November 20, 2006
Gunfire at the Meta brewery
A quiet Sunday afternoon at the Meta brewery. Three adults and one baby boy sitting back having a beer/milk, enjoying the late afternoon sun, watching a wedding party getting noisier and noisier outside the main visitor centre.
Everyone was drinking and singing and clapping and dancing and drinking. About half an hour in, some of the younger men started tussling on the edge of the crowd. Nothing too serious. The bride and groom drove off in a car covered in ribbons and everything calmed down.
People started drifting towards the front of the visitor centre, wandering about on the road that ran along the shaded grassy bank where we were sitting. The guys started shouting again, lunging at each other in packed crowds. Girlfriends in shiny dresses dived in, screaming and trying to drag their men away. Nothing more than you would see in many English towns on a Saturday night.
The screaming suddenly got louder and people started running in all directions, leaving a gap in the middle of the crowd. People started picking up rocks and throwing them at anyone within range. A man in a suit and open necked white shirt stumbled forward carrying a five foot length of telegraph pole. He looked around for someone to hit, saw a 30-something woman in traditional dress, raised the pole above his head and brought it down on her neck.
It was then that I noticed the doddery old guard standing next to our table on the bank. He was pulling down on a lever on his equally aged rifle (so they do load those things). He aimed it into the air and fired off an ear-shattering round.
Three adults and one bawling baby decided to run away very quickly and take shelter in the bar building. Everyone we passed on the way had something to say.
"Chiggur yellem, chiggur yellem" (No problem, no problem) said one of the guests.
"Ethiopian men and alcohol," said another standing close to the door as the guard fired again.
Inside a smartly suited man sitting at one of the tables leaned forward and wagged his finger at me. "Don't talk," he said. "Don't tell anyone."
Posted by aheavens at November 20, 2006 4:20 AM
Comments
That's very weird.
Posted by: Tobian at November 20, 2006 3:28 PM
Yes, voilence has tradition in Ethiopia and like the smartly suited man said the less you talk about it the less it seems to happen.
Posted by: tom at November 20, 2006 11:12 PM
Ethiopian men can be so violent towards women. How could he hit a woman on the neck? What happened to her? Did you try to find out if she was okay?
Don't tell anyone. Yep that sums up how we deal with violence. Cover it up.
Posted by: safiya at November 20, 2006 11:18 PM
so was it a brawl??
Posted by: level at November 21, 2006 3:07 AM
Andrew,we curious people are dyin to know what happened to that woman???? In other news any post we should expect on the ADF that ended last week?
Posted by: curious at November 21, 2006 8:00 AM
Thanks for your answer.
Posted by: safiya at November 22, 2006 2:56 PM
If that scene played out here in the U.S., the young man would've pulled out a pistol and bullets would be flying in all directions. I still feel safer when I'm in Ethiopia.
Posted by: WeblogEthiopia at November 23, 2006 8:24 AM