You walk down alleys and hear faranjo echo from seemingly empty doorways. You go into a shop and the shopkeeper calls you faranjo before saying anything else. The entire time in Harar, “Faranjo, faranjo, faranjo.” It’s quite unreal. I think if a western doctor assisted in a pregnancy the infant would call him a faranjo before it began squawking.
It would have been much worse if we weren’t walking the city with a guide. The kids would run toward us screaming “Faranjo! Faranjo!” Then they would see our guide and be quiet. Times when the guide wasn’t immediately visible the kids would circle you saying “Faranjo” over and over jumping up and down around you. This caused the guide to yell at them and feign kicking them or chasing them. I can’t imagine how high the hassle factor would be if we didn’t have the guide. Actually, I can imagine it, which is why we got the guide in the first place.
I’m not sure if it was because everyone in Harar says faranjo with a smile or because the “o” on the end makes it seem softer but hearing farangi upon returning to Addis seems more unfriendly and distant.
2 comments:
People from Harar and the east in general are said to be more sociable than Addis (or the rest of Ethiopia), but as an Ethiopian I have never thought that could be detected by a foreigner from the west (because ppl. are more sociable in Ethiopia and Africa in general or at least I think that is the case).
And your interpretation of the faranji - faranjo differential is very right. Just very surprised u noticed that in a couple of days.
A friend in Addis whose family is from Harar told me the same thing after I told him about my experiences there. Along with being more socialble and friendly I have heard that people in Harar are also known for not beating around the bush when speaking to you and they curse an awful lot, even in normal conversation.
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