Today drags on & I should be working. But every time I think about it I feel more and more muddled on what to do & how to get info. I took A’s advice & my field asst & I went to the Oromiya Ag Office on Friday to get them to hook us up with the peasant associations. But to our dismay they were not at all helpful. The man I spoke with made it clear that they had no information for me & suggested I go to the Addis office. Hence, the wild goose chase has begun. I get the impression that bureaucrats & even some of the NGOs are afraid to make any statements or give info because it may reflect poorly on them. One woman from the US who is working on a project here (which shall remain unnamed) even told me pointblank that her org and others do not want to be critiqued so would rather not work with visiting researchers. Naturally, I will & should be critical. But I was careful to ask very general non-controversial preliminary questions so as to keep those I’m seeking to get real interviews with at ease. Maybe they’ve had problems with people being critical of them in the past & are trying to avoid that again.
From what I hear, the government here is rather imposing & they are careful to hide anything that may make them look bad (seems to be the pervasive defense mechanism invoked here). And for the most part, it seems they are quite successful at it with government ownership of most media outlets & intimidation of those who step out of line. Just look at what happened with the federal election in May. In the 2005 election hundreds of members of opposition parties were killed in the streets when disputing the ‘win’ for the incumbent party & thousands were jailed. Five years later, the populace is supposed to believe that all those people who did not support the EPRDF in 2005 just changed their minds- with 99% of the vote going to the ruling party. Right. But there wasn’t much of a ruckus this time around. It seems those who were brave enough to stick it to the one-party system before have all been killed, jailed, or intimidated into keeping their mouths shut. And that’s what I’ve observed here in the capital city- people just don’t talk about politics. Life is what it is, and there’s not much anyone can do about it. Of course, I’m making a huge generalization of the sentiment here since I’ve not even been in the country for 2 weeks. Maybe there are protestors and a revamping opposition. But if there are, the government is doing a great job of keeping them out of the public eye…
Anyway, I have more meetings this week & am continuing to read everything I can get my hands on, so hopefully things get better with research. Internet is a big problem (it often doesn’t work at all, or does but is extremely slow), so tomorrow I’m going to the Ethiopian telecomm office to see about getting one of those USB internet things (what’s it called?).
In other news, I’ve had a terrible case of the shits all day & fear it’s from the Mexican dinner I hosted last night at my new place. About 12 people came over (interns from ILRI, couchsurfers, & some other random friends I’ve made) & indulged in my refried beans, tortillas, veggie fajitas, chips, & salsas- every single thing made from scratch bc, hey, you can’t buy salsa or chips here (other than pringles or potato chips). But I think it was the guacamole that made me sick since everything else, even the salsas, were cooked. I, of all people, should know better than to have uncooked veggies here considering my studies in the effects of untreated wastewater on crops & those who consume the produce. But Golda insisted her guacamole was the best in the world so I just couldn’t resist challenging her to a “guacamole-off”, since I know MINE is, in fact, the best in the universe. It probably would have been fine if I had used avocados from the tree in my yard, but the dog gets them as soon as they fall & there were no ripe ones way up in the tree. So we used fresh avocados, tomatoes, etc that we bought at the supermarket. We were sure to wash them well, but I still am suffering the explosive consequences & am really hoping my friends aren’t also sick…. =(
Anyway.. I can’t post this until tomorrow (and that’s IF the internet at the office is working) so I’m going back to one of my best finds here yet, in terms of literature- a book called “Class & Revolution in Ethiopia”. It gives a nice, concise history of Ethiopian politics from the Ancien Regime until the time it was published in 1978 (4 years after the military Dergue seized power from Emperor Haile Selassie). Fortunately, I found a 2006 edition so the one author who is still living (Nega Ayele, was killed by the military government in ‘77), John Merkakis, has provided some remarks on contemporary politics as well.
Ahhh… Comfy pjs, warm duvet, & good book. As long as the power doesn’t go out I’m set for the evening.
Loves to you all!
Btw, for some reason my texts to people in the States don’t seem to be going through. =( Something must be wrong with the country code. I’m not going to try calling anyone bc I’ve gone through $20 in 15 minutes with international calls. So, I’ll just see if I can figure out this texting business. Maybe if one of you sends me a text I can see how the # comes up in my phone.
Also, for those of you on Facebook- Kristi posted Tanzania pics since she’s back in the States, so take a look. I won’t be able to post pics on the blog for a while since it takes so long to upload them with this connection.
