(our driver) and free will to have him take me all over town wherever I wanted to go. I scoured the guide book and came up with all the things that sounded most interesting to me. Incidentally, although Abebe has been a tour guide in Addis for many years, they were all new adventures for him as well.
First was Ato Basket Shop, because my mom had especially requested I bring her home "one of those neat baskets."
"The best place in town for baskets," according to Lonely Planet, and
also "just west of the City's Center." Well it turns out to be in a
Suburb outside of Addis and took us an hour to find, asking around. No
one had heard of it. Finally we found a tiny basket shop and I
thought, well if this is it, it's a little disappointing but I might
as well just be satisfied with this because I don't want to stress Abebe
out. Well, it’s a good thing Abebe asked, because the young man there said we were looking for his father's shop and told us how to get there. It was in
a residential area surrounded by these huge houses. We never would have found it. But there it was, and a big sign that said "Ato Basket Shop."
And it was well worth it. The selection was amazing, and I bought
gorgeous baskets for gifts, then went next door and bought the equipment for having coffee ceramonies (ceramic pot and stove).
Next, we went to the Ethnographic musem at Addis Ababa University (It was nice to see the campus; I love the idea of prestigious capital city universities in developing countries, like UNAM in Mexico.) It was so fascinating. Ethiopia is incredibly diverse; a land of 90 languages and countless ethnic groups, each with its own set of cultural traditions, history, and beliefs. There was information about many of these groups, and the whole first floor of the museum was arranged according to the human life cycle: folk tales in the childhood section, then initiation rites, then most of the material (regarding beliefs, diet, weaponry, traditions, etc.) in the section for adulthood, then a section about death, including views of the afterlife and burial practices.
I read everything, devouring the information on every wall. ..poor Abebe. He was so patient and accomodating all day...he didn't know where any of the places I wanted to go were, we had to ask around.
But everything was so interesting. For example, in one tribe, they have a
rite of passage ritual where they line up 15-30 buffalo, and then the
young men have to run along the backs of the buffalo, from one back to
the next all the way down the line. Then, they repeat the whole thing 3 or 4
times in a row. If they fall, they get teased by all the women. If
they succeed, the girls that are suitable marriage partners for him
hand him whips and beg him to beat them. The more they beg, the more
it shows their interest in him. Once he completes the rite of
passage, until he marries, he serves as like a mentor for other boys
who need to pass it.
After the museum, I wanted to see Piazza, the section of town that is an artifact of the Italian occupation. I hadn’t realized how much of Addis I still hadn’t seen. We couldn't find the first restaurant I wanted, so we tried the second, and it was closed, so he just took me to a place he knew.
Next i wanted to get coffee at the place in Piazza reputed to have the best coffee in Addis. It required a little bit of backtracking, and I could tell didn't really want to take the time to find yet another place he hadn’t known about. I think he didn't understand why I wouldn't just have coffee at
the restaurant, but when I told him I really wanted to go, true to Abebe’s soft-hearted character and eagerness to please, he gladly relented.
IT WAS SOOO WORTH IT! BEST CUP OF COFFEE IN MY LIFE. It was like
a really good cup of Peet's coffee times 5 on the flavors and aroma.
The place was called Tomoca. The Italians taught the
Ethiopians how to brew their coffee, already the best
in the world (coffee is native to Ethiopia), to maximize the taste. It was amazing.
(By the way, Abebe loved it too, and took me back two more times—once on the way to Merkato the next day, and again on my last day in Ethiopia, to share it with me. I had to remind him several times the name of the place. “Dani,” he would ask, “what is the place for coffee called? TO- MA- CO ??” When he remembered, we would laugh and say in a funny voice, “TO – MO- CA!!!!”)
After Tomoca, As if my itinerary wasn’t unusual enough for Abebe, I told him I wanted to go to Addisu Filwoha Hot Springs. It's a hotel where Ethiopians go, for day spa activities. Abebe told me it's just for washing, I think he
didn't really see why I would want to go somewhere just to wash. Well, when we got there, it was really confusing. He came in with me and we were trying to figure out what I could do. There were all these
different outdoor/indoor sections scattered around the building. They didn't have like a "menu" or anything in English, and no one really spoke English. I was the only white person there, and Abebe's English is not that good either. I was nervous about trying a massage. Massages can be awkward for me when they're, too soft or too hard on the wrong
spots, or I’m not comfortable with the masseuse, or can’t communicate, or I’m expected to be naked with a male masseuse. Too many unknowns. So I decided to order the "Sauna Bath." (equivalent to about $2.50).
Imagine: I get a key, put a deposit down for that, and the lady leads me into a little bathroom complex: lockers, showers, a place to sit, a toilet area and a sauna. A stray cockroach scurries across the tiled walls here and
there. I am joined by 5 Ethiopian women, big and small; we are all
wearing only panties. They are nice to me; a few of the young ones
know a bit of English. We go into the sauna. They are
rubbing themselves and these black pieces of dead skin are coagulating
on their skin, like if your hands are dirty and you put Elmer's glue
on them and rub them together. I try doing the same but they say I
don't need it because I'm Farangi (white). We go out, and shower. I wonder if they're finishing, and think I might want a little more of the
sauna. But no, they go back and forth, sitting on the benches outside
to cool down in between, and I am thinking "any minute now, we should
be finished." Finally, maybe an hour later, I ask one of them if she
is finishing up. No, she says, she stays 2 and a half or 3 hours! I
am worried about Abebe waiting, so I leave early, even though the ladies
say I have more time. Abebe told me I was probably in
there for an hour and a half; it was hard to tell. But he
seemed glad that I came out when I did; the guard had told him I could
be in there for another hour or so.
So that was my exciting day with Abebe, and then today I went to the
home of one of the ladies who works here. She lives right outside the
school, in Ka'laala. It was my first time walking around the village and seeing the inside of a home, so that was exciting for me. From the outside,
it looks like just a thatched roof mud hut, Africa style. But inside,
they have tv, electricity, no running water, but couches...it's pretty
nice. Her husband is a character. He said he is
Emperor Haile Selassie's grand nephew, and that he knows
7 languages. He does seem to know Arabic pretty well. He has a big
yellow truck (think: semi) and often drives to Sudan, or Djibouti,
etc. hauling exports and imports. He is half Somalian. They have a 4
month old daughter, she is calm and content as can be, a cute little
thing. Her name is "Maya," which in Amharic means "Mirror," the
significance of that being that she looks like her parents (when they
see her, they see themselves.) They honored me with
a coffee ceremony and compelled me to eat with them (my second lunch, tough fatty meat, it was kind of hard for me, but I did force myself to eat
a bit).
TOMORROW I'm going to Merkato! Reputed to be the largest market in
Africa (by some). Should be another adventure!
Love u kindly,
Dani
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