This post is going to be a rant of my time in Addis. I’ve
been in Addis Ababa for 10 days and I can’t wait to get back to Injibara. Yes,
Addis Ababa is fun and there’s plenty of American food to choose from, but
aside from that it’s expensive. I’ve spent so much money in the past 10 days
then I normally do in a month. I’ve eaten a burrito, numerous hamburgers, lots
of ice-cream, a few steak sandwiches and so on. Even with having all this
available, I am ready to go back to my site. I’ve done a little shop looking,
but other than eating and using the internet at the PC office, there isn’t much
to do. I have traveled the city by myself and I am not as scared/nervous any
more (as long as it’s day time). Even with the positive, sometimes the negative
outweighs it all.
The verbal harassment is crazy. Last week I was sitting in
the eye doctor’s office waiting for my ride (I was leaning out the door), when
this guy going the other way in a truck started yelling at me. He wasn’t
yelling anything mean, just yelling. This kind of thing happens all the time.
I’ll be walking down the street when a car/bus passes and someone yells.
Normally what’s being said is “you, you”, “frenji, frenji”, “anchi, anchi” (you
(female) in Amharic), “shoe shine”, “how are you”, or things along those lines.
So it got me thinking, what would happen in America? Well,
for one, people wouldn’t yell at you. People wouldn’t walk past you and pretend
to bump into you or hit you (yes this almost happened). Children wouldn’t ask
for money or birr, which happens all too often. As someone living in this
country, I see the poverty, I see what people live like, and I live it (sort of).
I know how hard it is. I’ve learned to live on 20 gallons of water a week. Another
thing that aggravates me is the amount of trash floating around in this
country. People just throw everything on the ground. There are trash cans
throughout the city, but I don’t think anyone uses them. Then there are people
who clean up the trash and sweep the roads. I understand that is giving them a
job, but have some respect for your country, your city. It’s not only the big
cities this happens in. Everywhere I’ve gone in this country; people have
thrown trash everywhere, in the streets, in the streams, rivers, buses,
anywhere you could think of.
Construction is everywhere in Addis, so I never really know
where I am going, especially when I have a PC taxi taking me, they always take
me a different way. I get lost finding areas of town and I get confused on
minibuses. I guess it’s all about the experience, but sometimes it’s better to
stay put in my hotel or to only go places I know how to get to.
I’ve been here for medical reasons. I’ve had headaches for
five months with very few other symptoms. Last week I found out it was
sinusitis, on top of that my right eye has watered for about two months now. So
last week I went to the eye doctor twice and got an x-ray. Today I went to an
Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor. I’m on a bunch of medicines, I have a
mini-pharmacy. I’m hoping the medications work and everything gets cleared up.
Okay, so today is a new day and I have to say things haven’t
changed. I do get to go back to site. I was walking down the street and a half
dozen people said hi or how are you? I know it’s polite. I understand it is
culture here to say hi and have extended greetings, but it’s not my culture.
I’m sure if you ask me in five months how things are, mostly greetings, I’ll
say that I have extended greetings with everyone. It’s different between my
small town of Injibara and the big city (Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar). In my
small town I say hi and wave to people, but in the big city I always feel as if
they want something. As a female in this country, I feel that is why it is hard
to make friends, because when someone talks to me, all I can think about is
“what does he want?” and “why is he talking to me?” I know this sounds crazy,
but it’s how I feel as a female in a country.
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