Ethiopia gets a bum rap. The World’s impression is of bloated, starving black babies with flies crawling around their eyes. This impression is like judging the U.S. by what happens in South Central L.A. I suspect NGOs (private charities) have created this dire perception for their own ends – guilt Americans and the rest of the world into donations. Whatever the reason, from firsthand observation I can say that Ethiopia is one of the most successful and developed nations in Africa: the people are educated, the streets are paved and clean, and there is a large Middle Class. Even the outlying cultural enclaves are relatively sophisticated. The farmland in Ethiopia is well-maintained and plentiful. The electrical grid is substantial. Water is drinkable out of the tap.
In the capital city of Addis Ababa, we visited the National Museum, home of “Lucy” and other anthropological wonders, however the museum is second class. Ethiopia is where Ras Taferi (Emperor Haile Selassi) lived, the hyponymously named Rastafarian cult, though we saw few dreadlocks and no “ganja” (marijuana – a central ingredient of their religion).
Ethiopia is also home of the Coptic Orthodox Christians, an ancient sect with headscarves, chanting every morning over loudspeakers from spire adorned churches that look much like mosques. Ethiopians also have their own language, Amharic, that looks and sounds a lot like Arabic but most certainly isn’t. It got me thinking: the Coptic Church is 600 years older than the Muslim religion, so who was first with the similar rituals and architecture? We visited the “Holy Trinity” church with its beautiful stained-glass windows depicting biblical events – but the people in the images are pale-skinned? Ethiopians are most definitely black but with Arabic features. I asked a local why the painting of the “Queen of Sheba” was “white,” and he was surprised – he hadn’t noticed.
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