Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHO ARE THE ETHIOPIANS?
The Ethiopians are nothing if not proud, and for good reason. To them, Ethiopia has stood
out from all African nations and proved itself to be a unique world of its own - home to its
own culture, language, script, calendar and history. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and
Muslims alike revel in the fact that Ethiopia was the only nation on the continent to suc-
cessfully fight off colonisation. So strong is this sense of being unique that it's not unusual
to here Ethiopians refer to people from other parts of Africa as 'Africans', as if they them-
selves were nothing to do with the rest of the continent!
But with their pride comes other traits. The
Ethiopians can be a stubborn, violent and xeno-
phobic people; but on the flipside they can be
incredibly gregarious, warm, welcoming and
kind and will often go miles out of their way to
help a stranger. Proud though they are, it wasn't
long ago that many Ethiopians seemed desper-
ate to be somebody else. Many of the younger generations, brought up on hand-outs by aid
agencies, were anything but proud of Ethiopia and sometimes it felt as if every other young
Ethiopian you met, at least in urban areas, wanted to run away to America. Fortunately,
over the last couple of years, as Ethiopia increasingly takes its place on the regional and
world stage, that attitude seems to be becoming rarer. In fact, nowadays there's an undeni-
able sense of optimism among most Ethiopians.
The highlands have been dominated by a dis-
tinctive form of Christianity since the 4th cen-
tury. Although undeniably devout and keen to
dispense centuries' worth of Orthodox legends
and tales dating back to Aksum and the Ark of
the Covenant, Christians, like all Ethiopians,
nonetheless still cling to a surprising amount of
magic and superstition.
Belief in
zar
(spirits or genies) and
buda
(the evil eye with the power to turn people into
mischievous hyenas by night) is rife and as such even Christians adorn their children, from
baptism, with charms or talismans around their necks to deter such spirits and terrible dis-
eases.
Want to woo the locals and have some serious fun
streetside? Hone your table-tennis and table-foot-
ball skills before arriving!
According to Homer the ancient Greek Gods often
travelled to the edges of the Hellenic world to enjoy
the company of a people who, unlike Mediter-
ranean man and his gods, were renowned for their
grace and virtue: the blameless Ethiopians.
