Getting cultured (and fed)

That's entertainment, Ethiopian-style

It's been taking some time getting used to Ethiopia again following our visit to Cape Town. Physically, I'm finding myself wheezing once more going up stairs after a week spent closer to sea level (even atop the 1085 meter/3558 foot Table Mountain we were still lower than the 2290 meter/7513 foot-high elevation our townhouse occupies in Addis Ababa አዲስ አበባ). And mentally, well...South Africa has its share of serious problems, but Cape Town for us was a city of convenient shopping centers, paved roads and sanitary restaurants, so we find ourselves having to readjust to Ethiopia's developing nation conditions.

We've also returned to a much more tense political situation in this country. The news that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ዐቢይ አህመድ አሊ has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize broke while we were in Cape Town, and is certainly cause for celebration. But this past week saw reminders of the ethnic conflicts that present a serious challenge to Abiy's efforts at reforming his country (see here and here). Surprisingly, the events of last week in Addis didn't affect me much, as our residence is a safe distance away. However, we aren't allowed to leave the capital city by car until further notice, and additional areas of the country have been closed off for both official and personal travel.

But that doesn't mean we can't find ways to amuse ourselves. On Saturday evening Amber, Shu-E and I had dinner at the Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant ዮድ አቢሲኒያ የባህል ምግብ ቤት. There are two branches in town, with the more well-known one that's featured in the guidebooks being located in the Bole area. The other one, which the three of us went to last night, is only six-minute taxi ride from our house.

There are a number of these kinds of restaurants scattered around Addis, combining traditional Ethiopian food with dancing and singing shows. It sounds touristy, but surprisingly the majority of the customers are Ethiopians. Our reserved table had a good view of the stage:

 

It was the first time for my wife and I to sample Bedele Beer. We ended up downing three bottles each:

Daughter and mother waiting for the show to begin:

We arrived at 1830 hours, but the restaurant would soon fill up with customers:

I'm not yet familiar enough with Ethiopian food to identify individual dishes, but our dinner was a combination of meat and vegetarian options that was both filling and tasty:

The performances began after 1900 hours and continued almost non-stop for the rest of the time we were there:

 Coffee and popcorn followed the meal:

The most energetic performance of the evening was given by one of the women below. She twirled her head and hair around in a whiplash-inducing frenzy that I should've caught on video, but I was too mesmerized to do anything other than watch. Which is how it should be...:

These two dancers were especially well-received by the crowd, earning a lot in tips:

At one point, an enthusiastic member of the audience got up onstage to bust a move:

My favorite was this group:

  

We left after the above act was finished, having stayed for nearly three hours. A good time was had by Shu-E and me, though the music wasn't really Amber's style:

If anyone can find the time and/or work up the courage to come and visit us in Ethiopia, this place will definitely be on the sightseeing itinerary!

The rest of the time since coming back from South Africa has been pretty quiet and uneventful (for us personally, not for Ethiopia as a whole). We've been blessed with some fine weather:

My wife checks her phone in front of a modern-style tukul:

A modern-style house (not ours) in a relatively upscale neighborhood (also not ours):

A Protestant church not far from our residence. These churches have made inroads into Ethiopian society in recent years, at the expense of the traditional Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church የኢትዮጵያ:ኦርቶዶክስ:ተዋሕዶ:ቤተ:ክርስቲያን. This one is well-attended by an affluent, middle-class congregation:

The grounds of my workplace are home to at least two large tortoises. This one is the less skittish of the pair, in that it doesn't retreat into its shell whenever people pass it by:

And, finally, the sunrises are becoming more impressive now that the rain has gone away:

Shu-E will be leaving next weekend for a month-long stay in Taiwan, meaning Amber and I will be fending for ourselves for the next few weeks. Hopefully our car will be showing up soon, so we can do some more exploring around Addis Ababa. Until political tensions die down somewhat, that will be all we can do for now. It isn't considered a hardship post for nothing...