Round Up: Ball-ers, bedazzlers, MiFi and soggy teff.

This Week’s Round Up starts with last Friday’s Marine Corps 244th Birthday Ball at the Sheraton (Addis’s shmanciest hotel). Many of our new friends within the U.S. Embassy and surrounding communities encouraged us to dive into the formal fray. As we learned, Marines across the globe celebrate the Anniversary of their founding in 1775 in the same fashion. They recount their rich history. They drink. They dance. And they repeat.

Sarah and I used to the formal occasion to hobnob with an array of friends and recognizable local biggish-wigs. As it should be at any birthday shindig, you end up circling back around to the guest(s) of honor. For example, the oldest and youngest Marines were singled out as a part of the centerpiece ceremony. No surprise that the youngest (born in March 2000) would draw stunned reactions from us old farts. But to then have the oldest be born in 1975 made me want to howl, “oh, puuh-lease!” No offense, Lt. Col., but you never even had to live through a day of Nixon in office (I still have pre-K recall of watching his walk to the copter on the White House lawn over a T.V. dinner tray with my babysitter, Carol Skageberg). It won’t be long before the old-timers won’t even be able to remember how ancient Ronald Reagan was considered to be when he was elected. Of course, the current U.S. President was actually the oldest ever elected back in 2016.

On Sunday, Sarah and I ran around downtown Addis in Africa’s largest 10K race. The Great Ethiopian Run holds a series of races throughout the year. The International 10K is the crown jewel of the series, and the most broadly social. Last year’s race drew 44,000 runners. This year may have been larger. The men’s elite winner (Berhu Aregawi) from an invited field of 300 finished at 28:22. The women’s winner (Yalemzerf Yehulaw) from a similar field of 200 came across at 31:54. As they say on the website, “the finish times look slow because the race is held at an altitude of over 2300 meters above sea level.” Yes. Glacial. Which is how we also justify my 57:18 and Sarah’s under one hour 10K time. Actually, we both felt great once we got moving out from the crush of friendly people after about two kilometers. If it had been a half, who knows where we’d have finished up. Sorry to get cocky, but my last mile was my fastest.

The race itself is only a small part of the fun. The streets along the race route were largely clean and the route was smartly chosen. A few ups, a few downs, a solid start from and finish into Meskel Square. People warned us about open manholes and ample pickpockets. Including the guy standing next to me at the start. Luckily, none of that came to pass for us.

Because of a lack of race bibs or anything like official timekeeping, everyone was required to wear their race shirts. This year’s offering was an unsubtle pea soup green color with an added yellow laces design. Even though the label says, “Designed in Beverly Hills,” people cut up their shirts and outright upped the festive ante in innumerable ways. The sheer amount of qualified bedazzling left me wondering how many fashion designers were in the field. Many participants made stops for coffee and probably something stronger the further back in the pack you ventured. It really was Addis culture on full display.

The usual handful of pictures follow. Sorry for all the vanity. ‘Tis too often the motion to turn the lens around. This gallery starts off with a few pics from last week’s garment trade show. Expect more mention of that below.

The VIP Lounge at the Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW)

The "soft skills" presentation that showed training modules for Hawassa Industrial Park.

A display from one of the trade show exhibitors. Mahmoud Ahmed, an Ethiopian singer, is the top left picture. Not pictured - disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL)

Entry to the ASFW

The table set for the honorary fallen Marine, always present at this Birthday Ball.

Couple selfie

CAKE!

The honorary guests, including U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Michael Raynor and Lt. Col. Richard T. Wilkerson (Guest Speaker and Oldest Marine)

All present active duty and former members of the U.S. Military. Good looking crew.

Walking to the start of the Great Ethiopian Run's International 10K, with diesel trucks and curious smells everywhere.

Our starting position in the field of runners.

The pre-race dance routine being led by a squad of the elevated and motivated.

Gratuitous selfie at the start.

And they're off. Slowly and carefully.

More than a kilometer in, led down a narrow passage, just before it opened up and we were undeterred.

Finished up selfie. It would've been a great day for a half marathon.

Just before we walked the 4km back to our apartment.

Yet another sunrise from our living room.

This also was the week when our collective internet frustrations led to an actual solution worth recommending. For those of you way ahead of us to getting a dongle or a MiFi or some sort of moblie hotspot up and running, I say bear with me. Consider this a late conversion story, especially for those who’ve always wondered just why not get something faster and better than what I’ve already got rolling. In our case, we soldiered on through the wifi we had at home and school and everywhere in between. Even though it was awful. So when my mutinous family seemed ready to come undone, I asked around anew. Mercifully, a Kenyan friend suggested that I go to the EthioTelecom building near Maya’s school. I was told to talk my way through the gate, enter the corporate building and head to the top floor. Which I did.

I went to the top floor. It was a conference room. So I recalibrated and went to the floor just below. There I asked where I might get a mobile internet device, having been told that Ethiopians pronounced WiFi as “wee-fee.” I found an office with a couch facing the desk. The man behind that desk offered me a seat on the couch while he finished up a call. What followed was surely my finest minor-league cultural crossover performance with the smattering of Amharic I’ve learned over the past few months.

After an afternoon greeting in Amharic, I told him what I needed in English. Questions led me to describe where we live in Amharic - “akababi” (meaning “around”) Sarbet, near a retail store for EthioTelecom. He then picked up the phone again and called over to that Sarbet store. He said the 4G mobile internet device to at long last please my family would be waiting for me. I thanked him profusely (“bat’am amasiginalaw”) and gave him my business card. On my way back down the stairs, he chased me down and handed over of his own. His name is Feyissa and he told me to call him if I have any problems. He is, for me, the face of Ethiopia’s future.

As hoped, Feyissa’s help got us what we needed. So we’re now cranking along at a speed sufficient to watch Netflix, check email and do homework. Simultaneously. It’s a brave new world. I’m not sure how long it will last. I’ve gotten quite accustomed to a system that works like a dream on Day One, before ending up donkey over teakettle into the ditch the next. The optimist in me tallies the pluses, which have surely outweighed the minuses thus far.

On a tangent, I’ve just begun seeking out an intriguing mix of podcasts focused on Africa. A new one that I will recommend highly is called “The Horn.” The most recent episode gives a very complete rundown of past and current American policy toward both the whole of the Continent and the Africa’s Horn in particular. Most insightful to me was the discussion dealing with how the Trump Administration’s aim seem to be entirely driven by a desire to counter China’s influence. This so-called “Great Powers” orientation is merely a replacement for what occurred during the Cold War as an attempt to counter the Soviet Union’s geopolitical moves. Now it’s much more driven by economic aims. Then a prior episode discussed how Ethiopia, in particular, is moving quickly toward a privatization of the national telecommunications monopoly. Of course, there are corporations chomping at the bit to swoop in and try to grab a piece of a 110-million person pie. But what needs to occur before that shift from monopoly and what comes after? Infrastructure (hello, 5G network…as well as the added backbone for 4G). Not to even bridge into the necessary conversations about how a centralized government might want to exercise the same sort of “shut it all down…things are volatile” control. Just imagine how many more Feyissas will be required to help this system get rolling if there’s a competitive business environment out there. Regardless, I’m quite hopeful having met one very qualified manager and many front line workers subsequently in that Sarbet shop who might prove ready to help Ethiopia move into the next chapter of that story. Heady stuff, all around the Horn, I assure you.

Since I’m veering into current events, I should also mention to friends far from here that yesterday (11/20) was an important regional election in the southern region of Ethiopia generally referred to as Sidama. There are no reports of any violence or irregularities that might call into question the results. In terms of overview, Ethiopia currently recognizes nine semi-autonomous regions. Sidama wants to be the 10th. The security around this referendum and the results that will begin to emerge soon will be closely watched in all areas of the country and the capital where we are (Addis). Sidama’s about 4% of Ethiopia’s population. It’s hard to predict, but the wind seems to be blowing toward the creation of a new area of self-determination out of the current “Southern Nations” region which encompasses a mind-boggling 50-ish ethnicities. The vote for Sidama really represents a big test for the national mood prior to next May’s expected (but not yet scheduled) national election. If Sidama’s people choose to become a new region…which will take some doing on the part of both the local and national governments while Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seems in support of letting that happen…Hawassa (also spelled Awassa or Awasa) will assuredly become the capital of Sidama. As it has been of the prior Southern Nations region. Let’s just say that questions remain, and we should not get too far out front until the results come in over the next day or so.

As luck would have it, Hawassa’s also where we hope to run a half marathon as a part of the Great Ethiopian Run’s series in early February. Not only that, but the nation’s first industrial park is located in Hawassa. So we hope to be heading there at least once in the months ahead.

Speaking of Hawassa’s industrial park, I already mentioned in passing that I attended the Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) trade show last week. I’d gone there to do some networking with people working in the garment and textiles trade. Long before we arrived in Ethiopia, a source for my ongoing book project pointed me toward that manufacturing hub. Little did I know at that time how central to this week’s national political debate Hawassa might prove to be. I’m going to kick that can again down the road. But I will say that I plan to travel there to ask questions that, believe it or not, bring me all the way back to Detroit, Michigan USA (long story…more later on that).

Whenever veering into politics, it’s probably best to veer back into something universal if not always safe (I’m looking at you - climate change deniers). The weather in Addis is meant to be wholly predictable this time of year. Sun, a smattering of clouds, temps ranging from just below 10-degrees Celsius for nighttime lows and into the mid-20s for daytime highs. That’s upper-40s to mid-70s, for all you Fahrenheitians. Except for the past two days. When it rained in the late afternoon. Hard. I’d have thought, “oh, cool…that’ll wash all the crap somewhat downhill.” Until I heard Teddy, our driver, explain that it came at the worst possible time for the all-important teff harvest. For those unaware, teff is a long grass that produces itty-bitty seeds that are milled for many foods but primarily injera (the spongy bread served with all manner of Ethiopian food). Teff is also a super trendy grain for foodies flung far and wide. It’ll get y’all that gluten-free fix you’re hoping for, to boot. Currently, the essential teff crop is being cut with sickles and then threshed by livestock walking over the grass. Seriously old school. Unless it rains. In which case the seeds fall off the grass, and an unbearable loss of the harvest may be suffered. Ethiopia produces 90% of the world’s teff. In other words, that’s some seriously damaging weather under the guise of a few seasonal unheard of showers. I can imagine lots of prayers for no more rain occurring across the Horn of Africa tonight. Maybe you can lend your own. Ciao.