New Developments in Addis Ababa

Hi Folks – This is Roscoe. I haven’t written for a long, long time. It’s not my fault, really! I can’t do anything that requires opposable thumbs and Ted won’t let me use my nose on the keyboard. Something about my getting the keys all sticky. Never mind that he eats snacks while he works and gets cookie crumbs or cheese grease all over them. Like that’s different, right?

     I want you al to know that I have moved twice since my last blog. Each time it has been a better place for me. In fact, where we live now, near Megenagna Circle, the compound has a detached house, called a villa. I can finally run full-out and not have to turn around, which is great for cardio, as all you fellow fitness nuts know very well. And the gap under the gate is just big enough, if I put my head down and my rump up, to see what’s happening out there. We have sheep, goats, cats, dogs, cows and donkeys making regular appearances outside out gate. That’s because we have grass outside our wall and the people who take care of the grazing animals bring them around to eat for free. Plus, Ted doesn’t have to pay Redi or Getachew to cut that grass.

     The donkeys are the worst. They pee and fart out there and cause a ruckus. But the worse is when they s . . . , that is, they eliminate out there. Ted says we need mountain climbing gear to get out to the street. But then, he’s more than slightly prone to exaggerate. That’s the word he uses, anyway.

     Recently my friends Clara and Ephrem came to live in our compound. BTW, a compound is everything you have inside your wall surrounding your house. Everyone has a wall, unless they live in apartments or condominiums. It is necessary because people are poor here and they steal everything that isn’t nailed down or locked up. The razor wire on top of the walls sometimes make a neighborhood look more like the Berlin Wall, but once you understand it, it’s not so bad.

     Almost everybody here is peaceful and law abiding. But everyone understands that because a lot of people don’t have enough of the things we all need, if you leave something where someone can take it, they will take it. Ted says you can’t take it personally. It’s just what life is like when so many people are so poor. So it’s keys and locks, walls and gates and razor wire everywhere. Robert Frost would have a stroke, Ted says. That is, if he wasn’t dead already. “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down.” I don’t know what that’s all about, but Ted put it in anyway.

     As I was saying, Ephrem and Clara moved in a month ago They live in the service buildings, which are very nice by Ethiopian standards. And they brought a maid whose name is Addis. That’s confusing because our cleaning girl is also named Addis. They decided to call them Addis 1 and Addis 2. I forget which one is which, but then I can’t say “Addis” anyway. No “rrrrr’s” or “wwww’s.”

     The best thing is they brought a small person named Meley (Right -  Meley and me). She is crippled, I think, because she doesn’t walk and doesn’t talk and mostly sits around unless someone carries her, and that happens a lot. Oh yeah, she doesn’t have teeth, either. Anyway, she is my best friend because she is small. I’m a big dog, about seven pounds, but Meley is just the right size person for me.

     Meley has some bad habits, like she poops in her pants and drools an awful lot. And when they pick me up for Meley to give me a pat or a scratch, she pulls my hair and won’t let go . . . until it gets pulled out of my skin. Ouch!

I like to look at her when she is sleeping. I never make noise or bother her because I think she must be very old and can’t help that she does all that other stuff. Mostly, I can tell that she is kind and that she loves me. So I guess I love her back.

     Well, Ted has to go and watch for Jane coming home from school. We go out to the corner of our wall and wait. I never see Jane coming because I am much too busy checking out those mountains of donkey poop. I don’t know what they eat, but it sure smells good to me. Next time, I’ll tell you more about what I know about love.

Roscoe