Funny Ethiopian names / bad English ?

We have seen a number of odd, funny, and just plain bad names for shops and businesses around Addis, such as "Lemon internet & stationary" and "General Treading (they meant trading) Co." Among the bad spelling and illogical menu selections we have seen the funniest include: mean dish; vegetable sandwich with meat, frout paunch (fruit punch), donate (donut), and terrormisa (tiramisu). This problem is obviously prevalent in much of the non-English speaking world, but it is probably exacerbated in Ethiopia by the fact that most people really do not enunciate their words (even Amharic words) well. We have had bus-assistants say 'Piazza' in ten different ways from 'pua-sa' to 'gi-ah-sa' we always have to be careful before we board a minibus to make sure we got things right.

There are also plenty of cryptically named clubs, associations, buildings and companies in Addis. Near the guesthouse is a gated area with a sign outside that reads "all round association". This seems puzzling to us as we cannot figure out what that means or what it does. Marc joked that maybe the Latane center should change its name to the "Latane All Round Association".

Enterprising Ethiopians

Being in Addis, one learns how enterprising people can get when they have to be creative in making a living. The youngest son of the owners of the guesthouse we stay at, Kibrum is quite an enterprising fellow (and he probably doesn't even need the money that badly). I had asked
him about where to get SIM cards for cell phones here and he explained that the supply of the SIM cards are controlled by the Telecom ministry, and so are expensive (~ US$40) and require constantly being used or topped up. Later that evening, he came by with a SIM card which
he had acquired (for free) from another guest who was leaving the country the next day. Then, he proceeded to negotiate a SIM card rental rate -- smart guy as he saw the demand and appropriately met it. He also has a small side business promoting an audio-mediation guide, which he tried to market to me unsuccessfully.

There are no multinational restaurant chains in Addis (and so presumably anywhere in Ethiopia) -- no McDonald's, Pizza huts, KFCs, etc. On the other hand, Coca-Colas, Pepsis, Sprites, and Marinda oranges are easily found everywhere in Addis. Advertising for them is also widely prevalent ? even the fence of the one of the primary schools in our neighborhood has the Coca-cola name and logo as part of the motif. Even though there are no multinational chains, there are a number of local chains in Addis, including one called Kadali's Coffee, whose logo looks suspiciously akin to Starbuck's. There are also Burger Queens, at least one Hard Rock Café (in the Piazza), an Olive Garden, and even a Hope college on Churchill road.

Everywhere you walk around Addis, one will also notice the rows of stalls that line the corners of streets. These often sell a range of items/curios from tidbits, sweets, drinks to fruits/vegetables, to housewares (pots, pans, plates), to apparel (belts, shoes, bags, clothing), to CD/DVDs. Near Addis Ababa University however, there are rows and rows of computer stalls where people (mostly students) can pay to use the computer softwares, scanners, printers, binding machines,
photo copiers (these do not have internet connection as one would have to go to an actual internet café for that). The student population at AAU is actually rather large and almost no-one owns their own computer, nor are the student spoilt with access to computer labs. So these
stalls are essential for the students to be able to turn in their assignments.

It seems like job opportunities are limited for Ethiopians, even for those who have university degrees. The owner of the internet stall I frequent is a 24 year old woman who has a degree in Management. She has a setup of 4 Acer computers in a corner unit of a building and has
called her shop "Dream Big Internet". Her English is very good, and she appears to be pretty competent, so it is a pity that she ends up spending most of the day sitting around reading fiction while waiting for customers to come by.