Oliver Benjamin
A pleasant silence descended between them and they settled in,
luxuriating in the unbounded legacy of an old African eve and
musing on what lay ahead.
5. Doppelgang
As they expected, Abora was tardy. Roy and Webele had each thrown
back four cups of coffee by the time he finally showed up.
“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized, “I have recently come into some
money and am using it to start a new business venture. But it is not
easy to make new ideas happen in Ethiopia. This is a land of old
ideas!” He clapped his hands together noisily, summoning the waiter
to bring him a cup. This Ethiopian custom always disturbed Roy,
even if it was a black man performing it.
“What sort of business venture?” Webele asked.
“I am trying to produce Qat tea for distribution.”
“Cat tea?” Roy said, “Made from cats?”
Abora laughed and placed his hand on Roy’s shoulder. “No, not
cats,” he looked over at Webele. “Cats!” he exclaimed, laughing. “No,
my friend. ‘Qat’ is how chat is referred to in Yemen, our neighbor
across the Red Sea, to where I am hoping to export. You see, I have
read in our newspaper that the Yemeni economy cannot develop
properly because everyone takes long chat breaks for hours each day
instead of working. To chew chat takes a lot of time and patience. But
if it was processed into an excellent tea, they could drink it and work
at the same time! More than a thousand years ago we made Yemen
rich with our coffee. Now Qat tea could save them once again,” he
laughed. “Just imagine!”
Webele shook his head in disagreement, “What is so nice about
chat is the ceremony, the time with friends, the space, the talking, the
philosophizing. The drug is only secondary.”
“Ah, but this is old thinking,” Abora shook his head.
“Why hasn’t anyone thought of your idea before?” Roy asked.
Abora let out a dismissive hiss. “Because Ethiopians don’t think
of change. They only think of the past. How great we used to be. They
never try to make a step forward. They are afraid.”
“This is true,” Webele said, “But look what happens when we try
to be progressive. Selassie. Mengistu. Eritrea. Things fall apart.
Better to hope for less.”
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