Old Notes From a Trip Home

These notes were not intended to be public. They were quick impressions jotted on a trip that was overloading my senses. (I was visiting Ethiopia after a 14-year absence.) But reading the notes six years later, I figured I might transcribe them anyway. This is the Internet, after all, where navel-gazing is a way of life!

Addis Ababa, Dec. 1994 - The travel back home was not only of space but also of time. Things

Old Lion Chugs Along on the streets of Addis Ababa, December 1994

have stood still here. The streets are crowded with 30-year-old Citroens and Baby Fiats jostling for turf with Mercedes Benzes and 4 x 4s. The buildings are all exactly the same, just more run down, not even a new coat of paint to relieve the drabness. But there was an astounding amount construction going on, too. But it was easy to recognize streets and landmarks. Virtually all of them remain: Asmara Menged, Churchill Godana, Abware, Kasanchis, Piasa are just as they were when I left 14 years ago. There are no sidewalks, so the roadways are filled with streams of people. They pay no heed to the cars, just jostling by casually. Most people in the city are too poor to afford a bus or a cab so they walk everywhere.

Those with a little more money take Weyiyets, blue and white mini-vans which are usually packed to the gills. A young boy usually rides along, acting as the conductor, hustling people in, arranging seats and announcing destinations.

Mezegaja Beit - City Hall

Addis is also a city of wide, winding boulevards. Seen from a Entoto Mountain on a mist covered morning, the city possesses a certain ethereal beauty. Actually, I didn't realize how pleasant Addis was until I went to Conakry, Guinea on a business trip recently. After touching down at the airport, we drove through town. Instead of the graceful Bole Road leading from Addis's airport, you're dumped in the middle of a teeming city when you are arrive in Conakry. Imagine arriving at Bole and then immediately driving through Merkato. That's Conakry for you. Not exactly the grand entrance you'd want to a capital city.

 

Recycling

Everything is recycled here. Nothing is thrown away. Every aluminum can, jar and cardboard is saved and recycled. "They don't throw away anything," said Eskinder, a friend from the US who had moved back to Addis a couple of years earlier."If they do throw something, it has to be garbage, garbage, garbage."

When my girlfriend ( now wife) walked into her parent's house at Bole Homes, she noted that nothing had changed; the same living room furniture, same drinking glasses and place mats, even the same piece of flat basalt rock used as the bathroom door stop. Her father took us to the yard. His ancient Peugeot, built in the early 1970s was in the driveway. "Daddy, the back seat!??" she pointed. (Yes, she does call her her father daddy.) His round, friendly face broke into a mischievous grin. "You're right," he said. I peaked at the brown and white seat cover. They had recycled her childhood blanket into the car's back seat cover.