Mekelle

Relaxing over a couple of the worlds best macchiatos, Megan and I discussed this interesting place of Mekelle. After agreeing that Mekelle is interesting we decided that it is a lot like a middle schooler- awkward and trying to figure itself out. Outside the café widows are people in business suits walking down the same street as lost donkeys. Banks and huge architecture buildings share the streets with the local markets. We see a man who runs past chasing a chicken that fell off of his stick (he was selling them), while over to the right men are getting their shoes shined. Every other road is paved yet filthy from the dirt roads that lead to them. The rich walk by the poor. Some kids say "hi," others say "money". There is street parking everywhere. For every car that takes up space on the street there is a bicycle that is parked, perfectly propped up on the curb by the pedal. Toyota SUVs share the roads with horse drawn carriages. On one particular street there is usually a horse that stands in the middle of the street for days, trying to just die away. The city is working to emerge with modern businesses and aspects of a western culture, yet can't manage to escape where it really came from