A Day at the Lion Zoo

Robin and I have had it in our heads to take the kids to the zoo during our stay here. Why not. Eyob told us that the Home has been doing this once a year but hasn't been able to the last two years because of inadequate funding. Heck, if it cost 12¢ for each of us take a bus to Addis Ababa (where the zoo is), how much could it cost to haul a bunch of 5 year olds the 6 miles?

     It could cost a hundred bucks.
     A HUNDRED DOLLARS?!?!?! NOTHING COSTS A HUNDRED DOLLARS!!
     It's funny how cost becomes relative. Robin and I might approach a contract taxi in the Piazza and ask the fare to the Hilton on the other side of the city, and I'll scoff when the driver throws out "one hundred birr" and begin walking away. Robin will call after me ... "Debbie! That's $5.69 ... three bucks each." Oh yeah.
    Still, a hundred dollars seemed like a royal ferenji (white person) rip off and in principle, I balked. We asked Eyob to look for another transportation resource. We brainstormed options ourselves. Nuthin'.
    Eyob came back to us the day before we'd penciled in the trip; we'd optimistically kept it on the calendar. He'd gotten the fare for two mini vans down to 1,600 birr, $90.99. Sigh. Plus entry fees, plus lunch? These sorts of things—these "other" expenses—have always proven to be a mystery in Ethiopia and we were reticent about getting ourselves in too deep.
    But the kids ... the zoo. There was NO WAY they'd be going to the zoo otherwise ... no way. Out of the question for their parents to take them; probably not in the budget for the Home, given that Robin and I were barely eating, the kids' school uniforms were in tatters ...
     Sigh. Okay. Yes. Yes, of course. Of course. Let's go to the zoo.

     J

Ever lose someone else's kid? Not cool. I couldn't find stickers or anything that would serve as name tags so, with permission, I used a sharpie to write every child's name and Eyob's phone number on their forearm.

Haha!! Even the VAN ride was an experience for these kids; Eyob says most of the kids have never had reason to be in a van, let alone a vehicle. Never been in a vehicle ...

This was specifically a lion zoo; those who know me well know that I am not a fan of zoos and circuses, but—sigh—is what it is? I don't know. Can we not talk about it?! Honestly, the lions seemed healthy, but ... blah.

The meat truck was coming. Did you know a lion can pull half a dead carcass of a dead thing through the bars of a cage?

Lunch cost Robin and I about 300 birr for 20 people ... $17.06.

Rich kids with they fancy schmancy uniforms. Bet they can't greet people good morning ...

And they all lived happily ever after. (Except the lions, of course, which have to live in a stupid zoo ...)

J