The joys of Ethiopian transportation!

I was looking back at some of my posts the other day, thinking, hmm, these are all so similar; I spend the majority of the post talking about what I did, what I’m planning, blah, blah- I realized there are a lot of little things I leave out.  So, Im going to start posting more random stories, observations, and things that I should mention more often but never seem to have the time!

The joys of Ethiopian transportation!

I feel like the best complement I could give is that transportation here is actually not as bad as I expected.  I live on the main north-south road and therefore have more travel opportunities than a lot of other PCVs.  Each (larger) town has a bus station, and one could go there and wait for a bus to arrive to their destination (usually there are ticket boys that scream the destination in a high-pitched speedy voice: “Mekele-Mekele-Mekele!”), wait for the bus to then fill, and then wait for the bus to leave… This process takes somewhere between 10 minutes and 3 hours.  OR, one could go to the side of the road, wait for a bus headed in the desired direction, flag it down, and push and shove along with the other 20 or so Ethiopians trying to do the same thing, to snatch the one or two spaces left on the bus.  I am not very pushy, but I do get lucky quite often because I am an obvious foreigner- sometimes they’ll make sure I get one of those spots.

One of my favorite things about Ethiopian transport is the décor.  The largest of busses are rarely seen without at least 50 posters and photos plastered on the windows, windshield (I often wonder how they are even able to see out) and the ceilings, usually of Jesus, Mary, other religious figures, Manchester United football team, and Rihanna/50 cent/Usher.  Then, there is usually some sort of garland handing from the sides and front complete with tinsel and fake flowers, and finally, fur.  Oh, the fur.  I don’t know how it became a fad, but long, colorful, Muppet-style fur is the latest car fashion here.  Usually is hangs from the ceiling, covers the dash board, and is wrapped around the rear-view mirrors of the vehicle.  This is all, mind you, over a rather loud velvety cloth the entire roof of the bus is upholstered with in a fruit or flower print.  My favorite is when the car has Muppet fur on the ceiling of the front cabin of the car, and if you sit in the middle seat of the front, you end up with half your head stuck in the fur and spend the ride trying to see out between a sea of red Elmo fur.

Photos to come of car décor, I’m trying to compile some of my favorites, but sadly, I rarely have a camera when I travel.

Here are some of my Ethiopia travel dos and don’ts:

DO sit by a window:  There is a myth that the air from an open window will make you sick; according to fellow bus members, depending on where you’re at you might get the flu, a cold, TB, or… AIDS?  The only way you are going to combat the stifling heat of 25 people crammed on a small mini bus is by scoring that window seat and dominating that window (much to the distress of your neighbors), plus, I always get a vindictive pleasure in chewing out the lady next to me who unwittingly tries to reach over and close MY window.

DO make friends with the bus driver (if he’s not creepy that is) that way next time you’ve been waiting in a huge ‘line’ (lines don’t exist here) for three hours for a bus that isn’t coming, when he pulls in you might just score yourself a seat.

DO make friends with that loud larger lady on the bus; that way when the ticket boy tries to raise the price for you, she jumps in, defends you to the death, and the ticket boy wishes he had never even tried to screw you over…

DO buy some kolo or shimbira (roasted barley or chickpeas) on the side of the road and share it with your neighbors… everyone will love you.

DON’T ask the ticket boy the price.  He is usually a little jerk who will try and make an extra 5 birr for himself; instead, get in, ask one of your friendlier neighbors what the price should be, hand it over, and only then if an argument arises should you haggle over the price.  Better yet, at each bus station there is a guy in a yellow vest as the bus station manager: ask him for the right price.

DON’T pay until the bus is moving.  It may just be my bad luck, but it seems every time I pay before we leave, we end up waiting another hour, and I see 3 busses all for my destination come, fill, and leave before we go.

DON’T get on a bus that has luggage stacked as high on top of the bus as the bus is tall.  I don’t think I should have to explain this one…

DON’T sit on the back row in the middle.  Though there are only three seats back there, there is rarely a time when a forth, and sometimes a fifth person aren’t squeezed in there.  If you want to breathe, pick a different seat.

Other important notes:

-The bigger the bus, the slower it goes.

-ALL busses play the same 5 Tigrinya songs over and over again.  Get used to it.

-At least 3 people will be sick on nearly every bus ride you ever take… that’s why they hand out plastic baggies (maybe they should open a window?).

On a completely side note, here are some photos of our last day of school tree planting at the high school!



First a little demonstration on proper tree-planting techniques...





By twos, students selected a hole and planted their trees!





Some of the girls planting their trees




I think they had fun...