Ferenge no more

I started the Ferenge Addis Blog with the same motivation that rules most of my life: laziness. I was too lazy to type the same e-mails to both Mom and Dad and a couple other people I correspond with. I never guessed that 100 people a day would find some reason to visit my blog, or that I would be linked from places like Ethiopian Adoption blogs, or the blog of a real journalist, Andrew Havens of the Meskel Square blog (now in Sudan).

Having moved back to the US a couple of weeks ago, I'm sad to now say goodbye to the FAB. I've made some friends through contacts made here. And the comments sections has provided no end of entertainment.

I've started a new blog, the "Oh, Sorry, I'm new in DC" blog, which will serve the original intention of the FAB (Hi Mom, Hi Dad). Thanks to everyone who stopped here and especially those who commented. I'll be back in Addis from time to time. Best wishes and best of luck.

Marc

Comments

[Lois Goldstein]

Thanks Marc, for taking the time to do this blog over the past couple of years. I have really appreciated being able to read it. I will keep tuned to the new one, and hope to see you up north soon. Take care, and welcome home.

[habesha child]

We will miss you!! I've been mostly a lurker, but have LOVED your blog. I'm getting ready to go to Addis next month to pick up my kiddo, and have really appreciated all the nuggets of info you have provided.

THANK YOU and best of luck in DC!!

[stew]

xxoo marc. see you over at the new place. You're not taking this one down, are you? I sure hope not.

[Jody]

Thanks for the armchair adventure and education. Looking forward to more tales of a stranger in a different strange land.

[toto]

Ferengis are every where, it is rather Addis Ferenge Blog no more. You've been doing great Marc,thanks for all the good job and wish you good luck !! can't wait to
read "Oh,sorry, am new In Addis" blog, if you go back there, you won't be Ferenge no more, since you're returning home!!

[Addis Boy]

You didn’t tell us how many Ethiopian chicks you go out with, just kidding. I enjoyed reading your blog, but I am a little bit annoyed by you (you may have your own reason) for not opposing the tplf government.

Addis Boy from USA

[Roma]

Marc, sorry to see you go. I have enjoyed reading your blog during the past year of preparing for my Ethiopian adoption, especially just before we went there ourselves in December to bring home my son.

Yours was one of the few blogs I've found with good, frequent, and informative postings about life in Addis.

[Emily]

Hey- I guess I have been really busy lately- and so, much to my surprise, you are no longer in Addis! So sad...one of my most favorite blogs from Ethiopia...you did a great job- thank you from all of us who have that Ethiopian connection.

[Mi]

As I was surfing the internet this past July, I landed on “Ferenge Addis Blog”. I was interested to experience my home and my people through the eyes of a White American who moved there with his family on a two-year assignment to train health care workers on the prevention of AIDS-HIV transmission from mother to child. I found the blog very interesting because the observations were balanced, devoid of sentimentality, oftentimes hilarious, and, at times, outright childish. The most prevalent American sport, complaint, was ever present throughout most of the blog. The comments were equally entertaining, ranging from those who understood the blogger completely (mostly family members, friends, and expats), those who were trying to make his journey pleasant (Ethiopians living in the New World), and those who misunderstood him (Ethiopians who were very proud and protective of the Old Country). The most unabashedly Ethiopian characteristic, feistiness at the slightest hint of slight, presented itself from time to time in the comments matching the blog’s wit.

At the end of the adventure, I have to admit I was relieved knowing Marco, our ferenge, was back in the environment in which he felt comfortable. More importantly, I realized how deeply my experiences in different cultures have shaped my worldview. I was also left wondering how my experiences may have handicapped me from seeing another’s struggles. This reminded me of a quote by Karl A. Menninger about the inability of people to see each other’s struggles:

“ When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape…
In the same way the human being struggles with his environment and with the hooks that catch him. Sometimes he masters his difficulties; sometimes they are too much for him. His struggles are all the world sees and it naturally misunderstands them. It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one.”

[Phoenix Auto glass repair]

Thanks for the heads up and glad you are back in the US.