Travelling to a new place exposes us to a wealth of new information. It helps us learn how different communities interact with one another, approach their problems and persevere in the face of great challenges. Our subconscious mind absorbs the distinct environmental attributes of a new place, from geographic settings to cultural differences. New information in essence is new knowledge that impacts us in one way or another.
Recently, I visited Dire Dawa, a federally administered city in Eastern Ethiopia, known for its importance as a trading hub. The construction of the railroad between Djibouti and Addis Abeba, through Dire Dawa made the city an important link between Ethiopia and its trading partners in the Middle East and Europe at the turn of the 20th century.
Many international traders, merchants and religious missionaries called Dire Dawa home for years. International travellers such as the Greeks and Indians built fancy residential homes and religious places in the city.
Most of the buildings still remain standing in good shape. They now serve as tourist attractions, a window of testament to the city’s past global importance.
There is so much that can be said about the city that is trying to capitalise on its strategic location once again. Since the 1990s, the railroad was no longer operational. The few remaining employees at the old station in Dire Dawa say it stopped its operation because the federal government did not find it sustainable.
Following the Ethio-Eritrea border war, the city’s proximity to Djibouti’s port is helping it reclaim its trading hub status. A completely new railroad connecting Dire Dawa and Addis Abeba has been laid parallel to the old one. New hotels and other service providers are also sprouting throughout the city to meet the demand in the hospitality sector.
Every city welcomes its visitors with a distinct feel and character. Dire Dawa was no different for me.
Ranked as one of the largest cities in Ethiopia, it seems as though it is trying to rebrand itself in its own way. People are active, hustling and bustling in the morning and in the late evening hours. But, in-between, most people hardly do anything.
They are rather very relaxed, usually eating Khat for hours until the sun sets. The hot and dry temperature certainly takes the lion’s share of the blame for the people’s inactivity.
I had firsthand experience of Dire Dawa’s heat when I decided to go for a late morning run on my first morning in the city. Different people have different ways of exploring a new place. For some, it is through foods and drinks and for others a visit to a museums or landmarks. I find it stimulating to go for a run through unfamiliar places.
Jogging through uneven sidewalks and narrow alleyways captivates my attention. There is no better way to get familiar with a new environment better than running through its natural setting, leapfrogging over countless unexpected holes, brushing against untrimmed local bushes, sensing its distinctive smell and absorbing people’s interaction with one another along the way.
I do not mind having to constantly adjust my running pace to avoid colliding with people cutting on my path and circling around them. The beautiful thing about running in an unfamiliar place is that street sidewalks and alleyways demand one’s full attention to be aware where each step would land.
Giving it one’s undivided attention helps one to be present, freeing one’s self from other thoughts. Furthermore, because the mind is preoccupied with all the new things it discovers through the senses, the body is able to achieve more without paying much attention to body fatigue and muscle discomfort.
Usually, I can run for about 45 minutes without a lot of discomfort. On this specific occasion, however, it turned out to be much more challenging than expected.
On my way out, the running felt really good. Seeing different things on the left and right, passing people relaxed engaged under tree shades, I went past one block after another until I reached a huge wall blocking my view and the end of the city limit.
Curious about what was beyond the wall I slipped through a tunnel and discovered that the four-meter high cement wall was erected to prevent the city from a rainy season’s flood.
For now, it looks like a merciless dry river, useful only as a dumpsite for the City’s trash with no sign of water in sight. Looking at the river, the plastic bags seem to have covered as much area as the sand and the red clay. After few minutes of glancing around the river, I decided to leave the depressing river behind and began my run back to my hotel, impatient to jump into a much-needed cold shower.
Very soon I realised perhaps I underestimated the strength of the Dire Dawa heat and outpaced myself. The temperature was now hotter and the jog back was painfully taking me twice as much time. The heat drained my energy and short breaks were now a must.
Through reading and watching videos, people can attain a certain level of understanding about a place or a community they have never visited in person before. However, what we gather from books and videos is a mere drop of water in an ocean, compared to the volumes of information we gather through all our senses when we are present in a new place.
The rustic old trains and metals in the old train station in the center of the city, the liveliness of the open market in Kezira, Dire Dawa and the locals’ extremely calm attitude cannot be fully understood or explained in texts or snap shots. One must walk (or run) through it all to have a good understanding of and appreciation for the city.
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