Quick Thoughts on Ethiopia

When I travel to a new place for the first time, I can’t help but compare it to all the other places I’ve been.  Buenos Aires is like a Latin San Francisco or La Paz is like a high-altitude New York in the 1970’s.  By now, I probably should have devised some sort of rubric in Excel with rows of criteria and a standardized rating scale. The evaluator in me cries a bit inside that I haven’t but the traveller in me realizes that such a tool wouldn’t be much use as a place is, of course, much more than a weighted average.  And, even if it did exist I don’t know how East Africa would fit.

I’ve been living in Africa for over 6 weeks.  Of that, I’ve spent about half the time in Kigali and the other half split between Nairobi, Kenya, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and now, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  I’ll eventually catch up about my experiences in the former, but as for Addis, well…

From the air, the country is all browns and the street level view is not much different.  Even the brightly colored fabrics are faded and dull.  According to my driver, it is sunny 30 months of the year in Ethiopia (haven’t figured out why yet, but their year is comprised of 30 months) which does much to explain the color of the country. 

It is also a poor country.  Sick and hungry people are scattered along the sidewalks asking for spare change, many are disabled.  Mothers with nursing babies walk up to cars stopped at lights with outstretched hands. 

The rules of the road here, as in the rest of Africa, are straightforward, if seemingly chaotic: honk frequently to let others know you are there and the lane lines are merely suggestions.  I haven’t yet figured out the right-of-way hierarchy between cars, donkeys, and goats.  Most people travel in blue and white minibuses or blue and white Russian made taxis.  Gas is expensive.

In telling people that I was traveling to Ethiopia, the first thing I often heard was: “Ethiopian women are beautiful.”  And, many are.  Very tall, beautiful skin and striking features.  I’ve also found people here to be very friendly (no staring or yelling of the Ahmeric phrase for white person) and helpful, returning a smile with a smile and a wave.

I also heard that the internet connections would be slow and that it would be difficult to get a SIM card for my cell.  Neither have proved to be true.

So, my impressions of Ethiopia so far on a five-point scale?  Landscape=3, People=5, Ease of Use=4

Languages and Currencies

When I travelled in the past, I tended to pick a country and focus on exploring with in its boundaries for my two- or three-week sojourn. Rarely, I’d up the passport stamps to two or even three when it made sense geographically to cross over a border (e.g, Spain/Portugal, Argentina/Uruguay, Peru/Bolivia/Chile).   In South America, these border crossings required a currency exchange, but not a language exchange; in Europe, with the adoption of the Euro, the opposite was true.  In Africa, both are needed.

I knew when I signed up with TechnoServe that I would be working with the regional team providing support to the country teams in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania.  “What a great opportunity,” I thought.  “Four countries!”  I didn’t realize how taxing this would be on my exchange conversion and language skills, though they are both slowly but surely improving.

I’ve provided a quick primer on East African currency and language below.

CURRENCY

I have been regularly surprised that the prices in Africa are often on par with those in the US.  Fruits and vegetables bought on the corner or at the market tend to be much less expensive, but anything that is transported is quite pricey (e.g., $7 for a box of cornflakes), with the exception (of course) of the local beer.

• Rwanda: 1 US dollar = 568 Francs (double the francs and move the decimal in two spaces for approximate conversion)  Big Wutzig =$1.50, Buffet lunch=$4.00, Loaf of Bread=$1.60, Yogurt=$0.75, Samosa or Chapati=$0.20
• Kenya: 1 US dollar = 78 Shillings (add 20 percent on top for approximate conversion) Tusker=$1.75, Indian curry dinner=$7.00, Meat Pie=$1.00
• Tanzania: 1 US dollar = 1175 Shillings (move decimal in three spaces for approximate conversion)
• Ethiopia: 1 US dollar = 11 Birr (move deciman in one space for approximate conversion) Saint Georges=$1.50, Lamb stew and injera = $5.00, Croissant=$0.25

LANGUAGE

While the currency math is getting to be second nature, the local dialects are a struggle.  I did find a Kinyarwanda/English diectionary online and have been practicing “my words” in the office with regular coaching (and laughing) from my colleagues.  The combinations of vowels and consonants just don’t match the English patterns I’ve been following all of my life and my 33-year old brain is finding it difficult to break the rules, though I keep trying to amusing yet mixed results.

• Rwanda: Kinyarwanda and French (though English is replacing French in schools by governmental decree)
• Kenya: Kiswahili and English (each of the 52 tribes in Kenya also speak a local dialect)
• Tanzania: Kiswahili and English
• Ethiopia: Amahric and English

Passed Note

I’ve been walking to work most days of late. It takes about 15 minutes. Half of the route is up dusty, heavily rutted roads; the other half is also dusty, but flat and paved. On my short journey, I’m typically joined by my neighbors who are also making their way to school or work, or are opening their shops for the day by sweeping the ever-present dust from their stoops.

Today as I was passing one of these shops, a young man dropped his broom and ran after me. He handed me a piece of neatly folded paper. I’ve transcribed the note that was written inside, including punctuation:

Hi! You are ok! Me I am cool but long time I don’t see you! I study evening to University but today in afternoon am free. I am in the shop. See you.
Kiss
Your friend Leopoldine

About a week ago I stopped in this particular shop to buy matches, 2 bananas, 2 tomatoes, and 2 potatoes. (No, not 2 kilos of each, just 2 of each.)   It was a day on which I decided to introduce myself and shake hands with everyone I came in contact with in an attempt to meet my new neighbors — stares and whispers of muzunga be damned.  I didn’t think that the experiment was very successful, though I did get some good produce, until now…

Pictures

I’ve finally had a few minutes to start culling through all of the photos I’ve taken the past few months. I’ll be including links under the picture header to the right as I upload the best to Flikr.

Muzungu

Twenty hours. This is the amount of time I needed to move from my old life in Seattle, to my new life in Kigali. Twenty hours in various winged aluminum tubes to travel across three continents and ten time zones. Twenty hours to a new job, a new home, and new friends and colleagues. Twenty hours.

It isn’t a lot of time, which, along with all of the wine I consumed in business class on my second of three flight legs (thank you Hank and Mike!), contributed to the feeling of displacement which overcame me as I walked across the tarmac at 8 PM on Saturday night towards the sign that read: Kigali International Airport.

In quick succession, my bags appeared and I met my new boss, Chris, who dropped me off at my new home with 20,000 Rwandan francs (about US $40 at 565 francs to the dollar) and instructions to call if I needed anything. One of my new housemates/colleagues invited me to dinner at the “best” Chinese restaurant in town (there are only two). On the way there, we drove by Hotel Milles Colonnes where the real events of Hotel Rwanda occurred. My first meal was comprised of sweet and sour goat and a big, cold Wutzig, the local lager. On Sunday, I bought a SIM card and airtime and went to the office. On Monday, I started work. My new life had officially begun.

People ask, “What is Rwanda like?” I wish I could answer this question better, but I still don’t have a handle on the place myself. In many ways, Kigali could be substituted for any mid-size, developing city. There is traffic and air pollution; kids go to school in uniforms carrying backpacks; adults go to work – some wearing western dress, others (mainly women) in more traditional garb; people go to restaurants and bars; talking about politics and religion can be touchy. So, the routine of life is much the same as anywhere.

But, yes, there are differences between Kigali and Seattle, the most obvious is that most people in Kigali are Africans and most people in Seattle are Caucasians or Asians. And, yes, I stick out even with my new hair color.

Given the number of NGOs in Kigali I was surprised by the hard (not mean, but very hard) stares I receive as I walk to and from work or the grocery store. This along with the whispers of muzungu (Kinyarwanda for white/European) quickly became tiresome. More amusing are the ‘tween girls who like to dare each other to get as close to the muzungu as possible, giggle, and then run off. I’m told that I will get used to the stares and whispers and will eventually stop noticing it. We’ll see.

Despite the unwanted attention, Kigali is said to be one of the safest cities in Africa. And, I feel comfortable walking around the red, heavily rutted, dirt roads, though coming from sea level the altitude of 5,141 feet was initially noticeable.

I also quickly noticed the reliance on manual labor: no need for a machine if there is a person available to do the job. Of course, this makes economic sense, but seeing 100 men with pick-axes strung out over 100 yards digging a ditch for a water pipe rather than 4 men and a large piece of yellow machinery was surprising.

I’m sure that this will be just one of many surprises I encounter in my new life.