Ethiopia Part I

Alberto and I randomly decided to compliment our travels in Egypt with an Ethiopian adventure after speaking with a few people who had spent time in Africa. Plus, out of all of our travel-loving friends, we didn't know anyone who had been outside of the capital, Addis Ababa. After a little investigation, w had found a gem and perfect compliment to Egypt -- both share the same continent but one is an Arab and predominantly-Muslim country while the other African and Orthodox Christian. They both share the Nile... but the similarities pretty much end there.

I tried to think of what I knew about Ethiopia before I came. The only images I had were of skinny Olympic runners, news of famine, and the delicious food. As I landed in Addis Ababa, I didn't know what to expect. You'll be happy to know that I've been pleasantly surprised.

We arrived in Addis at 3am European Time or 9 at night in Ethiopian time -- or 3 hours before sunrise, which is 12 o'clock. Sunrise and sunset here are 12. If it is 3 o'clock it is either 3 hours after sunrise or 3 hours after sunset. I think this system makes a lot of sense for countries close to the equator, but could you imagine the confusion in a place like the US where hours of sunlight fluctuate throughout the year? Lesson: you just have to be very clear arranging taxi times in Ethiopia... particularly to the airport.

Secondly, for Ethiopians today is September 23, 2001. We barely missed the millennium! The next best reason to come to Ethiopia is that you are 7.5 years younger automatically! The Ethiopian calendar is based on the old Coptic Calendar founded in Egypt. Apparently, this calendar wasn't tweaked by Popes (like ours, the Gregorian calendar) to align with their versions of Christianity.

Finally, just when I thought Arabic was the most confusing language that I've come across, Ethiopia introduced me to Amharic, Arabic's cousin. Both Arabic and Amharic are Afro-Asiatic languages in the Semitic subgroup. Also, in this family are Hebrew and Assyrian. Amharic has 9 vowels, a different alphabet, and is only spoken here. The word "Thank You" has 6 syllables -- A meu seu gen all o. What a mouthful. A few misunderstood breakfast orders aside, and we haven't run into any trouble with the language barrier. We've also been extremely lucky in running into people who speak both English and Amharic.

We started off our journey in Addis Ababa, but quickly left to start the "Northern Historical Circuit", or a series of towns visited by travelers in the North. Before we left Addis, we headed directly to the National Museum, which is simple but well-done. For those of you who were bio majors at Cornell, you'll definitely remember, Lucy (Australopithecus Aferensis), the skeleton of the first bipedal hominid. She is estimated to be about 3.2 million years old and is a predecessor to the lineage of homo sapiens. (Lucy gave way to Homo habilis.) The Ethiopians call her "Denekesh" or She is Wonderful; the Western World refers to her as Lucy because the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was playing at the camp when she was discovered. We also waded through a large number of fossils (human and ancestor), emperor's artifacts (thrones, crowns, photos), and finally more modern paintings.

We left Addis for Bahar Dar the following morning. At the baggage claim in Bahar Dar airport I was greeted with an "Obama Cafe" poster complete with a picture of Obama smiling and with his arms confidently crossed. Yes, I did eat there, and the cake was delicious!

We made our way to Bahar Dar hotel, which for hygienic reasons proved to be less than desirable location. The next day we moved to a much more pleasant hostel. First stop was the internet to calm Joann Pringle's nerves. There we met a Rastafarian couple, Kim (male) and Karla, who have been living in Ethiopia with their two young children. To our good fortune they "adopted" us for the day fending off aggressive boat captains, helping us rent bikes, giving advice on places to eat, as well as inviting us to their home for a cold glass of lemonade after our bike ride. They also took us to a fantastic injera (the typical spongy Ethiopian bread) restaurant... which turned out to be a gas station!

Kim is from Jamaica and says that he always wanted to come to Ethiopia because of his religion and when he came to care for a sick friend, he never left. There are actually many Rastafarians migrating to and living in Ethiopian (although, they aren't recognized by the government). In fact, the religion is named after Ras Tafari, or Emperor Haile Salassie as he was called once he was crowned. The Emperor did not start this religion, but some how got a following...

Our next day in Bahar Dar turned out to be equally enjoyable as we boarded a boat in the morning with Biniam, an Eritrean Refugee living in America, two other Americans (Liz and Tom), and Paul (Netherlands). We were off to visit some of the old Orthodox churches located on desolate islands in the middle of beautiful Lake Tana. Surrounded by boatmen who construct their boats out of reeds (much like the Uros(?) people in Lake Titicaca in Peru) quietly paddling to and from the islands bringing supplies.

The Ethiopian Orthodox churches are round in shape, usually have a thatched roof with an Ethiopian cross perched atop. They have a men and women's entrance and inside they have an inner circle room designated for priests. What was most impressive where the paintings on the walls. Bright figures displayed many of the common stories in the Ethiopian Religion. Also, some of the artwork dated back to the 14th century -- yes the cotton cloth just hanging there before your eyes under no special preservation protection... or ancient goat skin books only under the protection of an older Ethiopian with a questionably working gun.

Ethiopia does an incredible job of respecting the archeologists discovery of Lucy, while the religious heartbeat of the country is still very palpable.

The following day we agreed to go with Biniam, Liz and Tom to the Blue Nile -- one of the two sources of the Nile... the other being the White Nile. I have to admit I wasn't terribly excited about the 1.5 hour public bus ride to the park on unpaved road. Biniam couldn't be more excited as water conflict in this region is the topic of his PhD thesis.

Despite the majority of Egypt being a desert, while I was there I never felt a scarcity of water. Crossing the Nile in Cairo is a daily activity. My impression is not an accident as Egypt consumes an estimated 70-90% of the Nile, and has the right to do so due to a treaty signed with the British. I believe the treaty gave them access to 66% of the Nile resources. (this information is what I remember Biniam saying during our hike, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.) This leaves countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi unable to irrigate large stretches of land. Plus, not being apart of the original treaty negotiation leads at least Ethiopia with the tendency to not recognize the treaty. Luckily, now a Nile Basin Initiative is forming to work on issues exactly like this.

As you can tell, Ethiopia has been an enriching experience so far not only because of the sites, but also the fantastic people I've met. Navigating a new place endows you with an openness to meet people and experience things that you might not do in your normal routine! I never thought I'd be hanging out in the home of a Rastafarian sipping lemonade, getting advice regarding where to see hippos while looking at the motorized-bicycle he built!

I still have 2 other cities and a 4 day trek in the Simien Mountains to write about...

Till next time!