Oh, the things you will see!

The trips back and forth to work with the university driver are, as were my commute trips in Kampala, a wonderful way to see this city close up and without seeming to stare. So, completely at random, here are a few more things:

Look! It is an interchange!

This is a big deal in Addis, as it would be in Kampala. Not just a paved road, which would be amazing on its own, but here, courtesy of the Chinese, who are big spenders on infrastructure here, there is a brand-new interchange in the heart of Addis. It connects two major roads with the whole deal -- cloverleaf exits and entrances, on overpass, and even overhead signs. (“People have been confused,” a local friend said. “Ethiopians are not used to signage.” No kidding! Maybe if they had a few signs they would not be confused.) In any case, this interchange is a thing of beauty. The roads are smooth (at least until the next rainy season, some say cynically), multi-laned and wide, and traffic zips along.

But wait – what is that, there in the median on the flyover … and down there on the lane going under us … and over there right in the middle of the exit ramp. Why, it is a steady stream of pedestrian traffic!

Yes indeed. You may be able to bring in all your machinery, and your foreign experts with their money, and build something that looks like a modern highway, but don’t count on the locals abandoning the most common form of travel: walking. People swarm over the new interchange, wandering happily through its cloverleafs, jumping nimbly over its little barrier fences, moving in and out of the traffic as if this were just one more footpath, just a smoother one than usual. In fact, on some of the underpass lanes there are even specially marked areas on the side that look to be pedestrian walkways – not that anybody sticks to them; they just walk in the main lane. It is one more proof that the more things change, the more they remain the same. I mean, one of the local newspapers was horrified this was happening, ran a couple of photos and some scathing words about the behavior of the pedestrians, but what did they really expect??? Having lived in Uganda, and knowing what we do about people’s lives, and how they function, this was no surprise to me at all.

Um, will this taxi make it home?

Blue and white is evidently the color of everyday public transportation here. It’s the color of the little 12-passenger minibuses, known as matatus in Kampala and here, nicknamed wuyiyits, which means “discussion,” after the way their seats are arranged, jamming the passengers right up against each other. (I rode on two of them the other day, covering quite a bit of distance in a cross-town ride, for a total fare of approximately 22 cents.)

And it is also the color of the most common taxis in Addis. They are funny little things – short, squat, square vehicles. They may have parts dangling, and occasionally you will see someone pushing one to give it a jump start. And no wonder! These taxis – or at least the large majority of them – are Russian-built Ladas, relics of the 1970s and ‘80s when Ethiopia was governed by the Derg, a socialist regime, and was caught up in Cold War politics, aligning with the Soviet Union more than the U.S. liked. (Which led to some political moves by America that have left at least some Ethiopians saying Jimmy Carter’s name only with disgust, but that is another story.)

Old, clunky or not, the taxis are everywhere, and in my only attempt so far, one of them did indeed get me home safely, so more power to them!

On a more somber note ...

“Ethiopia does not take good care of the elderly,” Tenaw said one day on our drive home. He is the assistant dean of the journalism graduate school here, rides home with me sometimes, and is a helpful interpreter of what we see. That day, we were stuck in traffic, and over there lying on the sidewalk was what looked almost like a bundle of rags, except it had a wizened grey head sticking out of it. Indeed, you do see a painfully large number of elderly people among the fairly numerous beggars and street people of Addis. They may be walking with a wood stick, or simply hobbling along, wrapped in blankets, or sitting or lying prone on the sidewalk. They are a sign, Tenaw said, that the worsening economy of Ethiopia is overcoming the ability of families to care for their own as they once were able to do.