I nearly made it. For this account to make any sense, you have to know that in addition to two heavy bags, I was bringing a pathology lab microtome, (the thing that actually cuts bits of tissue 5 microns thick to look at down the microscope). This was stripped to the bone to bring it under the 32kg limit and was swaddled in bubble wrap with an outer polystyrene cover, the whole taped to a set of wheels and dragged behind me (Scott of the Antarctic without the snow).
Tedious flight, because this non-stop flight stopped for a pick-up in Paris, adding a couple of hours. In Addis Ababa, rapidly sorted visa, straight through customs, luggage appeared quickly, through xray machine, back on trolley and nearly at gates, when stopped by youth speechless at notion of someone thinking they would not have their luggage opened and searched. I had expected some bureaucracy but the next two and a half hours tested the sweetness of my nature to the full. I had put together a vast panoply of documentation – letters of donation from the Dean and a formal donation document from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, letters of acceptance from the vice-president of Wollega University, various laboratory documents attesting cleanliness, etc.
After those two and a half hours of argument and explanation, I was sent to a window, thinking the battle was won. There I was asked to pay tax of $1000. I left. The microtome now rests in a warehouse in Addis Ababa, unless I want to pay the $50 to be allowed to bring it back to the UK.
It’s a shame because the will to set up the department is there in the university – a room is already allocated. We are continuing the battle here but it will certainly not arrive before I go.
Tedious flight, because this non-stop flight stopped for a pick-up in Paris, adding a couple of hours. In Addis Ababa, rapidly sorted visa, straight through customs, luggage appeared quickly, through xray machine, back on trolley and nearly at gates, when stopped by youth speechless at notion of someone thinking they would not have their luggage opened and searched. I had expected some bureaucracy but the next two and a half hours tested the sweetness of my nature to the full. I had put together a vast panoply of documentation – letters of donation from the Dean and a formal donation document from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, letters of acceptance from the vice-president of Wollega University, various laboratory documents attesting cleanliness, etc.
After those two and a half hours of argument and explanation, I was sent to a window, thinking the battle was won. There I was asked to pay tax of $1000. I left. The microtome now rests in a warehouse in Addis Ababa, unless I want to pay the $50 to be allowed to bring it back to the UK.
It’s a shame because the will to set up the department is there in the university – a room is already allocated. We are continuing the battle here but it will certainly not arrive before I go.