The national election here in Ethiopia takes place on Sunday, and I’m glad our visit coincides with something so significant. Unlike in the U.S., there are no campaign signs in the yards. Instead, there are occasional billboards in Amharic (including one across from our hotel), which we are told encourage voters to support the existing government. We haven’t seen any newspapers or other media where we are, so I’m unclear on what and how many other parties are an option for voters.
For the past four days, we’ve seen – and heard – campaign pickup trucks slowly cruising the city of Bahir Dar. They have tall black speakers in the back that blare pop music. When the music stops, there is a PA address in Amharic encouraging support of the existing government.
Saturday’s coffees
The doctoral students enjoyed a relaxing morning, talking a walk in a neighborhood park and getting bunna at our favorite bunna bet called Wude Coffee House, where the wait staff wears Pizza Hut uniforms. I don’t know why. Perhaps Africa is where Western companies ship goods with outdated logos?
We also met a doughnut salesman. Vachel and Josh said his goods were far better than any they’d tasted in the U.S.
Our second cup of bunna was in a mud hut near Blue Nile Falls about a mile’s walk from a village market that is about an hour’s drive from the city Bahir Dar on a bumpy dirt road. The day was a good reminder that 85 percent of Ethiopia’s population lives in rural areas – very rural. We ducked into the mud hut after crossing a 300-foot swinging bridge in a thunderstorm.
For the past four days, we’ve seen – and heard – campaign pickup trucks slowly cruising the city of Bahir Dar. They have tall black speakers in the back that blare pop music. When the music stops, there is a PA address in Amharic encouraging support of the existing government.
Saturday’s coffees
The doctoral students enjoyed a relaxing morning, talking a walk in a neighborhood park and getting bunna at our favorite bunna bet called Wude Coffee House, where the wait staff wears Pizza Hut uniforms. I don’t know why. Perhaps Africa is where Western companies ship goods with outdated logos?
We also met a doughnut salesman. Vachel and Josh said his goods were far better than any they’d tasted in the U.S.
Our second cup of bunna was in a mud hut near Blue Nile Falls about a mile’s walk from a village market that is about an hour’s drive from the city Bahir Dar on a bumpy dirt road. The day was a good reminder that 85 percent of Ethiopia’s population lives in rural areas – very rural. We ducked into the mud hut after crossing a 300-foot swinging bridge in a thunderstorm.
Doctoral student Josh Silvey follows a group of villagers on their way home from market on a path that passes Blue Nile Falls. Eighty-five percent of Ethiopia's population lives in rural areas, such as this.
The path to the Blue Nile gorge crosses the Portugese bridge built in 1632 during Portugal’s attempted occupation.
Dr. Vachel Miller, Linda Coutant and Josh Siley near the Blue Nile Falls as the river winds its way toward Sudan where it joins the smaller White Nile River before flowing into Egypt. Eighty-five percent of Egypt's water comes from the Blue Nile that originates in the city of Bahir Dar and flows past the Bahir Dar University campus.
Thank goodness Vachel had a nutritious breakfast before our hike! A doughnut salesman makes him happy in a park along Lake Tana, from which the Blue Nile River originates.