Ethni-opia
Ethiopia: a wondrous, weird, wacky and wild country with unique, eccentric, eclectic, enigmatic people…
Ethiopians are inextricably linked to an umbilical cord that’s never severed - an umbilical cord that binds everyone together from the biggest city to the most remote little village in the mountains or valleys. It is silver-grey with brown-red branches and it carries Ethiopian life in all its diversity; it is mega-multi-purposed: it serves as:
Shops/stores: selling anything you can think of and not think of
Warehouse: used for storage
Workshop: to fix, weld, construct, deconstruct, transform, build,
Scrapyard
Rubbish dump
Bedroom
Meeting room for any kind of social gathering of all ages
Playroom
Bathroom
Hang-out joint for teenagers
Educational project-room
Café; coffee shop; tearoom; bakery; restaurant; fast food; take-out
Farmland
Transportation: primary intended function and is used extensively by anything and anyone that can move or be moved: humans; goats; donkeys; cows; dogs; roosters; chickens; geese; sheep; horses; cats
Its surface was intended to help propel devices with wheels:
1-wheel: wheelbarrows; pushcarts, play-wheel
2-wheels: bikes; motorcycles; carts, carriages
3-wheels: tuk-tuks; evolving motorbikes; wannabee cars
4-wheels: skedonks, cars, trucks, lorries, tractors
5-wheels: I’m sure there will be something I was not fortunate to see
6-wheels – 24-wheels: big, jumbo trucks
Ethiopians have an intimate relationship with their umbilical cord: it feeds, transports, brings, takes, carries, connects: it is a lifeline – regardless of the condition; whether tar, corrugated, muddy, dusty, potholed, rock-littered, trash littered
It became obvious, very quickly that vehicles take second place and they do not have right of way – they have right to stay or at least wait until the activity passes, crosses, rolls, rides, stops, peddles…
The word, concept ROAD has taken on a complete new meaning for me after Ethiopia…
I’ve tried to capture Ethiopian Life happening around, beside, in, on, at, over, under, by the Road from my rearview window. (some of the photos are not the best quality, because I really needed a faster reflex at times…)
Enjoy with me:
Drive-through Ethni-opia – from a distance
(See Gallery:photos: Ethni-opia
Ethiopia: a wondrous, weird, wacky and wild country with unique, eccentric, eclectic, enigmatic people…
Ethiopians are inextricably linked to an umbilical cord that’s never severed - an umbilical cord that binds everyone together from the biggest city to the most remote little village in the mountains or valleys. It is silver-grey with brown-red branches and it carries Ethiopian life in all its diversity; it is mega-multi-purposed: it serves as:
Shops/stores: selling anything you can think of and not think of
Warehouse: used for storage
Workshop: to fix, weld, construct, deconstruct, transform, build,
Scrapyard
Rubbish dump
Bedroom
Meeting room for any kind of social gathering of all ages
Playroom
Bathroom
Hang-out joint for teenagers
Educational project-room
Café; coffee shop; tearoom; bakery; restaurant; fast food; take-out
Farmland
Transportation: primary intended function and is used extensively by anything and anyone that can move or be moved: humans; goats; donkeys; cows; dogs; roosters; chickens; geese; sheep; horses; cats
Its surface was intended to help propel devices with wheels:
1-wheel: wheelbarrows; pushcarts, play-wheel
2-wheels: bikes; motorcycles; carts, carriages
3-wheels: tuk-tuks; evolving motorbikes; wannabee cars
4-wheels: skedonks, cars, trucks, lorries, tractors
5-wheels: I’m sure there will be something I was not fortunate to see
6-wheels – 24-wheels: big, jumbo trucks
Ethiopians have an intimate relationship with their umbilical cord: it feeds, transports, brings, takes, carries, connects: it is a lifeline – regardless of the condition; whether tar, corrugated, muddy, dusty, potholed, rock-littered, trash littered
It became obvious, very quickly that vehicles take second place and they do not have right of way – they have right to stay or at least wait until the activity passes, crosses, rolls, rides, stops, peddles…
The word, concept ROAD has taken on a complete new meaning for me after Ethiopia…
I’ve tried to capture Ethiopian Life happening around, beside, in, on, at, over, under, by the Road from my rearview window. (some of the photos are not the best quality, because I really needed a faster reflex at times…)
Enjoy with me:
Drive-through Ethni-opia – from a distance
(See Gallery:photos: Ethni-opia
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