I had the opportunity to visit Addis Abeba for
about five weeks between June 21st and July 27. What follows is a
report to those who read my occasional essays on Ethiopian affairs. In
writing this essay, I make no charges that can’t be substantiated, no opinions
are expressed that may be considered slanderous, and no praise is heaped that
is either out of place or undeserved. For those who do not know me, I am a professor
by occupation but consider my self a romanticist by philosophy and inclination.
As a result, I write these essays with the belief that while they may provide
an insight into the potential for loss and/or difficulty; they may at the same
time point out the path for potential gain to all.
What Is In A Name?
Call it ‘Finfine’, ‘Sheger’ or just simply and
affectionately ‘Addis’, Addis Abeba is a city with hubris, faith,
hope, chaos, vibrancy, order, and a great deal of skepticism. It resembles a
giant construction site, dug up everywhere, with no one eager to clean up the
mess. Yet, no one in their right mind is willing to abandon or disclaim it, no
matter their troubles, so they embrace it—warts and all! Addis is like a
magnificently written poem transforming its meaning with each line—one line an
expression of joy and ecstasy, the next of anguish and frustration, the next of
hope and progress, the next of achievement and success, the next of failure and
decay, and the next of hopeful exuberance and joyful embrace. In short,
Addis is a city of a mixture of brilliance, belligerence, plight as well as
some wild excess. Read more...
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