83 - Exams Start – Tree Top Bakery - Bole Road – Tomato Pizza – Avocado Juice – Ethiopian Journey – Blog Post – 83

We were allocated a single room on the 4^th floor. Our room had a window facing a by-lane. It was a compact Ultra-modern room with comfy beds and decent décor and with a spectacular view. It was quite apparent that the by-lane was not as upmarket as the Arat Kilo- Piazza road.

We could see small shops and locals wiling away their time. They were wiry thin and wore the uniform of the world – T shirt and Jeans. Most sported a coat or a jacket to protect themselves from the nippy Addis Ababa weather. 

The T-shirts had the colours of EPL clubs that they belonged to; Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. I could clearly make out images of Samuel Eto, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba and other football legends of that time on their T-shirts.

Also visible was a small bar and restaurant. The loud noise made by the drunk and brawling clientele wafted through the huge glass window. The bar and restaurant had dim lighting. The effect of the haves (the Tourist hotel clientele) and have Nots (the local Ethiopians) was dramatized by the dim light emitted by the low wattage bulbs that adorned the by-lane.  

Most star hotels insulate themselves from reality and pretend to be islands of opulence, luxury and indulgence. They don’t want their customers to feel, even a little bit of discomfort. The experience needs to be as smooth as silk. But what we were noticing was extra ordinary! We were peeping into the lives of normal middle class Ethiopians and we were ensconced in one of the best hotels of Addis Ababa!  

Even though it was April, it was quite cold and luckily for us Tourist hotel provided warm blankets. There were no fans or an air conditioner. “Don’t worry” Bahirdar University Vice President’s words rang in my ears “the entire country is air conditioned”. Nights can be chilly in Addis Ababa.

Right opposite Tourist hotel was Tree Top Bakery, a small bakery on the first floor of a commercial building. It served decent Tomato Pizzas. Say Pizza and most would think of a sinfully thick Pizza with cheese literally dripping from the sides. Ethiopian Pizza, rather Tree Top Bakery’s Pizza is an ultra-dieters delight. It is almost the size of an Indian Poori with the tiniest of a tomato base smeared on it and ABSOLUTELY NO CHEESE. It was cheese less!  It was very reasonably priced though, only 3 birr.

The first time it was served, Pranav’s eyes opened wide. In all Earnesty and seriousness he finished one and said “Amma, the starter was nice but where is the Pizza?”. He almost fell off the high stool when he was told that it was the main dish and not a starter. Just to pacify him, we bought him another TOMATO PIZZA.

Tree Top Bakery also served Avocado juice, the juice to die for! Customers having Avocado juice in Ethiopia are spoiled!  Avocado juice is so thick that it can’t be drunk like the ‘thin as water’, Indian fruit juices. Indian fruit juices are mostly water and milk based and a little part of the banana, pineapple, apple or avocado is thrown in, to give the correct colour to the fruit juice.

Back in 2003, Ethiopians were innocent and not market savvy. The avocado juice was served in a huge mug and a spoon was provided. We had to eat the FRUIT JUICE. Avocado juice in Ethiopia was one of the most filling and appetite inhibiting fruit drink that I have tasted in the world.

The next day the English exam started at 0830 a.m. in the morning. Pranav was out by 1030 a.m. and said that he fared well in the examination. We did not want to return to Tourist hotel and get cooped up in the room. Azaz Ahmed sir had a brain wave. He suggested that we all go down to Bole Road.

Bole road for, Ethiopians is just like what M. G road is for Bangalore, Madhapur is for Hyderabad, T. Nagar is for Chennai and Connaught Place is for New Delhi. It was the most posh area of Addis Ababa and housed the corporate headquarters of Ethiopian companies. It also housed the embassies of different countries.

Even in 2003, Bole offered impressive sights. On display were Tall skyscrapers, wide roads, expensive and fast cars. Bole had neat promenades, paved roads, hep and svelte Ethiopians and equally fashionable foreigners. It had different hotels offering world cuisines, including Sangam the flag bearer of Indian food in Addis Ababa.

Started in 1973, Sangam served the needs of Indians and Indian cuisine loving foreigners. It served a piece of India! Sangam restaurant closed last year in its earlier premises which was initially owned by Princess Tenagnework, daughter of Emperor Haileselasse. and opened in a new location in Jomo Kenyatta Street. Many Indian teachers’ memories of Addis Ababa are inseparably linked to the Iconic Indian restaurant, Sangam.

Things were quite expensive in Bole road. We roamed the streets and were sauntering along when a scream from Pranav almost shattered our ear-drums “LOOK, LOOK, LOOK, Amma” he was overcome with emotion “ICE CREAM PARLOUR”. Ice-creams are taken for granted by any typical eight-year-old. But not for Pranav. He last tasted regular ice-cream in India. Bahirdar was totally devoid of ice-creams. Padma made ice-cream at home but they did not have neither the smooth texture nor and the flavour/taste of commercially available ice-cream.

We made a pit stop and had ice-creams. Pranav and Sahithi devoured ice-creams, one too many to my comfort. I told myself “what the heck, let them have as many as they can. They will again have ice cream only next year when we would make our annual pilgrimage to Addis Ababa”.

We bought water melon. That night we had sumptuous water melon at Tourist Hotel. Padma was impressed with Addis Ababa. She said “I wish that you get an extension of contract and get a posting in Addis Ababa”. She went on to add “Addis Ababa is nice. Great place to live, has an Indian school and is only five and a half hours away from Mumbai by flight”.