The millennium craze and accommodation for the guests:

Millennium Burger, Millennium Traditional Food Restaurant, Milennium...., Millennium....

The list can go on. Entrepreneurs have already been making advantage of the craze to make some fortune out of it. Hotel rooms are being expanded; various committees are set up (with the way things are going, they will set up a committee that will oversee all other committees); NGO's are getting pamphlets published; etc.

There seems to be an air of expectation in Addis. Of course, with celebrations poised to start as early as June 2007 (Sene 1999), a lot of us have something for diversion. Diversions from the housing problems, diversions from the water problems, diversions from the inflation.....

However, I wonder when I hear that around 700,000 guests are expected to come from abroad for the celebrations. It will be a massive boost for tourism and should be encouraged by all means, yet where are we going to put all these people? Do we have enough hotel rooms? I doubt. So, they're going to rent houses and prices will hike. For the ordinary Addis Abeban, it's something to worry about. I, for one, have started worrying what the proprietor will do when the contract runs out in June. Will he increase the rent? Will he tell me to leave?

More to come on this blog: Ethiopian Millennium Celebration, Inflation, the New Upper Middle class

Addis is gearing up to celebrate the millennium (for those who still think that the millennium passed 7 and 1/2 years ago, I would inform Ethiopia follows a different calendar). The government has set up a millennium celebrations committee; one hears the word 'millennium' mentioned more often; and new restaurants/cafes/ shops that bear the name 'millennium' have started showing up.

I will try to post as much as possible, as there will be more activity in Addis.

The fiasco surrounding the celebrations will be in contrast to the struggle of the poor to make ends meet because of the inflation (as high as 16%). And the new upper/ upper middle class frequenting the trendy cafes in Addis will make another interesting observation.

More is to come on this blog.....

Shoa Supermarket removed the USAID Oil cans from the stands

I happened to be in this supermarket some weeks ago and was shocked with what I saw and posted it on this blog.

Last Friday, I visited Shoa and was pleased and surprised to see that they had removed the oil cans from the stand.

Pollution and the environment in Addis - as seen by a driver

Well, Addis may not be as polluted as Bombay or Sao Paulo or Beijing. I'm afraid, however, that pollution is on the rise. Going to work early morning, I have to drive along numerous Anbessa buses, inter - city transport buses, trucks and the like. When many of these vehicles shift gears or climb steep roads, the amount of smoke that comes out is horrible to see. A driver may escape the immediate effects of the smoke by rolling up his/her windows. Yet, it's dangerous because the visibility will be threatened for some seconds - mind you an accident may happen. The smog seen in Addis (in mornings) is a witness to the long-lasting effect of the smoke.

I hear that most of these trucks or buses are old or had already been old when they were imported. The engines are not well maintained and hence the smoke. What amazes me, though, is to see brand new four wheelers bought at a very expensive price giving off black smokes. One experienced driver told me that they're smoky because they use diesel. Another person, who was from Europe and happened to be with us, remarked that he drives a car that is some years old and uses diesel but no smoke. Is the quality of the fuel that bad here?

Getting rid of all these smoky old vehicles would seem a good idea to some, but what will happen to the people whose livelihood depends on them? What comes first - the environment or putting some food on the table?

Blogspot.com has been blocked again, and a pledge to write more

I haven't been able to blog for some time now, as I've been a bit busy. But I'll try to post two blogs a week.

The situation is not very encouraging as blogspot.com has been blocked again in Ethiopia and readers here can access it only via annonymous proxies. Sad!

I encourage the readers to leave comments; there's a lot more to be said about Addis that might have escaped the blogger's attention.