For those who does not know the beautiful country I came from, Eritrea, let me give you a little insight. When you are walking down the street of Asmara, especially the main avenue, it feels like the history and culture of the country are walking you down holding your hands, letting the buildings talk for themselves. It’s a small country of a very few population, with a peace and quiet of a country side. Growing up in such area then, coming face to face to with a city like Addis Ababa was more than just a shock.
The first day I lay foot on Addis Ababa, I was mesmerized. Luckily the airport wasn’t as populated as the streets were and this gave me a chance to prepare myself for this big city. As we head for the main streets, I honestly went dizzy from watching the dozens of cars and people commuting from one place to another. The sheer number of people were just the type of crowded street you only get to watch in American movies. When I communicated my surprise to my cousin who lives here, he laughed out loud telling me that the streets of Bole Medihanealme are nothing compared to places like Megenana and Markato. And he couldn’t have been more right about that. Visiting places like Megenana and Markato were nothing like I have ever experienced in my whole entire life. From feeling lost, to dumbfound and stupid, there is nothing you can say to explain these places. I was utterly speechless.
After few weeks passed, I got used to the frantic day to day movement of the people and the traffic and even started moving around on my own. This was not a very smart move on myside, I will tell you why. A month after I got here, I decided to roam around alone and just see for myself. When my cousin dropped me off in one spot, he showed me where I would take a taxi to get to my house. Little did I know that the city and the streets would lose me if I stepped away from my assigned place. Always confident, I decided to walk a little and check the shops around. The excuse I could give to my adult self now is that I got a sleep walking sickness at that moment and that is the sole reason a grown lady drifted to some place she completely got lost after just a few minutes of walking in one direction.
Not being able to reach a dead end, I finally came face to face with the fact that Addis Ababa is just utterly huge and there is a good chance that I was lost. Oh did I mention that I can’t speak Amharic too? My inability to communicate with any pedestrian also made is easy for me to start panicking. Taking few minutes to calm myself, I called the Ride (an uber in Ethiopia) to tell them where I was. Sadly, they either couldn’t understand English or couldn’t track the location I was in and after hours of waiting, there was no taxi. Finally, an old woman came to my rescue. She told me what the area I was staying was called and was able to communicate with the call operators properly. Half an hour of me trying to chat with the nice woman, my driver came hailing up and picked me up to take me home. FINALLY!
I found my cousin and his wife panicking in their house because I was late and was worried I was lost in the sea of the people. Calming them down, we all laughed it out in the rest of the evening. The rest is history.
