This week’s 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way focused most on Brittany’s confrontation with Yazan’s parents, but not all of the conflicts were that heated.
Ariela’s mother kept a very calm tone as she explained to Biniyam that she cannot let her pregnant daughter live in abject squalor.
Biniyam was incredibly excited to see Ariela return to Ethiopia, now in her third trimester of pregnancy with his child.
But he was also admittedly anxious, because he would be meeting Ariela’s mother for the first time.
His anxieties turned out to be well founded, because the rental that he had waiting for Ariela was … not ideal.
The bedroom, aside from some of its decor leftover from the previous resident, seemed mostly fine.
Admittedly, when Ariela went to hang up her clothes, which had been soaked by a rainstorm en route, the closet door fell off.
(Biniyam did not put the Catholic imagery up to terrorize his Jewish baby mama; that was leftover from a previous occupant)
Ariela got a real scare when she saw the bathroom, which doesn’t have actual indoor plumbing and looked … well … severely sketchy.
The shower, such as it is, was barely enough for her to wash her butt. She was unable to take a real shower.
So when Janice arrived the next morning to investigate, she got a tour of her daughter’s accommodations.
Biniyam’s explanation of how the "shower" works was not impressive.
Ariela’s family is medically inclined. Her father is a physician. Her mother is a nurse.
And Janice was nothing short of alarmed by the potential for infection in the substandard housing that Biniyam had arranged.
"I’m a mess right now," Janice admitted. "I’m not a snob. I just come from a totally different culture."
"I’ve been in places that are poor," she told Biniyam. "The people are nice, but the fact is that the conditions here are not safe for a baby."
"I think you need to see, really, what she gave up to come here," she suggested to the soon-to-be father of her grandchild.
The tour also included a look at the "kitchen," a term that we are using losely.
To the naked eye, it looks more like a dark and deeply questionable storage room that happens to have a couple of hot plates in it.
Notably, there was no refrigerator — a bad sign, but just one issue among many.
"As a mother and as a medical professional and nurse for over 35 years," Janice began.
She expressed: "it’s really painful for me to see that she would live in a place that’s dirty, full of bacteria."
"I’m getting sick at just being in this place," Janice stated. "It’s appalling."
Fortunately, Biniyam tells the cameras that he has something of an ace up his sleeve.
This rental is meant to be a temporary measure for Ariela while he sets up their real apartment.
So Biniyam wants to take her and Janice there and show them the promise of what is to come in the future.
It’s important to note here that, sub-standard though the house may be, this is not Biniyam’s fault or Ethiopia’s fault.
Biniyam is trying in accordance with what he knows.
And centuries of European colonization and exploitation of the land and its people are why poverty can be so extreme in places like this.
Biniyam does confess to the camera that he is afraid that Ariela and Janice won’t like the new apartment, either.
He is afraid that Ariela will simply zip back to the US if she doesn’t like this one.
There are other options, but considering Ariela’s nervousness and some realistic medical concerns, Biniyam’s fears are understandable.
Biniyam knew that he had a lot riding on this "surprise" for Ariela.
That said … the sight of an apartment that is still in the middle of being painted did not wow either of them.
Seeing issues with the lighting that needed fixing and smelling the foul stench in the bathroom had them both deeply concerned.
Biniyam promised them both that he, personally, could fix all of this up within two weeks.
That was, they gently pointed out, not terribly realistic.
It would take a team of people, including some experts for the plumbing and electricity, time to fix things up.
Realistically, we know that Ariela’s experience in Ethiopia was as a tourist, with tourist accommodations.
There is a huge difference between living in a rental space that caters to foreign vacationers and living in what the locals accept.
Ariela, her unborn child, and Janice deserve better — but to be clear, so does Biniyam. All humans deserve dignity and safety.