Ten (more) random observations about Ethiopia

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Back to original post

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-26-2011 @ 12:09PM

Aki said...

Hi seen,
Thanks for your article!

I comment on your article number 2.

I don't think the banknotes smell because Ethiopians use their hands to eat and use them unwashed to oder the notes. The birr notes are more smelly in places where people have lots of butter produce from milk. It softens hair...and it is treated as natural hair butter better than any other ever produced hair product. The negetive side of it is it is smelly. I don't like it. The butter womens put on their hair stains their cloth, hand....then they mask it with different oils (perfumes) to reduce the smell. Some of the woman put their notes inside their brest. This ultimately result in smelly banknotes.

Please continue...in the future good observations!

4-27-2011 @ 10:07AM

Sean McLachlan said...

Interesting! I do think the spices contribute a bit to the smell, though. I've smeared my share of banknotes while paying at a restaurant! In what regions do they use the butter?

4-29-2011 @ 3:33PM

Aki said...

Ha ha ha....you tried? Does it smell as the ones you got earlier? In fact, like you, I was also wondering why it smells. The smell is directly related to the area. Like in Addis Ababa, unless the money circulated from butter area it doesn't smell. If you would like compare it Raya area, Awassa area, Haromaya..several areas I can mention. In cities also womans use butter don't forget. This is the main reason...not the food we eat by hand. Infact, if it was the smell of food, the smell won't be that bad.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.