The last leg of my travels took me Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa was unlike any place I had been thus far. The five million people living in the city made New York look like a small community. There were so many people roaming the streets that it was nearly impossible for a person to get anywhere by walking. Although there were so many people in the city, Addis Ababa was the poorest-looking city I had seen. Every-which way I looked I saw rundown shacks and people sleeping on the streets. It was also the first time that I had seen people begging for money on every corner.
I spent the second day taking a tour of the city and visiting the national museum. The taxi driver took me around the city to some of the many conference centers and international business areas. We passed many monuments and historical statues as we made our way to one of East Africa’s largest markets. The market went on for miles in every direction and you could buy anything from lamps to car tires to foods. The little streets were packed with people buying and selling their goods. After we finally made our way out of the market area we headed to the national museum. The museum was full of artifacts from the time when kings and queens ruled the area. They also had clothing, jewelry, tools, and music from the different areas of the country. Ethiopia is an enormous country and each area of the country has a unique culture, vastly different from the others. Ethiopia has a very rich history related to science. According to science, humans first inhabited the northern parts of Ethiopia. Lucy, the part man, part ape, was found in northern Ethiopia. I was excited to see the bones of Lucy in the museum until someone asked if they were the actual bones. To my disappointment, I was looking at a replica of the bones. And of course where can I find the real bones? America.
On my final day in Ethiopia, I had a taxi driver drive me to the Entoto Mountains right outside the city. We were in a rather old taxi and there were several times when I thought the taxi was not going to make it up some of the very steep and narrow pathways. At the top of the mountain lies two old churches that I had the chance to explore. The church was circular and was built several hundred years ago. Behind the church was a monastery that used to be the home of a king and queen who ruled the city. A tour guide took me through the house/palace, which consisted of limestone walls and juniper floors. The back of the palace overlooked the entire city. It would have been an incredibly beautiful view, but the smog and pollution of the city is so bad that I could barely make out any buildings below. After the first church, we headed a little farther up the mountain to the second church, which was a stone church built over 700 years ago. The church was carved into the limestone, which consisted of three small chambers-one for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit.
After visiting the mountain, I spent the rest of the day preparing for my flight home. It was actually quite difficult to figure out how to pack all the new souvenirs I had purchased into my suitcase that was already at maximum capacity. It took several attempts of turning and twisting the items to finally get the zipper of the suitcase to close.
My flight the next morning took me through The United Arab Emirates to Dubai. I had a seven hour layover in the city, so where did I go? To the world’s largest mall, of course. I had planned to take a taxi to the mall, but when I asked where to get a taxi, a man told me I should take the metro because it was cheaper. So, I quickly figured out how to use the metro and determined my route to the mall and off I went. I thought Africa was hot, but Africa was enjoyable compared to the Middle East. I started sweating in the air-conditioned metro before I even stepped foot outside. It felt like I was walking around on the sun.
Dubai is one of the wealthiest cities in the world and it was evident from the minute I stepped off the plane. I have never seen a cleaner city in my life. The ground was so clean I was tempted to eat on the floor. Dubai is quite a contrast from the poverty I saw in Addis Ababa. Multi-million dollar buildings covered the skies. Dubai is also home to the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s tallest building. It is attached to the Dubai Mall, so when I got off the metro, I was greeted with this incomprehensible building. It made you feel as if you were an ant looking up at a cornstalk. After I finally grasped the magnitude of this mega structure, I headed into the mall.
The first thing saw when I entered the mall was this massive aquarium. One of the unbelievable amenities in the mall was a multi-million gallon saltwater aquarium complete with sharks, rays, sea turtles, and every fish you can imagine. There is a massive tunnel that takes you through the aquarium-it sure puts the aquarium at The Henry Doorly Zoo to shame. I made my way to the touch-screen interactive map of the mall, which told me exactly how to get to any place in the mall. I found my way to my favorite store, thinking I would buy a few things. However, after looking at the price tag and doing a little conversion, I understood that I would not be buying any clothing from Dubai unless I planned to drop out of school. The prices in the mall were unbelievable.
After I realized that I was not going to be making any purchases, I headed to the food court. I was like a kid in a candy store. I could choose from almost any American restaurant you can imagine-Taco Bell, KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Outback Steakhouse, or Rainforest Café. I chose to enjoy a delicious Subway as I watched all the people enjoying American food.
I continued walking through the multi-leveled mall until I came across a massive ice rink in the middle of one section. Across from the ice rink was a megaplex movie theater, which was right next to an indoor amusement park. I made my way to the Dubai fountains right next to the Burj Khalifa to watch the spectacular water show.
As I made my way back to the metro I thought I would stop in one more store to see if I could buy a pair of sunglasses. I found a great pair of sunglasses that I was about to purchase. I quickly did the conversion one more time and realized that instead of $40 USD the sunglasses cost $400 USD. Needless to say, I walked away from the mall empty handed.
No comments:
Post a Comment