Andrew McCarthy Spins the Globe and Lands in Ethiopia

By Julia Cosgrove  February 7th, 2010 2:34 pm  |  Comments (10)

For each issue of Afar, our staff chooses a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sends a writer on a spontaneous journey. The department, called Spin the Globe, is one of our favorites, because we never know what might happen. In the March/April issue, on newsstands February 9th, we sent writer and actor Andrew McCarthy to Ethiopia. Here’s a short dispatch we received from Andrew while he was on assignment.

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Categories: Afar magazine, Africa, Ethiopia, March/April 2010

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10 Comments on 'Andrew McCarthy Spins the Globe and Lands in Ethiopia'

  1. He seems rather calm for having just been arrested, not to mention here in the US they would not let you take your camera into the jail with you.

    John

    7 Feb 10 at 6:40 pm

  2. glad he’s ok and so calm! go andrew.

    shelby

    8 Feb 10 at 7:54 am

  3. I believe you are the next Christian Amanpour! Excellent stuff!

    Marisol

    8 Feb 10 at 8:58 am

  4. In 1999, a Belgian art dealer was arrested at the Addis Ababa International Airport on his way to Brussels with an 800-year-old 7Kg gold cross, which is believed to have belonged to King Lalibela; he was also a tourist. Why is it so easy for people to deduce that the guard is the one at fault when McArthy is the one that trespassed? No ticket = No entry. Is that really so hard to understand and so hard to abide to? The guard was just doing his job.

    The fact that McArthy is an actor and working for a travel magazine does not give him the right to abuse laws and customs in a particular country. McArthy however, it appears feels somehow privileged, thus all the ruckus.

    He could have gone back to the hotel and gotten the purchased ticket; he could have bought a new one; he could have spoken to someone in charge and explained his situation, but he didn’t…he sneaked in…and he was caught.

    Now, because this is so embarrassing (and we agree completely that it is embarrassing for a man in his 40s to be caught trying to pull something so petty), he has to somehow deviate the attention to the poor ignorant Ethiopian security guard with a gun. I mean why not? If the man can only speak Amharic, he’d have to be stupid, right? FYI: Amharic is the national language of Ethiopia, and besides, would you actually point out that your average Italian farmer does not speak English unless you were trying to point something out…I mean seriously, what was the relevance of the statement: “I thought his reaction to my offence was extreme; I tried to say as much. He grunted something in Amharic and prodded me with the tip of his rifle.” You were TRESPASSING!!!!! He could hit you with a stick if you said no to getting out.

    Not to mention, that structure behind the door that the guard is locking looks like a church; not to mention there is a sign on the side of the door, which indicates that it is an entrance. So in essence, it looks like the guard is locking McArthy out of the church compound. I guess Mr. Amanpour got inspired by the moment and decided to be an actor again; dramatize the whole thing at the expense of a man that is only doing his job and at the expense of depicting the Ethiopian people as violent and aggressive…I mean why not ,right? You know how Africans are…

    To those of you that don’t know: Ethiopia is a beautiful country, with a rich history, strong culture and great beauty of people, customs and landscape. Do not let the bruised ego of one man dictate your ideas of what a country is and what it represents…no matter how pretty McArthy was in “Pretty in Pink”, think he can only gain from all this drama, Publicity, publicity, publicity, right?

    To Mr. McArthy: you are not only tchemlaka for doing what you did, but you are also betam dedeb. I suggest you get that translated. Shame on you.

    An Ethiopian

    10 Feb 10 at 11:37 pm

  5. Mr. Mccarthy, is arrogant and nosy, he’s lucky he’s not dead, very nosy, maybe they should script this

    colleen wihnan

    15 Feb 10 at 4:34 pm

  6. [...] a country at random and sends a correspondent there with little notice. This issue’s destination: Ethiopia. I imagine the anticipation is similar to A-100 Flag Day – other than the minor detail that the [...]

    AFAR Magazine « Short Term Memory

    28 Feb 10 at 12:55 pm

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