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.