Teaching Algorithms in Ethiopia - Nick’s Substack

Recently, I helped teach an introductory algorithms course to high schoolers in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. I had an awesome time—the students were wonderful to teach, and coming from the Bay, I got a sneak peek of a very different culture. There was always something new to learn or ask about each day, and I feel like I only scratched the surface. It’s hard to compress everything here (and you should go to experience it yourself!), but I’ve included some highlights below. Timing. Time is organized differently in Ethiopia. Time intervals run on a 12-hour clock that starts at what I know as 6am, so people refer to “1 o’clock” as 7am and “2 o’clock” as 8am, with the time interval resetting at 6pm. Because Ethiopia is so close to the equator, the sun rises and sets at around 6am each day, so it makes natural sense to organize the clock based on when it’s light or dark out. As one local TA put it, “Your times are weird. Why would you start the next day in the middle of the night?”

Recently, I helped teach an introductory algorithms course to high schoolers in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. I had an awesome time—the students were wonderful to teach, and coming from the Bay, I got a sneak peek of a very different culture. There was always something new to learn or ask about each day, and I feel like I only scratched the surface. It’s hard to compress everything here (and you should go to experience it yourself!), but I’ve included some highlights below. Timing. Time is organized differently in Ethiopia. Time intervals run on a 12-hour clock that starts at what I kn