"Are Those People.or Dolls?"

On Tuesday, the leader of the mother tongue literacy project took all of the workshop participants out for an appreciation dinner. We went to a fancy cultural restaurant and ate traditional food. Then afterward, we were taken to the place foreigners go to escape culture stress – the Sheraton Hotel. Now we had heard stories of the Sheraton and how it was over-the-top luxury whereas outside its doors lie heart-breaking poverty-stricken people of Addis Ababa. We’ve been told that one night at the Sheraton will run anywhere between $300-$1200 – making the cheapest room at least 6 months salary for most Ethiopians.

 

So, in we drove, past the HUGE gates that block out the real world and into a world so foreign to us, yet strangely familiar. Several times as we walked around the hotel, I mentioned to Andrea, “this feels so much like Chicago” as most Moody students enjoyed dropping in on the fancy hotel lobbies occasionally. The main reason for our visit was to enjoy the dancing fountains in the gardens behind the main building. Apparently they were designed by the same guy who made the dancing fountains in Las Vegas so this was no cheap imitation job. For probably 30-40 minutes we stood, watching the various types of fountains dance to the music that resonated through the courtyard.

 

It was fun to see the reactions of these 7 rural guys as they experienced the Sheraton. As we were walking in, they commented about the lawn ornaments, especially like the Santa Clauses playing the saxophone. In the lobby, we found a model of the grounds which was interesting for them to see since its hard for them to picture what a building and grounds look like from the air. During the fountain show, it was hilarious to see 5 or 6 of them lined up with their cell phones out taking pictures and/or videos, no doubt to show friends back home (cell phones are cheaper over here than in the States so most employed people have them). The outdoor pool area was huge and luxurious, something we could enjoy for a day if we dropped $18 a piece. When I asked them about a particular lawn ornament, the snowman, they agreed that it was an “ashangolit” which is the basic word for “doll.” This word “ashangolit” came up again when we poked out head into the restaurant/bar area that had live music on stage. This American band was very interesting, even for us, I can’t quite explain it. All of them were wearing REALLY flashy sequins from head to toe and the “diva” singer had the biggest Afro I’ve ever seen, with a body shape that followed suit. As we were walking away from this area, one of the Shenasha guys asked “are those real people or are they dolls (ashangolit)?” We could definitely sympathize with their confusion.