August 25th, 2010
It is well-known that Filipinas often go to Hong Kong or as far as Dubai to be housekeepers, cleaners, or cooks, but I recently found that some Ethiopians are involved in this business as well. Generally it is not easy for Ethiopians to get a visa for any country other than Kenya or Djibouti, but Dubai and Qatar are happy to let Ethiopian women in to work as servants in homes there.
I recently met an Ethiopian girl who just returned from 2-3 years in Syria where she worked for an Armenian family. Her family was not so happy when she left because she had just finished high school and had other options. She wanted to get out and make some money, though.
It seems like she didn’t save a ton of money during this first experience, and she didn’t even improve her English because the family mostly spoke Armenian around the home. However, she enjoyed it enough and is now looking at how she can go to Europe next.
Posted in Daily Life, Observations | No Comments »
August 2nd, 2010
Have you heard this one? Some guy claims that the secret to healthy eating and weight management lies in your blood type. If you are you type B and wanna lose weight, then you should avoid eating corn! Sounds pretty silly to me, but what amazed me is that an Ethiopian friend who is trying to GAIN weight (evidently a common problem here) was advised by her regular doctor to heed the advice of this quack diet. I don’t go to doctors much, but I really don’t think they should be handing out advice like this:
Blood Type Diet on Wikipedia
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 27th, 2010
You know how some people think that Chinese people are Japanese? Or others think that “all white people look alike?” I never claim to be an expert on accents, ethnicities, etc, so when an Ethiopian claimed to be able to pick other Abyssinians out in a crowd, I was skeptical. However, this skill was demonstrated to me on a recent trip to Berne, Switzerland where somehow we managed to meet about 20 Ethiopians during a 3-4hour walk around town (okay 15 of those were attending a wedding).
Honestly, I really don’t see how this is possible. Ethiopians are not a homogenous group, you know. There are so many different ethnic groups here: Afar, Somali, Oromo, Tigray, Amhara, etc. How could someone possibly put all this together and pick these people out in a crowd? I asked other Ethiopian friends, though, and they are all confident that Ethiopians stand-out anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, so far nobody has been able to teach me the secret to identifying these unique people.
Posted in Observations | No Comments »
July 14th, 2010
There are so many things I see here and I immediately as people around me, “Why is that?” Example: why can you often find old, tired, apparently scared horses standing in the middle of the highway in the countryside? My friend Addis explains that these old horses are abandoned by their owners because they can’t work anymore. The horses are pestered by people, dogs, and bugs wherever they go, so they prefer to put-up with the cars and stand in the middle of the road. This is also supposed to be a good place to avoid being eaten by a hyena. To me it looks like they are having suicidal thoughts.
Posted in Observations | No Comments »
July 12th, 2010
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is one of the safest places in Africa, but a nearby attack like this in Uganda makes you think a bit about how safe it is to live here:
“The al Shabaab insurgency rose to its height during the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia from 2006-08, when it won popular support and funding from wealthy Somalis for waging a guerrilla war against Ethiopian troops. The attack in Kampala, with a strike at an Ethiopian restaurant, marks an effort by al Shabaab to hit at that foe.”
Militants Find Symbolic Targets in Uganda
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 8th, 2010
Last weekend, I headed south to visit the Bale Mountains. First, we were happy to find that the road leading in from Sashemane is paved almost all the way up to Dodola where you can suit-up for multi-day treks to huts built by the German aid agency a few years back as a eco-tourism project. Supposedly they highly recommend you take horses, guides, and all kinds of gear, but we chose to pass this one by.
Another couple hours down the (still unpaved) road you find the town of Dinsho and the entrance to the Bale Mountains National Park. The Dinsho Lodge there was also built by Germans, this time the Frankfurt Zoological Society. The lodge is a collection of buildings that house a lounge, indoor fireplace, bunk rooms, a kitchen space, and a sauna!
There are lots of local people who come around and offer to guide, cook, and of course, build the fire for the sauna! We took them up on all their offers and headed out for a late afternoon drive/walk. Around the area, you can find many warthogs, baboons, nyala, dik-dik, etc. My friend and I had brought bikes in the car, so we also went exploring a bit by mountain bike. After the rudimentary dinner of canned soup followed by pasta with tuna, we headed straight for the sauna and didn’t come out until around midnight.
In the morning, we went further down the main road for over 60km to get up to the Sanetti Plateau. At around 4000m above sea level, the place is pretty desolate with just a few roaming animals and the occasional tree or pond. Another 20km further on, the road starts to descend into the Harenna Forest. The area was blanketed by clouds when we turned-up, so we gave-up on a trip to the forest and did another bike ride instead.
After some more photos and general shenanigans, we drove back down the front side of the plateau to the town of Goba, where there is a Wabi Shabele (former government-run) hotel. The following day it took us a full nine hours to drive back to Addis and we had to fill-up once on “black market” gas because stations out around Bale only serve diesel or gasoil. Overall we had a great time and great whether even though it rained all weekend back in Addis!
More photos available here.
Posted in Outdoors, Travels | No Comments »
July 1st, 2010
It is pretty common to see men holding hands on the streets of Addis. This is definitely just a sign that the guys are good friends, because there are no gays in Ethiopia. When President Ahmadinejad said there were no gays in Iran, everybody laughed, so it is quite amusing for friends here to say almost the same thing about Ethiopia. Of course, there are homosexuals and they are rumored to hang-out in some secret area of Piazza!
That’s why I was surprised to hear the following story from a friend this week. She explained that there was some extra room in her compound that the family decided to rent-out and, –you guessed it– to gay guys took them up on the offer. At first, the family didn’t know these guys were gay, but when they were caught (?) one day, it didn’t take long before the man of the house sent these guys packing!
The pair came back a little while later with the police. They explained how not only were they being thrown-out for no particular reason, but they had lost half a month of rent over the deal. Although the gay issue never came-up in the conversation, the police probably caught-on and essential condoned this blatant discrimination. It could be worse, though, because homosexuality is outright illegal in some African countries!
Posted in Daily Life | No Comments »
June 23rd, 2010
It is fun to be in Africa when the continent is hosting the World Cup for the first time. Often Ethiopians like to say that Ethiopia is not Africa, but when it comes to the World Cup everyone here seems excited and happy to cheer for other African teams. Suddenly everyone is happy to support Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire and of course South Africa! I went out to a bar to see Japan beat Cameroon in that first week of matches and I was a little worried that the Ethiopians might get angry when my Japanese friends and I cheered for the “away” team.
The other fun thing about being in Addis for this event is that there are people here from every team represented at the Cup. Many of the embassy and NGO staff organize parties around different rivalries. I again joined my Japanese friends for a visit to the Dutch embassy to watch Japan take-on the Netherlands on Saturday afternoon. It was a little chilly under the tent when it started to rain, so I was glad I wore my favorite long-sleeve shirt. The problem is that the bright orange color made me look like a Holland supporter rather than a Japanese fan. Maybe ghat was better though since Holland won 1-0.
Posted in Events | No Comments »
June 11th, 2010
A French friend who lived in addis for about three years left last night on her way to her next assignment in Mali. For a farewell lunch yesterday we went to a cute restaurant roughly in the geographic center of the city which goes by the name, The Cottage. I was surprised that my friend had never been to this restaurant despite the semi-French menu and upscale appeal.
I am constantly amazed by how many nice restaurants there are in Addis Ababa. I went to three new restaurants this week and was impressed with all of them. I could write a whole blog just about restaurants in this town. Instead, I will just give a flavor for the scene by describing the three new places I went this week.
First there was Loti on Tuesday night. This one is located in the expat residential neighborhood referred to as Old Airport. A lot of my colleagues live in this area, and by chance almost ten of them were there at two other tables. Previously a Senegalese chef gave the menu a French and West African flair. I think the current chef lost the recipe for yassa, but the onion soup was the best I have tasted in a long time. Nice atmosphere too!
Next, I went to Pizza Deli Roma on Wednesday. Many people say that they make the best pizza here, but I still prefer Antica. Since they couldn’t make the broccoli and veggie pizza I ordered the “regular pizza” which was good enough. I brought the leftovers home for Josey.
Today I am sitting at a new restaurant and cafe on Bole Rwanda. Samket has only been open about a week. Like The Cottage (and many other restaurants) it is housed in a converted residence. Many restaurants are hidden in residential backstreets which explains why someone could easily live here for years and miss one of the gems. Anyone, I have enjoyed a machiato and two mattes here at Samket and will take a croissant home for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Next up on the scene is The Diplomat opening later this month!
Posted in Daily Life | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2010
“Ethiopians have begun voting in the first election since a 2005 poll was marred by protests that led to the deaths of 200 people.”
Ethiopia Votes in Crunch Election
“Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose nation receives billions of dollars in Western aid, is headed for an easy re-election on May 23 after stifling the opposition, according to analysts and human-rights groups.”
Ethiopia’s Meles Heads for Vote Win as West Gives Aid
“Ethiopia will probably remain one of the biggest recipients of Western aid over the next five years. The EPRDF may be authoritarian, but many think it is the best bet for cutting poverty at home and checking jihadists in Somalia.”
Ethiopia’s Election: Five More Years
Posted in Events, Local News | No Comments »