Well, it's our third weekend in Addis Ababa አዲሱ አበባ, and we've yet to do any sightseeing. However, we haven't been staying at home all day, either. In a discovery that is sure to make my wife's transition into our new life in Ethiopia much easier, we learned that Addis Ababa has a "China market" ቻይና ገበያ located on a side street just off of Airport Road. Shu-E was taken there briefly earlier in the week, but on Saturday the three of us went there by taxi so she could do some more in-depth exploring/shopping. We were dropped off in front of the Rainbow Korean Restaurant ቀስተ ደመና የኮሪያ ምግብ ቤት, where we would eventually have lunch. But not before first checking out the stores on both sides of the street:
China is a major investor in infrastructure projects in Ethiopia, and there are upwards of 60,000 Chinese nationals residing in the country. To supply those living in the capital city with familiar foods and items from back home, there are several small grocery stores in the China market, many of them run by Chinese nationals. The Ethiopian clerk in this shop spoke fairly good Mandarin, better than mine, according to my daughter, who always finds my inept attempts to use the right tones entertainingly hilarious:
The was an inviting aroma of fried chicken wafting from this ሱቅ, but all we could see were some chicken breasts boiling in hot water:
Note the sign for Habesha Beer in simplified characters:
The shop on the left carried the notorious Darlie brand toothpaste. Notorious in that it used to be called "Darkie", and featured an Al Jolson-like minstrel man on its packaging. Growing criticism in the late 1980's forced the manufacturer to change the name and replace the face on the tube with a more racially ambiguous image, but the product is still called "Black Person Toothpaste" 黑人牙膏 in Chinese:
Not all the businesses are Chinese-run in the China market:
On the way into the Korean restaurant for lunch, my daughter noticed this chair promoting Pocari Sweat ポカリスエット, a notorious Japanese sports drink. Notorious only for its name, that is, as it actually tastes pretty good. It was my thirst-quencher of choice for my hiking outings in Taiwan:
Speaking of Habesha, it's been replaced as my current local beer of choice by Castel ካስቴል ቢራ, though I was disappointed to learn later that it's produced by a French company:
The menu at Rainbow Korean Restaurant was exactly the same as that of Arirang, the Korean restaurant where we had dinner on our first Sunday in Addis Ababa. That isn't to say it was bad; quite the contrary...:
The opposite end of the China market is a series of produce stands, where we stocked up on bananas, apples and mangoes. That's Amber in the hoodie; Shu-E is invisible as she was crouching down behind the woman in the shawl, checking out some of the fruit:
The punishment for public urination is harsh:
Small herds of goats are a common sight on the streets. Tomorrow is Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday known as the "Festival of the Sacrifice". On the way home on Saturday afternoon, our taxi drove by a large livestock market, where people were attempting to put cows, goats and sheep they had just bought into their vehicles. The animals, seemingly aware of their fate, were resisting:
Some of my wife's haul from the China market:
Speaking of Eid al-Adha, as a security notice put out by the embassy referred to large crowds, traffic disruptions and a heavy police presence, we decided not to go anywhere on Sunday where large groups of people might congregate. However, not being one who likes to stay indoors all day long, I
Until Saturday night, when I was looking at Google Maps, I hadn't realized how close we're living to the African Union Commission የአፍሪካ ህብረት ኮሚሽን ዋና መስሪያ ቤት, which has its headquarters in Addis Ababa. We've been advised not to take photographs of government buildings and other sensitive structures, so I took this shot from hopefully a safe distance away:
Amber and I had lunch at the popular-with-ፈረንጅ's Bake & Brew, where she devoured a tuna melt...:
...while I satisfied my sweet tooth and expanded my waistline further with some French toast:
It all comes down to perspective - this building reminded my daughter of the Soviet-era apartment blocks we used to see in Vilnius, while to me it looked like upscale housing in a fast-growing area of the Ethiopian capital (Correction as of 8.23: walking past this building a couple of nights ago, I was surprised to learn that it's actually an Addis Ababa transportation bureau office):
My first portrait taken in Ethiopia, courtesy of my daughter, in which I tried to make sure not to drop the bottled water onto the road below:
Ties between Ethiopia and South Korea date back to the Korean War, when Emperor Haile Selassie ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ sent troops to fight on the United Nations side. Interestingly, Ethiopia also has diplomatic relations with North Korea, and both the ROK and DPRK have embassies in Addis Ababa:
In case you're wondering, Taiwan (aka the Republic of China) doesn't have any representation in Ethiopia, including any non-political, non-diplomatic or non-intergovernmental representation. In the unlikely event Shu-E and/or Amber would need assistance from Taiwanese authorities, they would have to go to either Eswatini, where there is an ROC embassy; or to Nigeria or South Africa, where there is a Taipei Trade Office in Lagos, and Taipei Liaison Offices in Cape Town and Pretoria.
Until next weekend, ምልካም ሳምንት!
