Ethiopian paperwork!

While we've been here we have been very fortunate to have the school carry out all our official business for us like visa's, licences etc. It has saved us heaps of time, and now I realise saved us from frustration too!! We hear from others who have had problems with Ethiopian beauracracy that it can be a headache doing anything in this country and  from a small encounter I had 2 days ago I now believe them!
As most of you know Shane had a kidney stone, and had to go to hospital overnight. When we left we asked if there was anything we needed to do, and they assured us no...just go home! So we were surprised when the next day we had a phone call...and the day after that, and the day after that...that we still owed 500Birr and could we come pay it.
Shane was busy, so being a dutiful wife I agreed to do it for him, and the following took place.

ME: greetings in Amharic to cashier lady as needed- to set a friendly tone to the whole proceedings!
CASHIER: greetings back to me, and smiling face, with some English (always a good sign, that we just may be able to understand one another!!)
M: I need to pay a bill for Shane Rubie
C: you are Shane Rubie?
M: no he is my husband
C He is in hospital?
M: No, he is at home now, but was in hospital 5 days ago
C: Why is your bill not paid?
M: We didn't know we owed anything.
C: When were you in hospital?
M: No it was my husband Shane Rubie. 5 days ago.
C: HE is still in hospital?
M No he is at home now.
C: Why you not pay your bill?
This sort of conversatin goes on for another 10 minutes while the man behind me try's to help and translate the situation, and we gather a crowd of 6 or so people listening in!!
Finally I think we are proceeding when suddenly she says
C: Where is your pink slip?
M: What pink slip?
C: You cannot come into the hospital without a pinkcard.
M: I signed a pink card but the doctor must still have it.
C: NO - (she is definitely not smiling now!) you cannot go home without pink card
M: Sorry but there must have been a mistake, because we did not get a pink card when we left.
Next i have to take her to the exact bed Shane was in on level 1, to look for a pink card (like 5 days later it would still be in the room???!!!)Thankfully a nurse who saw Shane recognised me, and found his file..but alas no pink card in it. So we trudge back to ground level to the cashier window again.
C: How did you pay when your husband arrived?
M: I gave the nurse 1000 BIrr in cash (like there is any other way to pay in this country??!!)
C: Yes here is the copy receipt but where is your original white receipt for this?
M: I don't know. I don't have it.
C: Why don't you know. When you come here they give you receipt. (just like the pink card!)
M: Sorry it was 2am when we came here. I don't know what happened to the receipt.
C: No receipt I can't do your file and finish this.
M: But you have the copy there. You can see I paid. (she has the yellow duplicate stapled to the file on the front page!!)
C: I have to have original receipt. I cannot finish this with no receipt.
M: Do you want my money or not? I have it here.
C: yes you have to pay when you have the white receipt.
M: (AAAARRGGHHH) I don't know if I have the receipt. I have this money, and I can pay you now, otherwise I will go.
C: No, give me the  money and I will fix it for you. (suddenly worried she will see the money walk out the door!)

Now I have to wait in the room for about an hour while people come and go, paying their money and handing in pink cards and white receipts......while I have no idea what she's doing fluffing around, talking on the phone, looking at the computer, talking to others. Finally a senior looking lady comes from upstairs and calls me over
Lady: Do you have a pink card?
M: No, I told the cashier we were never given one.
L; Everyone gets a pink card when they come in, and when they leave.
M: Well not us. I signed a pink form, but no-one gave me a card
L; Maybe you have lost it.
M: (going slightly crazy now) Maybe the Dr still has it?
L: Maybe......where is your original receipt?
M: Now I have to explain over and over again the whole process etc and that they have taken my 500 Birr and can I go?
L: No we have to wait for a new receipt
More waiting and waiting and finally
L: I have printed out your receipt but will keep it until you bring me the white original receipt so we can finish your file. Please bring it tomorrow to this office.
M: Can I mail it to you?
L: NO it will get lost. You bring it to me and I will give you full receipt and details for everything.
M: Ok, thankyou....have a nice day, more kind goodbyes etc etc to keep goodwill, just in case I find the white docket, and have to come back to get my detailed receipt that they are holding ransom!!

Needless to say on arriving home and searching my bag that I took to hospital I found the white receipt and took it in 3 days later (I refused to go back next day, because I needed to calm down first)  Thankfully they gave me the detailed receipt which we can now claim on health insurance.....if I didn't need it I would never have gone back!!
The second visit took only half an hour and involved only 2 people and lots of smiling and goodwill because I had returned!!
HOWEVER FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING, I NEVER FOUND A PINK CARD, AND NEVER WILL, BECAUSE WE WERE NOT GIVEN ONE.

 So there you have Ethiopian processes and protocol in a nutshell. For a laid back culture, they sure are pedantic about following procedure.

Til next time
Naomi

December holidays

Hi everyone, well here we are on the last 2 days of our 3 week holiday time, and I’m finally getting the chance to blog! We have had a wonderful break, so I’ll tell you a few of the highlights!

1. Our first Camping trip – we tried out our new tents and mats and went to a forest called Menagasha about an hour away. We went with 2 other families and for the most part had fun! Not so fun when our sleeping mats went flat due to holes we didn’t know about, and not fun when an hour walk turned into 3 hours with tired small children, however the rest was great. We had a campfire, cooked marshmallows, played games, relaxed and felt a million miles away from the reality of life in Addis – a crowded, busy, polluted 3^rd world city.

2.Oli’s birthday – Dec 21. We gave him a party with 8 of his friends, most of whom live on compound. He turned 11, and I made a cake in the shape of the number!!!! Shane designed an “amazing race” around compound and had 3 teams all competing in challenges involving school people. They had to paint canvases in the art room, kick soccer goals on the oval, play a computer game in the lab, count class photos in the admin block, and the piece de resistance- climb up the rock climbing wall blindfolded! It was lots of fun, and they all rose to the challenge. Then just our family went out to eat Korean here because Oli wanted Sushi – I have no idea where he gets that desire from.....not me that’s for sure!

3. Christmas Day – we joined with 3 families in the afternoon and some singles on campus and we tried out cooking a whole sheep in a home-made besser brick oven. Shane and the boys played chefs while the girls made salads, and it was delicious. The fun part for the kids was seeing the lamb slaughtered and gutted the day before. They were fascinated by all the bits and especially loved seeing the stomach emptied of grass (the stench was something to imagine!!!)  then the man washed it out, then filled it up with all the other innards to take home with him.......just like a handbag........but a stomach bag!!! They didn’t blink an eye at the whole process and were happy to eat, what they had played with 3 days earlier when it was alive!!!

4. New Years Eve- after the successful lamb roast the boys went a step further and bought 2 whole pigs to roast! We had over 100 people (staff and families and visitors) come and celebrate at school. We made teams and played games like quoits, bocce, putt putt and throw the Frisbee through the hoop. All the time we could smell the pig roasting so by 5pm our mouths were salivating and finally we had a feast – crackling and all. The best pork I’ve ever had, and the first in 7 months. There was not a vegetarian in the house that night!! Then we sat around a fire chatting, and singing, until.......about 9pm when most of us boring oldies and with kids went home to bed!!

Kids learnt a trick - you put flour in your mouth and spit it at a flame and whoa!

5. Bowling – we discovered there is a bowling alley in town so we took the kids to try it out. They had free socks for us to put on, shoes without laces, and only big sizes so Lucy and Max wore their own shoes. They had bumper lanes, but when max hit it on the end it fell off! Shane was so strong that when he hit a strike the whole machine froze and had to be fixed, and we had our own man to record our scores on paper!! It was so funny but still to this day I swear there was a definite lean to the left of the alley!!

6. Swimming – we lashed out big time and paid a stack to swim at the Sheraton Hotel. We went for the whole day to get our money’s worth, and lay on bright yellow lounges it the sun, and swam in the warm pool. The kids spent 4.5 hours out of 5 in the water and came home burnt, but it was a great day. Felt like I was in a movie and with the rich and famous.....but then we drove home and saw the beggars, dirt and grime around us, and felt slightly guilty for the pleasure we had just experienced.

So now we’re at the end of our holidays. The many sleep-overs and movie nights will stop for our kids. Back to planning and homework and an 11 week term that looks busy to say the least. We feel ready though after relaxing and enjoying Addis.

Chow for now.’N