Making the Rounds

I have fabulous Ethiopian friends! They were so excited to meet Amber and warmly welcomed her. It mattered not in the least that Amber understood hardly anything that they said (and I must admit that I did not do a good job of translation….either I forgot that she couldn't understand or was experiencing translation fatigue). We spent so much time with Gigi, Tambarat and their siblings that we should have just moved in for the week. They are so good to me and were also so good to her. I'm truly blessed by their friendship!



Igigiyew (Gigi for short) gifted Amber with a jabena (traditional coffee pot).


I thought we were coming to share in a simple lunch and instead we found the Ethiopian equivalent to Thanksgiving!


Amber and Gigi's sis-in-law, Israel, found a creative solution to being caught in the rain without an umbrella.


Both Amber and I love this picture. My bunna ceremony presentation was great…my bunna, not so great.


Enjoying a little friendly game of Uno


Amber and Muluken (my co-worker)

Walking in My Shoes

I think Amber and I would both agree that the best part of her visit was simply hanging out. It was fun to show her my world and all of its quirks. Amber learned the art of washing bunna (would you believe that you use AJAX!?)…I learned how to be patient cooking for two on a single kerosene burner…we perfected baking chocolate chip zucchini bread in a dutch oven…Amber introduced Abi to the concept of kool-aid…we had multiple "movie nights" crowded around my laptop and got to share in Hapti and Abi's first animated movie—RATATOUILLE (Abi literally squealed with delight watching the antics of a cooking mouse while Hapti wrestled with whether or not this was real or imaginary. We wandered the market…screamed in unison over frustrations with internet…witnessed lamb butchering…drank cup after cup of very strong bunna…and thoroughly just enjoyed being able to spend time with each other.



Why is this little guy so darn cute!?!


I've concluded that sheep are truly dumb. This is the one that wasn't butchered (at least not yet). He managed to get himself in a jam and when I couldn't handle the strangled bleating sound any longer, I had to come to the rescue.

Amber (with Souwnet's help) washed and roasted a full kilo of bunna…a time consuming process.

Meet AVA

There has been a new arrival on our compound. My landlady's daughter, Genet, is settling into her role as a new mom and Aselef is enjoying being a first-time grandma. I had been invited to attend the birth (how interesting would that have been?), but this little one decided to arrive while I was in Addis. I returned home to find a beautiful little girl with a mop of curly black hair and was given the honor of naming her! Can you believe that?!? At first I thought I misunderstood (which is pretty much a given for me), but I hadn't. Genet wanted her daughter to have an American name and Amber and I were more than happy to oblige her. We hemmed and hawed, argued and debated, and ultimately realized that we were grossly unprepared to name a human. Neither one of us have named anything other than creatures belonging to the genus I like to call "furry and four-legged" with the exception of one chicken and 2 hermit crabs. We have always been great "namers", but this was different. The pressure was intense. It's one thing for a daughter to be upset with a mom for saddling her with an atrocious moniker, but this little one could hold a grudge against "farenjis" that may have rippling effects for years to come. Ok….perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic…but this was serious business. After mulling it over for the evening, trialing a host of names and taking into consideration the level of difficulty with pronunciation and spelling using the Amharic script, we both came up with the same idea at the same time. AVA! We love the name as well as the fabulous little girl (our 2nd cousin) that is our "original" Ava.

Proud As A Peacock

There are moments in life that are so precious that you want to just bottle them and enjoy them forever. This was one of those moments. I had put out the word to my ex-pat friends in Addis that I was in need of little boys' clothes and they came through for me. Amber and I returned home with an assortment of pants, shoes, shirts, socks, and even a stuffed animal or two. We arrived on the compound…were greeted with a squeal from Abi as he came charging from the back…and promptly gave him a bath. We then spent the next hour playing dress-up. I've never had so much fun and the joy in his eyes as he tried on this motley assortment of used, sometimes stained clothes is something that I will never forget. Each "new" little outfit was promptly shown off to his mother and anyone else who found themselves on the compound during Abi's fashion show. The biggest hit…the single shoe that blinked when you stomped down hard and the fabulous orange ELMO hat.

My Sis Arrives!

My blog posts are always a bit behind the times. So I must tell you that Amber has already departed! Our time together went by too quickly. She was here a total of 14 jam-packed, experience filled, and totally wonderful days. And for those of you considering a visit… I want to assure you that she left here without bodily harm, was well fed, and as far as I know is parasite free! So…now I shall do a little backtracking in order that you can share in our adventure.

Amber arrived completely exhausted and spouting something about a total of 10 hours of sleep in the preceding 4 days. We had intended on leaving for my town the following day, but knowing that she would likely sleep the entire way and miss all of the amazing sites, we postponed our travel by one day. I should have known better….Amber + Vehicle= SLEEP…always!

I had been so looking forward to Amber's visit as she is the first family member or friend that I've seen in 10 months, but also because it was finally my turn to be the "free-loader." When she served as a PCV in Romania, I was working and subsequently subsidized our adventures together. I can't tell you how great it was to hear her say, "Oh, I'll pay for that."

The greatest luxury that she paid for was a private vehicle to transport us from Addis to my town. What normally is a long, hot, and sometimes harrowing ride was instead a comfortable, smooth-sailing excursion. Our driver was willing to stop anywhere along the way even if it was just to capture "the perfect shot." Now that I've experienced traveling in this manner, how will I ever go back to public transportation!?!
















Amber and I treated ourselves to pedicures at the Boston Day Spa in Addis. This place is amazing and revivals any spa in the States. The only difference is the price…wouldn't you love to pay 13USD for a pedicure?!














On the road north. It was great to be able to stop along the way and snap pictures of sights that normally are a blur when traveling by bus.




Amber and I at the edge of the Blue Nile Gorge



This is how Amber spent the majority of our road trip.



Traveling by private vehicle is such a treat!

My “other” Life

When I need a dose of “America” I don’t have to spend $2000 and endure 26 hours of trans-continental travel. Instead, I make my way to Addis and the oasis that Liz and Richard’s home represents. I am blessed to know them (Liz and my sis worked together in the States) and am so appreciative of their generosity.

When I step into this little slice of Heaven, all things America overwhelm my senses. My nose is greeted with the scent of chicken nuggets, TIDE laundry detergent, kitty litter, and freshly cut grass. My ears are bombarded with the raucous laughter of 5-year old couldn’t-be-more-different twins, Ella and Chloe, singing at the top of their lungs to Hannah Montana and the grumble from Uncle Bobblehead, their crazy cat, as he is half-dragged half-carried across the living room. My eyes are agog at all of the amenities...frig, freezer, microwave, television (x2), washer and dryer. I can’t get enough of the feel of a down comforter on 400 thread count sheets or the tactile joy of trucking across plush carpeted floor in my bare feet. Oh…and the farenji food (cashews, white-meat chicken, vanilla wafers, pretzels…) that bursts from every cupboard and countertop is a treat for my taste buds and a threat to my waistline.

It’s easy to get swept up in this “other” life. I baby-sit Ella and Chloe to give Richard and Liz a much needed/much deserved date night, get sucked into cable TV series such as MasterChef, attend dinner parties with ex-pats who represent all corners of the globe, and cruise around Addis insulated in a late model 4Runner with their driver Mulugeeta.

Occasionally I try to introduce a little of my world into their world. Recently, my friend Megan and I had the girls for the morning while Liz attended a conference. Liz dropped us off at Kaldi’s coffee shop and then we walked a ¼ mile (downhill) to an Ethiopian craft bazaar. While there we ran into some of my new ex-pat friends who asked how we had gotten there without Liz and the car. I responded with “by foot” and in turn they responded with “oh…how uncivilized!” When it came time to leave the craft fair, Chloe turned to me and said, “we’d better find a car because my feet felt funny walking.” These are the times that I just have to laugh and realize how different these two worlds are. I love them both and am glad that I can easily hop back and forth between the two.


Chloe and Ella recently celebrated their 5th birthday and I just happened to be in Addis in time to participate in the festivities.




Ella was just enthralled with my new rain boots and just had to try them on.

Bunna Ceremony Bloopers

A few weeks ago, my friend Igigiyew helped me to purchase all the necessary items to host my own bunna ceremony….jabena (clay coffee pot), sendle and holder (incense), genda (the white box), sinne set (cups and saucers), bunna, and the very ugly but necessary fake grass plastic mat. Since then she (as well as Tambarat and a host of their siblings) have been asking me on a daily basis as to when they will be invited over for bunna. I decided that I could not stall any longer and invited them over for Sunday afternoon. I then raced home to practice! Aselef, Souwnet, and Genet kindly guided me through my Saturday practice session and assured me that my bunna was WOFRAM (this laterally translates as “fat”, but in this context means strong coffee) and ANDEGNA (“first” or “best”).

Sunday I awoke anxious and nervous. Ethiopians take their bunna ceremonies very seriously and I didn’t want to mess it up. I started preparing (and pacing) 2 hours prior to the event. I popped the fandesha (popcorn), fanned the charcoal, arranged and re-arranged my bunna ceremony items, and waited…and waited…and waited a bit more. Ethiopians are anything but punctual.

Eventually, Igigiyew, Tambarat, Tedeseh, and my Canadian friend Tammy arrived and my first official bunna ceremony began. I must admit that Ethiopian women make this entire process look easy, but let me assure you that it is NOT! I found it impossible to fan the flame, prevent the bunna from boiling over, wash the cups, put the water back on to boil, all the while trying to remember who drank from which cup! Thankgoodness Tammy and Igigiyew were willing to step in and help because I needed all hands on deck! Tambarat found my incompetence to be quite hilarious and in broken English made his own joke. “How many farenjis does it take to make a cup of coffee? THREE…one to fan the fire, one to prevent the pot from boiling over, and one to serve!” Ahh, what a funny man!

In the end, I somehow managed to brew 3 rounds of wofram bunna and in turn received many accolades from my very patient and accommodating guests. I then introduced a new post-bunna ceremony tradition…a game of UNO. There is nothing more funny than hearing a 20-something Ethiopian guy yell “UNO” with an Amharic accent!




















Saturday practice session














Igigiyew lends a helping hand














Igigiyew, Tambarat, Me, and Tadeseh.















Me and Tammy