Hard to Find

One fact of life in the upper income bracket of a poor country—for an expat or a local—is that you’ll likely have domestic help, and that it will be provided by a person of a much lower socioeconomic status.

When I joined my shared apartment we had a maid coming one and a half days a week to sweep, scrub, and do laundry by hand. She spoke and wrote serviceable English, and for the most part she reliably delivered a quality service. For this we paid her a total of just under $75 a month, split across the four of us in the apartment.

Periodically, debates appear on Addis’s online expat forums of what the “right amount” is to pay your maid. Typical viewpoints from each side:

• How would you like to be paid only (small amount) per month?
• (Same small amount) is already more than a policeman makes here

Overall, the expats I know all pay their maids well over the going rate among locals (which could be as low as $30/month for the same services described above or more). And it’s relatively uncontroversial that maids who speak good English, can cook foreign dishes, are good with children, etc. can expect to be paid more.

Ultimately, what I’m building up to here is that our maid asked for a substantial raise, and rather than discuss or negotiate with her, our consensus as flatmates was to sack her and find a new maid.

We paid the requisite severance—custom apparently is to prorate this based on how many months the maid has worked for you—and the new maid we took on was out of work after being much beloved by colleagues who had moved on from their old house to places with already established maid situations.

The former maid gave us the impression that her ask for more money originated in part because she had more lucrative clients on other days of the week, such that it was no longer worth it for her to clean our house at the previous rate. The new maid on the other hand was happy to work three days a week at the rate we’d previously been paying for two days.

This rate, by the way, adds up to less in a month than I was paying individually in DC for one morning of cleaning, and that’s even before I split the rate across the four of us. (Not that the US doesn’t have its own economic inequality issues).

I rarely ever saw the old maid, or see the new maid, because each usually arrives after I’ve left for the office. From my limited encounters, both are fairly young traditionally Ethiopian women, expressing themselves quietly and wearing white shawls.

One more story: I recently heard of an expat in Addis who, upon leaving the country, was forced to let go her maid of two years. This woman also had “guards” at her house (basically someone who sits in a shed and guards the compound gate) who she liked well enough to leave some electronics for as well as arrange new jobs. The maid got no such deal—just a customary severance payment and a letter of reference. On the woman’s second to last day in the country, the maid helped herself to several hundred dollars worth of electronics and clothes on her way out.

All of which is to say, the benefit of cheap domestic labor can certainly be great, but it puts one in situations calling for complex economic and moral decision-making. And—at least for someone like myself who likes to hold life to as little complexity as possible—this makes it a double-edged sword.

Favorite Addis Restaurants

Not unlike yuppie culture elsewhere, the question of where to eat ends up being a central preoccupation of ferengi life in Addis. I figured listing some of my favorite spots so far can provide some color on my life here—for better or worse—while minimizing any need to get serious. I’m not calling these the “best restaurants in Addis,” they’re just those which I’ve been to and to which I’m most likely to want to go back.

(By the way, I am a fan of eating Ethiopian fairly regularly—I’d say half my lunches and a smaller proportion of my dinners—but the list below is mostly the non-Ethiopian places, which tend to be more distinguishable.)

·         Sangam Restaurant – This Indian place about a five minute walk from my house seems like it must be tied in some way to the nearby presence of the Indian ambassador’s residence. It offers pretty good tandoori chicken, saag paneer, and chana masala; as well as the naans, chai tea, and dingy white tablecloth ambience of a classic outside-India Indian place. The clientele is a mix of NRI’s, white ferengis, and locals – including at one point a delegation from one of the Ethiopian regional states we saw dining here.

·         Bunni Restaurant – A small, leisurely brunch place, Bunni sits in a sixth-floor spot near the Greek Embassy that offers excellent views of the city below and the hills in the distance. The décor (dark wood floors, comfy armchairs, glossy magazines) and the menu (fresh juices, pressed sandwiches, pancakes and omelets) both speak to a relaxed international style less widespread here than it might be within a more developed expat scene. A good place to work away a weekend day.

·         Da Ting Restaurant – The most “authentically Chinese” place my little group has found so far in Addis, this place has it down to the chintzy imitation-temple façade, the clouded fish tank of seafood offerings, the China Central Television programming of costume epics, and the private room of intoxicated (Chinese) businessmen. Excellent offerings of spicy Sichuan soup, among other dishes.

·         Juventus Club – A legacy of the colonial past that Addis had only for the briefest of moment, Juventus offers home-cooked Italian within a down-on-its-luck private club setting that seems to automatically equate to charm. There’s still a member’s only room where old Italian men play cards. My first time in the confines, I watched an afternoon soccer match on the grounds between two local sides. My second time I had pretty decent pesto spaghetti.

·         Yeshi Bunna – One outpost of this chain offering Ethiopian basics is near my office and a favorite lunch place for the foreign staff (not so much for locals, as it’s slightly more expensive than the alternatives). Not something that would be recognized as “chain” or “fast” food by those who think we know what those terms mean, it’s packed with knee-level stools, arrayed around tables of traditional wood, has the Ethiopian origin legend of coffee posted on its wall (this involves a shepherd named Kaldi, the hyperactivity of whose sheep lead him to the small, red bean they’ve been eating), and offers a good representation of typical Ethiopian dishes.

·         Bata Cultural Restaurant – Representative of a genre of restaurant in which the array of Ethiopian regional costumes and dances are presented not just for foreign but also local enjoyment, Bata has the advantage of an impressive entrance courtyard that has led some to believe its primary revenue comes from wedding photos. It also has a creepy stuffed lion set in rocky a bar area diorama alongside oversized liquor bottles that it would seem tough not to mention. The range of classic Ethiopian dishes is available, and the performers—a seemingly unsupportable number based on business volume the one time I was there—will pull audience-members in to attempt Ethiopian moves. (The style is heavy on shoulder gyration, and each of the two times of gone to cultural restaurants, one of the more Addis-seasoned ferengis  proved to have a hidden talent for this.)

·         Dodi Restaurant – The second chain on my list, the Dodi I know as a restaurant of pleasant courtyard tables and a spacious, if overly florescent, interior is apparently an outpost of a Sudanese chain with at least five locations in that country and one more in Egypt. The draw of Dodi is good juices (which aren’t actually hard to come by here), reliable Middle Eastern offerings like falafel and hummus, and delicious fried chicken that should single-handedly be enough to promote the need for more widespread poultry production in the country. Sits across from the office of the EU.

·         Rainbow Korean Restaurant – This place, too, offers excellent spicy soup, along with delicious meat (e.g. pan-fried pork belly), and the free pickled appetizers common to all worthwhile Korean spots. It has a pleasant courtyard interior ringed by three small indoor and outdoor dining areas, with large windows and white tablecloths. It also has, as became apparent on our last visit, a karaoke machine available free of charge.

Honorable Mention:

·         Sichu Burger – Run as a social enterprise, and set in large and fashionably appointed warehouse near the animal market, this place has what many call the best burger in Addis.

·         Mexican Family Restaurant – This outpost of Americanized Mexican food, undoubtedly set up by return diaspora, is a good place for the occasional lunch meeting. Sitting just outside the compound of the World Food Program, I think it has become their de facto dining option of choice.

·         Café Parisienne – I prefer this local chain to the more well-known Starbucks clone, Kaldi’s Coffee. Parisienne has red awnings, clean interiors, and a little more of a grand promenade café feel.

Not yet tried:

·         Kitfo houses – I have yet to go for this Ethiopian traditional dish of seasoned raw (or half or fully cooked) meat.

·         European fine dining – At least a few places, particularly Le Mandoline and Le Grande Reve, apparently represent pretty decent takes on standard European fare at quite-high-for-Addis prices. (Mandoline apparently is French enough to follow the closed-for-August tradition, which here happens to also correspond to the rainy season).

·         International hotels – The Hilton, Radission, and Sheraton offer international meals at international prices. The latter two, at least, come well-recommended.

Six weird things I saw this week in Addis

I figured people might enjoy this. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, nor is it meant to belittle the city or its residents (there were plenty of weird things to be seen in DC as well).

1. Ox gallstones for sale -- This was the headline of a poster on the bulletin board inside the entrance of a ferengi supermarket, along ads for imported Landcruisers and the like. The headline was accompanied by a shot of solid earth-brown lumps that I'm going to have to assume were--for lack of a better theory--exactly what they claim to be. I'm guessing the audience was the Chinese population, but its hard to know for sure.
2. Chechnya -- One of the of the neighborhoods of Addis (along Telebole, around Atlas Hotel and, appropriately, the EU compound) apparently gained this nickname when heavy construction in the area brought with it a general lack of safety and security, and when conflict was ratcheting up in the contested Russian region. I think this speaks to the sometimes cosmopolitan nature of Addis. It's an official enough designation to make it onto the pizza boxes of a popular place there.
3. The First Laughter School in Africa -- I have almost no idea what this is, but its advertised by a large billboard along one of the city's main roads, centered on a cheery African man and a middle-aged white woman. (It is a real thing apparently -- if you want to learn more I've done the service of Googling it.)
4. Old Mercedes -- Legitimate luxury cars are a relatively rare site here, and when I do spot them it's often either an official vehicle accompanied by a police escort or as part of a string of fancy cars, draped in wreaths and honking wildly, which are contracted to celebrate a wedding. Occasionally, though, I see a more dated luxury model, and when I do it also prompts me to wonder whether the current owner, or perhaps a previous one, collaborated with the old, pre-1991 regime.
5. Chai Latte at Kaldi's -- Addis has a chain called Kaldi's coffee that is often described as a Starbuck's clone: same green and white color scheme, same font, tries to project a similar ethos. So not long ago I made my first trip to Kaldi's and wondered what I'd get if I ordered my typical Starbucks non-coffee drinker standby of the chai latte. (I held off on asking for soy milk, although that's apparently widely available here due to the frequenet fasting days when Ethiopians refrain from meat and dairy). What I got -- while a useful learning -- is not something I'd order again: a cup of frothed milk, and a tea bag.
6. Cast-off American t-shirts -- I recall an interesting piece I once read or watched (I haven't tried to source it for this) that tracked clothes from America's donation bins to Africa's markets. Walking down the street here, it's not uncommon to see clothing clearly in its second or third life, and every so often a fragment of American culture on one of these pieces will stand out as particularly humorous, apropos, or personally significant to me (if not necessarily to the wearer). A disproportionate number of them are sports related--perhaps these have a shorter American half-life. Some of the--often well-worn--shirts I've seen include a commemoration of the 1997 Cleveland Indians' American League pennant, a shirt for members of the Washington Huskies women's basketball supporters, and shirts for a Boston College-sponsored kids sports team and a little league pitching camp in Kuwait. My favorite so far, though, is one I saw yesterday. As we drove toward the Eastern outskirts in search of a delicious and deliciously-non-assimilated Chinese restaurant, I saw a man in a worn orange shirt with "Pump This" as the motto on the back. As improbable as it still seemed to me, when we passed on by I could see that below that slogan it really was a shirt from the Village Pump in Kelleys Island, Ohio. Brandy Alexanders all around!

A Top 10

Today marks the end of my tenth week in Addis, which also makes it a little over three months since leaving my previous job. On this non-momentous occasion I started thinking about what have been the highlights of my time here so far, and have put together a brief, more-or-less chronological list.

Few of these are life-changing milestones (and some I've written about before) but I think they capture the texture of my time here:

Introducing myself in Amharic:
My first trip to the field (meeting union managers in Hawassa) had me sitting in day-long meeting entirely in Amharic. Learning two sentences the night before, so that I could at least introduce myself and where I was employed, made me feel just a slight bit less out of place.

Seeing the emperor's rooms:
One of my first weekends in Addis -- back when I still had the appropriate combination of ambition and the hesitancy toward decoding the public transport situation -- an hour long uphill walk eventually landed me at Addis Ababa University. The Ethnographic museum of different cultures within Ethiopia (itself an interesting experience) sits inside a former imperial palace on the grounds. And inside, the emperor's bedchamber remains more or less undisturbed, with a guard who (I'm told second-hand) served the man itself. It also opens onto his preserved imperial bathroom (which somehow I didn't get a picture of!)

Watching the Ethiopian soccer team win, and the subsequent celebration:
My second trip out of Addis, in Adama, coincided with Ethiopia's victory over South Africa in World Cup qualifying. Before they learnedthe next day that a disqualification in a prior match meant that this win had not actually sent them forward to the next round, celebratory Ethiopians swarmed the street and danced through and on traffic.

Credit for this photo (taken in Addis) goes to Hayoung

Meeting Haile Gebrselassie:
The two-time Olympic gold medal distance runner came to give a lunch talk at my organization within my first month. He spoke about his potential political ambitions, his burgeoning business empire, and made several witty jokes (at least judging by colleagues responses--that part was in Amharic). The experience of seeing possibly the most famous living person in Ethiopia (whose face appeared on a giant billboard next to our office) within my first month in the country is best summed up by the response of the distance running former coworker I shared the story with -- "Holy Shit!"

Drinking with the analysts:
While I've often lived a much more "ferengi-fied" life in Addis than I'd care to admit (if only because it makes boring stories), one evening a few weeks into the job I ended up drinking after work with a group of local coworkers that gradually shed expats until only I was left. We ended up at a fairly stylish drinking establishment that was all locals, and while nothing particularly noteworthy happened the rest of the night, I at least got to feel I was living this Economist article.

Moving day:
Four or so weeks ago, on a Thursday after work, I finally completed the move from my second temporary place into my long-term home. It carries the nickname "International House, though it's actually an apartment), since it used to include coworkers from four continents. Now it's two Americans, a Canadian, and a Brazilian. But still a pretty nice set up (minus the drying clothes).

Busing across Amhara:
My trip onward from Lalibella -- the most talked up tourist site in the country, and perhaps deserving of its own slot on this list -- was another opportunity to feel I'd gotten at least some minimal depth below the surface of the country. The 5 AM wake-up, two hours standing up bouncing over unpaved roads, hasty transfer in a road junction town, and five more hours passing along hillsides in a minibus with curious university students generated the satisfying sense of other-ness present in travel. (Ultimately, I was traveling to a work destination, and while I could've chosen a more comfortable means, it's fortunate that I didn't come into this thinking that travel would be easier logistically than at my older job).

Taking a boat trip in Bahir Dar:

The destination of my bus journey, Bahir Dar, is a city I wrote about in my last post. I arrived with nearly a full-day to devote to site-seeing -- enough time, as far as I've heard, for just about any individual city in Ethiopia. The city sits on the edge of the sizable Lake Tana, and I spent my free morning on a boat journey to a few of the monasteries that dot that lake's islands. While learning bits and fragments of Ethiopian Christianity, I saw centuries old books, dusty crowns given by long-ago kings, and an incredible depiction of Biblical scenes.

Meeting farmers:
Another experience described in my last post, getting into the field and meeting the farmers of Ethiopia, gets to the root of why I'm here. To be honest, the communication barriers are high (even with translation) and anyway conversations with a few farmers shouldn't replace decisions driven by data, recorded outcomes, and expert sources. But individual farmers in the fields are fundamentally my "clients" in this job, and to have even the most superficial exposure to their day-to-day life and efforts is better than having none at all.

A surprise ending to a hiking trip:
Bringing it back to Addis, I'll tell (mostly for the pictures) a story from this past weekend. A pair of friends and I contracted a taxi one morning to take us to a hiking spot outside Addis, and return by midday. The driver, unfortunately, didn't realize he had no idea where we actually wanted to go until he was well past the turn we would have needed. Instead, whether intentionally or by accident, we ended up at a wildlife refuge with a "no visitors allowed" sign, wondering whether we'd have to just give up and head back for Addis. Instead, one friend's brief chat by phone with the British manager of the preserve led to a personal tour. Just your typical day where you mean to go hiking and end up hanging out up close with leopards, Ethiopian lions (distinguished by their dark manes), and baboons.