Shopping in Addis

Shopping in Addis Ababa, I have realized, is like going to yard sales on Saturdays back home. Or perhaps the more fitting way we refer to our great pastime, garage sailing.
Note the top ten similarities:

1. To do it right, you should reserve the whole day.
2. You never know what you might to find, even at the dodgiest of places.
3. You never know how much they are going to charge for things on a given day.
4. If you dont buy it when you see it the first time, it may never be there again.
5. Sometimes you can even find brand new things and things that have not been opened before.
6. You may or may not need to ask 3 or 4 people to explain the origin of an item.
7. Items can be displayed just about anywhere, for example the sidewalk, streetside or elsewhere.
8. If you are hoping to find one thing in specific, your chances are significantly reduced.
9. There is generally at least one person who wants to stay in the car at the sight of some of the stores.
10. Haggling is the name of the game.

Now if we can just find out a way to listen to Car Talk on the way in between Fantu and Bambis.

DC