So this is the story how I got mugged for the first time in June of 2020. For years now, I’ve banked on my size and evidently imposing demeanor to deter people from messing with me and up until now, it has. I mean, when you see a 6’5’’ (1.96m), 270lbs (135kg) guy with a beard and tattoos coming at you, it doesn’t necessarily give off the “I’m easy to mug” vibes. After still getting mugged despite my current appearance, I’m considering adding a prominent facial scar or a neck tat to bolster the “don’t mess with me” image, but we’ll see what happens (Mom, I’m joking).
To make the mugging even more of a surprise, I wasn’t alone. I was in a group of ten other people – four other adults and six children – in the middle of the day. One of the CURE Ethiopia doctors had invited me on a small hike in the hills around Addis with another family who had just arrived in country. The doctor and his family have been doing this hike weekly for years and I had done it with them once before. 70% of the hike went as it usually does and on the downhill return, the group had become slightly spread out. Four of the older kids – ages six to ten – had run a bit ahead of the group. I was about 50m behind the kids, by myself at that point in the hike. 100m behind me was a couple with a three year old child and about 50m behind them was another couple with a two year old child. The kids had rounded a slight curve in the trail and as I rounded the curve, I saw them sitting on the side of the path with two guys in the early 20s standing there.
Here is where I made my first mistake. I didn’t put up my guard. When in the city, I am quite switched on and aware of what’s going on around me. Pickpockets are numerous and scams are constantly being run on foreigners so I’m quite skeptical and careful. But there in the hills, part of a large group, and in the middle of the day, my guard was down. I figured the kids had stopped for a rest and my experiences across Africa have taught me I’m never really alone. No matter how in the middle of nowhere I feel, there’s almost always someone around and a foreigner taking a pause is generally more entertaining than whatever they had going on, so they’ll come check you out.
Assuming this was once again the case, I approached the two guys and greeted them in Amharic, the main language of Ethiopia which I’ve slowly been learning. Instead of responding the way I expected, one of the two guys simply said, in English, “sit down.” The statement was so far outside of what I expected to hear, it didn’t even register as English, so I asked him, in Amharic, “what?”
Now this is where I made my second and biggest mistake. I let one of the two guys get behind me. When the one gave me paused, I stopped with him directly in front of me and the second one was to my right and he subtly shifted slightly behind me while I was trying to figure out what in the world this first guy was saying.
After I asked him “what?,” he once again “sit down” and this time I understood the words, but was confused as to why he would say such a thing. I gave him a quizzical look and kind of laughed “no.” As soon as I said that, the guy in front of me started to lift his stick which I had previously interpreted as a common walking stick and everything suddenly clicked into place: they were going to try and get everyone to sit down on the side of the path – like they had done to the kids – in order to rob us.
As the guy in front of me raised his stick, I grabbed both him and the stick, but as I did that the guy who had gotten behind me clobbered me on the back of the head with his stick. I didn’t black out, but I was instantly stunned and as I fell to the ground, I had the strangest experience. I was fully conscious of everything going on but had no control over my arms or legs. I hit the ground and the two of them were immediately on top of me going through my pockets. As they pulled out my phone, my arms and legs started working again and I grabbed the knees of the first guy, pulling him down to the ground with me which earned me a renewed clubbing from the second guy. When he started hitting me again, I let go of the first guy and covered my head.
Thankfully, the couple behind me had caught up. My doctor friend had handed off his three year old child to his wife and ran in, grabbing the stick from the guy beating me. While they scuffled, the first guy jumped up and ripped off my camera bag, containing my camera and two lenses, and both thieves took off, the first – with my camera bag – to the right and the second – with my phone – to the left. I jumped up and chased the guy with my camera for about 200m until he disappeared down a wooded ravine and I lost him.
In the whole scheme of things, we made out pretty well. Yes, they got my phone, camera, and lenses, but they didn’t succeed in sitting everyone down and systematically taking everything we had which we believe was their plan. In retrospect, I think I saw them coming down the hill as we had been going up and we think they had waited around, assuming we’d be easy targets due to the really little kids. Thankfully I was the first one to encounter them and, with no little kid in my arms, was able to throw a wrench in their plans.
As someone who has placed significant parts of my identity in my size and strength, it was frustrating to go down as easily as I did and in the weeks since this happened, I’ve replayed it many times in my head. I’ve definitely learned some lessons, but I’ve also come to realize how blessed I was in the experience. I was incredibly lucky they only had sticks and I’m blessed that everything they took is replaceable. My only injuries are a few scrapes on my arms from the falls and a sprained ankle from chasing the guy. There wasn’t even a concussion from the stick to the head (the doctor verified this). And as a consolation prize, I learned I do indeed have the fight and not the flight response which I’m mildly proud of.
Finally, I don’t have a spirit of fear or anxiety so this thankfully hasn’t marred my perception of Ethiopia. Frankly, I’ve been blessed to go as long as I have without an experience along these lines. I’ve been all over the world and while this happened in Ethiopia, it just of easily could have happened in in New York or any of the other places I’ve lived. I’m still in love with Ethiopia. I’m still all-in for my work here. And I’m still excited about all the adventures this beautiful country has to offer once the virus passes!
Turkey Alwan Travels