14 - Man is a creature of his own habits.. The reality check! - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post No - 14

By the third day morning the spirits were down and tempers were fraying. People were snapping at each other and we could cut the tension with a butter knife.  By that time, we had mastered our way in and around the hotel. We found a place where we could make phone calls. But International calls were exorbitant and costed around 14 birr (70 rupees) per minute. At that time, it was quite expensive. We had an old couple who had come to Ethiopia post their retirement. The husband coached his wife. He told her what to speak, and what points to cover during her rapid fire international phone call. And she had one minute time to do it.

The lady was overcome by the situation. She blurted out something and may be the connection was not good. She took four minutes to finish what she had to say.  This somehow triggered her husband. He started shouting at her “you made me spend, 60 birr. This was we will not be able to save anything”. Overcome by emotions the old lady burst out crying. It was heart rendering to see the her cry so profusely. But the man was unmoved, he had spent 60 birr and that was too much for him.

I had read that the most selfish and the most self centered only venture out of their comfort zone to go to foreign countries and become NRIs. The main objective is to scrooge and save as much money as possible.  I was seeing a live demonstration and didn’t like it one bit. I took a vow. I will save but will not be stingy!

By the third afternoon people were starving. There was a local Indian restaurant called ‘Sangam’ in Addis Ababa. But it was in Bole road and we have to take a cab. We were told that cab drivers fleece the tourist and charge around 100 birr for one journey. So that is 200 birr just for the journey and we were also told that a nice Indian meal at the Sangam would set us back by at least 500 birr. 700 birr for a meal sounded exorbitant for all, including me.

There was a knock on the door. It was Vasavi, Bala Krishna’s wife. She was down for the count. She said ‘Padmakka, I don’t like this place at all. It is too cold. We can’t go out. I simply hate the food. No rice, no dal, no sambhar and no curd. I feel miserable” Overcome by the situation, she wept uncontrollably. She said “I will tell Bala. I want to go home”.

Padma was touched. She could not bear her pain and anguish. She consoled Vasavi. She told her to be brave. “Nothing to panic” Padma added “we are all with you. Look at us. We have kids. They don’t like it either. They are surviving on bread and jam. And on biscuits”. Seeing the logic of the situation, Vasavi brightened up.

Me and Bala swung into action. We hunted for hotels and restaurants that serve rice. There were many restaurants but they all served either Ethiopian food or European food. We had problem even explaining what rice was or how it looked.  

The present generation have it good. They can just google rice and show the hotel owner what is rice and how it looked. But we were in 2002 and it now appears like pre-historic time!

After a good two hours, WE FOUND A CHINESE HOTEL. The owner was sour and non-communicative. He showed no surprise or happiness when we almost jumped in joy when he said “yes we have rice’. We rushed back to the hotel and four of our family, Vasavi and Bala, Dr. Srinivas Inguva and T.N. Murthy rushed to the restaurant.

After an agonizing wait of forty minutes our RICE arrived. There was a very watery looking tomato paste/Puree/tomato curry as a side dish. The rice was not rice. It was a watery goo. The tomato curry was something of a culinary puzzle. But boy, we were as excited as Ali Baba when he saw the treasure in the cave. We fell on the rice and tomato goo and finished it off in a gusto. The cost was 12 birr. At that price it was a steal. We explained the issue and told the sour owner that the rice needed to be more dry and that he better spice up his curry. He gave a grudging nod. We hoped that we would get better service the next time around. 

12 - First Day in Addis Ababa, at Ethiopian Hotel - 8th November 2002 - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post No - 12

Ethiopian Christians going to the Church for Prayers 

I got up early in the morning. I peeped out of the window. There was a lot of fog and it had enveloped the city in a tight unforgiving hug. There was a nip in the air. I was shivering in the cold. I went up to the terrace of the hotel. The view was breath taking. There were rolling hills all around. It was picture post card perfect! I shot the scenes on my video camera.

Gingerly I stepped out of the hotel but stayed under the watchful eye of the hotel security. I could see hordes of Ethiopians silently moving in their long white flowing dresses. They had the most solemn and serious faces I had ever seen. I was puzzled. They were shuffling along slowly. It looks as if a holy procession was moving along. It was so surreal. The effect was accentuated by the nip in the air and the cold weather. I had to pinch myself to get out of the feeling of awe. 

I enquired “where are they going?”. The guard replied in halting English “They go, Church”. Then it struck me, Ethiopia is a Christian country surrounded by Muslim nations in the horn of Africa.  Readers might be wondering as why this area is called as the horn? If you were to look at the African map the eastern part of Africa has a part jutting out. This part looks like a horn of Rhinoceros and that is why it is called the horn of Africa.  Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, are the countries that constitute the horn of Africa.

Ethiopians are devout Christians. Three  out of four Ethiopians are Christians and follow the orthodox form of Christianity. Ethiopia still uses the old Julian calendar. They celebrate Christmas on January 7th, and not on December 25th! The Christmas celebration in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is called Ganna. “Malkam, Malkam Addis Ganna” they  would greet each other. It means welcome welcome new Christmas!

Western and European depiction of Jesus Christ 

Ethiopian Depiction of Jesus Christ 

The depiction of Jesus Christ is what we had been taught by the Europeans and the westerners. As Ethiopians have never been colonized their depiction of the same biblical epic and Jesus Christ is refreshingly different. I was coming to terms with one of the most ancient civilization in the world. Ethiopia is one of the few countries mentioned in the Bible, the Koran, Homer’s Odyssey, and many other ancient books.

Smiling Ethiopian Boy 

The name “Ethiopia” comes from the Greek words aitho and ops, which together mean “Sun burnt face.” This was how the ancient Greeks referred to the dark-skinned people of Eastern Africa. Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world, having been founded in 980 B.C. Axum, in Ethiopia, is famous as a claimant to the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the chest containing the ten commandments God gave to Moses. It is of tremendous pride to the Ethiopians that the final resting place of the Ark of Covenant is amongst them!

Breakfast done, all the men and the contract holders assembled in the reception area. It was almost ten in the morning and there was no action. The clock struck twelve and still no one came from the Ministry of Education. We were getting bored. We dispersed for lunch. After the experience with the last night dinner, we had bread and jam for lunch. But Indians being Indians we were not liking the bland and sweet taste. We wanted our tongues to get tickled and the palate to be satiated with the hot and spicy Indian curies and dals. But alas we were thousands of kilometres from India!

The representative from the ministry arrived at 3.00 p.m. We accosted him anxiously. He was unflustered. He appeared as cool as a cucumber. We were slowly getting used to the ways of the Ethiopians. He had this almost Zen like calmness. He drawled “How are you all, how is Ethiopia treating you?” One of us responded with a little irritation and lot of anxiety “We are here for the entire day. We would like to go our respective stations. We would be losing our salary too!” The practicality of people whose main reason to come to Ethiopia – to save money and send it back to India was kicking in. We were rearing to work and earn our pay! Itching for action. May be the result of living life in a fast lane.

The Ethiopian was genuinely surprised. Then his face brightened up “oh aha” he exclaimed “that is your major worry. Don’t you worry about your salary. Salary would be given from Today.” We came to know that our tickets to Bahirdar would take some more time. He promised to come back in a day or two.         

I birr Note (front Side)

We felt lost. Now the excuse of going early to our universities was snatched from our hands. We were resigned to our fate. There were many rumours floating about. We heard stories of how tourists being robbed and assaulted. But staying in the hotel was not an option. I took a 100 dollars note and went out to an authorized exchange centre and got around 855 birr. A back of envelope calculation showed that one birr was worth approximately six Indian rupees. That was the mantra that we chanted for the next four years. We would buy in birr and immediately multiply it with 5 (a 5 factor being more convenient than a 6 factor).

I birr Note (back Side)

I would buy 5 kgs of rice and Padma would ask “how much”. I would reply “10 Birr”. She would immediately say 50 rupees and that meant price of rice is Rs 10 per kg. Talk of the NRI ways of living and surviving in faraway places!