Hey geograpeeps!
Welcome to the 4th installment of our research series!
Today's episode is gonna be on E.THI.O.PI.A.
Now, for the average non-Ethiopian person, I kinda like to think that I know a little bit more about Ethiopia,
partially because here in my hometown of Los Angeles, we have a "Little Ethiopia" enclave and also
I have an Ethiopian friend.
And she's gonna be in the video.
So stay tuned for that.
Things that I know about Ethiopia:
#1: They have a really long history empires and kingdoms,
I know that they are a very diverse country, lots of tribes and people groups, ethnic groups.
I know that they're big on coffee.
I was told that coffee originated in Ethiopia.
I know that their food is amazing!
I love that spongy, soft, sourdough-tasting Injera bread and they have it with the stews and lentils and all that.
I know that they're the only African country that succesfully avoided being colonized by European outsiders.
I know that the Italians tried to attack them, but they succesfully fought back.
There are a lot of other small things that I know about Ethiopia, but let's just jump into it!
Let's read some of your e-mails.
So I clicked on the side bracket here for the Ethiopia folder, as you can see,
they are about 20 people who have contacted me, most of them I think are Ethiopian.
Okay, Fasil sent me a lot of good information here.
He even sent me to a link that explains the whole conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
That's great. Ethiopia is known for long distance running and is -
Is this gonna be like a trending theme now?
I always get interrupted while researching.
Great content, I mean -
Okay, I get it.
It was my manager.
Ethiopia is known for long distance running, and is the oldest and first Christian nation in the world.
Armenia might dispute that.
Ooh, I like how he sent me this Google Drive link with all these pictures. Ah, this is so cool!
There's the Lalibela Church.
These are some native Ethiopian people.
Here's what they look like, they always got cool hair.
Ethiopians got really cool hair culture.
That's another thing. There's actually a cool-looking Ethiopian dance in which women just whip their hair around
- I'm definitely gonna put that in the video.
Ooh! The town of Harar.
With hyeenas.
Okay, yes, that's gonna go in the video too.
Ethiopia! Ethiopia!
Ooh, I like this. He sent me a religion map.
So it shows the prevalance of religions in Ethiopia.
Green is mostly Muslim, blue is mostly Christian.
That's pretty cool.
Of course... Ethiopian food.
So good.
SO GOOD! Thanks for sending all this, Fasil.
Alright, let's move on.
Alright, what do you got for us Ruth?
So I asked Ruth what are differences between Eritreans and Ethiopians, and I like her answer.
"This is a very controversial topic. I personally think there is no major difference between Ethopians and Eritreans.
It's kinda like the situation with North and South Korea."
That explanation kind of resonates with me better, because as a half-Korean myself,
I understand the whole context of North and South Korea. They're very similar, but the political dichotomy is really what splits them apart.
Great information, Ruth. I'm gonna read this whole thing.
Great stuff. Thank you so much, Ruth.
Moving on. Alright, Lula!
Lula, Lula, what do you got for us?
Oh, I love this -
a bunch of pictures of flags and the historical flags of Ethiopia.
Ah! Ethiopia went through a little communist period, now did they?
Hm. So that's why Russia had relations with them. I was wondering why.
Lula, I love what you wrote here:
"Fun fact: Bob Marley wished to rest in Ethiopia after he died on his will, but the Jamaican government and people didn't allow it to happen."
Is that true? I didn't know that, wow.
Bob Marley. Great stuff, Lula, thank you for all the information.
Let's see who else wrote.
Daniel, Daniel.
What do you got for us?
Wow, this is a lot of information, a lot of stuff to read.
(?)
Ethiopia produces more nuts than any other country, apparently.
Cite your source on that.
There's actually a ritual that goes along with coffee.
"If invited for a formal coffee, you may be seated on pillows or grass and flower-strewn floor with frankincense burning in the background."
"The roast beans are then hand-ground and added to boiling water."
"Sugar is put into small cups without handles and the water/coffee mixture is added."
"Inhale the aroma of the coffee before sipping."
"The first round (called 'awol') is served, starting with the eldest."
"When the first cup is finished, the 'jebena' (coffee pot) is refilled with water."
"The second round (called 'tona') is then served." What, oh my -
There's like 12 steps to this coffee ritual.
I did not know any of that, Daniel, thank you for letting me know that.
"Okay, so the Ark of the Covenant."
"They say it's real and is kept at the 'Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion'. According to legend, it was delivered to Ethiopia by Menelik the first."
"And it was actually meant to be revealed to the public but then they changed their mind."
"Maybe this was because they saw Indiana Jones and didn't want loads of ghosts flying about melting people's faces off or something."
Who saw that movie?
That was a good movie. I liked that movie.
Don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Mary, and don't look at it, no matter what happens.
Okay, thank you for all that information, Daniel.
Okay, so great emails, guys, Ethiopian geograpeeps.
I'm really happy that you guys emailed.
But in the mean time, let's do some fun research on YouTube.
Alright, what do we got here?
Ethiopia! Ethiopia!
"Ethiopia, Djibouti launch Africa's first modern electrified railway."
Hm. This video is by CCTV English.
They got the opening ceremony, they got the drums and the instruments.
Ah, that's pretty cool.
I know that Djibouti is a really close friend of Ethiopia, they are their only link to the Red Sea
pretty much the outside world, kind of.
Oh, the Chinese have gotten involved.
Of course they did.
That's pretty cool, that's Africa;s first modern electrified railway.
Good for you, Ethiopia!
Moving on! "First Italo-Ethiopian War: A 3-Minute Histtory."
By Jabzy. Okay.
Woah, look at the animation style.
Interesting, okay.
Look how he draws the people.
It's like Microsoft Paint style.
I don't have anything against it, I'm just saying. It's something new.
Okay, this video looks very simplistic - like, there's a perpetual white background with simple figures and stuff like that,
but stuff like this actually takes a lot of work, so I give props to you, Gabzy.
And you have to narrate it, and you have to edit it, and you have to put in the pictures and superimpose them on the images,
good for you, Jabzy. Although, I have to admit, this is probably what Geography Now would look like if I was rushing everything
and I didn't want to film myself hosting the show and I just wanted to do images.
This is probably what the show would probably look like.
And if I drew everything on Microsoft Paint.
Alright, let's watch another one.
Alright, who's this? Habesha G, "Random facts about Ethiopia."
- nowhere, I thought, would be different, like different things that
people might not know about Ethiopians or about Ethiopia.
So, here we go. Let's dive into the video.
Paul: Alright, let's dive in.
We refer to our country as a she.
Like Ethiopia (?), or like "Mama Ethiopia."
Paul: "Mama Ethiopia."
When we go to school, we learn our tribe language
our official langauge/the country's official language, and English.
Isn't that awesome? Like 3 languages in a row.
Paul: Yeah, that is awesome. 3 languages?
Ethiopians take their father's name as the last name.
I do not know why.
A lot of Ethiopians know their grandparent's name, their great grandparent's name, their great- great grandparents' names.
Paul: Cool!
It's like you know every generation, almost.
Paul: Hm. They're very on their history.
I love this lady, she's giving such great information.
For less than 3 minutes, that was probably the most
condensed and powerfully informative video I've seen this entire video research time, thank you
Habesha G, that was a great video.
Check out her channel, guys! "Habesha G".
Moving on!
Alright, what do we go here? Under "Whoopi's Craziest View Rant: Go Back to Ethi-", I'm not even gonna,
Whoopu Goldberg, I'm not even gonna bother.
What's this? "Ethiopia - Some Facts about Ethiopia."
By About Ethiopia.
These people really want you to know that they are Ethiopian.
This video's a little long, but let's see what they got.
I'm so happy to have you around.
Yes. Thank you for visiting us.
Of course, subscribe.
This lady, she's so sweet and charming.
As you all know, we're from Ethiopia.
It's in East Africa.
At the "Horn" of Africa.
Geez.
Yeah, we're black people.
Actually, beautiful black people.
Yeah, we're different!
The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa.
Can you imagine what "Addis Ababa" means?
Paul: What does it mean?
It's "new flower." Yeah.
Paul: "New flower."
Land mass in here is off the hook!
Paul: "Land mass is off the hook."
I'm just drawn into this lady's voice and just her jolly, upbeat, happy demeanour.
It's just infectious.
Okay, so that's about it for now.
I'm gonna read all the rest of the emails that you guys sent me, or atleast I'm gonna try to
and I'm gonna do a little bit more personal research, but as of right now, I feel like I got a really good grasp
on Ethiopia, and I have a pretty clear sense of what I'm gonna put in the script and how I'm gonna make the video, so -
Thank you to all the Ethiopian geograpeeps and thank you for watching me do research
I know it's kinda weird. I mean, you're watching a guy do research
but if you liked it, great for you.
Okay. You're welcome to watch me do research anytime.
When I post it on YouTube.
Don't come into my house and watch me. Unless I want you to.
Alright, that's Ethiopia.
And the next research video is gonna be on Fiji!
Stay tuned for that one.