayer...although we could only work out the odd word.
After about half an hour we started to hear the gentle patter of rain on the roof and as I stood up to preach the rain became heavier....Vanessa suggested that I would have to shout so that everyone could hear. After 5 minutes of speaking the leader of the Church suggested that I stop...., and for a minute I thought that I must have said something offensive, but he explained that the rainfall had increased to the point where the translator couldn’t even hear me .... let alone anyone in the congregation. So I stood there for about 7 minutes trying to smile and look relaxed, but I think i must have looked like a Cheshire cat.
Once the rain had stopped, I decided that I should simplify what I was planning to say to ensure that I made the main points before the next rain arrived. This seemed to give me a greater liberty and I am sure that it sounded far better that what I had originally planned
After Church we discovered an English speaking family in the congregation from Canada, and enjoyed a good time of fellowship with them at a local coffee shop.....although in future we must remember not to put the teenagers on a table of their own as we adults ordered coffee and then saw pizzas being delivered to theirs!!
As the coffee shop was one of the better establishments we have visited Vanessa decided to use the toilet facilities, which was fine until she discovered that there was no handle on the inside of the toilet door and it had locked behind her. She shouted and banged on the door, but none of us heard her. Eventually a man arrived but seemed to misunderstand her “I’m stuck in the toilet, and the door is locked “ as “I’m using the toilet and have locked the door”. Finally she persuaded the man that she needed help and he kicked the door until it opened
On the way home from church we took the opportunity of stopping at a restaurant for lunch. Here we discovered an interesting anomaly. The Steak meals were cheaper than the Pizzas....apparantly this is because Pizza is considered as a foreign meal and therefore they can charge more for it. So I had the Fillet Mignon (sounds French to me and therefore surely foreign!!) for 55 Birr, whilst David had a Chicken Pizza for 57 Birr. As there are 27 Birr to the Pound both of these meals cost 2 pounds each....bargain!
The afternoon was spent watching football with Wit and the boys, whilst Vanessa and Abi made their famous chocolate chip cookies. As with their earlier attempt at making Victoria Sandwich cake, these also did not quite turn out as expected. The cookie mixture obviously does not cook the same at altitude and the cookies came out looking like wafers with the chocolate chips looking like rabbit droppings
Oh well........Chigga Yellum again
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