Ethiopia's line to attract tourists is to say that Ethiopia has 13 months of sunshine... LIE my friends, big fat lie.
Yes there is 13 months, but from June to September, you only see the sun from 6am to 7 am, when you are lucky. Two weeks of proper heavy rain, and I am just craving for some sun (I know, it is not fair, I already had 9 months of awsome weather!). But the rain here is just... very very wet. It gets extremely cold in a few minutes, the road are becoming rivers. Yesterday, I saw people contructing a bridge to be able to cross the road! Every path becomes muddy and you can't see any thing when you drive. The problem is that people to avoid to get wet walk in the middle of the road!
Also, the rainy season is accompanied by twice more power cut, weird bugs, very scary storms, hale etc...
3 months to go! Can't wait...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Going to the bank in Addis
Going to the bank in Ethiopia is once again a genuine cultural experience. I had to go 4 times now and I am still struggling to understand how it works. The first time I went, I think the doorman was so surprise to see a farengi in its establishment that he forgot to check my bag, took me in front of the queue and before I had time to look around, I was out. Last time I went, I spent 1 hour and 20 minutes before to give up!
The second time was a bit more of an adventure. And follows what I understood from the all experience. Bank in Ethiopia are always full with people, behind and in front of the many counters. I could count 9 different counters, but I have no idea who does what, and to be fair, Ethiopian neither despite the Amharic poster in front of each. Sometimes a cashier takes cheque, the next day, he doesn’t anymore. If there is a power cut, don’t stay, their system will be down. A good indication of a power cut is the inactivity of the cashier (not that he is much more active when there is electricity), or the rain outside.
So, here is the secret of depositing a cheque. You have to leave it at the bottom of the pile at one of the cashier. Do ask him if he takes cheque on that day (when I ask it sounds like Now, I show my cheque, works?), it will save you time. Do also leave your ID with the cheque or it might get lost or discarded. Then, you can sit for the 20 minutes it is going to take to proceed the operation.
Ethiopians are just so patient. Actually, I can spot farengis from the back because they are the only one to be fidgety, moving their legs, standing up every 3 minutes.
When I am finally called on by the cashier, I have 5 or 6 Ethiopians behind me, they would not miss my broken Amharic, they can giggle about it for hours! I can finally get my birrs, and no they are not any cleaner because they come directly from the bank.
The second time was a bit more of an adventure. And follows what I understood from the all experience. Bank in Ethiopia are always full with people, behind and in front of the many counters. I could count 9 different counters, but I have no idea who does what, and to be fair, Ethiopian neither despite the Amharic poster in front of each. Sometimes a cashier takes cheque, the next day, he doesn’t anymore. If there is a power cut, don’t stay, their system will be down. A good indication of a power cut is the inactivity of the cashier (not that he is much more active when there is electricity), or the rain outside.
So, here is the secret of depositing a cheque. You have to leave it at the bottom of the pile at one of the cashier. Do ask him if he takes cheque on that day (when I ask it sounds like Now, I show my cheque, works?), it will save you time. Do also leave your ID with the cheque or it might get lost or discarded. Then, you can sit for the 20 minutes it is going to take to proceed the operation.
Ethiopians are just so patient. Actually, I can spot farengis from the back because they are the only one to be fidgety, moving their legs, standing up every 3 minutes.
When I am finally called on by the cashier, I have 5 or 6 Ethiopians behind me, they would not miss my broken Amharic, they can giggle about it for hours! I can finally get my birrs, and no they are not any cleaner because they come directly from the bank.
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