First day in Ethiopia is sunny and not windy as usually. Seems as I am back in Estonian summer. It’s early and the sun hasn’t warmed us up yet. It took an hour to go through the passport check and currency exchange. The coat I wore from Stockholm fitted perfectly in to the cold morning. When I left the airport there were many taxi drivers offering three times higher prices than normal to take me to the city. The further you go from the door the lower the prices get. With no bargain it could cost 10 euros to get to the center. My luggage weighted around 30 kg so I decided to go for the best option with the heavy bags. The taxi driver with whom I was consulting about the prices had to hold my hand while presenting the best option. For a moment I wanted to shake off his hand but I had prepared myself for the cultural differences and I didn’t do it. I felt that in a few seconds I wasn’t so irritated.
The first thing when I got there was to meet other Estonian. That felt like being at home to me. Timo Treit is a young man from Estonia who worked as a volunteer for 3 months in Addis Ababa. He helped to create a marketing network for hard working Ethiopian women.
Sometimes a first meeting can give you an impression of knowing the other person for a long time. Even a whole day isn’t enough to describe all the cultural differences. We had a long discussion about how we could present those differences to those who haven’t been here yet. Unfortunately you can’t understand some things even after many visits to Ethiopia.
The African surrounding seemed very different. He was helping women in the capital city but I am 6-7 h away in Soddo (300 000 inhabitants) surrounded by people whose whole life is earning money for a family of 10-15 and who might eat only once a day. This also at school and with the help of Estonian supporters.
In the end of the day I was somewhere where it wasn’t cold ans where there are not any confusing decisions and running, since an Ethiopian never runs in his everyday life.
In Ethiopia time doesn’t go but it comes. So it would be no use for me to run around. No one is looking at the time and all work is done without measuring the time.
My time in Ethiopia just began but Timo’s is about to end. Meeting him was a very positive introduction for my upcoming days here. It’s such a special feeling when there is someone who knows what you feel.
MERLE