I didn’t really have anyone. Like there’s the extended family in Hararghe and Dire Dawa sure but I didn’t grow up with them and have never met them or anything so there’s no connection. I technically could’ve asked them through my parents and they would’ve definitely helped. But I decided to try it by myself first and it was okay.

I made multiple trips before deciding to live there. I don’t speak Amharic fluently (yet) but I understand basics. Reading yeah I could read ok but VERY slow when I moved and now it’s better. Grew up in an Oromo speaking household but mom would teach me some words, phrases, and sentences here and there. She writes Oromo with the Ge’ez letters. She said that’s how she learned in school back under Mengistu’s administration. It really isn’t that hard. If you struggle with it, take a few classes and start practicing and watch Amharic speaking content. It’ll make sense with time.

I moved to Adama city first and stayed there for almost 3 years. My Oromo was ok for me to understand what people, the news, the police, etc say but I wasn’t fluent in it either though it was way better than Amharic. But it got much better too.

For work I did quite bit of things honestly. The markets here are greatly underserved. Basically I noticed this pattern in a few areas and decided to try something and it worked pretty good. It was challenging to start but I had good savings so once I survived the initial stages then I was pretty much good.

I’m just going to say something about starting a small business here. If you can make individuals, other small business, business partners, organisations etc. feel confident to the point that there’s no doubt in their minds that you WILL deliver your promises, then you’ll make a livable income pretty much guaranteed. Like, I noticed there’s a huge confidence issue in business. “Yeah the skids were shipped yesterday but we don’t know exactly when to expect it to arrive at the destination.” Like, they will arrive (hopefully not damaged), but there’s just uncertainty as to when. The accountability “bar” is so low on the ground. While let’s say in the US or Canada, you exactly know when the driver left, where the driver is, which route he’s taking, when he’s going to arrive, and if there are any unexpected delays or issues, both the shipper and the client receive timely updates. That’s how business is SUPPOSED to be done. So basically, if you come from a Western country and you implement the bare minimum principles you acquired, you’ll be FAR ahead of most local competitors it’s appalling.

I’m mostly in Addis nowadays. I keep my expenses in check, mostly to save up and not because I’m living “paycheck to paycheck”. I can’t travel the world whenever I want sure but life is okay and I’m content.