Ethiopia

Honestly, I never expected to actually be here. I decided to come to Addis in the week that was Dusshera – not for the Ethiopians, but for us. So the embassy was closed for half the week and the courier service would not be as efficient, but I needed to leave on Saturday. And I was totally relaxed. If it happened, it did, else, here I come, Goa! The Goans were spared.

Ethiopian Airlines was a great way to enter the country. No alcohol served on board meant that there were no drunken Indians lurching around. Actually there were not too many Indians on board anyway.  I was seated next to a Nigerian who had boarded the plane at Bangkok and had much more to travel and was not in a good mood. I left him alone, and he did the same. I couldn’t watch the movie playing since I was too short. So I concentrated on the inflight magazine and the food. Which was quite good – upma and vadai!!! (Wish some of our airlines would learn from that.)

We landed at Addis at the right time – morning 1030 hours. Bright sunshine outside. The immigration formalities were quickly cleared through and I was out. Addis Ababa (the way it is pronounced by the locals is musical), takes you back a couple of decades. It is not like many of the national capitals I have seen. All spit and polish and fast cars and high rises. There are pot holes on the roads, the cars amble along, there are many many people walking, no tall buildings around – I like this place.

I had the advantage that I was received by two friends from India, and so could ease into the place slowly. Aster, the woman Friday of the household was part of the family without intruding. She took care of EVERYTHING like a magic genie. Every room in the house had a bell. Press it and there would be Aster smiling, asking what you wanted. Heaven. I thought it was a colonial hangover, till I was told that Ethiopia had never been colonised. No wonder there was so much pride in themselves.

First day in a new place and I was taken off to taste the local food, wine and dance. Now, the Ethiopians are beautiful people, externally and internally. So if they dance, you watch spell bound without understanding any of it. Unlike in most places, the men here are handsome as well – so there is something for us ladies as well! We went into this restaurant cum dance floor. Everyone was seated on stools around coffee tables and the place was packed. We found a place in a corner, where the view of the dances was not the best, but the atmosphere was just as real and authentic. Thej – that is the local brew – made of honey and something, no one is sure what! But the taste is perfect. Imagine drinking honey and getting high on it? That is thej. It was served in nice tall glasses. And I lost count of how much I had. Not that it mattered! The food was a little more difficult since I am vegetarian. We had a “native” with us to order the food and more importantly, to ensure that we didn’t make fools of ourselves. Much like in India, we washed our hands in a bowl carried by one of the waiters. He poured warm water from a very oriental jug. And I really felt pampered – could imagine that this was the way the Queen of Sheba felt!

Dinner was a huge dosa – called enjera – at least two feet in diameter spread out on a plate. On this, various chutneys, vegetables and sauces were put. We were then given more enjera rolled like a swiss roll, and the meal started. The dancing continued and Hana told us that we need not applaud the performance since we were eating!! That didn’t hold me back since I was totally fascinated by the dances and also the singing that interspersed them. And suddenly language was no constraint. Almost instinctively, we knew that she was singing of love. I guess that for some things there really are no barriers – music and love certainly. The Ethiopians also have this wonderful habit of feeding each other. So Hana would tear of a piece of enjera, pick up one chutney, roll it a bit, pick up another and so on and then place it in your mouth. The combination of tastes was really exotic. Give me food, and as long as I think that it is vegetarian, I love it!

The music was beginning to get into my feet. The drum beat had my heart echoing. The thej was making my head swim. And I was all set to get up and set the dance floor on fire (wishful thinking is allowed), when it was time for us to leave. Back to drop Hana and then home. The roads are much like at home – more pot holes than road. What was different was the beautiful ladies who came out at that time to get on with their work. I guess that this is another universal phenomenon.

Sunday being the day of the Lord, I rested. Also because I am lazy. And we went out only in the evening. The outskirts of Addis is dotted with restaurants that offer a beautiful view. They also are places where wedding photographs are taken. So after the wedding, the whole party moves there, just to take photographs! There is also live music in these places. So we stopped for some strong black coffee before driving out of the city. 

The guide book said that Addis was one big market and I could now see that. On either side of the road were people sitting and selling – potatoes, onions, oranges, chicken, belts…. Once we were out of the city, the landscape revealed itself to be undulating and open. There is an area in Hosur district called Little England – this was very similar, only more open, more stark. We stopped at a church – it reminded me of a Kerala temple. The roof was corrugated tin sheets, but from a distance it looked like tiles since it was painted red. And inside it is like a temple. Everyone removes their footwear outside. There is a sanctum sanctorum where only the priest is allowed. The others wait outside. Prayers are said, offerings are made, ‘sambrani’ waved around, and people leave. Not like my idea of a church where mass is said and everyone enters and leaves together.

Driving back, we stopped at a small town, and had “shai” – chai, tea. The shop was really really small – and there were two small boys in there before us, having shai and bread. We sat on small benches that reminded me of school. The radio was playing some nice music – I am sure the song was about love, though I couldn’t understand a word! Two young girls came out and we repeated shai several times till they got the idea. There was much smiling and some conversation. They would talk and we would smile widely and nod our heads. I don’t think we nodded wrong, because this went on for some time. The shai was delicious – sweet, with many other flavours chasing each other. They also offered me biscuits that were totally symmetrically square. And then back to Addis.

Merkato – that was my next big experience. I guess you cant beat Indians for shopping and markets, and I am no exception. Size does not matter. And this one is a classic. It is said that one can get ANYTHING here, and I believe that. We first walked into a swank super market. And then on to the real Merkato. It is a series of streets running parallel and perpendicular to each other and like in India, each lane specialises in something. The one we entered had clothes. There were also two covered buildings – one specialised in modern wear while the other was more authentic. Both were paradise for me! The traditional clothes are white with a bright woven border. The women wear a dupatta like white cloth around their heads and it  serves to accentuate their beauty. After buying a couple of the scarves for friends back home, we were out of there and in pursuit of a pot and cups for a coffee ceremony. This lane took me right back home. There were sacks filled with spices, rice, dhal, pasta, turmeric, chilli powder outside each little shop. 

We bought a jug/pot for the coffee – it is baked out of mud and Aster was very sure that the taste in this is different from that of a steel pot. We also bought some sambrani and cups and coffee beans. The Ethiopians roast their own coffee beans before grinding it and boiling it in water.  It is then served in small cups, without handles, with lots of sugar. All the while, the smell of sambrani is wafting through the air. Aster told me that they eat popcorn during the ceremony. It is also the practice to call everyone in the vicinity to share a cup of coffee. The same coffee powder is used thrice before the end of the ceremony. Everyone drinks coffee till the jug/pot is empty.  A nice relaxing ceremony – I was only left wishing that I knew Amharic to understand what was happening around me. 

Lallibela – the number of stories and myths about the place are comparable to our own. We flew in from Addis on a Fokker 50. the plane was flying fairly low and so I could see the landscape totally. Much of it was cultivated – I was surprised to see. And from up above it was like many rectangles of green of different shades. And all these patches swept out from some central groups of houses. The whole effect was very wind swept and collage like. Does God like collages? In this part of the world, yes. The Rift Valley, mountains, rivers, gorges… and then we landed. In the midst of mountains in a tiny airport. I stepped out of the plane to air that was fresh and chill, a sky that was bluer than blue and absolute silence. Silence, in an airport? While we waited for the bus that was to take us to the hotel, it was the silence that I savoured. It was a silence where you could hear – somewhere a cock crowing, a goat, a bird, a shout. Maybe it was more of a stillness than a silence really. And then the conveyor belt to bring in the baggage started. 

Have you ever danced with a prostitute? Oops – commercial sex worker? Lady of the street? I am asking you women out there. Well, I did – for the first time, last night. We are in Bahir Dar (pronounced Baardaar) on the banks of Lake Tana which is the source of the River Blue Nile. The town is a University town – one nice main road with palm trees and hibiscus of every hue and bougainvillea and the rest of the roads are normal – all pothole, some road. We walked through some of the lanes. There are small bars at almost every door in the street. Loud music and bright colours and brighter lights. We went into a couple of them, but we were too early. Barmaids abounded. They didn’t seem too happy to see me, but my companion was received with wide smiles. We walked into a coffee shop. This Ethiopian coffee has made me even more of a coffee addict. Conversation is limited because of the language. But the smile works in most places. I ordered a cake and a juice. The waitress asked me “Mixed” with an emphasis on the `ed’ and I nodded. What I got was a beer glass with three layers of fruit pulp in the colours of the national flag – yellow green and pink/red – papaya, avacado and guava. If I were British, I would have said “Interesting” – being Indian, I slurped it down. Yes, the paragraph started differently and that is what probably caught your interest. I am coming to that.

We walked around some more and then entered what I had been hearing about the whole evening – John’s bar. It was fairly unimpressive. Some eight or ten women sitting around on bar stools in a dimly lit room. Bottles of Gordon Gin, Bailey’s and White Horse lined up in the bar (I realised later that most were empty – the real stuff was stocked in the fridge!). Music. In one corner two men were seated. We walked in and I felt really awkward. All these girls were slim, well dressed and beautiful. I was (am) fat, wearing keds and shy. It took me some time to ease into the place. Roza came up and spoke to us. She knew my companion from a previous visit. She kissed both of us Ethiopian style – twice on each cheek, told us to enjoy ourselves and went off to dance with one of the men. She dances beautifully – very sinuous. Her bright face was pleasantly made up, nice gold jewellery and a touch of Christian Dior’s Poison – very subtle. And then she led him away – business had started.

She came back after some time, looking just as fresh and wonderful. And asked me to dance with her. The music was anyway making my feet itch and I was finding it difficult to sit still on the high bar stool. So I joined her. And when the music stopped, there was a round of applause. I hadn’t realised that everyone in there was watching – if I had, I would have probably stopped pronto! We complimented each other on how well we dance, sat down for a while and then stood up again. What was interesting was to move to some Arabian tunes. She was totally with the music. It flowed in her and through her and she looked like she was enjoying herself. The walls of the bar were covered with mirrors and she looked at herself constantly. Preening. Ensuring that the make up was in place. Looking to see who was looking at her. Checking that she danced well. Maybe it was her, or the music or the place, but I found myself totally relaxed and enjoying myself. The music was beginning to flow through me as well. And suddenly the thought flowed through me – hey, I would like to do this for a living! But no, not what follows – I wouldn’t enjoy having to go with every guy who paid me. But the performing was nice. I liked being watched and applauded. Maybe I should head for the stage. Maybe pigs will fly!

The rest of my visit in Ethiopia went in similar fashion – lazing around and being pampered. And then the usual adieus. I was planning to end this trip with a week to myself in Goa, but somehow, couldn’t bring myself to do that. This was perfect in itself. I wanted to savour the taste of Ethiopia in itself – not mix it up with another place. The end.

October 2001