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Harar home stay: living in a traditional African home
If you're staying for any length of time in a place, the best way to experience the local culture is through a home stay. Luckily Harar has a number of traditional homes offering spare rooms.
A local guide showed me a few and I chose one hidden away in a small alley not far from the Catholic mission. This is the neighborhood that got Harar a UNESCO religious tolerance award because there's an Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a Catholic mission, and several mosques all within sight of each other. Walking home I use three minarets and a giant cross as landmarks.
Harari homes look inward. All you see is a gate that leads to a compound of two or more houses, hidden behind their own gates. Enter the second gate and you're still not inside, you're in a courtyard with the bathroom to one side and to the other a large, ornately carved wooden door leading to the main building. Harari homes have a unique architecture. With thick stone walls and small windows, they stay cool even in the scorching heat of the day. Leaving your shoes at the front door, you enter the nedeba, or living room. The walls are covered in colorful plates and baskets and often cabinets with multicolored glassware. Hararis love to decorate their rooms with the products of their centuries-old crafts. People sit on a series of platforms, reclining against pillows. The platforms are painted red in memory of those who died at the battle of Tchellenqo in 1887, when the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II defeated Harar's Emir Abdullahi and the city lost its independence.
Where you sit depends on who you are. The amir nedeba is where the head of the family sits. It's on the highest platform, usually in one corner where he can see the entrance to the compound. In olden days there was a spot for keeping some spears right next to the amir nedeba, just in case the person entering the compound wasn't welcome. After a month in Harar I've only seen one guy who regularly carries a spear, though.
Gallery: Harar home stay
I'm a regular at a few Harari homes and nobody throws spears at me. Since I'm an honored guest from far away, I sit at the gidir nedeba, the place of honor. I've seen members of the family sitting in that spot immediately move when I come in. No amount of protest will get them to sit back down. The next level down is the tit nedeba ("small place") for lower-ranking people. This isn't strictly followed, however. One birtcha (qat-chewing session) I attend has so many people that even some of the most prominent individuals sit on the lower level because there isn't enough room on the upper. Another, separate platform is called the gebti eher nedeba ("the place behind the door") and is for the young or people of a lower social class.
Harari homes are full of symbolism. My friend Amir says, "Every color, every shape means something. Most Hararis cannot know it all."
Even little details are worked out in advance, he says. There's a special room with a narrow entrance for women to stay during childbirth. It's wider at the top so that big platters of food can be passed through.
The width of the bedroom door corresponds to the width of a coffin. "That's to remind you of your fate and to live a good life," he says.
My house, owned by Faisel and Anisa Abdullah, has a separate upstairs all for me. I get a bedroom, a living room, and a lounge with no furniture but a bunch of pillows ranged around the walls. This is for entertaining. Friends will sit here drinking coffee or chewing qat and talking the hours away. My rooms cost me 3500 birr ($212) a month. Water is included and this is important to confirm when renting a place because water is expensive in Harar, especially in the dry season we're in now. I wasn't expecting to have only a squat toilet and bucket showers but it turns out the bathroom has a European-style toilet and a proper shower, luxuries I don't need but certainly appreciate.
Imme, a German painter staying in a different neighborhood, has three rooms even larger than mine for 3000 birr ($182) a month, but got the more traditional African bathroom. Both of us have far more space than we need, and for a price lower than the city's hotels!
A home stay allows you to settle in a neighborhood for a while. The closed-off nature of Harari architecture means I haven't met most of my neighbors, but I'm getting to know the people I pass in the nearby alleys every day. I'm also getting into the rhythm of the place. Just before dawn the muezzin of the Jamia mosque wakes me up with the morning call to prayer. The first couple of mornings I had a hard time falling back asleep, but now the flowery sounds of Arabic barely register in my dreams. I'd make a bad Muslim. The muezzin's call to prayer is followed by low chanting coming from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, announcing their morning service.
I'm usually up shortly after dawn in any case. Outside my window I can hear the kids from the local school horsing around before the bell rings. If I peek out my window I can just see the front door of the school over the rooftops. The kids in their yellow shirts and sky-blue pants or skirts wait in the shade or run around after each other laughing.
Soon I'm out wandering around Harar. I usually don't come back until night, when I sit for an hour or two writing in my living room before turning in. The open window lets in all the sounds of the Harari night. Hyenas laugh and howl at the edge of town like the mad lost souls of Purgatory, sometimes getting closer, sometimes drawing away or shifting position. The town dogs bark defiantly but do no good. I often see hyenas pacing through the alleys in the center of town looking for scraps to eat. They keep quiet then, preferring to make noise outside the city walls. The battle ebbs and flows all night, at times lapsing into an eerie silence. Then the hyenas will call to each other again and the dogs will bark self-importantly, completely ignored by the hyenas.
It's like falling asleep to music.
Don't miss the rest of my Ethiopia travel series: Harar, Ethiopia: Two months in Africa's City of Saints.
Coming up next: A visit to a traditional healer!
Harari homes are full of symbolism. My friend Amir says, "Every color, every shape means something. Most Hararis cannot know it all."
Even little details are worked out in advance, he says. There's a special room with a narrow entrance for women to stay during childbirth. It's wider at the top so that big platters of food can be passed through.
The width of the bedroom door corresponds to the width of a coffin. "That's to remind you of your fate and to live a good life," he says.
My house, owned by Faisel and Anisa Abdullah, has a separate upstairs all for me. I get a bedroom, a living room, and a lounge with no furniture but a bunch of pillows ranged around the walls. This is for entertaining. Friends will sit here drinking coffee or chewing qat and talking the hours away. My rooms cost me 3500 birr ($212) a month. Water is included and this is important to confirm when renting a place because water is expensive in Harar, especially in the dry season we're in now. I wasn't expecting to have only a squat toilet and bucket showers but it turns out the bathroom has a European-style toilet and a proper shower, luxuries I don't need but certainly appreciate.
Imme, a German painter staying in a different neighborhood, has three rooms even larger than mine for 3000 birr ($182) a month, but got the more traditional African bathroom. Both of us have far more space than we need, and for a price lower than the city's hotels!
A home stay allows you to settle in a neighborhood for a while. The closed-off nature of Harari architecture means I haven't met most of my neighbors, but I'm getting to know the people I pass in the nearby alleys every day. I'm also getting into the rhythm of the place. Just before dawn the muezzin of the Jamia mosque wakes me up with the morning call to prayer. The first couple of mornings I had a hard time falling back asleep, but now the flowery sounds of Arabic barely register in my dreams. I'd make a bad Muslim. The muezzin's call to prayer is followed by low chanting coming from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, announcing their morning service.
I'm usually up shortly after dawn in any case. Outside my window I can hear the kids from the local school horsing around before the bell rings. If I peek out my window I can just see the front door of the school over the rooftops. The kids in their yellow shirts and sky-blue pants or skirts wait in the shade or run around after each other laughing.
Soon I'm out wandering around Harar. I usually don't come back until night, when I sit for an hour or two writing in my living room before turning in. The open window lets in all the sounds of the Harari night. Hyenas laugh and howl at the edge of town like the mad lost souls of Purgatory, sometimes getting closer, sometimes drawing away or shifting position. The town dogs bark defiantly but do no good. I often see hyenas pacing through the alleys in the center of town looking for scraps to eat. They keep quiet then, preferring to make noise outside the city walls. The battle ebbs and flows all night, at times lapsing into an eerie silence. Then the hyenas will call to each other again and the dogs will bark self-importantly, completely ignored by the hyenas.
It's like falling asleep to music.
Don't miss the rest of my Ethiopia travel series: Harar, Ethiopia: Two months in Africa's City of Saints.
Coming up next: A visit to a traditional healer!
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Africa, Ethiopia, Hotels and Accommodations, Budget Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rusyn Mar 22nd 2011 1:23PM
oh the joys of living like a native in ethiopia. how thoughtful of the ethiopians
to have a separate area for people of the "lower classes". this doesn't seem to bother the author. would he have a different opinion of this quaint custom if instead of occupying the place of honor in the house, he was forced to sit with the house owner's inferiors. this bit of information tells me quite a bit about ethiopia and the elitist author of this piece. i can do without both.
Sean McLachlan Mar 25th 2011 5:01AM
You may want to ask yourself how often people from a lower social class are welcomed into Western homes. For example, how often have you seen a well-off professional with an important government position enjoying long conversations in his living room with an uneducated farmer from a different ethnic group? I see this exact situation most afternoons at a friend’s house. In Harar, people of a lower status may sit on a lower platform, but at least they’re allowed onto the property! In the West we love to pretend everybody is treated equally, but anyone with one eye and half a brain can see that’s a lie.
Oh, and if you don't like elitism, you might not want to proclaim that you can "do without" an entire culture you know nothing about.
kebede May 15th 2011 12:04PM
sean was just narrating what he observed. what did you expect him to do, or what d you do if you were in his shoes? give 'em a lecture? bust their a**?
Sozit Aug 18th 2011 10:59AM
RUSYN,
As a Harari American, I have to say I'm extremely offended by the conclusion you came to about my ancient culture based on one blog post. Harari people are not elitist in anyway shape or form, and the raised platforms are there out of respect. Only elders of the family, or guests are encouraged to sit there because we honor our elders and the value they hold and because we honor our guests and expect the same treatment we are guests. We are an extremely hospitable culture. Also, please be advised that we all eat together, share things, and live in one community.. this is also evident in our communities in the diaspora. I would encourage you to gain a better understanding of a culture and people before you come an extremely offensive and misguided conclusion.
jimmy Mar 20th 2011 3:51AM
What a dump. That must be in the hood.
liomji12 Mar 20th 2011 10:25PM
My friends told me about — Bl ack whiteCup id* C0- M —–told It’s the be'st pl'ace to me'et excellent si'ngles. Come in and stay a while. Complete your profile. Post a message, a picture of yourself and check out the photo galleries.
Give it a try, you will f'ind some'one you like there... ;)
@why not giv it a try
rusyn May 15th 2011 5:50PM
first to sean- i myself,from a working class (both immigrant parents who dropped out of school and worked in factories) got a masters degree and moved up the socio-economic scale but my parents, my grandparents, their brothers and sisters ,their spouses and offspring and friends are all welcome to sit on the same platform and eat the same food and use the same bathrooms as i. this extends to all who are not of my eastern european background whethethey be italian, jewish,asian and may i dare say ethiopian. this is replicated a million times in the u.s. which makes me grateful that i live here and not ethiopia.
to kebede- if sean were in the u.s. and saw this, he would have busted their asses. what i expect him to do is not glorify it and pretend it is normal and an honor in his article. he didn't have to lecture them he just wouldn't write about it the way he does. his response to my criticism tells me he has a anti western chip on his shoulder and a sympathy for the third world that dismisses their prejudices as insignificant. which again disqualifies him from being a good travel writer.
Sozit Aug 18th 2011 10:59AM
Hi Sean,
My name is Sozit, I'm a first generation, harari american .. living in California. I really enjoyed your post and all the pictures..it seems you got a great understanding of our culture during your stay in Harar. I really enjoyed stumbling upon it :) Thanks for sharing!
Safia Feb 23rd 2013 3:00AM
Hi Sean, I stumbled across your blog and I'm enjoying reading your posts! How did you find/arrange a homestay in Ethiopia? I'm looking to do so sometime next year as I learn Amharic (Harar is an option, but not the best one since they speak Harari there).