Addis Ababa

I arrived at 7:00 am and after a quick stop at the hotel, my guide took me to the main sites of Addis Ababa, such as they are.  First we went to the Holy Trinity Cathedral and visited the tombs of Haile Sellasie and his wife. Christianity was brought to Ethiopia in the fourth century, so Ethiopian Orthodox is very different from Roman Catholic. It retains a close connection to the Old Testament and Jerusalem, in large part because Menelik, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, was the first ruler of Ethiopia. The house of Solomon ruled Ethiopia until Haile Selassie, the last emperor, died in suspicious circumstances after he was deposed in 1974. Not only did Menelik begin a dynasty, but he also brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Ethiopia with him from Solomon's temple, and it is buried in one of the ancient churches in the north. But every Ethiopian church has a Holy of Holies behind a curtain that contains a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. As in Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, only priests can enter the Holy of Holies.

Then we went to the National Museum of Ethiopia.  It is small but had a good exhibit on prehistoric animals and men.  And after lunch we went to Addis Ababa University.  The main building used to be one of Haile Selassie’s palaces but he donated it to the university since he had enough other palaces.  There was a nice exhibit about Haile Selassie.  And that appears to be the highlights of Addis Ababa.

I did learn a few interesting things about Ethiopia.  Their calendar is solar with twelve months of thirty days each and a thirteenth month of five days.  I arrived in the thirteenth month, so New Year’s will be in a few days.  Also, the new year will be 2010.  They date their calendar from the Annunciation (when Mary was told she was having the son of God) but it turns out the rest of the Christians got the date wrong.

In Ethiopia they grow a grain called teff and use it to make injera, a flat, spongy bread that is served in a roll like a bolt of cloth.  You tear off pieces of the injera to pick up the meat or other food and eat with your hands.  Since I flew on Ethiopian Airlines, I was first served this on the plane and had to figure out what to do with it.  At lunch today, I asked the waiter how to eat.  There was a couple at the next table who had lived in America for several years so after laughing at me, the wife showed me what to do.

The main roads in Addis Ababa are six lane boulevards with only a three foot strip between the two sides.  Apparently you don’t make left turns, so periodically there are openings in the strip and cars make u-turns to get to the other side.  But these are main streets.  Traffic is going fast and constantly stops as someone is making a u-turn from the other side.  Well, they have to slow down to dodge the pedestrians that cross everywhere, too.  It is different.