On my travels I've met, written about, and photographed hundreds of ladies. On this trip alone, in the Simiens I met Anne from France, and in Maychew I met Lizzie from the US. And on my various travels I've met girls from dozens of countries on six continents! Now I'm telling you about another, and she's Mei from Cameroon. This morning I packed up all my stuff and left Kume's house. When I stopped at a bank to try and cash some traveller's cheques I was told to go to the Central branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. Incredibly, they don't cash traveller's cheques! When I went to the Djibouti embassy I was hoping I could pay in birr, and whilst I expected the visa to be $30 it's a whopping $125! They want a hotel reservation or a faxed letter from a contact in Djibouti. There went the Djibouti idea; I'm not spending $125 on the visa when I'm only going to be there for 3 or 4 days. When I called Mei she told me to meet her in front of one of Ethiopia's most elite hotels, where I was picked up in something unexpected: a private car. Mei and I actually go back even before today. She lived in Costa Rica at the same time I was there in '09 (although I'm not sure if we met face to face), and she sent me a postcard from Ethiopia as part of my postcard project a few years ago. During that time I had no concrete plans to be here. Mei's friend is Laketa, and she's from Kenya. When I told her my dilemma with traveller's cheques she said we could drive to the Sheraton, which is the only place I know of where I could cash them. We went to Mei's house to put my stuff at her place. She lives in a small but nice place with carpeting, a colourful couch, and a clean kitchen. It sort of feels like I'm not in Ethiopia when I'm there. Mei, Laketa, and I all drove to the Sheraton with it's dozens of flags from all different countries. My guess is that 80% of the people you see here aren't staying at this "island in the heart of Addis," and it seems that people (both Ethiopian and foreign) come here for a quick taste of glitz and glamour. It feels like the kind of place you'd find on Champs-Elysees. The pastries are something to die for and are a surprisingly cheap taste of Paris here in Addis; I got four croissants for about $4. The bank was closed for lunch, so the three of us had to burn some time. I window-shopped whilst Mei splurged out on some cookbooks. She told me that good books are hard to come by in Ethiopia so when you see one you seize the moment. Her and I talked about how difficult it is with money in Ethiopia. The only way to exchange birr to US dollars is if you have a plane ticket out of Ethiopia, so if you've overlanding it from Cape to Cairo, you have to plan carefully or exchange on the black market. Mei told me Ethiopia is the only country that has that restriction. Western Union exists in Ethiopia but only to receive money; this is an issue for Mei because it's not easy for her to send money to her family in Cameroon. Very few places accept credit cards, and though there are quite a few ATMs most of them don't accept foreign cards (and where they do they only accept Visa). I got traveller's cheques before coming here because I didn't want to carry a large wad of cash, but the only place in the entire country where you can exchange them is at the Sheraton. After our dabble in the glitz and glamour of Ethiopia's most elite hotel, Mei had to go to work and Laketa took me to go get my visa for Somaliland. After the stuff I've been through the past couple of days I suddenly had someone driving me around. The visa was taking awhile at the embassy and I felt bad that Laketa was waiting outside. Finally I was told to come back tomorrow and pick up my passport. This morning I thought of leaving for Harar tomorrow but I'm in "chill-out mode" so I don't mind leaving the following day, and scratching Djibouti buys me a few extra days. Laketa suggesting getting a pedicure. My feet have taken a real pounding on this journey and I've never had a pedicure before. The salon is located above the Oh Canada Cafe. My filthy feet received the royal treatment as she used a pumice stone and gave them a bath. Who says pedicures are only for women! My feet felt reborn at the cost of only 165 birr (about $8). Downstairs at Oh Canada I thought I'd have a feast. Glancing at the menu I notice the pizzas are named after famous Canadians such as Justin Bieber and Avril Lavigne. The latter is listed as a margherita pizza on the menu so I said to the waiter "I'd like an Avril Lavigne with a cup of tea." The area I'm in is the outer edge of Bole but it feels completely different to the rest of Ethiopia and even the rest of Addis. At Kume's house I'd walk past women in traditonal dress and boys selling fruit and laundry soap as I'd go get my morning coffee but in Bole I can eat at Oh Canada for breakfast, have Chinese for lunch, and feast on Korean food for dinner. An "Avril Lavigne" was divine, and a slice of cheesecake to top it off was even better! Laketa picked me up and then we headed to Mei's house. Mei lives here with two roommates from the Congo who are studying at Addis Ababa University. Tonight we chatted travel. For the average person she's very well-travelled, but for an African woman she's extremely well-travelled! In addition to Cameroon and Ethiopia she's studied in Costa Rica and lived and worked in China. She's been to South Korea, India, and various places in Europe and Central America. She has three adopted children who live in Cameroon, and she lives with an honourable degree of humbleness. She admits she could live large but she prefers to live in a small place, meet CSers, and be helpful to the world and those in need.
Mei is well versed about Chinese food and culture. She describes American Chinese food as being oily and not at all like authentic Chinese cuisine. When I told her I hadn't been to or seen a Chinese restaurant in Ethiopia, she suggested we get Chinese food that night. Her, Laketa, their friend, and I all went out for a fabulous dinner! Braised eggplant was divine, and a fish dish is heated on the table with Sterno so it simmers directly in front of you. This is one of the best Chinese restaurants I've ever eaten at.
Mei and I would meet up several times and she hosted me during my final days in Ethiopia, and on nights she couldn't host me she always ensured I had a place to stay. She's the kind of person whom the world needs more of: a person who cares about others and is passionate about people and the world rather than just being after money and material things. Not only does she have a name of gold, she has a heart of gold. Wherever I am in this world I'm always open to seeing and hosting Mei, and if you're a member of CouchSurfing and visiting Ethiopia you must meet this lovely Cameroonian lady. She's definitely a highlight of Ethiopia!
