27 July 2010
Yes, I know. It has been AGES since I’ve written here. But that just shows you that I’ve been out having a great time w my research & getting to know people here that writing hasn’t been a top priority. But the time has come for me to share with you readers a bit about what I’m up to in Ethiopia.
We’ll start w what’s happening on the research-front since that’s the top reason I’m here this summer (thanks to Chris & IWMI). I’ve met with countless farmers & bureaucrats and now have a fairly good understanding of the general consensus by different parties here on water contamination, treatment options, the role of industries, farmers, NGOs, and governing bodies, and varying perceptions on wastewater for food crop irrigation. I’m still working away at how best to frame the issue in my thesis, but one aspect is certain- I must consider the issue with hope rather than despair. I have some more specific opinions on the matter, but I’ll not spoil my thesis paper for you before it’s even written. You’ll just have to read it once it’s published. ;-)
In other news, I finally went around Addis on Sat to do some of the touristy things. The opportunity was perfect bc Golda (the woman I CouchSurfed with before I moved into my house) has another CouchSurfer here from France right now, and friend who came to town from Costa Rica to give out the UPeace diplomas to the Peace and Security Studies grads at AAU. Golda’s been here about 4 months & still hasn’t seen the main attractions either. So her friend/employee at Upeace, who happens to be from Addis & used to be a tour guide here, offered to take us all around in his car to show us some of the coolest parts of town.
We went to Lucy’s Restaurant (named for Lucy, the oldest homo sapien sapien skeleton to have been found on earth) for lunch, followed by a tour of the National Museum which houses a molding of Lucy (the real skeleton is apparently in New York) among other groovy fossils & cultural remnants.
After that we went to Piazza where there are loads of little stores and cafes all stack on top of one another on a hill above Churchill Ave. Apparently this building style was left by the Italians following their brief occupation during WWII. Be’alem showed us some of the best & least expensive leather stores in Addis. Leather is one of the main exports from Ethiopia (after coffee, of course). I feel a little guilty admitting that I ordered a leather jacket for myself, not just on the same principles making me vegetarian (though only when in the States. Hey, I don’t want to miss out on the Ethiopian food experience. Plus, the meat industry here isn’t nearly as disgusting as in the US. I see the cattle being herded around the countryside & the city, not caged up in a filthy feedlot being injected w growth hormones). The guilt comes more from knowing that the leather factories/tanneries are in large part responsible for a lot of the untreated pollution that’s dumped into the river. But it’s cold & rainy here, man. And I definitely did not bring warm enough clothes (probably the reason I keep getting sick). Plus, I’m supporting a local business that makes high quality stuff.
Be’alem took us to Merkato next, allegedly the largest market in Africa. It is certainly the biggest market I’ve ever seen & I think the local saying, “You can find anything in Merkato but the human heart” must be right on par. Seriously, there are huge sections zoned by the types of goods they sell. There are sections for shoes, car parts, cosmetics, vegetables, chickens, sheep, kitchenwares, anything. You name it, it can be found in Merkato. And there is so much traffic it’s overwhelming. While Addis is generally a pretty safe place, the Merkato is also the worksite of thieves, so one has to be extremely careful there. We just drove through to take a look bc the place is so huge & overwhelming, it’s not worth getting out unless you’re prepared to spend the day there. But I know when I go back I’ll have to bring nothing but 200 Birr & my cell phone tucked safely away into my bosom- otherwise it WILL disappear. Hell. Maybe it will disappear from my bosom without my noticing anyway, since these thieves are apparently quite skilled. I’ve been warned.
Next we went up the mountain north of town to Entoto (Emperor Menelik II’s former capital)…
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