It’s only the second day in this city, but Addis Ababa fascinates me.  In some ways it’s a modern city, in others it’s developing its identity in a Biblical country known in earlier times as Cush.

As I tried to sleep last night, nearby I could hear prayers being sung and chanting somewhere at a mosque or church. They were likely sung in the national language of Amharic. The songs to went on for hours throughout the entire night. While the human holy cries were being sung, street dogs, roosters, crickets, and closer to dawn, birds added their own songs to the people’s nighttime’s prayerful pleas.

This is a city that never sleeps.  Service vehicles shuttle by and sirens are in the distance.  Vehicles start and stop to make their deliveries. At this moment, if I were to step outside my hotel room, I would likely find people on the streets—not walking, but sleeping under the cover of cardboard or a make shift blanket of clothing or some kind of fabric throw.

Addis has had many ethnic influences in its history and in its current state.  It is the only country in the African Union that has not been colonized and you can sense the pride because of it. For a period of time in the early 1900’s until around the Second World War, it was inhabited by Italians who settled in the city in the hopes of being able to take control of the country.  Their influence remains today in an array of pizza stands, Italian restaurants, a shopping district called a “Piazza”, and macchiato coffee, which is served Ethiopian style, in abundance, as its national beverage. 

There are also Western influences in some of the local brands people can purchase in stores and in restaurant food.  Electronics brands are recognizable, but you won’t find large U.S. multinationals here such as McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, and the like. They have not been welcomed to set up shop in this city. 

What you will find are row upon row of many small independent stores and services set up in store fronts of tin, security barred glass, and shuttered doors that lock shut at night.  In contrast, fresh fruit stands add color to the drab metal merchant properties.

Coffee shops are where people gather in this city, with bars being less popular as meeting places. Good coffee is readily available everywhere. It is Ethiopia’s number one exported cash crop. It is robust and rich, and probably the reason why I’m not sleeping tonight.  Our program partner hosts tell us that they will be treating us to an Ethiopian coffee ceremony while we are with them. I can’t wait to be part of the experience.

There are also Asian influences in Addis.  Menus in local restaurants boast of Indian cuisine, with more recent additions of Chinese food.  These ethnic foods are offered to attract Addis’ new citizens from India and China who have come here for commerce.

There are salads available, but your lettuce will be iceberg or perhaps spinach with varying assortments of vegetables or fruits in the mix.  We’ve been told to be leery of ordering them because it is hard to know if they were washed with contaminated water, and we don’t want to risk getting sick.

We’ve been advised that fruit and vegetables with peels are the safest to eat. So last night, my work companion and I thoroughly enjoyed a freshly squeezed cocktail of orange and papaya juice from fruit that was recently picked. It was a delicious and satisfying drink at the end of the day. If we were to make this at home in Winnipeg with fruits that are picked too early so that they can be shipped abroad, the taste could not compare to what we enjoyed here.

The hotel we are staying at offers a buffet breakfast every morning. It has Western continental breakfast foods, but offers its guests Ethiopian morning foods as well. 

Eggs are scrambled with tomatoes. A sautéed vegetable dish is offered with zucchini, green beans, carrots, and onions.  There is a stew “Full” with and some ingredients I can’t identify, but does include red beans, onions, and some kind of fresh spicy peppers. It is glorious when it’s wrapped up in the native “Injera” which is sponge-like fermented bread made from teff flour and cooked in a pan.  Injera is offered in another dish mixed up with beef strips, tomato sauce, and hot spices. It has a wonderful unique taste. “Kinde” is another native ethnic food that is made from boiled barley and oats.  Fresh guava and papaya juices tempt the taste buds.

And of course, there is Ethiopian coffee to jump-start your day with copious quantities of caffeine. It is so hard to resist because it truly is the best coffee I have ever tasted.  My work colleagues told me it would be so, and a trip back home is not complete without loading one’s suitcase full of it.

Music on the plane and in the hotel’s lounge and restaurant were an interesting surprise.  As expected there were some tunes that were Ethiopian.  But what was surprising is that we heard some Western offerings, but they certainly were not recent. On my Ethiopian Airlines flight here, “Jolene” by Dolly Parton was playing and I heard it again later that day in the hotel’s lounge.  Dolly is popular here. Another tune I heard was the old but familiar “Misty Blue”.  At breakfast yesterday, because it is still the Christmas season here (it was celebrated on the Julian calendar on January 7), “Silent Night” played followed by some local pop music. An interesting audio mix!

My morning start will officially be here in a short while. A new day waits to be taken in as we move from the city to rural Ethiopia.  I will greet the day with a zest for life realizing that this new day is a gift given to me to enjoy. I will immerse myself in the experience with Strength, Courage, and Determination.