It was just another day on the streets of Addis when I came across a policewoman hell bent on making me pay for all that's wrong with the transportation woes of Ethiopia. Seriously? That's a list that has no end.
Johanna arrived from Toronto December 23rd. She was pretty impressed with my ability, against all odds, to negotiate the streets of Addis. It was around 5 pm, December 24th and we decided to nip out to the store to pick up some veggies. The time of day is important because rush hour in Addis is like nothing you can imagine. We were driving along Ring Road, approaching the exit for Gurgi. It would be nice if an exit could be one lane, but this is Addis so imagine 4-5 crowded lanes trying to enter into the roundabout while I'm trying to get over so I can make a right hand turn. Trust me, getting over isn't the hard part. The difficulty lies in the numerous vendors approaching the car to sell you something, the beggars approaching from both sides and cars trying to cut you off. Typically I am not distracted by vendors, but one was selling soccer balls and I wanted to bring one to Tanzania. So after negotiating a price because Aynalem was with us and she said the first price was too high I was feeling pretty pleased. Remember this is all happening in what could only be described as "grid lock". I mean we weren't moving (rush hour) so why not shop? I had just begun to move when this beggar approaches the car. He had no hands and had a bag hooked over his arms. How do you say no to such obvious need? Anyways I put money in his bag and began to creep into my lane when this "horror" jumps in front of my car and frantically gestures to me to pull over. Oh and by horror I mean a female cop, tall as she was wide, eyes bulging with venom and smoke coming out of her ears. She approaches my car and screams "licence". That was the only English she spoke. She takes my licence, goes across the street, confers with 2 other cops then walks past my car and starts writing up what I can only assume is a ticket seeing as she has not said a word to me other than screaming "licence". So then she comes back to the car and gives me the ticket. I'm thinking based on the level of aggression and contempt she is displaying that I must be guilty of some pretty serious crime. What did I do, I ask? At this point she starts yelling in Amharic. Yup, clearly, "licence" is her only English word. I've been in Ethiopia 5 months, but I'm not sure living here for 5 years would make a difference. Let me try to help you understand the language spoken throughout Ethiopia. Consider an episode of Star Trek. Now try to remember those scenes with Captain Kirk and the Klingons. Now here's an interesting fact. Klingon was a constructed language that was deliberately designed to sound "alien". Well as Police Woman of the Year continued to rant at me all I could think was that she sounded just like a Klingon. Not sure how long this would have gone on, but fortunately Aynalem was in the car with us so she got out and went over to the cop to find out what my crime was. From the length of time it took she-Cop to explain my offence to Aynalem I was pretty sure it had to be something pretty serious. Anyhoo, the net result was that I received a ticket for 180 Birr (around $9) and she took my licence. I asked if I could pay it now and was told no. I asked where I had to go, but all Aynalem could get was a phone number to call the next day to get instructions. Great, no license and absolutely no idea how I was going to get it back and all because (wait for it) I had given money to a beggar that approached my car. The Official Offence, that was later translated for me: Not following the rules. I was being punished for trying to help with a problem cops choose to ignore. Sure punish me rather than address this serious poverty issue. And as to Not Following the Rules: Seriously, where do I start with that one? I guess they have to have a generic catch all offence given that there do not appear to be rules, so who knew??
The next day Paul's Admin (Meseret) and his driver (Robel) came by the house to drop off a Christmas present from the office. We mentioned my encounter with she-Cop and they graciously offered to take us to the Police station. All I can say is had they not offered their assistance I'm not sure how we would have resolved my problem. Robel knew where to go so first we drove to the place to pay the ticket. There were two wickets and around 10 people milling about trying to pay their tickets. There were no orderly lines just people extending their arms towards the wickets and jamming their tickets through the window. I wasn't sure how the faceless person behind the glass kept track, but some how tickets were presented and money exchanged. Imagine my confusion when my receipt came back, but I still didn't have my licence. Again, thank goodness for Meseret who was able to ask and determine that now we had to drive to the Bole Police station. Typical of Ethiopia that nothing is ever simple and not knowing the language only made it worse. We drove to the station and I was worried that they would be closed for the lunch hour, but Merry Christmas they were open and they had my licence.
Well through this experience I have learned my lesson. If I give money to a beggar it will only be if Paul and I are out walking. I'm not going to ever be accused and found guilty again of contributing to traffic chaos. Seems so ridiculous that I was singled out as after all it was just another day on the roads of Addis.
