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Just some observations...
Traveling on the other side of the world shows you how things can be so different then what we are use too and also shows you how many things are exactly the same.
These are just a few observations that I found interesting. Bottles… glass returnable bottles that some of us remember from our youth. (You actually need a bottle opener to open them). They are totally recyclable and they do not litter the streets since you get money back on each bottle. Why did we change that system here in the developed world? It just seems to be more earth friendly to reuse the bottles over and over then for plastic bottles and cans end up in a land fills somewhere??? Just worth noting!
Water in the hotel in Africa was the HOTTEST and strongest water I have ever experienced. Maybe it is because most of Ethiopia doesn’t have hot water on demand, so all is funneled in one place. 😊 I just found it strange that a country with water and power as an issue had gone over board with strong hot water for the tourist class hotels.
Males dominate in Africa…
I immediately know I am back in Africa when there is no such thing as a line, people just move in clumps but on top of that, men even boys think they can just step in front of women and girls. This is a so practiced here, woman don’t even react. Trust me, I had a reaction and was laughed at. I will say the men don’t think of themselves as rude but women are just not seen as equal. Apparently, since I look very Ethiopian that gave them a license to just step over me. As soon as I would speak in English and they realized I was Westerner, I suddenly would gain respect. Sad really.
Our stubbornness in the US… to move to the metric system makes travel difficult. It is so weird we are the one and only country in the world that does not use the metric system. I sort of know it but it is hard when they talk about things be 80 k away or it is 37c outside or it weighs 13??? We Americans are confused as to what those numbers means where the rest of the planet gets it. It is
amazing to me why we STILL have not changed. All those many years ago in 2nd grade for me, I remember learning it because we were going to switch over… will still waiting. The UK has a different weight system… Stones???? But other then that we are it holding on to inches, pounds, miles and Fahrenheit. Why??
Next time I go to Ethiopia, (hopefully to start working on these hospitals) I want to master sitting on my feet. All over Ethiopia, young and old have this incredible balance of sitting flat on their feet. It is amazing to me how balance and COMFORTABLE they are. I was amazed how long people could just sit with knees bend and feet flat on any kind of terrain. It might be late for me to try to master this bur I am going to try… I might get down but getting up???? Wish me luck.
I ran into 2 little Africa moments, while I was there. In Africa there are certain things you must remember… One ALWAYS have your passport. Being an American can help you in certain ways as long as you are very humble about it. Being white in
Africa you stand out but for me not as easy. (It is interesting for me for me by the way to see how white people must adjust to be the only “one” in the room, when I live my whole life like that here in the states) Anyway, the first thing that happened was I was in cab coming back from a dinner with a great family from Chicago that had moved to Addis for a year with their 5 young children to do volunteer work. ( what amazing thing that is to do). It was a great evening and I had arranged with the same driver I had been using to drive me around town to pick me up and take me back to the hotel. It was 9ish in the evening and a very pleasant night. We were in traffic and a covered jeep cut us off in traffic. I saw who was in the jeep as it darted passed us the driver didn’t… he blew his horn several times in disgust. I knew when he did that it was not a good decision. There were three soldiers in the jeep, so just as I predicted in my
head, they suddenly force us off the rode and jumped out with their AK47’s… It is amazing to me now but I was so calm and never got alarmed or panicked. They were yelling at him in Amharic and he was trying to explain he didn’t know they were soldiers. All the while I am sitting in the back of the car slowly looking for my passport, just in case. One soldier on my side of the car and begins speaking to me Amharic because again I am mistaken for Ethiopian and I answer him in English telling him I am American on work in Ethiopia. The other 2 are still yelling at the driver while the 3rd ask for my passport and I happened to mention I was here at the invitation of Dr. Samuel Assefa, the Ambassador to the US and then I threw some other VIP’s in Ethiopia, I am sure he didn’t know who I was speaking of but I knew it didn’t hurt. So he said to the other 2 soldiers in Amharic to escort me back to the hotel. So suddenly I had a military escort back to the hotel, which was shocking to
the guards at the gate. The main thing was I remained calm and very friendly through the whole ordeal. But it was a moment when you knew you were in Africa.
The other came as I was leaving the country and I was just inches from the gate and I got held up in immigration. Apparently, I had 2 pictures for my one passport. That must be a big deal since it took almost an hour for them to clear me to leave the country. Honestly, I was much more nervous about that then the soldier incident the night before. No one could explain to me why they were detaining me but they kept saying no problem but kept calling other officials to look on the computer at my information. Finally, they handed me my passport and wish me safe travels but I had been worried I would be struck and wouldn’t make my connections. That is the thing about traveling abroad you have to remain calm and friendly and flexible. Getting upset doesn’t help in those kinds of situations.
Traveling around this wonderful planet of ours, of course point out our differences but more importantly and what
I would want everyone to take away from traveling is that it points out what we have in common. The most striking thing in the world is all we have in common and how much we love are children. The rich person in the giant house and the poor person in the hut love their kids equally. We all want the same things for our children, for them to be happy, healthy and loved and to maybe have a better life then what we had. I witnessed love everywhere I went. Mothers and fathers, grandparents, guardians, whatever family structure there was, kissing, and playing hugging and just loving their children. Grimacing when their child is hurt, wishing they could take the pain or the illness for their child. I witnessed parents light up when their child was happy and feel broken when their child was sad. I think because we live in the west many times we don’t see or think about how universal love is and we only concentrate on the differences we have in culture and tradition. That is why we can just go on with our day-to-day lives and not worry about those that are so far
Happy for the kids
I gave them a pen and the man was so pleased!away. Maybe if we thought of the world as one big subdivision, (maybe that is silly) wouldn’t it be a better place. If you hear of a sick child in your neighborhood people respond with meals, offering to cut the lawns, shop, watch their other children and generally just pitch in to help out the family in need. Why can’t we as a world community do the same thing? If we looked at the world as one community and not “us -vs.- them”, would things work better?
Traveling through the Middle East this time on the way back, I spoke with people from Palestine who talked about how the US has lumped all Muslims in together. And most Muslims in the world live and love just like we do. They might have different customs and traditions but they want a world where their children can be happy and healthy and prosper. Of course you have extremes on all sides but most people want the same things in life. Some of us just need a little more help in achieving them.
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Tsega
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This is Africa
I enjoyed reading your last blog post. You are right when you are in Africa you know you are in Africa... I hope all ended well for you cab driver and I know how hectic Bole airport can be... your idea of a universal subdivision is not a silly idea it actually gives me hope that we here in America will one day be more concious about the rest of the world and how we are all interconnected... The things we take for granted here, be it hot water, electricity, a pen all those things do not matter when it comes to loving your fellow man... I know exactly what you mean about how it is when a person is white in Addis how they are treated, I am of Ethiopian origin but I was raised and educated in the West, so I am treated just the same way you are as an outsider but only once I open my mouth and they hear my accent or see my foreign passport, I am glad though that I still speak Amharic as you say being polite and humble is the key... well I am off to Addis in 10 days and you have inspired me to start my own blog... I want to document all 30 days I am there...