Ringing in 2013 Debre Birhan style

Ellen’s Rule to Live by #1: Always include some easily accomplished items on your list of life goals. And make them as silly as possible.

First ride in the Bajej "clown car"

It takes a lot of time, dedication, sacrifice, and pain to get your work in National Geographic (check), complete a Tough Mudder (check – thanks, Harmony), climb Kilimanjaro (later this year?!?), or get those other big, important items off the bucket list. But the feeling of accomplishmentafter knocking off some of those small, silly items provides a temporary, yet not to be underestimated, high. Especially if you’re an adrenaline junkie like me. That’s why I aspire to be a mascot (check – U of C’s Phoenix) and ride a camel (one day, one day…). After several trips to rural parts of Ethiopia, I decided that I need to ride in a Bajej (pictured above, courtesy of Jordan Noret) before I die. I do not want to forever regret not taking advantage of the abundance of Bajejes (is that how you make it plural? Am I even spelling it right?) and lack of anything else to do during my Gambela “vacation.” Luckily, though, the Bajej industry has taken off in Debre Birhan, the town ~150 km northeast of Addis where we based for our fieldwork this year. My nickname for the Bajej is a clown car, for obvious reasons (on our way to the araki bar, we had four people plus the driver). Ethiopians call them “Al Qaeda” because of their tendency to blow up.

New Year’s Day afternoon, Jordan and I found ourselves with no work to do, so we hit the streets of Debre Birhan for adventure. First off, we visited the local prison for a little shopping. In the US, inmates make license plates; in Ethiopia, they make cloth, beaded goods, and other handicrafts. Then, we meandered the main street, stopping in every store to look for cheese (fail), and caught a bit of a soccer game. After traversing the length of town, we obviously had to catch a clown car back to our hotel. I easily talked the driver down to half price, and excitedly climbed in. To my surprise, although in retrospect it makes perfect sense, the Bajej is a converted motorcycle.

So 1st dayof the 2013 and one item off the bucket list. Full success! Next life goal: learn how to drive a Bajej! Next post: Ethiopian Christmas, which is tomorrow, and we have two invitations!