Ethiopia

This is a long overdue post I started while I was actually in Ethiopia in October.

From the sixth floor rooftop of my guesthouse in Addis Ababa (a skinny building that resembles a tower of jenga blocks), I can look out this strangely quiet part of the city. Except for infrequent hammering from the many construction sites around, some Ethiopian music playing from the numerous shops on the street, and a dove that has joined me on the roof, you would think everyone was still asleep.

Maybe it’s because it’s Sunday in, from what I can see, a very Christian country. Or maybe it’s the neighborhood I’m in; I know next to nothing about my relative location. But from where I’m sitting, you might call Addis a sleepy city.

My experiences around other parts of town, however, have shown me this is not an observation to be applied generally.  I’m here in Ethiopia on a partnerships building trip for work, the first conducted on my own. I’m holding meetings and field visits with Ethiopian microfinance institutions, and next week I’m visiting One Acre Fund’s program in Bahar Dar, a lake-side city in the north west.  My trip straddled a weekend, but lucky for me, I was connected to a friend of a friend living here in Addis. He and his roommate were exceedingly hospitable, and hanging out with them dramatically increased my ability to experience different parts of the city.

They also introduced me to Addis’s street café culture, which I sought out again today at what is apparently Ethiopia’s answer to Starbucks. I had a great meal and coffee, all for a few bucks. Everything is extremely cheap here, except taxis which are just moderately cheap. I get the sense you can eat pretty well in this city (Ethiopian food is excellent anyway) on a tight budget.

(Kaldi's: Starbucks rip-off in many ways, but nice coffee)

(All the Addis cabs were funny little French Peugeots or Russian Ladas)

Eating a dinner of take out shiro (so good), tibs and injera on the same roof tonight compels me to caveat my previous observation; this neighborhood can get loud when Manchester United is playing Chelsea. Another thing learned from being on the roof at night: the green hills surrounding Addis are fairly densely inhabited. I had no idea looking at them during the day, but at nights they glitter with lights.

I got out of the city to see a branch of one of the MFIs I was visiting. There was the usual congestion when trying to exit the city center, but suddenly we were at a tollbooth, and then driving on a beautiful new highway. Six lanes, freshly paved and painted, landscaping in the middle- and barely another car in sight. It’s a new toll road which had apparently opened just weeks before, and it was glorious. Funnily, despite the clear lane markings, you could still see drivers expecting each other to weave across the road in typical Addis fashion. On every over-take (picture three virtually empty lanes) there would be cautious honking and a quick burst of speed to pass.

(Fields of golden wheat)

(Kids running through teff, the grain used to make the Ethiopian staple bread injera)

Just a few hours outside the urban serpentine mess bursting at the seams, it was a totally different world. Fields of waving golden wheat, patchworked with green squares of teff or onions. No matter where out of the car window you stared it was an incredible, calming view.

Back in town, at the end of a day visiting a second MFI, the CEO was kindly dropping me off at my hotel when we were subjected to the power of Addis traffic congestion. The cause, when finally revealed, was a first in my experience: 2 lines of cars at a standstill, meeting head to head around a roundabout. But it wasn’t so bad, we had a great conversation and I learned all sorts of things about Ethiopia’s history (and faux-history). My favorite bit was how Addis is home to bubbling hot springs and was known as Finfinne for that reason. Menelik only became interested in the place, and eventually made it the seat of his empire, when his wife came down and wrote to him about it,calling it a new flower, which translates to Addis Ababa. One thing I really liked about Ethiopia is all the history around, both in physical form and in people’s minds. Of course there are many versions, but I loved how quick people were to talk about it. It’s a place I’d love to return to with more time and the chance to spend it exploring.