Side note: Ethiopia is international

I will get back to writing about the jam packed day at Merkato, Hebishah, Makush Gallery, La Parisienne cafe and the lovely dinner party with friends and visitors; but right now I feel compelled to mention how international Ethiopia is.  My hosts, Worka and Marcus are Ethiopians raised and or working in Sweden.  They speak Swedish, Amharic and English.  Hannah, my new sister, is Ethiopian and lives in London.  She has also lived in Paris and New York and of course Ethiopia.  She speaks Amharic, English and French.  I just had coffee near the pool at the funky, 70s-styled Hilton with Nathalie, who used to run a model agency in Addis and published a newspaper here and now lives in the Cameroun.  Her sister and two friends joined us.  I spoke in English, they spoke to each other and on their cell phones in Italian, Amharic, English and French.  Nathalie, her sister and friends went to the Italian school here.  Other Italian speaking friends came up to the table and suddenly, looking at their chic clothing and listening to their 'como estai?' (forgive the spelling), I felt like I was in Rome for a brief moment.  There is also a French school here.  There are (I think) 97 embassies here.  I have heard southern US accents, French, English, Italian, Swedish, German, Arabic and the list goes on.  I am constantly meeting people from all over the globe who are either living here or are planting roots here and intending to move to Ethiopia.  Maybe I will join them.  At the very least I will have a large group of people to visit when I come back.  This place is completely stimulating in surprising ways. 

Comments

[Barbara]

Hey WHAT A SMALL WORLD. CHANTAL just sent me this link to check out...reading through I spot Nathalie and this is all too strange cause I know her sister Eva who used to live her in London and moved to Santa Domingo..and Rosa as well..How International is this!

Keep going
Barbara