SIM card and Maru’s combined performance

An entertaining moment with Sim Card and Maru Balageru. Why are we so obsessed with holiday shopping? I’ll tell you why. Ethiopian holidays are not about the dazzling neon lights in big shopping malls or the all-night parties in nightclubs. They aren’t about the ‘special TV programs,’ most of which push you close to the preliminary symptoms of cardiac arrest. It is not about the “Happy holiday” messages of the top brass, most of whom don’t look like they mean it! Most Ethiopian holidays are about the hustle and bustle of the noisy sheep, chicken, etc. markets. They’re about the very act of dragging your sheep to your village and the neighbors peering over fences to see if the unlucky animal has any meat on it. Ha! They are about avoiding the beak of the angry chicken. They are about the heated exchanges between shoppers and merchants. They are about the smell of butter and the eleven-plus spices; they are also the smoke bellowing from the traditional kitchens where the habesha Dabo (local bread) is baked. Sadly, all these things are in the process of being hurled into the dustbin of history. Most are becoming “Once upon a time…” memories. Indeed, these questions make economic sense. But, in a nation where real happiness is in short supply, holidays offer that rare opportunity to turn one’s back to all nastiness of life and just feel happy for a couple of days. For those couple of days the entire world could turn on its head and no one going to miss a single heartbeat. It is our holiday, smart guy!