The smell of Africa

I step off the plane at Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia, and I am immediately hit by the smell of wood burning. It would become the smell of Africa. I have learned that not many countries outside of the U.S. have a jet way that connects the plane to the airport gate. Addis Ababa is my 1st stop in Africa, and I have one more connecting flight to get to Tanzania. I sleepily follow the crowd down the steps and across the tarmac to get to the airport proper. I vaguely recall seeing a sign in English that said "Connecting Flights," and I stepped aside into a small crowd of mostly white faces. We walk up a flight of stairs and proceed to the small area of departing gates. There aren't any of the usual boards with lists of arrivals and departures, and I hear enough English to find the gate where my flight to Dar ed Salaam will be boarding. At least, I hope it is the correct gate because I am tired, hungry, and a little intimidated by the crowd that is growing hostile as our departure time nears, and there is no airline staff to answer questions lets alone begin boarding. Then, a slight, young man appears is seems very unsure about what to do. His standard answer becomes, "in 30 minutes." It was both funny and unsettling to hear people arguing with the poor gate attendant in English. People were complaining about being stuck with nothing to eat or drink and no place to go to the bathroom. (I later found out that if you leave the gate area of the Addis Ababa airport, you are charged a fee to get back in.) "TIA" is an expression I would hear and read. It stands for "This is Africa." It was sometimes used in exasperation or out of frustration, but mostly I think of it as way to acknowledge cultural differences. I am not in the U.S, so things are going to be unexpected and different. All part of the adventure. This is Africa, and in Ethiopia, I first experienced the smell of Africa.