First impressions of Ethiopia15: 00 22/03/2010, Sean McLachlan, Addis Ababa, addisababa, adventure travel, adventuretravel, cafes, coffee, Ethiopians,

First impressions of Ethiopia15: 00 22/03/2010, Sean McLachlan, Addis Ababa, addisababa, adventure travel, adventuretravel, cafes, coffee, Ethiopians, sex, supercar
Filed under: Art \u0026 Culture, Africa, Ethiopia, Budget Travel

They say first impressions are lasting impressions, and while it's a cliché, a strong first impression of a country can not say much.

I've been in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital for four days. My wife has joined me and I take him to a two-week tour around the historic part of the north to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Memories are the best gifts, after all.

This is our first time in sub-Saharan Africa and the two have been taken by surprise, summed up my wife's assessment of the Ethiopians: "They are like us."

(She's Spanish, so when she says "we" means people of the Mediterranean.)

In many ways they are - in attitudes, priorities, including many gestures. With 1500 years of Christianity and a longer period in the nation, along with several centuries of Islamic learning and contact with the Mediterranean, Middle East and South Asia, have developed a culture similar enough to the south of Europe to be recognizable , while different enough to be intriguing.

Enjoy the social life, for example. The Ethiopians have a great coffee culture and love to spend time drinking coffee, chatting with friends, and reading the newspaper in his favorite cafe. Addis Ababa has a large number of cafes, both traditional and modern, to suit every mood. The Ethiopians discovered coffee, and is equally good everywhere, so you choose its location and decor.

Their attitude towards education is similar to ours also. Private schools abound, the capital has a lot of good bookstores, and every city of any size has at least one university. I will take a closer look at the schools in a later post in the series.

There is a relaxed relationship between the sexes here that is very similar to ours. While many people welcome premarital sex, which prevents them from dating. This has a beneficial effect on Western women travelers will not be constantly harassed by chronically lonely men as often happens in northern India and parts of the Middle East. Both men and women travelers receive a fair amount of innocent flirtation, though. Considering how well the Ethiopians are looking for, this is not a bad thing.


Gallery: First impressions of Ethiopia





Continue reading First impressions of Ethiopia

First impressions of Ethiopia originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms of use of feed.

Permalink | Email this | Comments