Quicknote about why we are blogging so much. Aren't we supposed to be enjoying our vacation. I think the answer to this is two fold. Dan and I like to write our thoughts and feelings down about our trip and we love to be connected to the world by Internet. The 2nd, probably more important thing, is that we have not yet adjusted to the time here in Ethiopia. We keep sleeping from about 4 or 5 in the afternoon till 11 pm or so and then are up for the rest of the night and into the next day. It has been a vicious cycle that we have yet to break but there really isn't that much you can do after 11 pm other than learn amharic, watch movies, and blog.
On Sunday we went with Gett's Travel on a tour of the city. It was fantastic. Our tour guide, Yesatoh (spelling?), has a BA in History from the University of Addis Ababa. He was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of Ethiopian history with us. I love history so I will probably add to much information here...please feel free to skip over any of the boring parts.
About the Tour
1) Museum standards in Ethiopia are nothing like the standards in the US. On the tour we went to 2 museum's and while the were both very informative and enjoyable the buildings were old the exhibits were old and dusty and you felt like you were in a rinkie dink city visiting the museum not the country's 2 major museums. The best (most modern exhibit) was on Lucy or her official name "dinknesh". There was a GREAT exhibit on the different bones that have been found to support our evolution. it was extremely well written and beautifully done. It was interesting because even here where all the evidence has been found the church refuses to recognize the obvious. I found out during this tour that Lucy was named Lucy because the archaeologists were listing to the Beattle's "Lucy in the Sky" when they discovered the remains.
2) There are three main religions here, Orthodox, Muslim, and Protestant (listed in order of % of people who practice the religion). The orthodox ethiopian christians appear to be devout in their religion and we saw two different churches that depicted this faith. The first church was St. George's church. Ethiopian churches are either circular or rectangular in shape. St. George's was circular and beautiful. We were given a private tour of church by one of the deacon's. It was weird being the only people allowed in the church and hearing the presentation. In circular churches there are three rings, the outer most ring is where the choir and guests would be during the service. The next ring was the place for communion and then the inner most circle was for Deacons and Priests. Circle churches have three entrances (to represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) and clergy uses one entrances, men another, and women the third. Women never sit near then men because that would lead to too much temptation during worship. Ethiopians believe that St. George helped lead the Ethiopians to win the last battle again the Italian Occupation in 1941. St. George is revered here.
3) The second church we saw was the Trinity Church, which was rectangle in shape. It looked like a traditional US church (not the churches in the strip malls but the true church buildings). The women and men are were still separated during service. At this church they had the tombs (not sure if they were empty or not) of Haile Selassie and his wife. This church had traditional mosaic windows depicting different aspects of Christianity. The work was beautiful.
4) The Merkato is the largest outdoor market in Africa. However, it is closed on Sundays and so when we went by it was pretty quiet. This was really the only true disappointing aspect of this trip because I wanted to compare the Merkato to Charminar (in India) but I quickly got over my issues when I realized that I was really to tired to shop and barter anyways.
General Thoughts
1) If you have time you should google Maskal, "The Finding of the True Cross". This is a huge holiday in Ethiopia and one that we just missed because it was held on Friday or Saturday evening. There is a huge festival in the center of downtown that includes about 10,000 people and a bonfire (having to do with the finding of the true cross). Our guide told us the story but I missed some of the names and timing of events and so I don't want to share misinformation with you. As I am sure you all know, Dan and I are not really religious people. However, we want to have Lincoln Tadiwos grow up knowing his culture and roots. it will be interesting to see how we reconcile celebrating some of the traditional religious holidays and St. George and other Ethiopian Saints with our beliefs. This is not something Dan and I have discussed in detail but one that we will tackle soon.
2) Traffic is not at all crazy here. However, it is also definitely not like the states. I have only seen 3 traffic signs and there are no dividers in the road for oncoming and giong traffic. There are also people crossing the street at all times. Of course, you can also see goats and donkeys in the streets. But, in comparison to India the traffic is SO tame! Ethiopians don't honk at each other that much and generally don't drive to crazy. It is pretty clear that most people walk or take buses around town. Cars and taxies are for the more wealthy (which there are not a huge percentage of the population). However, I have seen several BMW X5, a Hummer, and a Land Cruiser. I am not sure why you would need that nice of car in this environment but they do. Toyota appears to be the biggest supplier of vehicles here and I have yet to see a Honda product.
3) Fellow Americans - We have seen maybe 10-20 americans since getting of the plane on Saturday. You would think since we are more than the minority here in this country that we would all band together and be friendly...but NO. As much as I smile and try to look like I want to start a conversation the non-Ethiopian Caucasian people ignore me.
4) Poverty - The amount of poverty you see on every street is real. However, it is clear to that there are lots of people who are working for a living and eeking by. I haven't seen the amount of beggers that I saw in India but it also might be that Ethiopia doesn't have the tourism that India has so begging won't work the same. Begging only really works when there are people wealthy enough to give out the money. While we were stopped at this major intersection a kid came to the window and asked for food. He followed us 2 blocks and was right there when we got out of the car. At that time we didn't provide him any of the candy that we brought because our tour guide was already shooing him away. Providing either birr or candy to beggars is a tough decision. If you do it you are asking for a swarm of people to be instantly following you even when it is clear you are out of giving. Being swarmed can make a person feel uncomfortable, especially as they are carrying all of the money they have, their passport, and their video camera with them. But, not giving just makes you feel guilty.
5) Coffee - After the morning session of our tour was over our tour guide dropped us off at this pizza place for lunch. He said he was going to return in 2 hours. not sure what we were supposed to do for 2 hours but even eating slow and waiting for 25 minutes for the bill we only wasted about 1.25 hours. As a result, Dan and I decided we would walk around outside and see fi there were any shops or things to do. We only made it about 200 feet when I saw "Red Bean Cafe". Seriously as a latte and machiatto drinker I was excited to try Ethiopian speciality coffee. WOW - It was so good. Dan who hates coffee was provided a free cup of a chocolate macciatto and I had a Honey Latte. Both were delicious and we plan on going back on Tuesday. While we were waiting for our drinks Dan noticed our travel van outside talking to a customer and pointing. Dan recognizing we were being looked for rushed outside. He asked our guide if he asked did you see two tall while people walking and he said "yes, yes". We do stand out like a sore thumb here but really everyone is very nice to us. I haven't felt like the odd man out too much yet. But, then again I am pretty naive when it comes to stuff like that and probably wouldn't notice.
Okay - While I am sure I am missing stuff I think that concludes my thoughts on Sunday's tour of Addis Ababa.
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