Ethiopia Self

It seems there are many selves that inhabit my body. I have my improvisation self that I use when I am doing improvisational comedy on stage. This is the body where I adapt to change and ambiguity very quickly. I feel the improvisation body when I feel an expanse of chaos opening up around me. My body and tongue moves with the training and discipline of an improviser at the expense of careful reflection and varied interpretation.
Just this week I realized that I have another self that I developed while in Ethiopia. Whereas my improvisation body was trained through classes and refined through practice. My Ethiopia body was trained by the country itself. Countries train your body so that you make sense within the country. To be a little less figurative, people inside countries have facial expressions, gesticulations, and body movements. People reward you through nonverbal communication (smiles, eye contact, ect.) if you conform or at least connect with these non verbal behaviors.
Let me tell a story to ground the explanation in a lived experience. My wife and I were at her company’s diversity themed picnic. Wearing of ethnic dress was encouraged at this picnic. We weren’t sure if we were required to wear our own ethnic dress or just any dress that was strongly identified with an ethnicity, so we chose to wear our Ethiopian clothes. Jessi wore her Oromo dress and I wore my cotton Ethiopian long shirt. We figured that since current research tracing mitochondrial DNA traces (www.fwquestclub.com/welcome_files/papers/dna.pdf) all humanity back to Ethiopia, we had a good claim to Ethiopia’s ethnic dress. As we were walking to our car we saw two Ethiopian ladies shining a bright smile on both Jessi and I. We walked by them with a smile, then were drawn to turn around.

“You are wearing our culture clothes.” A lady said, starting a conversation.
“We just returned from Ethiopia a month ago.” We put out there as a hook for more conversation.
“Where do you live?” An interesting question posed by a man who just arrived to meet the two Ethiopian ladies.
“We are from uptown.” My wife and I respond. Identifying our uptown village pride.
Soon both my wife and I fell into our Ethiopia selves. My personal bubble shrank as I began talking to the male in the group. Jessi started gesticulating expressively. She then sought to explain the traditional medicine we had while sick in Ethiopia. She bent down and picked up a weed that resembled the leaves of medicine we took. As she pointed to the weed, I knew that she picked up right where we left off when in Ethiopia. She would never pluck grass from the ground and gesticulate like she was doing if she were explain something to a native United States-ian. In fact even she wouldn’t do it for a person from outside the US. This form of expressive and improvisational communication was the residual effect of our experience trying to communicate sans-lingua with people in Ethiopia. The accent, skin tone and knowledge that these strangers were from Ethiopia probably triggered the change. Before I know it Jessi was holding hands with the lady while trying to come up with the word for the medicinal plant.

Categorical Imperative, Training, Social Disorders

Now that I am back in the United States, I notice new things about myself. I am more bold with making things work that I would otherwise accept as part of a system. For example, the bus driver said that I didn’t have enough fare for the ride. First I tried to give him some Euros, which was worth more than the fare, then I appealed to his sense of family, “you can give this to your grandson, it is from Europe.” Then I tried appealing to his sense of pity, “please I can’t get the next bus because I would miss my flight.” When I realized that he was not working with me, I just ran off the bus at the stoplight, ran into a dry cleaner I had done business with earlier that day, “please, I am a loyal customer, I need change quick for the bus, that is my bus there, see?” I was able to get change and run back onto the bus, just in time. Upon reflecting on this situation, I wonder if I would have done this had I not spend two months in Africa. You see, if you allow them, different countries train you to operate within them. My experience in Ethiopia taught me that everything is negotiable: Prices, “how much is this traditional Ethiopian Toga? 300? I will offer you 100.” Policies, “The tej bet is now closed” “Please allow me in, I need to try this Ethiopian treasure of yours.” Statuses, “For 200 birr, we will turn this bus into a personal taxi for you if you need it.” Even sides of the road were negotiable. When a wedding was blocking the southbound side of the road, a group of south bound drivers decided on taking the northbound road until we passed the wedding party, essentially negotiating which side of the road could be driven on. Clearly nobody has read the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals where Immanuel Kant declares the categorical imperative which goes something like, “if it is right in one case, it is right in all cases.” This idea of morality is uniquely Western and is not the case in either Asia or as I just learned Africa. Is the rest of the world more willing to negotiate, can they see the systems, processes, interactions, identities as more situation specific? Perhaps in a Western world where systems, infrastructure, mechanics work regularly, it is easier to see things as non negotiable.

The training that countries give you, if you are paying attention are valueable and are useful even when you leave. For example, while sitting here waiting for a flight, I noticed a European accent coming from a mouth of a person sitting next to me. I then realized I had Euros in my pocket that needed trading. I introduced myself to the lady next to me and then traded them at the bank rate. Both of us got a good deal and neither of us had to pay a bank for the transaction fee, which would have been quite steep on a mere 5 Euros. Would I have I thought of this opportunity or been so bold as to take it had I not been trained in negotiation as I had just been in Africa? Would I have thought to myself, “banks are for trading currency, therefore I must find a bank and pay a commission in order to turn my Euros into Dollars.”

One training I received was to save little pieces of rubbish that could be useful later. After a few experiences throwing something away, an empty bottle, a long piece of string, a plastic bag, I realized I could have used them later. I needed to store some liquid while in the village and I wondered why I had thrown away the plastic bottle. I had needed something to tie some clothes together and I wondered why I had thrown it away earlier, ect. So on my way walking to the terminal here now that I am back, just had second thoughts about recycling this little paper bag that contained my bagel. This is a sturdy little plastic bag, it could come in handy. I thought, a split second before I thought, this is what hoarders things. Right, I am throwing this away right now. But the place I was just in had trained me to be resourceful with what I had. This makes me think, is what is termed resourceful in one circumstance, termed a social disability in another circumstance. Maybe all social disabilities are just adaptations to situations that do not exist.

Intercultural Tip: Consider bizarre cultural behavior as an adaptation to situations you have not yet seen.

Male and Female work

My experience in Africa highlights the difference in gendered work. As I am walking along the streets I see men operating on motorcycles, pounding metal into a usable part, waiting tables and waiting at a taxi stand. I see women sitting behind market stalls, mixing flour into dough and rolling chat leaves into bundles. In my mind I struggle to find the difference in gendered work from what I can see on the street. From what I am seeing on the street (ie. Not what is indicated by larger studies of male and female work life)… Both men and women are doing physically toiling work. Both men and women are earning equally low pay. Both men and women are in various positions of status. Overall there may be gendered differences that I cannot see during my exploration of various towns, villages and cities. However, in contrast, there is one difference that shines out clear as day.

It is related to payout and revenue. Men are largely engaged in activities that have no incremental revenue, but a large payout at a specific point in time. Women are engaged in activities that have steady incremental revenue. For example men at a taxi stand will not make any money for hours, but then make a large amount of money after a drive. A woman behind a stall earns a little every hour the market is open and is steadily active during the time. A man working on a motorcycle is paid in one portion once the project is successfully completed. A women rolling chat can steadily earn a little each bundle she rolls.

Is there such a thing as feminine and masculine working styles at a fundamental level? We have seen the arguments showing gendered lines of work between income (women earn less), physical toil (men do more hard labor) traditional roles (women do teaching). But what about women earn their amount bit by bit and men risk not earning anything until one big payoff. In the business world I can see these styles applied to business situations. This is what I have heard:

Feminine: “We just need to roll up our sleeves and work on this project every day and keep chipping away at the problem”

Masculine: “We need a new strategy that will pay off big.”

Feminine: “Just keep working on it and eventually we will have a quality project that people will like”

Masculine: “We need a new idea or product”

Perhaps these different styles come down to the sexual fact that women bore children and needed regular sources of goods to take care of regular eating habits. Perhaps these differences relate to gendered notions of risk. Perhaps these differences contribute to the theory that men went out for days on the hunt while women incrementally added to the value of the group by gathering nuts and berries.

Markets and Taxi Cartels

During my first few days in Addis Ababa I was spending nearly 10 dollars a day on transportation. The price was ridiculous. That is the price of a whole day’s worth of delicious meals and macchiato breaks between each meal. I knew there was a market disparity because of my white skin, but could it have been so high? 10 dollars is what most Ethiopians make in a week, so there must be another way. I tried bargaining at taxi stands. However this quickly turned futile as the men quickly locked in on a price. Before I go on further about pricing, let me refresh you on a brief economics lesson on markets and prices.
In a free market, services are priced at a certain point. (Let’s say 10 for one taxi ride) At this price point providers of services enter the market ("I can make a weeks wages if I find just one foreigner, I'm in!!"). A flood of service people enter the market ("Looks like these guys all had the same idea, so much for the easy $10.") At this point there is more supply of service than demand and service providers must compete. Service providers can either compete on price or service ("These fools have dirty cars, I will have the cleanest and rake in all the customers." or "So much for my $10 lottery ticket, I will increase my chances if I lower my price to $9"). Those who can't provide a better service or lower price, can't compete, do not get the customers and leave the market (I'm going back to making a sure $10 a week verses waiting for the $10 lottery ticket that prefers cleaner cars and $9 rides"). Eventually the market achieves a state of equilibrium where there are just the right amount of services for the amount people are willing to make.
The scenario presupposes two things free markets and competitive forces. Two things that exist in abundance in the Western World I inhabit, but do not exactly work as such in other areas of the world. I should have remembered that men at taxi stands quickly apply cartel pricing when I start to apply competitive forces to achieve a price that is more fair. Cartel pricing is also called fixed pricing. If everybody locks in their heels on a price, then everyone will get richer. This is such an effective strategy for business, that governments around the world have strict laws forbidding cartel pricing.
Cartel pricing and competitive forces sounds rather academic. Here is how I imagine these two concepts sound.
"Listen Tagle, you can't park your taxi here at this taxi park because you cheated all of us by offering to drive the foreigner for $9. Get out of here, and you can't come to my birthday party either"
"I needed the $9 you guys. Since your nephew brought his taxi to our stand were are not seven at this stand it is getting crowded. 9$ was a lot better than my one in seven chance of getting $10."
"You sound like an economist, get out of here and teach a class."

The long and the short of it was that I was not going to pay wildly inflated prices. It wasn't so much a money thing as a being cheated because I am a foreigner thing. Some foreigners have experienced affluence guilt and pay inflated prices to assuage their feeling of good fortune. However, I know that I have a set amount to spend in a county. That money can either be spent on people providing services and products that are worthwhile or the money can be spent on cheats and over chargers. The charitable advantage to spending money on things that are worthwhile is that you encourage people doing work for money verses people waiting half the day at a taxi stand for the lotto ticket foreigner.

Crime, Money, Relationship

Addis Ababa a poor and densely populated city. It suffers from the ills of all modern capital cities, traffic jams, pollution, pick pockets, noise, begging, prostitution.... Did you notice something missing from this list of modern ills? There is one element that would have drastically and irrevocably affected my stay there, violent street crime. This is not to say that violent crime is non existent, but by comparison to the other capital cities in Africa, Addis Ababa is a Garden of Eden.
I have been in much wealthier countries including my own where I feared for my personal safety much more than I did while in Addis. This is not just my own perception either, friends and acquaintances, locals and tourists I had spoken to all agreed that Addis Ababa is unique in its safety for both tourists and Ethiopians. That got me to thinking...
The typical liberal ideology with which I was raised held that poverty causes crime. If people had more opportunity they would commit less street crime. The dangerous neighborhoods were those without jobs, money or opportunity.
By extension one would think that a city where people are sleeping in shacks or under boxes on the street would be very dangerous. But it is not.
So what is happening? One ideas is that absolute poverty is not the cause in crime, but relative poverty is the problem. So, if everybody else is poor, one doesn't feel compelled to perpetrate crimes to make the overall relative wealth more even. However, this did not seem to be the case as there were plenty of rich folks in Addis who were driving Range Rovers and eating large carnivorousness meals on cafe tables for all to see.
Another ideas is that they lack weaponry to make crimes. However, one only needs a kitchen knife for a personal robbery and Ethiopia has plenty of wicked traditional weapons that would also do the job. Moreover, it boarders Somalia which is a virtual America personal firearms with AK-47s going for about $5.
Another idea I still hear pushed around by people trying to explain violent crime is this idea of homogeneity. For example, Japan and Scandanavia don't have street crime because they are homogeneous societies. Ethiopia has a wealth of ethnic and tribal diversity, there are around 80 spoken languages. Plus the country has serious Balkanization pressures with various groups that have struggled and succeeded and others currently struggling for independence from Ethiopia.
Another ideas is that it is a peaceful country, but with a vicious war with Eritrea ending in 1991 and the invasion of Mogadishu in 2006, the state has plenty of blood on its hands. But none the less this political violence does not trickle down to one on one street violence that can be felt and seen on the street.
So what could it be?
Could it be that the people are less materialistic? Kids kill for flashy sneakers in the L.A. Is the commercial pressure less intense in Ethiopia so that people identify more as a member of their family, community and tribe and less as a wearer of clothes,flashers of bling, consumers of consumables?
Could it be that since opportunities for creating material wealth are so limited, that people focus on other forms of wealth. Such as being a wealth of stories in their community, or making a wealth of traditional baskets, or being a wealth of compassion for those needing it.
Maybe the entire idea of human relationship is different. Efficient economic systems are able to reduce individuals to their productive and consumptive behaviors. With this reduction of people, it is easier to see a person walking down the street as a carrier of money to be beaten out of. Perhaps in inefficient economic systems, people are hold a richer notions of human relationship.

Marathons, Sudoku and intercultural adventure,

During an argument about the importance of first impressions and etiquette, I had to stop myself and determine why I was getting so heated about the topic. Why was I insistent on making the best impression as possible even thought it may not have mattered? In fact locals usually expect foreigners to display a certain level of ignorance with local customs, so its not like I am really going to offend people. Also, its not that I am trying to curry favor with someone, usually the person I am trying to work with has little influence over events. So what is it? I realized that it is a game that I am playing, not a little game but a game like marathon games. A game like chess game. I realize that intercultural interaction is my chess, marathons and sudoku. It is a game that I have been competing in since my first trip to Oxford.
I remember my first day in Oxford. I walked into a coffee shop and was puzzling over the coffee selections.
"What is a Canned Coffee?" I ask in my best English accent.
"Its something those Americans like."
"Well in that case I will have an espresso."
This is my first intercultural game and I scored points here. But what is it? What did I gain out of this? Why was I thrilled? I know it wasn't because I was ashamed to be an American. Nor was it because I wanted to trick people. It also wansn't because I like fitting in. Any friends from high school will attest to this. What I realized was that her assumption that I was not American proved that I had accurately "code switched". This is a term in the field to describe a shifting of language or ques that communicate on a deeper cultural level. Think shifting you guys to you all. Or shifting from "diversity initiative" to "inclusion".
Why do I like this intercultural game? Probably because it was a skill I developed while moving around the country as much as I did. People tend to like challenges they have a head start in. Besides, why do people like marathons or sudoku? It's a challenge that pushes them to the next level.
So what can one do with these intercultural skills? Lets ask Karen Armstrong. I would appreciate your comments on how this blog post connects with Armstrongs talk.

Safety Matches

When I bought matches to do some grilling, I had always wondered why box indicated "safety matches." What was so safe about these matches? Were other matches dangerous? Aren't all matches dangerous in the hands of the wrong person.
So, I concluded that the word safety on the box of matches was just there to satisfy some advertising need. Perhaps it made people feed better playing with Prometheus' creation. This I thought before I went to Uganda.
There I encountered Krishna Matches. They had a nice little picture on the matchbook of the blue Hindu Messiah smiling as he brings you the ability to make fire. After the electricity went out one day I was happy I had saved my Krishna matches to light a candle. I struck the match against the rough striking surface and the head of the match started on fire, broke off and fell into my lap. I slapped out the flame in my lap. That is when I revised my explanation of "safety" in "safety matches".