ETHIOPIA
Stepped out of my hotel, pocket full of Birr, and hopped a bus heading in the total opposite direction I had intended—that about sums up my trip. I wandered and walked, throughout the capital and throughout the country. Nothing worked out as planned, and I couldn’t find a quiet place. Ethiopia is super hospitable, indeed I had a ‘friend’ in attendance wherever I went…though, unbeknownst to those patriots in the capital, most of my ‘friends’ were trying to get something out of me.
But a truly lovely country.
So, here are some of the highlights…Heards of animals wandering through the capital, a bull tearing down the main thoroughfare…Tried/chewed Chat, a mild stimulant, not unlike a coffee buzz—lost 3 nights sleep…Partied like it was 1999, sept 11 was new years, ’99 according to the gragorian calendar…6am is actually 0am in ethiopia…tried to pay my visa and catch a plane northward, found out that my visa card had been reported stolen (erroneously by Visa int’l) while I was in Dubai—they wired me some cash, but my card is now useless…abandoned the flight north, hitched south instead…Found the southerners of a vastly different temperament—started moving back north almost immediately!...visited the Rastafarians of Shashamane, the Promise land Bob Marley always spoke of…was nearly robbed in shashamane by young wannabe Rastafarians—good thing I had a 1000$ dollars in my pocket, thanks VISA…spent the afternoon with the High Priest of Rastafarianism…met an industrialist Rastafarian from sudan—doing business with fat business men from Khartoum, pile of dope on the hood of the car, and the peace-loving rastaman was packing a piece…left the promise land a little shocked but with all my personal effects…swam in the only bilharzia-free lake in the rift valley (lake tana)…went for a very long walk (+15km) to a visit a town that apparently doesn’t’ exist…discovered that rural Ethiopians don’t understand anything I say—gestures, grunts, pictures included…discovered that rural Ethiopian children are a tenacious bunch who know no fear and can repeat the same phrase—give me bic….faranji…allo allo allo—repeatedly, ad nauseum for the better part of an hour…discovered that when the same children fall behind for having winded themselves, there is another half dozen waiting in the wings to take their place—15 plus kilometers, not a moment alone nor a moment’s peace…discovered that, when pushed to wits end, I have the ability to throw rocks at children—light, lava rocks… saw the hides of the heards of animals wondering the capital following new year’s celebration…watched my ride take pictures of the carnage on the road back to Addis—vehicles torn to pieces by speed—not unlike the highways in Kenya…the coptics tries to make me pay to visit their church Sunday morning…discovered the old arms dump for the Ethiopian army—including the remains of their navy fleet (ehtiopia is now a land locked coutry…wandered the streets and slums of Addis Ababa with out any concern for my safety—the safest city I have ever visited!...hoards of homeless line the streets, a stark contrast to the wealth of the middle class of the city—tent settlements on many downtown sidewalks…stumbled into and promptly left a brothel…drank the best coffee I’ve ever tasted—EVER...
There you go, in short, my trip to Ethiopia.
Pics-- Three monkeys--spotted on a random street corner...Collage(clockwise from upper left)--THE Rastafarian priests, reading good ole' leviticus before church...two aspiring Rastafathiopians, smoking before church...Statue of Uncle Marx...an Ethiopian Soldier standing(sitting) guard over the derelict ethiopian Navy...cute sheep, tasty supper...Taking photos of other people's suffering, What would Susan Sontag say--my ride north...some scenic trees...some scenic coffee...and a scenic rock.
C
shirt, Jan egeland is the Deputy secretary general of the UN (I think)--responsible for humanitarian affairs. and we're visiting Luhago.
