Addis Ababa

The stories "The Suitcase," "The Street Sweep," and "Kind Stranger" take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city. In "The Suitcase," Saba is visiting her family in Addis Ababa and the narrator states that there is only one traffic light in the entire city, at a very busy intersection Saba finds it impossible to cross. "The Street Sweep" focuses on the juxtaposition of the impoverished people living in Addis Ababa and the employees of nonprofit organizations, presumably mostly Westerners, who come to help but accomplish very little. The contrast between these two groups is represented by the Sheraton Hotel, which is the nicest building in the city and surrounded by ramshackle houses and lean-tos that the government is threatening to raze, including the main character Getu's house. In "Kind Stranger," the narrator is visiting Addis Ababa from America and she is accosted by a stranger on the...