Ethiop words, blacker in their effect/ Than in their countenance.
Shakespeare: As you like it Act 4 Scene 3
“We’re going to Ethiopia.”
This simple statement elicits a pause from most of our friends, usually followed by a shake of the head and a jocular “Why?” Sometimes it is followed by, “are you going to wear a burka?” Nooooooooo! Clearly, there's much to learn about our destination.We’re known among our friends and family as adventurous travelers. We’ve followed the Silk Road from China to Turkey. Mike went as a tourist to Iraq. We’ve ended up in a train barn in Germany, slept in a yurt in Kyrgyzstan, been attacked by a feisty kea parrot in New Zealand, and flown “Aerolineas Ojalá” (our less-than-affectionate nickname for Aerolíneas Argentinas and its strike-prone scheduling).
Africa will be our sixth continent (Antarctica conjures up frozen dinners and frozen boats). Years ago, standing on the shores of Eilat, Israel, we fancied that Africa was just over the horizon. Now is our time.
We are drawn to places with complex histories – cultural, religious, and geopolitical. There are many Biblical references to Abyssinia. What a cast of players: Makeda, the ancient Queen of Sheba. Her son Menelik (first Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia [circa 950 BCE]; tradition credits him with bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia, following a visit to Jerusalem to meet his father King Solomon upon reaching adulthood).
Many Ethiopians will tell you their country is not part of Africa. It’s different. It’s never been colonized, only briefly occupied by Italy when Mussolini invaded in 1936. There are 80-some different ethnic groups in the country, all of whom have their own language, dance styles, traditional dress, and customs.
When we think of our forthcoming trip, our “Ethiop words” are all positive [notwithstanding Cliff Notes (!), which offers a different interpretation of Shakespeare]:
…In Western culture, the color black has long been a symbol for evil, mystery, fear, and death, and that's the symbol Shakespeare uses here. "Ethiop words" are "black words," words of cruelty. Is this phrase racist? Most likely, by today's standards. Shakespeare's audiences, though, would not have given the underlying ethics of the phrase a second thought.
POSSIBLE ITINERARY (hours = duration of bus trip)
Day 0 Lv home
Day 1 Ar Addis Ababa
Day 2 visit AA
Day 3 visit AA
Day 4 to Bahir Dar 11-12 hrs
Day 5 Bahir Dar
Day 6 to Gonder 3 hrs; explore Gonder
Day 7 day trip into Simien Mtns
Day 8 Gonder to Shire to Aksum 13 hrs
Day 9 explore Aksum
Day 10 Aksum to Wukro 6 hrs
Day 11 Tigray churches
Day 12 Tigray; to Mekele 1 hr (add possible side trip to Dollol/Danakil Depression here)
Day 13 to Woldia and Lalibela 6 hr + 4 hrs
Day 14 Lalibela
Day 15 Lalibela
Day 16 fly to AA
Day 17 AA
Day 18 to Awash, then to Harar
Day 19 Harar
Day 20 fly to AA
We're pretty flexible here, because we fly back on day 27. So maybe we do that side trip to Dollol/Danakil Depression. Maybe with the extra time, we'll be able to go south of AA...
CURIOSITIES: Time
The Ethiopian calendar is at least seven years behind the West. This calendar has 12 months of equal days, and one extra month with all the extra days (5 or 6, depending on the year). Some people use the Ethiopian calendar and others use Gregorian.
Even the clock is different. The sun rises around 6am western time. That’s 12 Ethiopian time. 7am is one hour after sunrise, so that’s 1 o’clock Ethiopian time. 8am is 2 hours after sunrise, so that’s 2 o’clock. An easy way to work it out is to simply look at the opposite side of an analogue clock. So if your western clock says ‘9’, look at the number opposite (3) and you know what an Ethiopian would call the time. Moreover, 12 is on the bottom, 6 on the top, 3 on the right, and the hands go COUNTER CLOCKWISE.
That’s 7 years, 6 hours, and a mirror to read your clock.
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