Salam everyone,
It's been about three days since I've landed in Mekele and so much has already happened in the span of these three days. My flight to Mekele was perhaps the longest and most tiring flight I've taken that consisted of multiple stops, baggage reclaims at airports and security checks. Perhaps the most interesting yet unsettling airport experience I had was when I was waiting for the last flight from Addis to Mekele. It was about 3:00 in the morning and I had to leave the international terminal of the airport; in other words leave the airport building in the pitch black hours of early morning and walk to the adjacent domestic terminal, about a 5 minute walk. Once I reached the entrance, I was greeted by a soldier wielding a large army rifle and was told to wait beside him outside in the dark until the terminal opened. To make the experience even more unsettling, there were other figures hooded by the dark, sitting in a large tent nearby and staring at me. The wait seemed like forever, until a middle-aged white woman arrived at the terminal with her local guide and seemed like the only person in that area speaking fluent English. She was apparently from Canada and part of an NGO that was doing a lot of medical and hospital infrastructure development throughout Ethiopia, but especially in Mekele. I was really relieved to see another foreigner in that place at that time and who was also heading to the same place to do similar work. Interestingly, the flight from Addis to Mekele was packed with a large group of students from Europe, a Jewish doctor, and a group of Chinese men.
I was met in the airport by my project supervisor, Jemal, who is in charge of the NTD deworming campaign here in Mekele and is also a lecturer in the Microbiology department at Gondar University. On our ride to Mekele city, we reached the peak of a hill overlooking Mekele city and was greeted with an amazing view of the entire city with the city landmark, the Mekele tower, standing tall in the distance. As we started entering the city, I began seeing the true city life in Mekele. There were lots of children everywhere, either playing on the street or preparing for school. There were donkeys all over the place, carrying bundles of sticks that were probably used as firewood by the villagers. There were signs of poverty all around, but much greater were the signs of peace and contentment.
The first day I mainly rested in my hotel room at the Atse Yohannes. Although when I first entered the room and noticed that there was no AC/ceiling fan and that the only sign of any air conditioning was an open window that allowed mosquitoes and flies to freely enter and leave, I was slightly perplexed. Now I am getting used to it since the weather here is surprisingly pleasant. I mostly rested during the day and in the evening I went to meet Jemal's family. Jemal's family is one of the few ones that speak Arabic in the city, so I was able to use my limited skillset of greeting them with 'Salaam Aleykum.' After that, Jemal and I spent most of the evening traveling around the city either walking or taking a bajaj (a mini taxi also known as an autorickshaw in India) to check out different hotels and to get a glimpse of the city life in Mekele. For dinner, we were joined by Jemal's younger brother, Mohammad, an engineering student at Mekele university. We had a specially roasted beef sandwich with some hot pepper sauce and needless to say, it was delicious. Later as we walked back to the hotel room, the entire city streets were just vibrant with activity and music of all sorts. All in all, my first day in Mekele was good but tiring and I was really happy to see my bed and go to sleep.
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