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「From Libya To Ethiopia- Memoirs of Desease」
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In January of 1983, I made my ninth and last visit to Libya. As in previous visits, I visited Tripoli. In the past, I had stayed in very old hotels. It is common to see cockroaches indoors. On this trip, however, I decided to stay in a new hotel called the "Hotel Akbar". It had only been open for a few days. The name, "Akbar", carries the meaning of being "large or largest'. It was a five-star hotel, so I decided to check into this hotel. On the last day of the trip, I had finished my business in the morning and was free in the afternoon, so I asked the hotel restaurant staff if there were any leisure facilities in the hotel. They told me that there was a good sauna on the second floor, but that it had not yet officially opened for business. However, during this "trial period" (for the hotel), the sauna was open to hotel residents and foreign diplomatic envoys.
After entering the steam bath, I searched for a place to sit. Once seated, I discovered that there were two people on my right and a black man on my left. The three of them had entered the steam bath together. They observed that I had "joined" their group. They were curious about me, because I had an oriental face. So they stopped their conversation that they were having and spoke with me. They asked me where I came from and what my business was. I told them that I was Taiwanese and that I came to Libya to do business. I then spoke about my experience of travelling around the world doing business. They were very interested in my story and asked me if I had ever been to Ghana (West Africa), Granada (Caribbean), or Ethiopia (East Africa). I said that I had never been to those places, but that if there were business opportunities in those countries and I could get a visa to go there, that I would go. These men were happy to hear that and told me that, actually, they were the ambassadors of those respective countries (to Libya). Overjoyed at hearing this news, I decided to first visit Ethiopia.
At 6:30 in the evening, the Ethiopian Ambassador sent a black Mercedes-Benz sedan to pick me up. The car had the flags of Ethiopia and Libya on it. It was parked in front of the hotel to pick me up. The waiter at the hotel saw this scene. He assumed that I was a politician or ambassador to Ethiopia, so he immediately approached the car and opened the door for me. That really flattered me!
The car was driven to the Ethiopian Embassy. Sure enough, the Ethiopian Ambassador (to Libya) was waiting in the lobby for me. He introduced his secretary to me, took my passport and visa, and returned them to me just 10 minutes later. He gave me information about my travelling to Ethiopia and told me that he had already telexed ahead to Ethiopia to have his friends pick me up at the Addis Ababa Airport.
That evening I send telex to my wife. Lily in Taiwan. I told her that I was changing my schedule, in order to fly to Ethiopia. Lily told me to be careful there and told me that there was famine in the area there, so I should prepared by purchasing some long French bread have with me, in case there wasn't enough food to eat once I arrived in Ethiopia. Later on, after I was in Ethiopia, I discovered that these concerns (about a food shortage there) were completely not necessary.
At 6:30 in the evening, the Ethiopian Ambassador sent a black Mercedes-Benz sedan to pick me up. The car had the flags of Ethiopia and Libya on it. It was parked in front of the hotel to pick me up. The waiter at the hotel saw this scene. He assumed that I was a politician or ambassador to Ethiopia, so he immediately approached the car and opened the door for me. That really flattered me!
The car was driven to the Ethiopian Embassy. Sure enough, the Ethiopian Ambassador (to Libya) was waiting in the lobby for me. He introduced his secretary to me, took my passport and visa, and returned them to me just 10 minutes later. He gave me information about my travelling to Ethiopia and told me that he had already telexed ahead to Ethiopia to have his friends pick me up at the Addis Ababa Airport.
That evening I send telex to my wife. Lily in Taiwan. I told her that I was changing my schedule, in order to fly to Ethiopia. Lily told me to be careful there and told me that there was famine in the area there, so I should prepared by purchasing some long French bread have with me, in case there wasn't enough food to eat once I arrived in Ethiopia. Later on, after I was in Ethiopia, I discovered that these concerns (about a food shortage there) were completely not necessary.
The person who picked me up at the Addis Ababa Airport was called Mulugeta, who later became my good friend. He arranged for me to stay at the Hilton Hotel. This was a former palace of a king, so it was stately and beautiful. I stayed on the second floor. Looking out from the balcony of my room, I could see people swimming on the cold evenings, while the pool was steaming. Later on, I learned that the "swimming pool" was actually a hot spring pool. That was an unexpected blessing.
The next morning, I went to use the hot spring pool. The lady at the counter near the pool asked me if I was Japanese. I said that I was Taiwanese. She immediately spoke to me in Taiwanese! She was curious and asked me how I came to Ethiopia. She said that her husband was a biological scientist and the United Nations sent him there (to study parasites among other things). They hadn't met another Taiwanese person in the entire year that they had been there. She was going to invite me to have dinner with her and her husband that evening, but I told her that Mulugeta had helped me make arrangements with a state company, and I was scheduled to have dinner that evening, and then I was scheduled to attend a local wedding banquet the following evening.
The next morning, I went to use the hot spring pool. The lady at the counter near the pool asked me if I was Japanese. I said that I was Taiwanese. She immediately spoke to me in Taiwanese! She was curious and asked me how I came to Ethiopia. She said that her husband was a biological scientist and the United Nations sent him there (to study parasites among other things). They hadn't met another Taiwanese person in the entire year that they had been there. She was going to invite me to have dinner with her and her husband that evening, but I told her that Mulugeta had helped me make arrangements with a state company, and I was scheduled to have dinner that evening, and then I was scheduled to attend a local wedding banquet the following evening.
Good morning, Mr. Lee! It is amazing that after 35 years you kept this photograph! It is beautiful. I wish you could remember the last names of the people in the picture. I don't recognize the faces in the picture! I am from Addis Ababa (born and raised there). I'm sure those people were fairly well-known at that time. Anyway, thank you for sharing this with me.
GOD bless you.
Hirut Mehetet
Although I stayed in Ethiopia for only three days, Mulugeta became my good friend, and within those three days, I experienced some unforgettable memories:
*** I played a game of tennis at the hotel's tennis court with a tennis player from Ethiopia. I was out of breath in less than ten minutes. I later discovered why. Addis Ababa is 4000 meters above sea level!
*** Mulugeta took me to visit his house. He drove me in a car. As we approached the house, he honked two times and the iron door (to the courtyard/compound) opened slowly. I was curious as to how the door opened when he honked twice on his car horn. As we entered the courtyard, it turned out that there were ten children (only wearing underwear) behind the iron gate, who opened it together when they heard the car horn honking twice. It turned out that these children had previously lived in the countryside. To escape famine, Mulugeta accepted them, fed them, and gave them a unique job: opening and closing that iron door every day!
*** I visited Ethiopia again the following year. I started from the United States, but this time I first went to Yemen's capital, Sana, and then flew from Sana to Djibouti. After a night in Djibouti, I flew to Addis Ababa. Djibouti is located on the west bank of the Gulf of Aden on the exit side of the Red Sea. It was originally a French colony that became independent in 1977. I went to Djibouti because my previous agent in Somalia fled to this place. I managed to find his residence, but his neighbor told me that he had moved back to Somalia just a few days previously!
*** A couple attended the wedding banquet in Ethiopia, when I was there. Some people at the table were eating beef, that was topped by a sauce that looked similar to Wasabi. Everyone ate it with great interest, but I didn't choose to partake of it! There were people who were singing and drumming at the table. It was a very exciting scene. I asked Mulugeta what he was singing before I realized that the song was ridiculing the current military government! I only knew that Mulugeta and his friends were former supporters of the monarchy government. I, also, knew a former economic minister (from the days of the monarchy), who was later released from prison by the military government. He graduated from the Department of Economics at Cornell University in the USA. He sent me a letter and asked me that when I would later return to the USA, that I would support him in his future political endeavors!
*** I came to the USA and later became a Christian (follower of Jesus). I read about the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts, chapter 8. Because of Philip following the leading of the Holy Spirit and sharing the Good News of Jesus with the Ethiopian eunuch (during the time of the apostles) in the wilderness, that eunuch went back to his homeland and shared the Gospel with his countrymen. Ethiopia became a nation where the Gospel of Jesus Christ flourished and it became the only country in Africa with its own culture and writing. The original Church in the Cave is still there today.
A few years after I moved to the United States, Mulugeta also came to see me in Houston, but since nobody was using telex anymore, we lost contact. I miss him very much. I have tried to find him through the Ethiopian Embassy, but I forgot Mulugeta's last name, so my search has been unsuccessful. As I mentioned, every time I had blood drawn at the M.D. Anderson Hospital, it was an Ethiopian nurse who drew the blood. That nurse told me that she sometimes returned to Ethiopia for vacation and she would try to help me find Mulugeta, even though we didn't remember his last name. Yesterday the nurse texted me:
Good morning, Mr. Lee! It is amazing that after 35 years, you kept this photograph. It is beautiful. I wish you could remember this person's last name. I didn't recognize his face. I am also from Addis Ababa (born and raised there). Somebody must know that man. Anyway, thank you for sharing this with
me.
GOD bless you.
Hirut Mehetet
The end. Please see the following photos
GOD bless you.
Hirut Mehetet
Although I stayed in Ethiopia for only three days, Mulugeta became my good friend, and within those three days, I experienced some unforgettable memories:
*** I played a game of tennis at the hotel's tennis court with a tennis player from Ethiopia. I was out of breath in less than ten minutes. I later discovered why. Addis Ababa is 4000 meters above sea level!
*** Mulugeta took me to visit his house. He drove me in a car. As we approached the house, he honked two times and the iron door (to the courtyard/compound) opened slowly. I was curious as to how the door opened when he honked twice on his car horn. As we entered the courtyard, it turned out that there were ten children (only wearing underwear) behind the iron gate, who opened it together when they heard the car horn honking twice. It turned out that these children had previously lived in the countryside. To escape famine, Mulugeta accepted them, fed them, and gave them a unique job: opening and closing that iron door every day!
*** I visited Ethiopia again the following year. I started from the United States, but this time I first went to Yemen's capital, Sana, and then flew from Sana to Djibouti. After a night in Djibouti, I flew to Addis Ababa. Djibouti is located on the west bank of the Gulf of Aden on the exit side of the Red Sea. It was originally a French colony that became independent in 1977. I went to Djibouti because my previous agent in Somalia fled to this place. I managed to find his residence, but his neighbor told me that he had moved back to Somalia just a few days previously!
*** A couple attended the wedding banquet in Ethiopia, when I was there. Some people at the table were eating beef, that was topped by a sauce that looked similar to Wasabi. Everyone ate it with great interest, but I didn't choose to partake of it! There were people who were singing and drumming at the table. It was a very exciting scene. I asked Mulugeta what he was singing before I realized that the song was ridiculing the current military government! I only knew that Mulugeta and his friends were former supporters of the monarchy government. I, also, knew a former economic minister (from the days of the monarchy), who was later released from prison by the military government. He graduated from the Department of Economics at Cornell University in the USA. He sent me a letter and asked me that when I would later return to the USA, that I would support him in his future political endeavors!
*** I came to the USA and later became a Christian (follower of Jesus). I read about the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts, chapter 8. Because of Philip following the leading of the Holy Spirit and sharing the Good News of Jesus with the Ethiopian eunuch (during the time of the apostles) in the wilderness, that eunuch went back to his homeland and shared the Gospel with his countrymen. Ethiopia became a nation where the Gospel of Jesus Christ flourished and it became the only country in Africa with its own culture and writing. The original Church in the Cave is still there today.
A few years after I moved to the United States, Mulugeta also came to see me in Houston, but since nobody was using telex anymore, we lost contact. I miss him very much. I have tried to find him through the Ethiopian Embassy, but I forgot Mulugeta's last name, so my search has been unsuccessful. As I mentioned, every time I had blood drawn at the M.D. Anderson Hospital, it was an Ethiopian nurse who drew the blood. That nurse told me that she sometimes returned to Ethiopia for vacation and she would try to help me find Mulugeta, even though we didn't remember his last name. Yesterday the nurse texted me:
Good morning, Mr. Lee! It is amazing that after 35 years, you kept this photograph. It is beautiful. I wish you could remember this person's last name. I didn't recognize his face. I am also from Addis Ababa (born and raised there). Somebody must know that man. Anyway, thank you for sharing this with
me.
GOD bless you.
Hirut Mehetet
The end. Please see the following photos
