Post-its from Addis Ababa
I'm too jet lagged still to really organize my thoughts. Here in no particular order, a few experiences from the "New Flower" (which incidentally smells a lot like car exhaust).
- Deformities, wounds, and missing limbs - with the prosthesis set alongside - are on prominent display, sprawled along the sidewalks in Addis. The poverty here surrounds and weighs upon the travelling faranji (white person). But the desperation is tempered by the quick humor and general politeness of the Ethiopians. A tentative smile toward one of the many many people out on the street is guaranteed to get you a huge grin in response. For all of the miserable things happening on the street, Erica and I have been remarkably unhassled and generally treated with respect and curiosity.
- Ethiopians commonly pick up and hug or kiss children, even if the child is unknown to them. The kids here are rambunctious and giggling and everywhere.
- Coffee...mmmmmm. Ethiopians are proud of their claim to be the first to discover the powers of coffee - according to the myth, a goatherd noted that his animals got very frisky after eating the beans of the kaffa plant. The traditional coffee is thick and strong and looks like liquid tar. Mix this with twice the portion of hot steamed milk and a generous amount of sugar and it is delicious. I just wish they had to go cups.
- We went to a fascinating ethnological museum today, which included displays about the evolution of Christian religious paintings (moving from the "Masters of the Sagging Chin" to the "Masters of the Eyebrows" and the "Masters of the Dark Eyelids" - I swear I'm not making this up). Traditional musical instruments including drums composed of gourds, tortoise shells, and a china plate. A display on medicinal plants which included tamarind - which apparently is helpful for hemorrhoids in addition to being a laxative. A stuffed abyssinian lion. And the emporer's bathroom.
- It turns out that I DO like Ethiopian food, or at least the foods I've sampled so far. Foods generally consist of a curry or stew ('wat') or meat ('tibs') which is served on injera, a flat bread made from a grain called 'tef.' Tef is only grown in Ethiopia and injera is THE indispensible Ethiopian food. It acts as a placemat, plate, napkin, utensil (you eat with your hands, scooping up the main course with the spongy bread), and I'm pretty sure you could use it as a frisbee as well. There's a lot of protein and iron in tef, which combine with the meats and eggs used in the main courses provides an Atkins-approved meal. Vegetables are scarce and fruit is used for breakfast or dessert.
- We went out to an orphanage today to drop off the 200+ pounds of formula, shampoo, and other items we carted from Seattle. There were several college students from WA volunteering there and we got a tour of the bedrooms, courtyards, kitchen, and classrooms. The kids ranged in age from 1 week old to maybe mid-teens and most are just waiting for the paperwork to be finalized before their adoptive families come from the states to collect them. We met a toddler born without arms, and a child with autism, and a girl with polio and another with cerebral palsy, and of course plenty of 'normal' children who all have families looking forward to giving them a new home and life in America. International adoption is the subject of a lot of complicated discussions about what is best for kids and country, but those are easy to ignore when you see the children laughing and playing and working over their exercise books.
Tomorrow we go to Gonder and off to the Simien Mountains where we'll stay in a lodge and commune with Gelada baboons and ring in 2002. (The Ethiopian calender will need its own entry at a later date...)
- Deformities, wounds, and missing limbs - with the prosthesis set alongside - are on prominent display, sprawled along the sidewalks in Addis. The poverty here surrounds and weighs upon the travelling faranji (white person). But the desperation is tempered by the quick humor and general politeness of the Ethiopians. A tentative smile toward one of the many many people out on the street is guaranteed to get you a huge grin in response. For all of the miserable things happening on the street, Erica and I have been remarkably unhassled and generally treated with respect and curiosity.
- Ethiopians commonly pick up and hug or kiss children, even if the child is unknown to them. The kids here are rambunctious and giggling and everywhere.
- Coffee...mmmmmm. Ethiopians are proud of their claim to be the first to discover the powers of coffee - according to the myth, a goatherd noted that his animals got very frisky after eating the beans of the kaffa plant. The traditional coffee is thick and strong and looks like liquid tar. Mix this with twice the portion of hot steamed milk and a generous amount of sugar and it is delicious. I just wish they had to go cups.
- We went to a fascinating ethnological museum today, which included displays about the evolution of Christian religious paintings (moving from the "Masters of the Sagging Chin" to the "Masters of the Eyebrows" and the "Masters of the Dark Eyelids" - I swear I'm not making this up). Traditional musical instruments including drums composed of gourds, tortoise shells, and a china plate. A display on medicinal plants which included tamarind - which apparently is helpful for hemorrhoids in addition to being a laxative. A stuffed abyssinian lion. And the emporer's bathroom.
- It turns out that I DO like Ethiopian food, or at least the foods I've sampled so far. Foods generally consist of a curry or stew ('wat') or meat ('tibs') which is served on injera, a flat bread made from a grain called 'tef.' Tef is only grown in Ethiopia and injera is THE indispensible Ethiopian food. It acts as a placemat, plate, napkin, utensil (you eat with your hands, scooping up the main course with the spongy bread), and I'm pretty sure you could use it as a frisbee as well. There's a lot of protein and iron in tef, which combine with the meats and eggs used in the main courses provides an Atkins-approved meal. Vegetables are scarce and fruit is used for breakfast or dessert.
- We went out to an orphanage today to drop off the 200+ pounds of formula, shampoo, and other items we carted from Seattle. There were several college students from WA volunteering there and we got a tour of the bedrooms, courtyards, kitchen, and classrooms. The kids ranged in age from 1 week old to maybe mid-teens and most are just waiting for the paperwork to be finalized before their adoptive families come from the states to collect them. We met a toddler born without arms, and a child with autism, and a girl with polio and another with cerebral palsy, and of course plenty of 'normal' children who all have families looking forward to giving them a new home and life in America. International adoption is the subject of a lot of complicated discussions about what is best for kids and country, but those are easy to ignore when you see the children laughing and playing and working over their exercise books.
Tomorrow we go to Gonder and off to the Simien Mountains where we'll stay in a lodge and commune with Gelada baboons and ring in 2002. (The Ethiopian calender will need its own entry at a later date...)
posted by Imle at 7:42 AM
<< Home