in case you have never seen urban/modern Ethiopia, here are some drive thru videos
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NApmzpYBqxk# [Mekelle]
Video Harar - harar, ethiopia
Dire Dawa - Google Video
Arba Minch - Google Video
YouTube - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Addis Ababa Ethiopia 2007
wel come to dire dawa ,dengego road
Jimma - Ethiopia


[Dire Dawa]


[Harar]



[Jimma]


[Mekelle]

a lot more attractive then all of the famine and huts they show you in the media. people don't realize that Africa has modern cities like everywhere else, and that milions and millions of Africans wake up every morning to the same world we do, because that is rather boring. We would like to romanticize africa as a great wilderness, when in truth, there is much more land set aside for wilderness and recreation in the US then in Africa, and further people dont want to see African cities on the TV, they want to see huts, because they can look outside the window to see the shity.

I am hoping to live in Jimma or Mikelle within the next two years.

That's really interesting and rather satisfying. The world isn't quite as shit as thought.

Still, they don't look that nice. The architecture is very cold and characterless.

I just watched the videos of Mekelle and Jimma. Agree with Lurker on both points. Not all mudhuts and Bob Geldof, but equally not places that I'd consider that exciting either. Mekelle in particular seems quite anaemic. Saying that, the video seems like a bit of a tourist-board job, so probably not showing the more interesting side.

Either way, I sincerely hope you get there. Everyone deserves to live in the place they most want to.

Have you visited any of these places already?

yes, these things come a surprise to most, and were quite the surprise years ago when I first seen them and knew the truth of the matter.

"...not all mudhuts and Bob Geldof"

you're cracking me up, haha

i grew up in a 3rd world country

i bet i got a better education than most of you mutts

ha ha ha

ok im 100% mutt just saying

If you can afford it, I'm sure you can get a top grade education in a third world country

I'm just wondering how easy a place like Ethiopia would be to live in for anyone used to the conveniences of American/Western living. I'd be very cautious of actually relocating there before visiting the country first. Maybe SuchFriends... should get in contact with an NGO, or similar, so he can work there for a short period and assess his possibilities before making such a big leap.

I have more contact info and job offers across Ethiopia then here, and aside from this, right now I have no less then three close people living in Addis in 4 bedroom houses nearly empty! this is a serious matter, moving to another continent is no joke

What's the food like? I've had food from other parts of Africa but got put off because they seem to put peanuts in everything.

Ethiopian food is great, but watch out with that Injera bread! It expands in your stomach. Gotta take it easy. So tasty though.

yeah I dont like injera, I prefer Dabo, which is Ethiopian wheat bread, it is seasoned similar to injera so it is a bit tastier then average wheat bread.

the food, is spicy, but in a good way, unless you get mit'mi'ta, that shit is like wasabi fried red curry.

the way to go is berbere which is powdered Ethiopian peppers, garlic, basil, rue seeds, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and Bishop's weed. a mellow spicy like a more intense yellow curry. its in everything.

Don't let too many people see that picture. Geldof will be out of a job if the masses start realising the 'fricans are eating proper meals.

Best play it safe, for the 'dof's sake:

There's an Ethiopian restaurant along from me that I tried to order a take away from once. I gave up because the bloke behind the counter (who seemed like a nice enough fellow) couldn't understand a word I was saying. Even when I pointed to things on this big picture style menu up on the wall he just smiled and shook his head. One of my most surreal moments in a fooderie, I have to say. I suppose I'm gonna have to learn how to point in Ethiopian if I ever want to order anything from there in the future. Bizarre.

Edit: Hey, I've just realised. If SuchFriends... moves to 'frica, he's gonna have to start watching this:







instead of this:









Christ, the more I think about it, the more I see it as a step up.I have to say!

amen!

[though the truth be told, while it is important to inform the world that millions of africans live in modern, convenient, even border-line middle class, in Ethiopian this season upwards of 6 million people are facing famine, and of course this is not geography's fault, it is Meles Zenawi combined with geography=famine, add the media and you get a one-sided vision of africa.

the point of this thread was to try to expose people a more pluralistic vision of Africa and Ethiopia. it that regard, I think it was a success

A nice thread indeed. Thanks suchfriends. I met some guys from Ethiopia in Baltimore, they seemed much nicer and more modest like the Kenyan dudes (that represented the majority of foreign people in the hood I lived in).

gotta love those futbol after parties, right?

'i think that most of Africa is cast in quite a singular fashion, largely because the only time it makes our news is when a civil war or famine takes place: hence the stereotype that it's a continent filled with starving people and weak political structures.

The 'dof and Mandela put Ethiopia and South Africa respectively onto the world map, but in so doing secured for a very long time and for an awful lot of people the way in which those countries are now perceived.

This is even going on the States. Katrina has now defined New Orleans for an awful lot of people (at least wthin Britain) who knew almost nothing about the place before - besides maybe some vague notion about Mardi Gras, old jazz and those lovely houses in A Streetcar Named Desire.

pisses me off a bit when i mention to someone how wonderful ethiopian food is and i'm given the reply "they don't have any!"

it really is wonderful, but yeah, injera will lie in your stomach like a lead pellet.