From White Nights to Darkness

My first blog entry from Ethiopia was written in the dark. I was quickly introduced to life in Addis Ababa as electricity in the city was rationed on only my second night here. Neighborhoods are divided into grids and 2-3 a week, each grid is without electricity day and night. Ababetch, the house-girl, prepared my dinner and I ate by candlelight in the dining room in my three-bedroom, gated house while she and the guard ate in their small quarters just behind the house. There were torrential thunderstorms with rain, hail and lighting so strong and close the house shook. When I finished dinner, I got into bed and realized it was only 7:15 pm and I had nothing to do in the pitch black with my candle half burned.





So, here I am in the dark writing to you. I spent my first full day touring the city, including the Merkato, the largest market in Africa. It was bustling and people were everywhere! Ethiopia has a population of 78 million of which 4 million officially (unofficially, 6 million) reside in the capital, Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is the sixth poorest country in the world with the average person’s salary at just $150/year. 50% of the population lives below the poverty line; 80% lives on less than $2/day and 23% on less than $1/day. The average lifespan in Ethiopia is 49 years old.



Addis Ababa is divided into three sections: wealthy, middle-class and poor. Most people fall somewhere between very low middle-class and poor. There are men driving Mercedes in business suits next to barefoot boys herding goats down the median strip; donkeys are side-by-side in traffic. There are women wearing designer clothes and stilettos while others in traditional dress are carrying huge loads of firewood on their backs. There are beggars everywhere including unclothed children, war veterans missing limbs and those disfigured by polio pulling themselves through the streets on their hands. The combination of people is mind-boggling.



Early this morning, I awoke to the three dogs (and five cats) that live with me howling to the Muslim call to prayer. Ethiopia, which has always ruled itself except for a very brief invasion by the Italians, was historically Christian (Ethiopia was the second country, after Armenia, to adopt Christianity as an official state religion) until recently when the Muslim population began to swell. The majority of Ethiopians, however, are still religious Christians.



The storm passed since I began to write and now I am listening to the not-so-distant sound of airplanes taking off and landing from the nearby airport in an otherwise quiet city on this dark night. Until next time, meulkam edel as they say in Amharic or, wish me luck!