dinner in Bahir Dar

We had dinner our second night in Bahir Dar at the Awas Hotel. You can
tell the good restaurants and hotels by the large number of cars around
the place, and this hotel even had a car with UN painted on the side,
and another one with the tell-tale license plate for diplomatic
vehicles. We were seated in the outdoor patio, which seemed like a
rather lively night spot. I ordered the grilled fish, which came with
three lightly breaded fillet and a lime with a side of rice. I sat next
to one of the Ethiopian staff, Geb, and talked about the city of Harar,
in the east of Ethiopia. Even though Geb grew up in Addis Ababa, his
father came from Harar so he is familiar with that city as well. He told
me about the wall that used to surround the city hundreds of years ago,
but since then the city has expanded so now the wall simply surrounds
the center of the city. In fact, Geb said it is pretty easy to miss the
wall altogether since the place has developed far beyond this beginning.
He also told me a story of a French artist who used to live in Harar and
is credited for bringing some recognition to the city thanks to his keen
sense of history, collection of art and connections outside of Ethiopia.