October 9, 2005
Fat in Addis
The day after I got back I bumped into an Ethiopian friend in the UN compound in the centre of the city. She greeted me with three kisses and the words "Why Andrew, you have put on so much weight".
She was quite right of course. Three weeks of Caledonian 80 Shilling and the best fish and chips in Edinburgh will do that to you. But it still took me aback.
It took me a few seconds to realise that she was actually paying me a compliment. In the UK, it is the last thing you would say to someone returning from their holidays. Over there, people congratulate each other on how much weight they've lost. Here, apparently, it is the other way around. (Another friend here told me she was once hugged by a Bangladeshi friend and told she looked as fat as a pig).
Posted by aheavens at October 9, 2005 4:36 PM