This whole trip seemed surreal to me. I didn’t tell anyone we were going until we bought our tickets and even then it didn’t really hit me. I didn’t know what to expect because I have heard about Ethiopia my whole life from my family and the media. So the fact that I was finally actually going was a bit unreal. I was also checking off an important item off my bucket list: visiting the city/country where my parents were born. Seeing firsthand the culture that I have been raised in. I wasn’t really nervous until the day before the trip. People kept asking me if I was excited and that just wasn’t the feeling I was feeling, it was more denial and nerves. I was nervous because I was going to Africa for a whole month, what if I didn’t like it? What if I couldn’t emotionally handle the culture shock? I felt especially nervous not really because I was going to a new place but because this trip was going to be personal. Whether I liked Ethiopia or not, it is my heritage, who I am and I just feel like everything about this trip is personal. I was nervous up until I talked to my brother and got a text from my cousin. My brother told me to “take every expectation I have and throw it out the window,” to go there with an open mind and take it all in. This just helped me put into perspective that my nerves were getting me no where and that I have to take this experience head on. I also received a text from a cousin before I left “wishing me a safe trip home.” This just made me even more excited, as I boarded the plane and realized that it was finally all really happening… I was going HOME.
DUBAI.
First of all, our flight was the best international flight I’ve been on yet. We flew with Emirates and it was great. The inside was pretty with pink, orange and purple colors. The stewardesses were dressed like they were in sex and the city 2! I felt like it was pretty clear that I was going to a whole new world because everything was written primarily in Arabic and then English. When we first got on they gave us a refreshing wipe and a pouch which had a sleep eye mask, a tooth brush and socks. The most I’ve ever received was free peanuts. Also, all the alcohol was complimentary…cool. The food was delicious and they offered an extensive variety of movies to watch. The categories were like new releases, classics, Disney, bollywood, and romance comedies. It was like getting movies from red box but for free!
I watched a couple of movies and then slept the rest of the way to Dubai. When we got there we went directly to the mall. We only had a few hours before it closed. The mall was massive! The shopping wasn’t anything spectacular because most of the stores are the same as the ones in the US, what made it so amazing was all of the attractions. There was a huge waterfall, an aquarium, under water zoo, the Burj Khalifa- aka tallest building in the world and a fountain with a water show that puts the Bellagio to shame. There was also a section called Fashion Avenue which had all of their high end stores.
I went to a Starbucks there and it wasn’t much different than ours back home. Their promotions were all the same, the only thing that was different was that they only offer five syrups, Vanilla, Almond, Hazelnut, Irish Cream and Almond. So my mom and I had lattes and hung out at the mall before it closed.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.
Arriving in Addis was exciting. Although I tried to forget all my expectations, I had visioned what this place would look like my whole life and I was finally seeing it. My cousin meron surprised me at the airport. She took me to the hotel which my uncle owns, Meskel Flower. We had lunch and coffee. I also had my first taste of how things work in Addis. She told me we had to stop somewhere really quick to pick up a cd cleaner. The first place we went to was closed for lunch, then the other places kept sending us to different stores; we went to at least 5 of them before the last guy told us to go to the mercato. I just thought it was funny because if this was in America, it would have been a one stop shopping trip.
While we were at lunch, we caught up, it had been a couple of years since I had seen her. While we were sitting outside, something across the street caught my eye. I saw a herd of cows crossing the road. When I questioned it, she told me they were preparing for the holiday…. Ew.
After lunch we went to check out the Hilton which was really nice. The pool area reminded me of Vegas, huge pool, lots of lawn chairs, an outside bar and a gazebo area. We sat in the gazebo area until my jetlag started to kick in and it was time for me to call it a night.
Day two was a bit more interesting, I was less tired and more aware of my surroundings. If you ask me how I felt about Ethiopia, the only word I could use was weird. My mom’s friend said I was experiencing “transitional confusion” and I thought it was the best way to describe it. I didn’t think that the culture shock would hit me that hard since I had visited poor parts of Mexico but after today, culture shock as been redefined for me.
My mom and I started out the day having breakfast at our hotel, Nigist Towers. Our hotel is pretty new, a bit more modern than some of the other ones. It is directly in front of the Africa Hall and five minutes away from the Hilton. I looked out the window when I woke up and I saw two interesting things. In one corner, I saw a house which looked like it was made out of aluminum. A girl was squatting outside and for at least an hour was making injera. On the other corner four women who looked a bit older, were doing manual labor. In pairs they were moving piles of clay as this man just supervised. I was a little disturbed by the fact that women were doing this kind of work, especially at their age.
After breakfast my mom and I went for a walk and that was when I started to really see the difference. We walked out and saw older women on their hands and knees scrubbing the walk way. I felt so bad thinking about how bad their backs must hurt. They were still there when we got back from our walk.
I saw a dog sitting on the sidewalk with a wounded eye; it looked as if it was missing. I couldn’t look at it long enough to actually see. In between the streets, there was a small island divider. I saw a man sitting there drinking coffee out of a regular coffee cup. In front of him I noticed a woman carrying a bag of cups and a thermos. This was one of the cool things that I had seen. The coffee culture here is huge. Inside hotel lobbies or inside shopping centers, there are people with a little coffee shops set up. They have all of the things they need to make coffee and a few pillows/chairs for people to sit at. They also have itan burning, so it gives you an authentic feel. You don’t necessarily have to go to one of the many cafes to have coffee.
Another cool thing I noticed was that the people are not afraid to show affection here. Walking down the street you will see men and men holding hands or having an arm around one another. There is no homosexual conduct to it, just people showing their compassion, affection and love for one another. Women do it too, its lovely.
My mom’s friend took us to a city outside of Addis called Sultata. This drive was gorgeous because it was up hill which gave us a bird’s eye view of Addis. It was a smaller town than Addis, very quiet and country-ish. I saw lot things that I had never seen. I saw donkeys being used as transporters and one of the saddest things vie seen yet. There were women carry a bunch of branches- not like twigs- but real long tree branches. They had to weigh at least 20-30 pounds. The branches were tied up and they were carrying them on their back down the large hill we drove up. What made this so sad was that most of the women that I saw were old. I just couldn’t believe it. Without a doubt after seeing this, they are the strongest women I have ever met. Not only physically strong to be able to carry that, but their strength as a person. What they were doing and going through to make a small amount of money shows their strength to survive. It’s hard to describe in the right words what I felt after seeing this besides shock and sadness. I found them and their strength completely admirable.
At this point, I’m still not sure how I feel about Ethiopia. It’s not that I don’t like it, because there is something about being here that I enjoy. I’m not having a terrible time, but I feel like it’s hard to say that I love it when there are so many things that aren’t right. I feel like it would be wrong to say that I love a place that is in need of so much help. Like I said, I feel that my definition of culture shock as been redefined. I haven’t cried yet, because I think I am literally numb in a state of shock. Everyone told me that I was going to need awhile to adjust before it was fun or before I enjoyed but I really think they mean, I just need to first accept how things are before I can enjoy it. The thing is, even though this is reality, I do not want to accept it.
I think the thing that confuses me the most is the lack of separation of rich and poor. I’m staying at this super nice hotel and right across the street are clay/ aluminum homes and shops. The rich men in suits are walking side by side with the people in holey jeans and run down shirts. Stray animals are everywhere and herds of cows, goats and sheep are walking the streets with us. It is so weird. Back home the rich people are in their nice areas, the poor are in the ghetto and the animals are at the farm. Here it just seems like complete chaos. Half of the city is under construction, the area is dry and polluted and there are so many people everywhere.
A friend was telling me that everything was once very civilized but through the governments attempt of modernization everything has been lost. Whether they are neglecting becoming modernized or what something is off. I feel like the city is as confused as I am.
DUBAI.
First of all, our flight was the best international flight I’ve been on yet. We flew with Emirates and it was great. The inside was pretty with pink, orange and purple colors. The stewardesses were dressed like they were in sex and the city 2! I felt like it was pretty clear that I was going to a whole new world because everything was written primarily in Arabic and then English. When we first got on they gave us a refreshing wipe and a pouch which had a sleep eye mask, a tooth brush and socks. The most I’ve ever received was free peanuts. Also, all the alcohol was complimentary…cool. The food was delicious and they offered an extensive variety of movies to watch. The categories were like new releases, classics, Disney, bollywood, and romance comedies. It was like getting movies from red box but for free!
I watched a couple of movies and then slept the rest of the way to Dubai. When we got there we went directly to the mall. We only had a few hours before it closed. The mall was massive! The shopping wasn’t anything spectacular because most of the stores are the same as the ones in the US, what made it so amazing was all of the attractions. There was a huge waterfall, an aquarium, under water zoo, the Burj Khalifa- aka tallest building in the world and a fountain with a water show that puts the Bellagio to shame. There was also a section called Fashion Avenue which had all of their high end stores.
I went to a Starbucks there and it wasn’t much different than ours back home. Their promotions were all the same, the only thing that was different was that they only offer five syrups, Vanilla, Almond, Hazelnut, Irish Cream and Almond. So my mom and I had lattes and hung out at the mall before it closed.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.
Arriving in Addis was exciting. Although I tried to forget all my expectations, I had visioned what this place would look like my whole life and I was finally seeing it. My cousin meron surprised me at the airport. She took me to the hotel which my uncle owns, Meskel Flower. We had lunch and coffee. I also had my first taste of how things work in Addis. She told me we had to stop somewhere really quick to pick up a cd cleaner. The first place we went to was closed for lunch, then the other places kept sending us to different stores; we went to at least 5 of them before the last guy told us to go to the mercato. I just thought it was funny because if this was in America, it would have been a one stop shopping trip.
While we were at lunch, we caught up, it had been a couple of years since I had seen her. While we were sitting outside, something across the street caught my eye. I saw a herd of cows crossing the road. When I questioned it, she told me they were preparing for the holiday…. Ew.
After lunch we went to check out the Hilton which was really nice. The pool area reminded me of Vegas, huge pool, lots of lawn chairs, an outside bar and a gazebo area. We sat in the gazebo area until my jetlag started to kick in and it was time for me to call it a night.
Day two was a bit more interesting, I was less tired and more aware of my surroundings. If you ask me how I felt about Ethiopia, the only word I could use was weird. My mom’s friend said I was experiencing “transitional confusion” and I thought it was the best way to describe it. I didn’t think that the culture shock would hit me that hard since I had visited poor parts of Mexico but after today, culture shock as been redefined for me.
My mom and I started out the day having breakfast at our hotel, Nigist Towers. Our hotel is pretty new, a bit more modern than some of the other ones. It is directly in front of the Africa Hall and five minutes away from the Hilton. I looked out the window when I woke up and I saw two interesting things. In one corner, I saw a house which looked like it was made out of aluminum. A girl was squatting outside and for at least an hour was making injera. On the other corner four women who looked a bit older, were doing manual labor. In pairs they were moving piles of clay as this man just supervised. I was a little disturbed by the fact that women were doing this kind of work, especially at their age.
After breakfast my mom and I went for a walk and that was when I started to really see the difference. We walked out and saw older women on their hands and knees scrubbing the walk way. I felt so bad thinking about how bad their backs must hurt. They were still there when we got back from our walk.
I saw a dog sitting on the sidewalk with a wounded eye; it looked as if it was missing. I couldn’t look at it long enough to actually see. In between the streets, there was a small island divider. I saw a man sitting there drinking coffee out of a regular coffee cup. In front of him I noticed a woman carrying a bag of cups and a thermos. This was one of the cool things that I had seen. The coffee culture here is huge. Inside hotel lobbies or inside shopping centers, there are people with a little coffee shops set up. They have all of the things they need to make coffee and a few pillows/chairs for people to sit at. They also have itan burning, so it gives you an authentic feel. You don’t necessarily have to go to one of the many cafes to have coffee.
Another cool thing I noticed was that the people are not afraid to show affection here. Walking down the street you will see men and men holding hands or having an arm around one another. There is no homosexual conduct to it, just people showing their compassion, affection and love for one another. Women do it too, its lovely.
My mom’s friend took us to a city outside of Addis called Sultata. This drive was gorgeous because it was up hill which gave us a bird’s eye view of Addis. It was a smaller town than Addis, very quiet and country-ish. I saw lot things that I had never seen. I saw donkeys being used as transporters and one of the saddest things vie seen yet. There were women carry a bunch of branches- not like twigs- but real long tree branches. They had to weigh at least 20-30 pounds. The branches were tied up and they were carrying them on their back down the large hill we drove up. What made this so sad was that most of the women that I saw were old. I just couldn’t believe it. Without a doubt after seeing this, they are the strongest women I have ever met. Not only physically strong to be able to carry that, but their strength as a person. What they were doing and going through to make a small amount of money shows their strength to survive. It’s hard to describe in the right words what I felt after seeing this besides shock and sadness. I found them and their strength completely admirable.
At this point, I’m still not sure how I feel about Ethiopia. It’s not that I don’t like it, because there is something about being here that I enjoy. I’m not having a terrible time, but I feel like it’s hard to say that I love it when there are so many things that aren’t right. I feel like it would be wrong to say that I love a place that is in need of so much help. Like I said, I feel that my definition of culture shock as been redefined. I haven’t cried yet, because I think I am literally numb in a state of shock. Everyone told me that I was going to need awhile to adjust before it was fun or before I enjoyed but I really think they mean, I just need to first accept how things are before I can enjoy it. The thing is, even though this is reality, I do not want to accept it.
I think the thing that confuses me the most is the lack of separation of rich and poor. I’m staying at this super nice hotel and right across the street are clay/ aluminum homes and shops. The rich men in suits are walking side by side with the people in holey jeans and run down shirts. Stray animals are everywhere and herds of cows, goats and sheep are walking the streets with us. It is so weird. Back home the rich people are in their nice areas, the poor are in the ghetto and the animals are at the farm. Here it just seems like complete chaos. Half of the city is under construction, the area is dry and polluted and there are so many people everywhere.
A friend was telling me that everything was once very civilized but through the governments attempt of modernization everything has been lost. Whether they are neglecting becoming modernized or what something is off. I feel like the city is as confused as I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment