Chapter 13
Back to Africa
Our return flight could not be organized as I wanted, through Athens, instead of Rome (at least not so I wished), we had to accept TESCO’s lines and fly to Rome. Arriving at Rome we could not check in at once, as the hostess at the counter informed us it was too early and we would have to come back later. Either she had something on her mind or she did not understand English well. It would be a very unpleasant trip even if someone had dealt with us. But to sit and wait from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. was too much.
When at last she was ready to take my papers, it became clear, the plane of the Ethiopian was full and we did not have our places. With O.K. tickets! The representative of the airlines said, we did not check in in time and our seats have been sold out. Even our baggage boarded automatically to the plane have been taken and given out to us. Our next chance would be in two days.
We had to follow his instruction to board a bus on costs of the Ethiopian and take a room in a hotel in Ostia. After a whole night without sleep, we went to bed and fell asleep. We have got up soon because of heat, and went out to walk. Returning for breakfast the receptionist handed us a message from the Ethiopian representative: the management had refused to pay our hotel any longer, we were to ride to the airport and take an Olympic Airlines flight to Athens. That night there would be a plane from there to Addis Ababa. We did as we were told. Flight on the Greek plane was a sauna, and the Athens airport was full of passengers waiting for different flights.
This has been the only time, when I have got unfavourable impressions about Greeks at service. The hostess on duty would not help me. I asked her to keep her eyes on our baggage to be loaded on. Of course, they would be left there, and only after one week would we be able to get them.
The Athens-Addis Ababa flight has been a slow one. Beside Cairo and Khartoum the plane landed in Asmara, too. It took off in Athens at 4 p.m. and was in Addis Ababa late afternoon. It goes without saying, nobody waited us. Poor Bekele, he went out to the plane we could not board, but in vain. He left the office when he got my call and took us home. Even his wife has been in our house to receive us in their traditional way.
When I returned, Thomas has been on holiday and I had to take on me some of his tasks. But it was good as I became accustomed faster to Africa again.
The new FIAT trucks by last year’s tender began to arrive, and the company decided to reform their tariff system. It became my job to manage this work. As reform involved all departments in the firm, we had long discussions, sometimes after normal working hours.
It has also been a novelty, to have a house with trees and lawn. With the house we faced tasks unfamiliar that far, e. g. dealing with fruit trees or cutting lawn. I found a good book at home in a bookshop to help me in gardening. We arrived back after rainy season, and the quince-apple trees – I had two of them – in the garden began to spring into blossom. I cut back their twigs according to the book. Also there was a plum tree, I had to cut out its barren vertical twigs and cut back fertile ones. In three months all the three would be full of fruit.
For this house we inherited a guard, but there were duties around the house that the guard could not fulfil. I changed locks, put out a bell button to the gate and put into order the outer toilet, that has been spared for the guard. I did not like that man very much, thus in a short time I sent him away.
There was the matter of our child’s schooling. We discussed it with my wife and we decided to register him in the International School, former American School, renamed because of cooling relations between the two governments. We did it right, it would be clear, as the boy would learn the language almost perfectly in six months.
He became a pupil in 4th grade as proper. His form-master, Miss Veronica B., was a young lady from California and a kind, patient woman, a true teacher.
At first he has not spent any time in class, for one week he studied only English at Mrs Savage, another amazing young woman of Puerto Rican origin. My son can be grateful to these ladies for their care. In the second week he spent half of his time in class, half in English lessons. His extra lessons ended at the end of his second month.
There were two teachers who did not like him, but we overcame also this difficulty. After three months in the school he was very happy to be there. We invited Miss B. once to us to see the boy at home. She could hardly go away as he showed her all his toys and gadgets. The conversation among us has also been pleasant.
After our return home we remained in correspondence and she answered our letters many times.
My colleague, Thomas, has also returned from his holiday and I tried to align my plans with his. Our contracts have been signed for a two-year period and extension has been only possible, if both expert and TESCO wanted it. I suggested our simultaneous action. I did not know at that time that on a side-way he has already started something in his own favour. He rejected my proposal, he said there would be a visit of high Hungarian officials here, and he would wait, until it would be over. I did not know, and he would not tell me, that his extension was on its way.
Anyway, I forwarded my application for extension on its ordinary way, handing it over to John.
Visit of the high officials has been realized in October 1980. That official has been our head of state himself, Mr Losonczy. He took his wife with him and besides his escort consisted of at least 100 people. At his arrival happened the minor calamity between Mr Menghistu and my son about the bunch of flower for his wife.
There were talks for a week, and before leaving he let his compatriots in the capital be called together, and informed us about results, or rather about lack of them.
What concerned us mainly was reduction in the number of our experts by six. Of the six, two were going home anyway without successors. The other four would be decided mutually, he said. It would actually be decided arbitrarily, the two druggists and and the two transport experts would have no extension. Of the latter two one, Thomas, achieved his goal by intrigue so, instead of him another one has been sent home after a shorter mission. Thus my mission has also been terminated after two years in that country.
Following the leave of my guard I took another one, one of the mechanics from our repair workshop, who did his work there ordinarily and he slept on our premises as a guard. The young man was honest and I could learn more about him when he helped me put my car into order. My son had a good chance to supplement his missing gym lessons, they played football in the garden. He slept on our site in the rear house, built for use of servants. He was living with us, until he left the company and moved to his home town.
The visit of my sister-in-law and her family was planned around Christmas and New Year. All preparations have been finished, and we made plans for their program. I would work ordinarily in the office, my family would accompany them to all places worth visiting.
In that house we had our pets. First we bought a hen to cook, but my son gave her pardon, and she became a family member. She produced eggs, but, when she sat on them as a brooding-hen, there were no results, of course, without a cock. The next time, when she began once more, I bought some one-day-old chickens, and put them under her. They would grow up in some months and would become fine egg-layers.
Bekele took us two kittens – I asked him to bring one tomcat, but they would prove to be both females – and by that time they were fine cats.
We have got a small dog, too. She would grow into a very intelligent creature, and my only serious dilemma had been to whom to leave her. She was a German shepherd.
We had one more pet, but he or she was a special one. One evening, when I got home from the office, my son told me he had spotted something looking like a turtle in the other garden over the stone fence. It was a big closed site with a house, but in wild condition as a forest. Undergrowth between big eucalyptus trees has been original. I went to the neighbour through his open gate and asked him about the turtle. It was a free beast he said, from the river. Sometimes he would come, then would leave again. He allowed to take the creature to our garden. It was easier to say than do. The turtle weighed about 100 pounds. I went over the wall by a ladder, took it over, lifted the animal into my arms and went up the ladder. The animal I placed at top of the wall, put the ladder back in our garden and slowly descended with load.
My son was as happy as he could be. But there was the question of how to feed him. I had always thought, turtles eat meat. This one did not. He was the best lawn-mower of the world. Our lawn has been a meadow when we moved in. I mowed it by a sickle borrowed from Bekele. In dry season there was no need to mow it again. Arrival of our turtle happened at the beginning of small rainy season, and grass began to grow again, but the turtle did his job well.
I think, that time rejection on my application for extension has been a fact among John’s close friends, as the assistant of the defence attaché of our embassy was too keen to take me home from the party. I bet, he wanted to see the house where I lived. He was a special kind of man, half-Russian, a drunkard, even with a name as Sergei. He would not have got the house even if I had not switched it over to the new Italian expert of the company, as he would be recalled for theft.