Postcard from Addis 27th September

Cold and rain today after a glimmer of sunshine walking round the city close enough to the hotel not to get lost – though the street signs are bi-lingual and Sam drew me a scribbled map before finally getting his head down after 10am.


Just goes to show that its not only Scotland and New Zealand that rain on major outdoor events! Thursday 27th (according to the calendar I understand) saw a crowd of about 100,000 people in front of elaborately robed priests, bishops and archbishops from orthodox churches gathered to celebrate Meskel. Russian, Greek, others I don’t remember and Ethiopian of course, evoked thoughts of the ancient roots of Christianity, its geographic spread and longevity. No pictures of this – I have to confess to watching the early part of it on TV from the relative comfort of the hotel lounge because it was pouring with rain, the streets were very muddy and I don’t do crowds particularly well, even on familiar territory. 100.000 singing, dancing and sometimes intoxicated people on my first day in Addis would have been positively scary. Later on we went to a rooftop pub and restaurant, which afforded some views of the proceedings through the haze of hundreds of bonfires (part of the ceremony). Thanks to the ubiquitous large screen relay, we even managed to catch sight of some of the entertainment program. Photos would have been a dead loss in those conditions so you will have to take my word for how fabulous it all looked. There were some wonderful art works on the walls of the restaurant so if time permits, I might get to the gallery that supplies them. Thank goodness for our local guide!

Walking round the city earlier in the day and trying to be suitably discrete with my camera, I did catch a couple of worthwhile shots. Although the day was overcast and the atmosphere fairly dusty so the conditions were not great. I found the famous statues of the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah – one of the titles and symbols used by Emperor Haile Selassie – of whom I learned something through a 1970s born love affair with Rastafarian music and interest in the culture it grew out of. What I learned about him from people who have lived in Ethiopia and have a different rationale for their perspective was perhaps less glowing, but equally indicative of a powerful leader with the interests of country at heart. We are all a product the background and environment we live in, single threads in the complex fabric of the world’s story.


Apparently that Emperor lived in an elaborate walled in compound in the centre of the city - one wall of which seems to be about a kilometre long – and kept real lions in the grounds. Not roaming loose I assume! These statues are close to the Ethiopian National Theatre, a site that provided a few more photo opportunities until a guy who managed inadvertently to appear in the corner of a shot of a statue came and told me ‘its impossible’. My puzzled look told him I did not understand so he followed up with ‘no photo.’ I didn’t bother to ask – just mumbled ‘I’m sorry’ and wandered on.


Just waiting for the rest of Sam’s family to arrive, sort out the rental minibus and we will be off up country to Degan. Brother and sister in law were due in from London on the same flight as us but one day later, then mum and dad (who worked in Degan in the 1970s) from Tanzania later on this evening. An earlier shot from Sam’s collection shows them ‘up country’ with rope maker Kadija Ibrahim and daughters.