The Pedestrian, the Swagger and the Elf

When we first travelled in Addis Ababa, it was by car. The impression we got was that most pedestrians seemed to possess some sort of death wish or at least a kind of collective suicidal psychosis. They wandered into the road with a nonchalance that make Usian Bolt's casual gait look like Poirot's nervous little shuffle. The pedestrians didn't look, they just walked into the road seemingly, without a care in the world. 

Now, in most places in the world, this would spell carnage. Imagine doing this any town in the world; horror! Even Stanstead Abbotts high street would be converted into more than exciting episode of Casualty. We used to joke that in some parts of Latin America, the first, and possibly only rule of the road was that "small gives way to big". The pecking order went something like this: dog, pedestrian, cyclist, motor cyclist, car, small truck, bus and finally, atop the metaphorical transportational hierarchy, the big truck. This was no joke however; it was reality! 

Here in Ethiopia, it seems to be the complete opposite. In Ethiopia, the drivers do not run the pedestrian down, they slow down and politely avoid them. The use of the horn is reserved for warning the pedestrian that he, the driver, may not be able to swerve to avoid him, the pedestrian, in time.  We found out later that this is the law on almost every road in this country. It actually works really well; there is a sort of poetry in the way Ethiopian traffic flows. We must conclude that here, the pedestrian rules.

A second, observation-related to the first-is what I have called "the Ethiopian Swagger": a way of moving in the street in a most notable manner. The finest proponents of which are young people between 20 and 30. I mentioned nonchalance earlier, well this way of walking is nonchalance embodied! It is a combination of the speed--not above 70 steps a minute--and torso movement--right shoulder moving forward as left leg goes forward. There is something in the arm movement as well--the arms swing in time with the shoulders at the same time that the elbows bend. It is with this swagger that Ethiopians cross roads with confidence. At this point it is important to note that white, middle aged theologians cannot do this...well, not without looking a cross between an arthritic emu and Michael Jackson moonwalking! 

Finally, I must relate an incident that occurred as we walked home from the town centre in Me'kele. We had stopped to rest whilst walking up very steep hill (please note we are at 2040m). A women with, what we took to be a rather small Ethiopian Elf or possibly a local cherub were walking down hill. It could have been her son or grandson but from the empirical evidence I'm convinced of the former theory. This was further supported when he smiled and waved at us. We waved back. Much to the embarrassment and shock of his guardian and companion, the elf broke away from her and ran up to us. We shook hands, the woman had her hands over her mouth but he ran back contented that he had had given us a new experience or at least a repeated experience of the wonderfully friendly Ethiopian people.