Something in the Air

When I arrived in Africa for the first time in 2006 with AITI (Africa Internet Technology Initiative), I remember stepping off of the plane and inhaling what I thought was the scent of Africa. Maybe it was my imagination, but I definitely remember the air smelling different than any part of America I had ever been to. In my mind, I like to tell myself that it was the scent of my people, the scent of Blackness at its core. Now, I realize it may have been a little more pollution and burning trash, but even when I deplaned in Nairobi a few weeks ago, the smell came back to me. It's not a bad smell (like Northern New Jersey on a hot day) and it's also not the smell of honeysuckle in the summer. But it was something...and I liked it.

Now, when I deplaned in Addis Ababa, I was expecting a similar smell. For a moment, my mind indulged in the tendency of Westerners to think of Africa as a country made of states and not the continent made of countries that it truly is. Each country is different. In case you haven't heard, Ethiopia considers itself different from the rest of Africa. It is the only African country not to be colonized (according to Ethiopians) and they speak a language that literally almost no one else speaks: Amharic. Ethiopia and a part of Eritrea (so I hear) are essentially the only places in the world where this language is spoken (and a small part of Washington, DC called U St). The cuisine is unique and honestly, the smell was of the spices used in their food and the scent of burning coffee beans. It's a smell that haunts me now...that I inhale on the streets and wonder if I'll return with it in my hair and skin.