Cycling in Dire Dawa

I'm a bit of a cycling enthusiast, some might even say "total beard", hence I couldn't settle in Dire Dawa for long without buying a bicycle. The choice is fairly limited to any of a few variations on one theme. That theme being "poorly, designed, horribly built, incredibly heavy Chinese bikes seemingly made from cast iron and lead". Throughout east Africa, you can see some very good-looking old Chinese-made Phoenix bikes. Proper old-style upright steel brutes, often with two top-tubes to cope with the ridiculous loads they often carry. In a nice touch, the brand name is usually cut into the big chainring. Unfortunately, my desire for daft novelties couldn't be fulfilled, so I just bought the same bike all the locals ride. 

It's vaguely fascinating when you experience something that is such a perfect storm of bad design. For example - the saddle is considerably broader and softer than that on my racing bike back home, yet is somehow vastly less comfortable. The bearings in the low-grip plastic pedals must be hexagonal in profile given the noise they make with each stroke - a plus is that pedestrians can hear me coming day or night, saving them the trouble of looking, which they never do anyway. The grips on the handlebars could be used to saw wood and two of the three chainrings seem to be purely decorative. 

 - and yet - 

The behemoth. Rear tyre came apart after a month.
Was made partly from cotton.

Confirming my cycling beardliness I was literally* chuckling with joy to be able to zip around on this monster. In addition, the fact that I'd already been well-versed in the dismal standards of driving in Ethiopia, and still would cycle around confirmed that I didn't really care much so long as I could cycle. Like many parts of my bike, the mirrors on most vehicles seem to be decorative, when at all present. Most tuk-tuks/bajaj are pretty well bashed up. 

I quickly noticed something strange though. Despite the standard of driving, cyclists are treated reasonably well. Any feelings that drivers are being dangerous or ignorant are no more frequent than in the UK. Taking into account the fact that you have to anticipate any vehicle moving off without checking their blind spot - which can affect everyone - it really isn't as much of a stress as you'd expect. In fact, I've found that generally it's just as easy to cycle here as in the UK. The hassle from drivers is always good-natured if a bit exasperating - hoofing it up a hill in 30-degree heat, I'm not often able to hold an inter-lingual semi-conversation with a tuk-tuk driver. 

So this left me with the question - why, in a country whose standards of driving are so low, is it arguably easier for me to cycle in the UK, where, to get a licence at least, you need to show yourself at least capable of driving responsibly? Where the police are considerably more mobile and better equipped?

The first thing I could think of is that most every driver has been in that position. The bicycle is a great means of empowerment, a cheap, agile and easy to maintain form of transport available to all but the very poorest. In the UK, cycling is often marginalised - cast as a childish way to mess around by folks like Jeremy Clarkson (spit). Those who refuse or can't afford to drive are marginalised not just in rhetoric but in government transport policy - with billions poured into roads and parking, whilst public transport fares skyrocket and funding for cycling infrastructure remains tokenistic. 

The other is incredibly simple - regression to the mean. All drivers are human beings after all, and the dominant behaviour of nearly all motorists once they have their licence seems to be to do whatever they can so long as they have a reasonable expectation of getting away with it. The manner in which they treat other road users hinges on their personal disposition rather than bureaucratic procedures. If this is true, then the difference between British and Ethiopian motorists lies in their ability to empathise with cyclists, to know what it's like to be 'that guy', and the total lack of snobbery because of this. 

The fact that, almost without regard to the circumstances, you go straight to prison for six years if you kill someone whilst driving is probably a factor as well. 

*I don't say 'literally' unless I mean 'literally'.

A different kind of recycling

Fantastic though The British Museum is, I think there's a reasonable argument for re-naming it "The (Partly) British Museum", given that a fair amount of it is the loot of imperialism. 

Making a bee-line straight for the Africa section, I was slightly shocked, if in no way surprised, to find that the 'Africa' section lumps the entire continent together, as though every cultural meme in the world's second-largest continent was just a variation of an easy to digest African whole. In short, it reproduces the stereotypical way in which Africa has been so often depicted for decades. The approach that leads even well-educated people to talk about this place, containing minimum 1,250 languages, as though it was just one country. I should point out that there are several wings devoted to Egypt.

This leads to a feeling that there's no real narrative holding the exhibits together. The swords are together, the clothes, the hats, the sculptures, all together. They're all grouped aesthetically rather than by culture, so if you want to learn much about history, you aren't going to get a great deal out of it. Judging by the number of cameras everywhere, I'd say the layout works well for those wanting to get as many interesting shots as possible.

Regardless, the exhibit does have a power of it's own. For better or for worse, one of the most eye-catching exhibits draws on one of the strongest African stereotypes, war. The AK-47 in particular. I've been aware of artists and craftsmen melting down old guns to either re-purpose or to send an artistic message - see this excellent blog post from Nico on a project in Liberia.

The body made from sight leaves, beak from bayonets, feathers from recoil springs.

The message, I suppose is one of defiance. That of a form of beauty being born from a machine designed specifically for killing and asserting power over others. It is a brutal kind of beauty, the bird looking rather skeletal. Or maybe it isn't beauty at all, maybe it's a mockery. Whatever it might be, the fact that men and children have likely looked down one of those sight leaves before firing on someone is rather haunting. A dark joke if nothing else but in the west most humour involving Africa is quite dark.

Right at the front, though, is a more stark and surely a more powerful message. The 'Throne of Weapons' is a stand-in for the message delivered by the entire exhibit. Everything played up to simplified stereotypes. It would be disingenuous of me to argue too strongly against these, though. In many cases, African presidents are held up by that massive threat of force, and are de facto presidents for life. 

I suspect that, in a hopeful gesture, they've deliberately made the throne uncomfortable looking, and perhaps slightly unstable. The sad reality is that from north to south, it has for a long time paid well in Africa to rule your people at the barrel of a gun, being in no way specific about any countries.

As an aside, I often wonder whether there is a significant relationship between countries having the word 'Democratic' in their name and being ruled by dictators. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Etcetera.

Simplified though it may be, to some extent the museum has to manage people's expectations, and most come to this place to look at mummies, sarcophaguses and that kind of thing. I just wish they strove more to challenge people's perceptions rather than to reinforce the simplified way of thinking that leads many to fear or mistrust Africa. Promoting a drastically simplified notion of African-ness encourages this ignorance.
A subtle appreciation of African cultures isn't going to do a whole lot to solve poverty, other perhaps than to bring more tourists to the place, but it will broaden minds. And Ethiopia has a lot of exceptional things for tourists. A big glass of fresh mango & avocado juice for $1 being a good starting point.

Some more photos from the Africa exhibit. I can't remember what they're of.

Israel-Gaza

I can't claim to understand Israel/Palestine in any great depth. All I know is that such a massive imbalance of power isn't amenable to any kind of justice that I value. I came across this couple in London this afternoon making a quiet, but I think rather powerful stand for something they believe in. Even if I didn't agree, I'd still respect them for putting themselves out there.