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Nothing could have prepared me for living in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. I arrived late at night and drove through what seemed like a jungle, and finally arrived at my "four star" hotel within walking distance of the African Union, my new employer, in 2007. When I woke up the next morning and looked outside my window, I realised that it was no jungle I had driven through, just a makeshift road with giant craters. On taking a walk down the giant crater road, I was delighted to discover a shopping centre with the best coffee in the world and a few really nice boutiques to boot. This sums up Addis - a shiny shopping centre at the end of a rocky road.
Since I had accepted a job at the African Union to work in its peacekeeping department, I was living in the ancient land where the people take pride in doing things differently. From celebrating Christmas on 7 January and New Year in September to calculating time in 12 hour cycles, Ethiopians...