Goodbye Ethiopia
After a lot of thinking and a few warnings from Ethiopians and the U.S. State Department (officially called Public Announcements) I have decided to pack up and leave Ethiopia and head to some canyons in Greece, where I expect it to be quite cold. The canyons are near Albania, famous for its national anthem:
Albania, Albania,
You border on the Adriatic
Your terrain is mostly mountainous
And your chief export is chrome!*
*Actually, according to the CIA Factbook Albania's chief exports are textiles and footwear
It has been a bittersweet decision. I am excited to be going somewhere new where I think that I will be able to finally do some hiking. At the same time, it has been a major disappointment to be here and have planned and prepared for this time around the Blue Nile Gorge, only to have to turn around after three weeks in Addis.
Nevertheless, I have had a good send off, drinking a few cold beer with the neighborhood guys at the local bars - which double as brothels. On an academic level, the whole structure of the prostitution industry (if you can call it such) is quite interesting. There are all sort of informal rules, regulations, and norms, and yet it also is very much free market. By that I mean that I am told you can negotiate or bargain for prices with the prostitute. It is especially interesting because it is so open here, while in the United States it is a hidden industry. People accept that 100% of the women in bars are prostitutes without batting an eyelash.
For me, I found it a little awkward - especially when one insisted on dancing with me to a Tigraian Traditional song (yes, this means that you are supposed to do a traditional Tigraian dance). We danced for what seemed like an eternity in a small bar where I was the only foreigner. The longer the song went on, the fewer people were dancing until it was just the two of us with the rest of the bar watching. Talk about being self-conscious: trying to do some sort of a traditional dance in an Ethiopian bar with a prostitute!
Once the song ended I thanked her and went back to hanging out with the guys, who all stood and clapped as I came back to the table. In the end, all she wanted was a dance, and it will certainly be a fond memory I take with me from Ethiopia. Happily, I retreated home alone to pack and prepare for the next adventure, which I hope doesn't include too much dancing!
Albania, Albania,
You border on the Adriatic
Your terrain is mostly mountainous
And your chief export is chrome!*
*Actually, according to the CIA Factbook Albania's chief exports are textiles and footwear
It has been a bittersweet decision. I am excited to be going somewhere new where I think that I will be able to finally do some hiking. At the same time, it has been a major disappointment to be here and have planned and prepared for this time around the Blue Nile Gorge, only to have to turn around after three weeks in Addis.
Nevertheless, I have had a good send off, drinking a few cold beer with the neighborhood guys at the local bars - which double as brothels. On an academic level, the whole structure of the prostitution industry (if you can call it such) is quite interesting. There are all sort of informal rules, regulations, and norms, and yet it also is very much free market. By that I mean that I am told you can negotiate or bargain for prices with the prostitute. It is especially interesting because it is so open here, while in the United States it is a hidden industry. People accept that 100% of the women in bars are prostitutes without batting an eyelash.
For me, I found it a little awkward - especially when one insisted on dancing with me to a Tigraian Traditional song (yes, this means that you are supposed to do a traditional Tigraian dance). We danced for what seemed like an eternity in a small bar where I was the only foreigner. The longer the song went on, the fewer people were dancing until it was just the two of us with the rest of the bar watching. Talk about being self-conscious: trying to do some sort of a traditional dance in an Ethiopian bar with a prostitute!
Once the song ended I thanked her and went back to hanging out with the guys, who all stood and clapped as I came back to the table. In the end, all she wanted was a dance, and it will certainly be a fond memory I take with me from Ethiopia. Happily, I retreated home alone to pack and prepare for the next adventure, which I hope doesn't include too much dancing!
posted by Scott Warren at 4:44 AM
1 Comments:
Dear Scott,
Sounds like you made a good choice to leave the country. Good luck in Greece.
Mike Veseth
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