I Am Officially A Housewife.

I mentioned that shopping – especially for durable goods – was a challenge to us during our first few weeks in Ethiopia. This is how I described the duty-free process in an e-mail message to my sister on June 14, 1995:

“Ever since we arrived – seven weeks ago – we have been trying to acquire ‘duty-free status’ which exempts us from paying huge taxes on imported goods. When I say huge I’m not kidding: people who buy cars here often have to pay import duties of 100%. We are eligible for duty-free status because we are foreigners working for an NGO, but it’s not that easy. First, we had to get work permits, which sounds simple enough, but for some reason J. had to get another entry visa, despite the fact that he was already in the country and had an entry visa from the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC. After the work permit (Which J. had to get but I didn’t, because I am officially a ‘housewife’…) we had to get our residence permits, which took another two weeks. Then FH had to write a letter requesting duty-free status for us, and THEN we had to write a list of all the things we want to buy at the duty free store. Finally, today, we are able to take our official list and letter down to the store and make our purchases. It’s a good thing FH had a fridge and stove we could use in the meantime, or we would be hungry and cranky people.

…I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining, because I’m not. We are very comfortable here, just surprised at some unexpected requirements. …At most stores here what merchandise they have isn’t available to the customers. Instead, they will have one item on display, and if you want one you have to go to the counter and ask a clerk to get it for you. The clerk fills out a list, and then you pay for your purchases, and only then do you actually get your hands on the goods. Thankfully, this is mostly not the case at food stores, or I would be insane by now.”

Turns out we didn’t get to the duty-free store for a couple of weeks, but we didn’t let that stop us from using the oven:

“We have begun to experiment recently with our gas oven, and have been pleased with the results. The reason we’re experimenting is that the oven control has numbers from 1 to 9 on it, and we don’t know what temperatures those numbers correspond to. Also, we’re working with ingredients that are not quite what the recipe calls for. We tried making cornbread last night with maize grits instead of cornmeal, and it turned out to be tasty, if a little crunchier than usual. …Bread is always an experimental proposition here because of the altitude: we’re never sure if it’s going to rise properly. We’re going to try some banana bread tomorrow, with bananas that we picked off the tree ourselves when we were down country last week. Mmmm! We have found it quite challenging to light the oven with a match. I am always afraid that it’s going to explode. But we are going to buy a new oven soon, and we’re hoping that a newer model will be easier to work with.” (June 14, 1995)

What about groceries? We generally bought our food at the relatively expensive markets that catered to foreigners; there was one just around the corner from our apartment, and a couple more across town. One of our favorites was the 7-11.

At the "7-11" on Jimma Road. The clerks wore authentic convenience store uniforms.

 As you can see, there were piles of fresh produce – cabbages, pineapples, bananas, citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, and red onions (which I think were actually shallots). There was also an ever-changing rotation of imported goods from South Africa, Europe, and the United States. We were pretty skeptical of buying locally butchered meat, but grains and legumes were readily available so we fell back on our largely vegetarian (and relatively cheap) grad-student diet of lentils, rice, and beans. In the early days we would splurge on imported cans of Quaker Oats and then use the cans for kitchen storage.

“We just bought another can of oatmeal, so we have been splitting our breakfasts between oatmeal and scrambled eggs. J. makes a really nice scrambled eggs with cheese. Eggs cost 40 centimes apiece, that’s about 7 US cents each, so it’s comparable to home. But they aren’t sold in dozens. Instead, you choose your eggs from a big flat, and they put them in a paper bag for you to carry home. I’m always worried that I’m going to smash them, but it hasn’t happened yet.” (June 25, 1995)

Here’s a picture of my sous chef at the kitchen table in our apartment, trimming up some green beans for dinner. Pardon the mess.