Observations #4
Landscape
- Flies don’t seem to bother people as much as they would if we were in America.
- Don’t order a club sandwich in Addis Ababa, you will get sick.
- The forest ecosystem is different from flat sunny areas in that there is more moisture and lush flora. There is different wildlife, like monkeys…
- The wide diversity on the mountain – cactus, grass, fields, scrub, trees, forest on top
- People often use a type of cactus shrub for fences.
- I have never seen a mountain pop up out of nowhere like Zuquala, the surroundings are so flat.
- Small horse-drawn carts are common in the countryside.
- There is a fascination with water bottles even in the city: kids asking for it, drink from it, bottle to kick, play with, collect water, recycle?
- Women working at a construction site – not just 1 but at least 10
- Buildings seem to go up much slower here than in North America which is likely due to the fact that everything is done by hand, even mixing the cement.
- All of the open sewage, where does it all go?
- Servant washing one of the iron gates in front of a house
- Even though the roads are very dusty and dirty the neighbor maid cleans the outside of the car everyday.
- Today a lady on the street, who I didn’t know, have me a big smile, shook my hand, and said “konjo nesh”
- There is a guy that watches our neighborhood at night.
- There is always “grass” scattered all around my home during any sort of a holiday
- It seems very important to use placemats when you eat, at restaurants or at home
- The sky is so beautiful and clear all the time, I love it.
- Amazing sun shining with very dark clouds behind all with the mountains in the background! People standing on the bridge enjoying the scene.
- It is hard to play soccer on a dirt track! I don’t know how some kids do it, especially barefoot.
- There are huge boulders everywhere! It makes for a really rocky terrain.
- Kids wearing T-shirts with big pictures of Eminem’s face will still yell farenge when they see me!
- A man selling brooms and mops walks through our neighborhood everyday, and no one ever seems to buy mops
- Everything has a fence around it – homes, schools, businesses, everything!
- The moon looks different here – it looks sideways and the eclipse moves from up to down, rather than right to left.
- They have the weather on TV even though it is always sunny
- Seatbelts don’t seem to exist in the this country.
- Outside Addis only the very major roads are paved
- Most roads are very rocky
- There are big rocks everywhere!
- Women sometimes cover their faces when they are near a road, using their gabis.
- On the walk to school there is an enclosed box jutting out above a wall. Is this a watchtower? There is s small, square opening like a peephole.
- The bigger the house, the bigger the fence, some of the larger homes even have razor wire with a deadly electric current flowing through it.
- Sometimes the water doesn’t work.
- All it takes is one dog to start barking and 50 more will join in.
- Occasionally at night all the dogs in the area, possibly in the city, will howl and bark in a wave that passes by from one side of the city to the other.
- Water is not dumped down the drains but out the front door.
- 13 months of sunshine, but what about the rainy season?
- Buses are so crowded that the doors can’t even close.
- Waitresses run away before you can tell them your drink order
- Just about all the lights you see around the city are florescent.
- Some gardens found on public space, used by whoever needs/wants to use
Relationships
- One of the servants at my house seems to be treated like a family member in some ways, I have seen her in a few of the family photos, as if she were a relative.
- Our entire neighborhood female population turned up in our courtyard and worked all night to prepare food for a wedding.
- Ethiopians can’t put more than two consonants together…
- Whenever I say indemin adderu to my father he always says, indemin addersh as if that’s the reply, even if he had said indemin addersh before me. I am confused.
- “Izo” is a fun phrase!
- Owner of restaurant very hospitable and welcoming, willing to take us around Markato…
- A guy in the country, herding animals, was wearing a suit.
- My little sisters are out of control when my parents are not at home, they even chase the maids around with big sticks!
- Wherever you go, no matter what time of the day, hosts will try to feed you everything they have to offer.
- It doesn’t seem to be an issue to disturb people’s sleep with lights, loud noise, etc
- Ethiopians are almost always covered from head to toe, do they fear cold or sun? My host mom never lets me sit by a window or open a window
- There was a death in our neighborhood this weekend, so my mom spent the entire day and night helping the family cook. She finally got home around 3 am.
- The family is much more patient with waiting than I am.
- When you eat at a restaurant everyone shares their food, and when someone offers you their food, they expect some of yours back.
- I recently learned that a common Ethiopian saying is: If you kiss my children and eat my food you show that you love me: How true I have found it to be!
- I’ve only seen a few fat Ethiopians, it is weird for a culture centered around food.
- It is amazing how many kids love rap music and sing it all the time, its pretty crazy
- Many people come to church after worship begins, and most leave immediately afterwards without spending much time talking to people.
- Personal space isn’t as important to Ethiopians as it is for Americans/westerners
- A man at the church came up and greeted everyone before our class started.
- Some people only kiss you twice when they greet you, why is that?
- One of our neighbor families has 5 daughters. All are very enthusiastic about meeting and talking to an American
- I have never seen such strong ties to a church, my family goes to church nearly everyday.
- People are very touchy and sometimes handshakes become a little excessive.
- A lot of the time it seems like my family isn’t very close, like the hugging and kissing all the time
- People rev the engines in their cars while stopped for no reason
- Even though people speak English I still can’t understand what the heck they are saying half the time
- There are often several doves (maybe?) which join us for worship Sunday morning (thanks to the open doors.
- My father wears his hat upside down when he is inside and turns it the right way when he goes out.
- Many people give their maids a monthly allowance in addition to providing food, shelter, education, etc.
- Women don’t usually make eye contact with us or offer a greeting. Men never hesitate to stop and strike up a short conversation.
- There are menus in restaurants but most of the time half of the stuff is not available
- My mom has a little prayer book she takes around to all of us and lets us kiss it and rubs it on us.
- Weddings are a lot bigger and last a lot longer here.
- My little 5 year old sister goes grocery shopping by herself.
- Last night my mother told me that her children call her Nani so I should
- The first English words I heard this morning came from 3 guys dressed half way in hip hop clothes who were walking towards me rapping, they asked me “how’s the breakfast?”
- Celebrations take a long time, even days of activities!
- Though in many cases I have seen amazing honesty among Ethiopians, in others, people are indirect or even dishonest
- Shyness especially among youth