The Historical North and My Birthday
21 Aug
Next week, we are going to the North of Ethiopia to visit Lake Tana – famous for its island monasteries, the Simien Mountains for a 5 day trek, Gondor (the city of castles) and finally Lalibela where we will see the rock hewn churches. We are due back in Addis on the 4th September.
As it is my birthday while we are in Gondor, we are having an Addis based celebration tomorrow night at ‘Harlem Jazz’ nightclub, where we are seeing Ethiopian singer Kenny Allen if he is not still touring. Fingers crossed.
Speaking of birthdays to people here has made me realise how much we take them for granted (not that mine isn’t very important). This is because many people here have no idea when their birthdays are. If you are born in a rural part of Ethiopia, it is unlikely your birth will be registered. This particularly applies to the orphans we are working with who don’t know what year or day they were born, and so it isn’t something they celebrate.
People here seem to dwell less on age than we do. School is determined by grade, not birth date, your ability and level rather than your age.
As a formality, it is possible to register for a birth certificate at a government department in Addis. Obviously birth certificates are necessary for visas, passports etc. So to get your ‘official’ birthday, you take along someone who was present at the time of your birth and an estimation of your age is made.
Hi Katie I hope you liked the hostel – thanks for offering to support Musbah with his scholarship application. This could be a real opportunity for him. As I mentioned on the phone I will be having a direct meeting with the person who heads up admissions in Abu Dhabi so that may help his application. The start date is September 2010 so he will attend university in Addis this year whatever happens. Have a great time in the North. Best wishes
Glen
AWOOGA!
Hi Katie – this is absolutely fascinating (and you’re a great writer). I too held some of the same preconceptions about Ethiopia, it’s good to hear about the sense of national pride. I’m also quite interested to hear how it sounds like some things can be very modern, whilst others quite antiquated and poor (for someone who has never been anywhere in Africa, the notions are always of widespread famine and poverty). Very cool blog… and Happy Birthday!
On the wine front – I can’t find Barolo in Calgary. I may not have gone to right wine shop yet, however on my search thus far, nothing. Not impressed.
It’s officially your birthday (in GMT at least) so felicitations to you, and congratulations to myself for remembering that there was no way you’d be able to check Facebook today. Thumbs down to me, though, for having failed to realise till right now that you probably don’t have internet access at the moment. Be that as it may, Happy Birthday.
the fuzziness about birthdays seems to be pan-african – it makes me laugh when certain african footballers , who seem to have been around for ever and look about 35 with a few wrinkles already on their face , claim to be ’21′ so they can command higher prices in the transfer market – and noone can disprove it!
ive decided to take a leaf out of their book – my own birthdate has suddenly become shrouded in mystery. for the purposes of my new CV, i am ’11′ , making a university degree and 2 years as a financial analyst seem quite breathtaking, for someone so young…
happy birthday btw ! X
Katie,
Crashed into your blog by chance,and found it compelling read about my (other)country.I am glad that you pretty much covered the essentials,and would be great if you can do round 2!!
Well done,
Sebastian,
London.