Dateline Addis Ababa: Life & Times in This Here Hellhole

The February issue of SELEDA being a Valentines' offering, the editors have asked that Part II of Hellhole also chronicle the author's take on the travails of Cupid in Addis. First a disclaimer: The author does not pretend to be an authority on the mating habits of everyday natives. Observations made here are exclusive to the alen alen yemilu crowd of Addis, and of visiting overseas Ethiopians.

Ethiopians are blessed with many positive attributes - jeggna, gobez, CHewa, astenagaje, tigistegna - some negative - tenkolegna, shaTiregna, miQegna. Romantic? I think not. Is there a word for romantic in Amharic? Is there a home grown Ethiopian Kidus Valentine? I think not. What I observed in my 4-year stay in Addis during the mid-1990's is little evidence of romance. But plenty of sexual indulgence, ragging libidos, lecherous behavior, much promiscuity and decadence. This especially among the three V crowd: Volvo, villa, and video.

Cupid is not kicking nor alive in Addis. Romantic is not a characteristic associated with Addis nor Addis Ababans. Tour operators do not use romantic as a selling point to promote Addis. Addis is no Venice nor Paris. Addis is not conducive to romance. Where does one go on a first date? A fine restaurant is about the only thing that comes to mind. The problem with this however is that you will be sighted by gossip columnists, and the town weregna mill will be in full swing the very next morning. It is near impossible to be discrete in Addis. There is anonymity and confusion in numbers however. That is why Ethiopians love to run in packs and crowds, meguatet.

Man arrives from Brussels for 3 days. He is here to negotiate the granting of a franchise operation in Addis. Overseas visitors: they can and are often a pain in the behind. They come in for a few days. They are absolutely dependent. Take an inordinate amount of your time. They are like infants. Need shepherding around. You feed them and are generally with them from early morning until dinner. Many times after dinner. They come with healthy appetites whet for ETs of the fairer sex. (I understand there is an active and robust market developing for young ET boys as well).

It usually takes a few days for them to place an "official" inquiry with you, but inevitably they do.This visitor I was hoping to sign a contract with (a Brit) wanted to go out drinking and also seek out some "action". Took him to Stars. He hit it off with this 18 year-old absolutely gorgeous girl. She drove him wild. I was watching all this from the DJ booth. Round midnight he is ready to take her back to his room at the Hilton. Told him they would not let her in this late. Man insisted, so he tried anyway and was turned back. He slept alone. The following night we picked her up early at 8 p.m. That early, there is a lot of traffic at the hotel. He manages to sneak her in. I instruct him to pay her no more than Birr 100. To make sure his documents and cash, not to mention his person, are well protected.

The following morning the man is all smiles. Apparently his first ET. She drove me crazy, he tells me. So crazy that he paid her an extra Birr 300. So crazy that he is flying her out to London for a week. Lucky girl. I feel like a pimp. But the man signed the contract that morning before he left.

Maybe there is something to pimping after all.

Overseas ET men visiting also get much action during their visits to Addis. Much of it is paid for. Not street girls, but the numerous young and stunning chewa, yebet setoch that hang at the various respectable clubs in town supplementing their income. There is no romance here. It's pure business. And at 3 a.m., after one too many drinks, few men resist the temptation. Getting laid is a major preoccupation for many of them. The visiting overseas ET women? Indeed, many a visiting "Shegitu gets her groove back" in Addis. But Shegitu, God bless her, does not pay for her pleasures.

There is an ad on local TV for a locally manufactured condom, trade name "Hiwot". Locally, they call it "mot" since it breaks all the time apparently.

Madison Avenue Addis ain't. My favorite ad is for "Pretty Lady" feminine napkins. The advertising slogan is "ye Meskerem abeba meQebeya". In the video, they have this quite heavyset lady riding around on an incredibly miniature moped, presumably wearing Pretty Lady.

Music videos are offered a-plenty between shows. They are mostly 70's, 80's variety from Europe. ET videos are all basically same, setting either in a dance hall, on stage, or in the same bloody miserable looking garden "menafesha". Tigrigna music videos are my nieces' favorite - they enjoy the dizzying effect it has on them watching folks "rain dancing", going around in circles for days!

We have been offered a few live sports broadcasts in last couple of weeks. Sponsored by ET Telecom, by USAID, and the Italian Embassy. The European club soccer championship between AC Milan and Olympique-Marseilles, and the Riddick Bowe heavy weight championship bout. Too bad fight only lasted a round and 10 seconds. We have been promised more events. But no mention yet of NBA, NFL or baseball. Talking of the NBA, Damte sent me a tape of a NBA playoff game. My mouth watering, I went home, inserted tape in VCR and slumped on a sofa to enjoy. Enjoy I did, the bloody criminal sent me a tape of the Home Shopping Network. I could not believe my eyes. Very sick joke indeed!

Corruption - Besides your everyday, garden-variety graft, the nature of corruption in Ethiopian today is as sinister as it is ingenious. One party now owns and operates so called private limited companies in the banking, insurance, trading, exports, pharmaceuticals, media, construction and other sectors. The damage being done to the economy by way of taxes not paid to the central treasury, misallocation of scarce resources, "legitimate" private capital being intimidated away from sectors dominated by party affiliated firms, and the undermining of competition is huge. If there is a more insidious phenomenon in Ethiopia today, I do not know it. Control of politics is one thing. Control of politics and commerce is quite another.

The "Atobus". I feel sorry for those who have to commute in buses. Very old, poorly maintained, paint peeling (EPA would ban them as potential lead poison hazards), packed like sardines, leaning dangerously to one side. Taxis, many miserable taxis. One goes in one at one's own risk. Likely that there will be a breakdown before one reaches destination. No air conditioning. Windows rolled up. As foul as it smells inside, as hot as it gets, they will not allow you to roll down the windows - "Biyrd and nefas. Abet draft" they scream.

Cars are so expensive here. Since few are imported, the country has had to preserve and extend the life of its existing inventory. There are a few nice cars here too. Many owned by the expat community. All the latest Mercedes, BMWs, Lexus' are represented. Even saw a Porsche 941 and a Mazzerati. Unfortunately no motorways to cruise in them.

This is the end of the month, so I need to meet payroll. Payroll is paid in cash here. Thursday noon I send our accountant to the bank to bring a bag full of cash to pay the employees. He gets there too late, noon. Bank is closed. Some story about end-of-month closing of the books. The Bank will not re-open until Tuesday. Four and a half days! I have Birr 10 in my pocket. There are no ATMs. So what to do? The whole town is probably as pissed off as is this office.

No bank in the world, as far as I know, stays closed for 4 1/2 straight days. There would be civil unrest if that were the case. Today is Thursday. Tomorrow there is some bloody anniversary so it's a holiday. Saturday government offices are closed. Sunday, well Sunday is Sunday. Monday is another bloody holiday. Government offices closed.

There are no Brinks armored trucks. VW "Kumbees" are used to transport cold cash from bank branch to branch. No armed "awtanti". Just a lowly driver. I have seen bags full of cash being taken off kumbees by listiro boys, in to the bank, as if it were just another commodity. An enterprising armed robber could make a good living knocking off these non armored trucks. I had thought of it many times myself, to meet payroll.

I have not gone out of town for pleasure as of yet. Have not had the urge or drive to do so. What I have seen, however, is quite something. Ethiopia, to appreciate her, one must go out of the city. What I have seen is green, serene, a sight to behold. It does take the breath away. But travelling is such a chore. Long waits at airports not to mention the body searches. If you drive out of town, do not expect to find any Howard Johnson's.

Tesfaye comes in from Nairobi for a few days. He just happens to be staying next door to me. We run into Maru at the Banatu. Maru has "meshebet". He is back for good. His wife and kid will follow in a couple of months.

After avoiding the dreaded ET flu for some 3 months I have finally succumbed. Am heavily sedated with Coricidin 'D'. Runny nose, a little fever, drowsy, and miserable. I need my night nurse!

Dinner at Asrat's. He lives close to the English School in a grand house with incredibly high ceilings. The property would have to be fired bombed to force him out. Property being rented from the government for peanuts. The Dergue had nationalized it from a prominent family some years ago. A son from this family, who now lives in the States, paid Asrat a visit. Asked if Asrat would be kind enough to intervene with the government so that house could be returned. Although sympathetic, I doubt if Asrat would sign his own eviction. Asrat is also resigned to the fact that his nationalized family property now looks most unlikely to be returned.

Private property rent inflation is unbelievable. Homes in the better neighborhoods are going for Birr 7 to 8,000 a month. The government should return homes it is renting out (government as landlord, or industrialist, or farmer is an absurd and discredited idea anyway). Unfortunately, the ruling party, in its infinite wisdom, is publicly declaring that homes will not be returned. It is foot dragging on issue of returning factories that were "meze-reff"ed by the Dergue, essentially endorsing the thievery of the Dergue. On the one hand, government pays lip service to private enterprise. On the other hand, it fails to right the wrongs of the previous government as it continues to benefit from these wrongs.

Adam comes in from New York on the day of Id al Fatir, the end of Ramadan. I pick him up at the airport. Man looks like he has had a facial, looks fresh and lacking of sun. Winter in America, he tells me. Take him to Akaki where his family lives. Boy forgot the directions to the house where he grew up. No problem, the whole village knows where Adam grew up. This man takes us to his house.

Adam's car gets broken into outside the Investment Office. He had left his car unattended for 15 minutes. Toiletries and wardrobe get stolen, including shirts, suits and underwear. Stuff on his back are his only clothing items left. Next few days, Adam, who boasts that he changes twice a day, is seen around town wearing the same clothing, presumably same underwear as well. Unless of course he washes them at night. He is appalled that 5 th Avenue is 6,000 miles away in Manhattan, and that Armani does not maintain a shop in Piazza.

Had to fire an employee today. The man, a former government employee, just could not cut it. The Dergue has destroyed / corrupted the abesha work ethic of its children. Students have been used to guaranteed jobs at graduation, regardless of qualifications. State enterprises were simply given quotas of the number of graduating students to employ. They had no choice in the matter. Now that this is no longer the case, on top of workers being laid-off, where in the world all this human resource is going to get absorbed is anybody's guess.

The school system has degenerated. You have children graduating from college without learning the three 'R's. And you thought American education was bad! If these kids coming out of school are Ethiopia's future, well...Some college grads I have been interviewing speak peasant's English not the Queen's English. They write even worse. When you review their transcript you find A's and B's. Talk about grade inflation!

Courses taken in college include "Scientific Communism", "Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy", "Introduction to Marxist Thought and Practice". All relevant and useful in this highly mobile, constantly changing, fast moving technological world. Education had taken a back seat during the communist years. Small wonder the authorities are trying to reform the whole system. A daunting task indeed!

Good schools are becoming expensive. American Community School, is Birr 10,000 this year, increases to Birr 30,000 next year! Some story about impact of devaluation. Some suspect that the school's motive is really to get all Ethiopians out by making it unaffordable. The English School, Birr 4,000 this year, increased to Birr 4,400 next. Ethiopians complain that these schools are screwing the locals, favor expats as they can pay whatever the going rate is. Serves them right too. ET interest in their children's education, and school affairs is almost non-existent. Very few attend PTA meetings, or board meetings when important decisions are handed down.

My sister dragged me along to the annual English School board meeting where board members were to be elected. Amongst other decision-making responsibilities, the board also decides on school fees. My sister insisted I place my name for election. "We need Ethiopians on the board to fight for Ethiopian mebt" she said. As it turned out, of some 100 parents present, perhaps 10 were Ethiopian. Yet ETs represent some 55% of the student population. Needless to say, no Ethiopians were elected to the board. Fees were increased. I was saved embarrassment of losing. My name could not be placed on the ballot for "technical" reasons.

"Cha-chi" is a sensation in Addis. Seriously. She is a regular at the Ibex Hotel with a band that includes Bibisha. Her face is all over the newspapers advertising her "engagement" at the Ibex. She has a huge local hit, "Endemin Neh?" Actually quite a good record with deep bass, heavy horns. My nieces are quite fond of her. They tell me there was a near riot at school when Cha-chi paid a visit to sign autographs. Imagine that!?

Went to see her perform at the Memo. The band was smoking. Cha-chi, much energy, enthusiasm, revealing outfit, suggestive movement. So-so vocals. The crowd loved it. The novelty of seeing an Ethiopian woman coming off like, imitating and moving like Madonna has not worn off here yet. Understand Cha-chi is also the aerobics instructor at the Ibex Health Club. Imagine that! Overweight ET women strutting it in full leotard gear. It must be quite a sight. I wonder if "eskista" is one of the routines.

Saw a helicopter today. First helicopter since leaving LA. Had forgotten these things existed. Mamitu (lead poison observation is entirely to her credit) and Lemma Ashenafi call and wake me up at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. Am told to take delivery of some 6 video tapes containing NBA games from Ashenafis who are arriving Addis tomorrow. Am assured that tapes are authentic and not of Home Shopping Network.

Go over to the Ashenafi's to pick-up some thirty-six hours of video of NBA finals that Lemma had sent. They are probably thinking what a gentleman I am for being the first person to welcome them. Oh well! I could not wait. It was good to see them and hear how expansive Mamitu was getting due to her pregnancy, and how much Lemma was enjoying her upper body development.

Watched two games, Houston vs. Seattle, and first game of Chicago vs. New York, with commercials and all. It felt like I was in West LA watching the games. It is a strange feeling watching familiar shows outside of where one normally used to watch them. Had to stop at two games as nieces complained about my monopolizing the TV. Imagine, nieces wanting to watch "Jake and the Fat Man" on ETV rather than NBA? Strange girls! I suppose after 6 straight hours of basketball, they are entitled to a break.

They arrest cars here! Was pulled over, actually flagged down for making a right turn on red. California driving license: no good. Cop claimed I have been here longer than the allowed 3 months. So the car was literally arrested for half a day until a properly licensed driver bailed it out. I will have to appear in court.

Went on a field trip to visit Koka Dairy farm-another investment possibility that is being rumored to be on selling block. Another sad state-farm story. Millions spent, completed over five years ago. Capacity for 1,000 milk cows, but there are only 50 very sick looking animals there. All the infrastructure is complete. It is only 150 km from Addis. Looks well-built, plenty of land to do other things as well, e.g. raising sheep, cattle, and planting of vegetable, fruits etc.

The pattern for starting these projects is becoming clear. The project set-up was highly profitable. It lined pockets of many who helped grant and sign the contracts. After that, projects are neglected. There is precious little fast money to be made in managing the bloody things. Pity again the sorry ET taxpayer.

In the "It is a Small World" category: Was having trouble transmitting a fax to the Chevrolet dealership that just opened its doors (the Americans are coming!). So I called the main number to investigate. A Michael from Falls Church, VA answers the phone. We strike up a conversation. Tells me he is an XYZ College graduate here doing time with Chevrolet. An XYZ College grad in Addis of all places, for heaven's sake. We are thinking of starting an alumni association with an initial membership of two. Who knows, there may be others tucked away somewhere in Addis.

Went to a funeral today, an associate's mother-in-law, 80 years old. "LeQso" and "Qebir" in general, these are indeed the national past times. Suspect it is good excuse for entire government agencies, businesses to shut down in order to bury a sorry soul. The "leQegnoch" come in droves. In buses, in Mercedes, in beat up cars, on foot. They tie up traffic for hours. One would think the Pope died - no it's only a low - life bureaucrat.

Great party at Elfinesh's. Lady loves throwing parties. Would give one at the drop of a hat. Big production. Occasion was Roberto's 10th wedding anniversary. He was dressed in a tuxedo, his wife, Misrak was wearing her original dashing white wedding dress. This was not a Benefactor financed affair. A good crowd really. Many locals, many who had moved, and many visiting as well. Jamming music, a good sound system for a change. Saw Tadios. He is here for 3 weeks, exploring he says.

Tamrat has gone back to DC to collect his family and move back. One sees many, many Ethiopians from the Diaspora in town. They are easily recognizable by their mode of dress. Some have moved lock, stock, and barrel. Others are probing. Still others are here strictly for a good time. They would not even consider moving. Many claim they are investors looking for opportunities - most are full of it. "Gurenoch". The bulk come around Christmas and New Years. Thousands upon thousands, I am told. I would not know. I am out of the country around that time. Christmas is better spent in the bright lights of LA, you see. Addis has no snow, city is not decorated with lights. Most important, there are no Christmas sales.

Starting to get The Sunday New York Times from the ECA on a weekly basis. Read it from cover to cover. It beats the local excuse for a paper that is published here. The Ethiopian Herald has started a Sunday edition, total of eight pages. No magazine, no funny pages, no food, no travel, no book review sections, no coupons, no classifieds. Recent sampling of headlines reads: "Deserted by Family, Mengistu Reportedly Finds Solace in Drink". "HIV Carriers Now Half Million", "Fraudulent Bank Employee Under Arrest", "Encounter in US Between Alleged Red Terror Criminals attract attention of Intl. Media", "Diseases of Affluence", "Video Centers Accused of Poisoning Youth's Minds", "Two years on, Toppled Dictator a Recluse", "Porno-Talk and Rising Emotions", "Public Cautioned against Counterfeiters", "An Ethiopian Nightingale: Cha-chi", "Alcoholism - Are we in its Grips?", "An Ethiopian Cure for AIDS?"

The headlines of private papers and magazines are more sensational, would put the National Inquirer to shame. A few locally published "balege" magazines in circulation too. Actually quite tame by western standards. Women groups are in uproar, government is likely to put a stop to the publications.

Theaters - No Showcase Cinemas, nor Cineplex Odeon, no multi screens, no wide screen, no DTX Lucas sound here. Only City Hall, National and Ras Theaters here. The theaters I understand are filthy. Some have rats as non-paying patrons. No popcorn! Disgusting excuses for sound systems. Recent features include the very latest. "Shaft", "Shaft in Africa", "Oedipus the King", "Romancing the Stone", "Iron Eagle", "Hiroot, Who is her Father?", "Golden Exterminator", "Tootsie", "The Graduate", "Soul Man" . Oh!

The old drive-in theater is in operation again. I understand like teen-agers everywhere, there is much making-out and little watching there. Video stores, however, carry the latest, including some films that are not out on video yet. These include "Malcolm X", "Basic Instinct", "Crying Game" . Obviously counterfeit. And oh! Such bad quality.

Finally was able to get an Ethiopian driver's license from Addis Ababa DMV. They had been out of licenses for the past month. One has to surrender ones original drivers' license before they give you an Ethiopian version. I was able to keep my California license after paying off someone a total of Birr 150. He claimed this was a discount from the customary Birr 400.

The BIRR - Too bad that the soon to be established banks cannot print currency. The currency in circulation now! Filthy, worn out, falling apart, and downright reeking of stench. Particularly the one birr notes. Put these in your pocket, guaranteed you will smell like you are walking around with something dead on your person. Why in the world these notes are not retired after a defined period of depreciation is anybody's guess. Could it be because they are next to impossible to counterfeit?

Went to Bole airport customs to clear two sample telephone sets that came in for a Telecommunication tender. Spent three hours there trying to knock some sense into ignorant officials. Had the letter from Telecom instructing customs to release the sets as they were for government purposes

No good. Fed up, I told them to give me an estimate so payment could be made and I could be on my merry way. They kept me going back and forth to this and that meathead. I hit the roof. Had to let off steam. I let it out in front of a lot of many other frustrated citizens.

"It is people like you who have ruined Ethiopia. You have no respect for people or their time. You have no respect for yourself. Is it "gubo" you want? How much is it? Tell me, so I can pay you and get on my way. My taxes pay your bloody miserable salary. I expect and demand respect and help, not abuse. I have better things to do with my time, rather than spend it with the likes of you!" etc.

This was delivered in broken and unintelligible Amharic. However, I got a standing ovation from other frustrated customs clients. The workers there had nothing to say. I left feeling pretty good, but without the phone sets. I can never show my face in that office again. The sets were released the following day. Another more patient person picked them up. He had to apologize for me. Told them I was a naive recent returnee from another planet, one that did not appreciate nor comprehend the intricate and finer art of Ethiopian "bahil" or "tigist" and "gubo".

Many government employees are getting sacked. These include folk from Ethiopian Light & Power Authority, Customs Bureau (very deservingly), Commercial and National Banks (serves them right). Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority is on the next hit list. Explanations for these firings range from incompetence, corruption, betrayal of public trust. The electric, water and telephone workers are notorious. Whole neighborhoods are systematically "turned off" from electricity, water and telephone. Workers go around after a few days to collect "service" and reconnect fees from disgusted but hapless and doomed taxpayers.

It is getting more difficult to find the time, good material, and enough motivation to write HELLHOLE. The "fun" has long gone out of this place. The initial euphoria and hope have been slowly drained out. Getting the hell out for a trip to civilization always helps. Just to remind oneself that there is a world out there where phones and electricity work, and the water runs. Where shower water flows hard, where folks are not lead-poisoned.

September: Went to London for 10 wonderful, but oh! rainy days - except last day of my visit which was nice, sunny and warm. Stayed with Turuneh. Spent some time with Faisal, the coffee heir, who was also visiting. Discovered a fantastic baklava bakery and pigged out on enough to last forever. Went to Harrod's but was refused entry - they do not allow torn jeans nor t - shirts. "But I am an American just here for a few days, please let us in", pleaded a friend. They didn't go for that.

Three days of Council of Representatives' discussion and passage of Land Lease system on ETV. It was a public relations disaster for the government. No public relations firms in Addis to spin control you see. There is much debate around town about leasing. Much of it very much against. Whoever is giving the government advice, if indeed they listen, is no Nobel Laureate.

Below is from ET Herald of February 19, 1993. It appears government is about to shake up Ethiopian Airlines:

The headline: "ETHIOPIAN Teeters on the Edge of Collapse"

"(ENA) Ethiopian Airlines board chairman, Siye Abraha said Thursday the airline management was "inefficient and corrupt" which needed "surgical operation…

EAL is now sagging beneath a debt burden of over Birr 300 million," Defense Minister Siye said, keeping the 2,500 airline workers under a spell of silence and surprise during a day long meeting at the congress hall. …The Airline Board chairman said the reason why EAL survived was thanks to a "cheap but skilled labor force … Siye said some offices opened only to benefit a "friend" and said the management was too extravagant that have put the future of the company at risk.

Elucidating the high life of the managers the board would like to see combed out, Siye equated the expense of an EAL regional manager in Frankfurt with the total expense of 50 airline workers at home. …" UNQUOTE

The Addis Zemen version is even more scathing. "Highlights" of this meeting were shown on ETV. The board chairman, dressed in army fatigues (had not as yet developed a taste for Armani suits) was direct and crude with his audience, as professional an audience as one can get in Ethiopia. Again a public relations disaster. Understand there was heated debate, and pointed questions from the crowd. Unfortunately, ETV elected not to show any of that.

I read a letter to the editor in BusinessWeek (November 8 and not related at all to Ethiopia) that best describes Ethiopia's current situation. In part, it reads:

"... the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural, ideological and economic. What we are seeing is the emergence and triumph of what I would call tribal capitalism (the new order) over tribal militarism (the old order). Tribal militarism exercises power through the physical control of land, people, capital, resources, and communications. Its executives are the political elite, who suppress the creation of wealth in favor of corporate governance of "the state," which they control, ultimately, through their military machine. Tribal capitalism exercises power through the free flow of people, capital, resources, and communications. Its executive encourages the creation of wealth, a hard-work ethic, a disciplined society, and, above all, to achieve ultimate competitive advantage, it avoids substantial military expenditure and/or war on its soil. Tribal capitalism retains power through the creation of a society based on allowing individuals and corporations to create wealth to achieve high standards of living for the majority of the population."

Because of the lease policy, the government appears to have lost the business community and the would be "would like to own a piece of Ethiopia" crowd. Aggressive "affirmative action" policies are filling government offices with ruling party members.

Not sure where the country is headed anymore. A friend put it best, "Look, if you have never presided over a family budget, never bought groceries, never cooked, never paid taxes, property or otherwise, never owned property, never chased girls at city clubs, how in the world can you be expected to run the affairs of state?"

Dagne came through town for a whirlwind visit of three weeks. One of the only individuals who had warned me against returning to Ethiopia. He is playing a new tune now. He does not see this rat hole as the black hole he had envisioned. Claims he is returning in January for further investigation.

Menasse came through town for a few weeks with his fiancé, a cute twenty-something. Lemma and Mamitu are here for three weeks. Plenty of zemeds to visit and be visited by. Mamitu, the last week before they left literally closed the door to keep out all manner of zemeds. She had overdosed on zemeds and visitors. I went along to few "eating sessions" given in their honor.

Ethiopia is an eating and drinking culture! And there were many eating sessions. Speeches were required - Lemma giving most of them. Mamitu gave one that had me on the floor. The woman talks Amharic like a true New Yorker. Too much time away from hager bet.

Kidane is here - been here now for 5 weeks. I spend much time with him drinking machiato and talking about how miserable this place is. He may be returning for good. He expects to become a "patron of Ethiopian art" - if it were possible, he would endow an art chair at the university.

We almost made it to a wedding close to Nazareth School. Its about 8 p.m. when we pull up and park across the street from the school. The house is up a dark alley so we start walking. Smack - total darkness in front - one cannot see for at least 30 feet. Very eerie, scary. Kidane looks at me and says "Hey, LAPD is not here to rescue my ass - I do not know about you, but I'm not going through this dark alley."

That was all he had to say. We turned around and left. The boy guarding the car earned his fastest one Birr ever. Peculiar that they did not make some arrangement to escort timid folks through the tunnel of darkness. If we turned back, certainly others did too. Very few women at the wedding we learned later, naturally. The Nazareth School Alumni Association would be appalled that such a neighborhood exists so close to their alma mater. Perhaps they ought to start thinking of raising funds to light up the school neighborhood.

Gebre sped through town, three days total, his customary quota. He has an interesting project that he is shopping. Anteneh, Tayitu, Guenet, Hailu, Lemma, Daniel, Mesfin, Marta, Wondwossen, Mengesha, Orlando, Selam, I could go on, entirely too many folks coming through town. Ethiopia has become the tourist spot of choice for overseas Ethiopians. It is getting quite old seeing them actually. It does take entirely too much time, expense and energy entertaining them. Even those you knew only casually in the States expect to be treated as long lost friends.

Took my favorite necktie to MAGIC Laundry. Spaghetti and favorite ties do not go together. Got it back dry cleaned, yes, but all torn apart. A brand new Armani! I complained, but was getting no satisfaction. Told them that this is a bloody Armani and that they would have to pay for it. The woman looks at me and says, "Just because some ferenegi puts his name on a piece of clothing, you people pay extra?" What does one say to such a retard?

A disturbing phenomenon is the sight of girls that populate the main city streets at night. It seems they are coming out earlier these days, and are getting more aggressive in their approach. Literally coming onto the road to flag you down as you pass by. Bole Road, near the Hilton, the palace is where most set up their business. They do get business too, as they would not be out there if that were not the case. Most cars that do pick them up are those belonging to the expatriate community, UN, diplomatic, non-government-organizations and the like.

Drove out to Wondo - Guenet, some 60 kilo - meters beyond Langano. Went there with the old man and a business visitor from Florida. Translated, Wondo - Guenet means heaven on earth. Do not know about all that, suffice it to say that it is a charming retreat that even under government mismanagement is tranquil. In private hands it could be converted into Wondo - Guenet. Rented the bungalow for Birr 165 per night. The very same bungalow that Haile Sellasie used to stay at. Very much beaten up, but very same furniture we were told. We let our guest sleep in "the" bed. The man had never slept in the bed of royalty. He immediately called his wife in Florida to tell her. As Sellasie was physically small, the bedroom furniture and bed, bathroom fixtures were made to size.

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