Kickbacks and Kindness

I’ve mentioned the whole getting my laptop stolen, but here’s a quick run-down of the story:

The cousin-man and I started on our way down to Konso from Addis Ababa, planning on a quick stop in Awassa, which breaks the fourteen hour trip up nicely. We ended up at a less than fantastic hotel under less than ideal circumstances and planned to make the best of it- see the area for a day, spend another night, and then catch the six am bus to be on our way. Unfortunately, plans changed when we got back to our (locked) room after an afternoon in the nearby Shashemene to find that my laptop, Kindle, all my money which I’d planned to live off of for the next year, and a few things of my cousin’s were missing. 

My reaction was far from lady-like, I kicked things and screamed more than a few profanities and was a general mess. The staff of the hotel were intentionally unhelpful, they kept saying that we must have left our things in a bajaj, refusing to call either the police or the hotel owner and later cooked up some story about a friend coming into the hotel with us who must have gotten in to our locked room, taken our things, locked the door, and then disappeared without a trace.  Luckily, my loud reaction garnered the attention of a couple other guests, who happened to be members of the Ethiopian Parliament, and who made sure we made it to the police station, filed a report, and kept checking in with us on the situation even after they’d left.

It’s now two months later, and we’re still trying to sort the situation out. The latest news is that the police report has gone missing and somehow none of the policemen at the station seem to remember a couple of distraught ferenjis hanging out for several hours over a couple of days. Apparently bribery is a fairly common solution to such problems and if I’d greased a few palms myself, things might have had some kind of conclusion in my favor by now.

So, my introduction to Ethiopian law enforcement leaves plenty to be desired. At this point, I’m calling it a lesson learned and consider my economic investment in Ethiopia complete.  My hope is that who ever took everything has used it give their families good things that they wouldn’t have had before, and that the money wasn’t immediately donated to the nearest pub or chat house.

A lot of times in life, I’ve found that the immediate negative experiences also make for some of the most positive experiences, and this instance is no different.

Practically every one that’s heard about what happened has reacted with incredible kindness and sympathy, and it would take far too long to write about all of the stories. The following day, I broke down sobbing in a bajaj because the hotel a friend recommended we go stay at ended up being closed for renovations, and I really just wanted to be home, surrounded by people with whom I could communicate. The driver ended up driving us in a couple of circles around the town, trying to find a place for us, locating police, and getting us back to the scene of the crime hotel right as the owner’s daughter was arriving to sort everything out. He could have dumped us out as soon as possible, charged an exorbitant foreigners price and called it a day, but instead he took care of us and when we tried to pay, he wouldn’t take any money for his effort.

It took a couple of days before we could leave Awassa, and we had to stop in Arba Minch to catch a mini-bus to Konso. When we got to the bus station, I asked how much the bus to Konso would be, and got quoted a price that was approximately three times what it should have been, and rather than haggle, I stormed off to sit on the wall and wait for the next mini-bus.  A couple of the bus boys noticed and invited me over to sit down at the rest/coffee area they have in the corner of the station, and by the time I climbed on to the mini-bus, I had a group of about fifteen friends saying good-bye and making sure everything was alright.

I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on how everything went down, and even though it’s thrown a bit of a wrench in my plans (combined with a couple of other factors, it means I’ll be coming home much sooner than scheduled), I can’t say it’s been entirely negative because so much good has come out of it. I’ve been reminded of how supportive my family is, and amazed at how far out of their way some people will go to help a complete stranger.  I’ve also become a little bit more distrustful of small things like locks and guards at door entrances. ;)