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When you say that politically the country is all over the place, what do you mean? I am curious to know about the political landscape of Ethiopia.
I say this mainly because of the lack of complete freedom the government gives. The ruling party won this year by 'apparently' 100% (of the votes). I am liking everything the government is doing in Ethiopia though, a lot is changing and the corruption has been kept minimal.
Do you think your country nowadays is different in some ways of the rest of Africa because it was not colonized by Europeans?
Hi, nice to meet you!
I cannot speak for the whole of Africa, but if anyone outside of Africa was to come to Ethiopia, I think it wouldn't look like a country that was colonised to them. Nothing to me seems that way too.
The biggest difference I can think of is religion. Pretty much every Sub-Saharan African country is majority Christian now because of the missionaries that came during the colonial times. Our church (Orthodox one) is the only established pre-colonial church in Africa. Nothing was implemented by the Europeans as we were already a Christian nation since, nearly, the year 0.
Another difference is of course language too. Amharic is our official language and Oromo is the most spoken. Italian is not recognised as one of the languages here and pretty much no one speaks it.
I cannot speak for the whole of Africa, but if anyone outside of Africa was to come to Ethiopia, I think it wouldn't look like a country that was colonised to them. Nothing to me seems that way too.
The biggest difference I can think of is religion. Pretty much every Sub-Saharan African country is majority Christian now because of the missionaries that came during the colonial times. Our church (Orthodox one) is the only established pre-colonial church in Africa. Nothing was implemented by the Europeans as we were already a Christian nation since, nearly, the year 0.
Another difference is of course language too. Amharic is our official language and Oromo is the most spoken. Italian is not recognised as one of the languages here and pretty much no one speaks it.
I think those are the main 2 differences
Speaking of religion, understanding that Christianity in Ethiopia is ancient and distinct in its practices from European and Asian Christian traditions, and knowing the same of Ethiopian Judaism, how distinct is the practice of Islam, which also has a long history in Ethiopia dating back to the time of Mohammed? How connected are Ethiopian Muslims to other centres of culture and thought in the Islamic world? How is Ethiopian Islam distinct? And finally, how are relations between Christian and Muslim Ethiopians? In most multi-faith countries there will be at least some history of religious tensions, but in some it is very minor and the society in practice is quite harmonious, and in others... well, we've all heard of those places! I'm interested to know your thoughts about how Ethiopians of different religions get along. Is there intermarriage, friendships, and integration, or do the communities mostly keep to themselves?
Speaking of religion, understanding that Christianity in Ethiopia is ancient and distinct in its practices from European and Asian Christian traditions, and knowing the same of Ethiopian Judaism, how distinct is the practice of Islam, which also has a long history in Ethiopia dating back to the time of Mohammed? How connected are Ethiopian Muslims to other centres of culture and thought in the Islamic world? How is Ethiopian Islam distinct? And finally, how are relations between Christian and Muslim Ethiopians? In most multi-faith countries there will be at least some history of religious tensions, but in some it is very minor and the society in practice is quite harmonious, and in others... well, we've all heard of those places! I'm interested to know your thoughts about how Ethiopians of different religions get along. Is there intermarriage, friendships, and integration, or do the communities mostly keep to themselves?
Yes, it date's back to the time of Mohammed, that's right (from what i've read and been told).
But like Ethiopian Christianity, Islam isn't really that distinct in Ethiopia. I think the main distinctions you get between Muslims is those that are Sunni and those that are Shia. The majority of Ethiopian muslims are Sunni, and I'm sure that's the majority by like 99%+ of all Muslims, and the majority of those Sunni's are of the Shafi'i branch.
I think for a country that's around 65% Christian and 35% Muslim, the relationship is very good by world wide standards. The tension is absolute minimal, just on some occasions there have been protests and riots, but those are rare. And of course there are friendships! After the horrific ISIS incident, the country went into 3 days of mourning and both a church leader and muslim leader sat side by side and gave their blessings. There are nice pictures to show it too : http://www.ethiofreedom.com/wp-conte...jpg&w=580&zc=1 http://www.ethiopianembassy.in/wp-co...uslim-girl.jpg
There are areas that are predominantly Christian, and vice versa but there are plenty of areas that are mixed too. The capital is one . But intermarriage is a definite no though, unless it's a convert
I've been considering a three-week trip, flying to Addis. It seems that anything worth going to outside Addis would require at least an overnight 2-day bus trip, so unless I wanted to do that, I'd be pretty much stuck in Addis. Would I enjoy spending a couple of weeks just hanging out in Addis, just passing away the time, staying in a cheap hostel and eating in marketplaces? Or is the city so crowded and chaotic that it would just be an urban nightmare?
Frankly, I don't know much about Ethiopia...sorry about that...I'm sure you have marvelous nature though.
So: how do people in Ethiopia in general view white visitors from eastern Europe? Do they ever make difference between "types" of whites...like western/eastern Europe? Do they ever care about European politics? 10x.
I've been considering a three-week trip, flying to Addis. It seems that anything worth going to outside Addis would require at least an overnight 2-day bus trip, so unless I wanted to do that, I'd be pretty much stuck in Addis. Would I enjoy spending a couple of weeks just hanging out in Addis, just passing away the time, staying in a cheap hostel and eating in marketplaces? Or is the city so crowded and chaotic that it would just be an urban nightmare?
3 weeks just for Addis may be a bit too long, unless you wouldn't mind spending a week partying/clubbing. To be honest the best thing to do with Addis is just see one special thing a day. Spend the rest of it eating out or walking around the city. Is there anything in Addis Ababa that interests you mainly?
The traffic unfortunately in Addis is quite bad. The times of the day when the traffic isn't very crazy, it is crazy, although some parts are better than other parts. To give you an idea of how bad it is, it has taken me 2 hours and a bit to get from the top half of the city (Entoto) to the southern part (Akaki), Google does say it takes around 30 minutes, but that has never been the case.
You can make 3 weeks work in Addis Ababa by visiting the local city of Bishoftu. It's a really nice small city with five small crater lakes and some really nice resorts on all of them. You could even spend some nights too over there.
Frankly, I don't know much about Ethiopia...sorry about that...I'm sure you have marvelous nature though.
So: how do people in Ethiopia in general view white visitors from eastern Europe? Do they ever make difference between "types" of whites...like western/eastern Europe? Do they ever care about European politics? 10x.
Thanks!
I don't really know the answer to that question, I don't think there are many visitors coming from Eastern Europe. All I know about Ethiopia's relationship with Eastern Europe is that, particularly Ukraine and Russia, do supply our defence force with equipment and vehicles. I have no idea about the relationship now but Ethiopia did used to have a good relationship with Russia.
More people in this country are interested in American politics over European politics nowadays, but the main topic most the time is Ethiopian politics .
3 weeks just for Addis may be a bit too long, unless you wouldn't mind spending a week partying/clubbing. To be honest the best thing to do with Addis is just see one special thing a day. Spend the rest of it eating out or walking around the city. Is there anything in Addis Ababa that interests you mainly?
The traffic unfortunately in Addis is quite bad. The times of the day when the traffic isn't very crazy, it is crazy, although some parts are better than other parts. To give you an idea of how bad it is, it has taken me 2 hours and a bit to get from the top half of the city (Entoto) to the southern part (Akaki), Google does say it takes around 30 minutes, but that has never been the case.
You can make 3 weeks work in Addis Ababa by visiting the local city of Bishoftu. It's a really nice small city with five small crater lakes and some really nice resorts on all of them. You could even spend some nights too over there.
Which month did you want to see it in?
In Debre Zeyit, there is a Hotel Rosemary, right next to the train station, quoting a rate of $23, which has good reviews and is in my price range (resorts on the lake are not!). Do you know this area? What would that be like for taking daily walks and sampling the local food in markets? I'd be delighted to spend a couple hours a day just sitting in parks or cafes speaking English to whomever wanted to improve their language skills.
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I am liking everything the government is doing in Ethiopia though, a lot is changing and the corruption has been kept minimal.
