Addis Noise

I'm living at the moment in a nice house in Shiro Meda - for anyone
who's been to Addis, Shiro Meda is home to a well-known traditional
clothes market. It's on the way up to the Entoto hills, so it's even
higher than most of Addis and the air is clear and fresh up there.
I also live just down the road and across from a big Christian Orthodox
church. And that means I hear the church singing, chanting, prayers and
sermons right in the privacy of my own house - because it's all
broadcast over very loud loud-speakers.

On the weekends, it normally starts sometime during Saturday night and
goes on till the morning. I know because a few times when D and I have
come home from a night out about 2-3am, it's started and then I've heard
it still going about 8am, stopping finally about then. Which gives me
great incentive to go out and have a few beers, so I fall asleep
quickly!! Some weeks, we get it on weeknights as well, if there's a
church feast day and particularly if it's connected to that particular
church. I respect people's right to practice their religion but I feel
it's a step too far when it's loudly broadcast to the whole
neighbourhood without any choice in the matter.

Now it seems I'm not the only one who has an issue with this. D finds it
annoying also and while traditionally people don't say anything against
the church, I have read an article in this week's English language
newspaper Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com - internet here too slow
for me to find the article right now) that was discussing noise
pollution in general in Addis. Perhaps a measure of the sensitivity of
the subject is the fact that the article was anonymous! Though it wasn't
only about religious 'noise' (mosques can be culprits too and
evangelical churches - apparently there's a kind of competition between
them all these days) - it was also about music shops blaring music and
trucks driving around to promote goods & services, using, again loud
music.

I do hope the debate has started in earnest and that there may even be
some legal changes made to help me get a good night's sleep!

Things I like

There are some things about life here that are great and make life
easy....
1. When I feel like a coffee at my desk, I can call the nearby cafe and
they'll bring me a fresh macciato. Never mind that the cafe is just
across the road from the college, this is what the other staff do and I
like it!
2. I got my very dirty shoes (rainy season does that) polished on my way
back from lunch today, by one of the many shoeshine boys along the road.
It was funny because this little boy (about 8 years old I'd say - that's
the way of life here for many children) was obliged to charge me the
normal price because there were a few Ethiopians taking shade from the
sun in the shelter he shares with other shoeshiners. I'm sure that if
they weren't there, I'd have been charged more, as I was the last time I
got the same shoes polished up the road. Not that it really matters,
we're talking eur0.15 or eur0.40 here, but still its the birr that count
here!

Anyway, it's these little things that make life easy here.

To make my afternoon even better, I went off for lunch on my own - had
been going to meet with D but was too late, he got hungry waiting for me
:)
I went to a place nearby that I like, Elsa Bar. I spotted 2 ferenji guys
at another table, with 2 Ethiopian girls, and was sure I detected an
Irish accent there . So after I'd eaten and listened to be sure they
were indeed Irish, I went over to them and ended up having a chat for an
hour or so. One of the guys is from N. Ireland, travelling through
Africa on a motorbike, has been on the road around the world for over 2
years. The other from Cork, opposite ends of the country, on the way
home after working in Sudan for 4 years. They were interesting and it
was nice to have company and to meet Irish people, as always. We may
meet up for beers tonight, it is Friday after all!

Addis Culture

One thing I like about being in Addis, compared to Mekelle, is that
there's more to do. This week alone, I've been to a Samuel Beckett
exhibition and to a performance of Spanish music and dancing.
Admittedly, I didn't really look at the former....I was invited, along
with other Irish citizens, to the launch of the exhibition in the
Ethnological Museum in Addis Ababa University, by the embassy. There was
nice wine and snacks being served up, so I went for the red wine and
chatting with people I met there. I did read the brochure at home later
so I feel like I got something cultural out of it ;)
I went along with an Irish VSO friend and we met various others there. I
made some new friends among current VSO volunteers and newly arrived
volunteers. We spoke briefly with the Charge D'Affaires and met some
embassy staff. Always good to know the right people!

The Spanish dancing was a free event in the National Theatre, which I'd
never been inside before. It's pretty impressive inside, with a big
double sweeping staircase in the lobby. It was organized by the Spanish
embassy as a millennium event. Now that I have some friends and contacts
here, I can hear about these things being on.