Menus

Here are a few shots of some interesting discriptions of food we found in some menus in Ethiopia. This is in honor of Andrea and her many funny signs from China - wanderlife.typepad.com
(the last one is my personal favorite!)

I’ve been home 8 days now. It’s been a whirlwind week of visiting family and friends and new babies – 7 of them! Tomorrow I leave again…this time in the same time zone. I’m heading south to work at ECHO again in Fort Myers. I’ll be working in their seedbank to harvest, package and ship seeds to people all over the world.

There’s still much more of Ethiopia to process and share. I hope you’ll continue to check this and learn more about my experience in such a fascinating part of the world.

coming home

Two hundred twenty fruit trees have been planted; Many farewells have been said.  Lord willing, I'll be back in America Sunday morning.  Thanks for your prayers...one would think the transitions would get easier after you've done so many...but they only get more difficult.

Weddings

I've attended 2 weddings since coming to Ethiopia; both were Protestant ceremonies. Wedding traditions vary greatly between the 3 main religions in Ethiopia. I don't know much about the Muslim traditions. Orthodox weddings often last several days (depending on when the $$ runs out!). They involve lots of dancing and drinking "Tech", a honey wine made locally. Protestant weddings are somewhat similar to what we are accustomed to in the States, with a few twists:

· festivities begin at bride's home in the morning, with close friends and family gathering. The groom comes in with his groomsmen to see his bride for the first time, but the bridesmaids block his view of the bride until the awaited moment… then a short ceremony, followed by some food.

· A car caravan (sometimes a limo, sometimes white Mercedes, and sometimes just a couple Toyotas) parades through the city with video camera leading the procession, filming the ENTIRE TIME! (Really now, who wants to sit and watch a bunch of cars driving through town for 20-30 minutes??)

· Guests welcome the couple outside the church when they arrive, and sing them into the church.

· Joyful worship – very lively gospel choir

· Wedding party sits down during a rather lengthy sermon

· While the couple recites their vows, beat box music is playing in the background.

· Four witnesses, usually elders in the family or church, go forward during the ceremony to sign wedding certificate…then bride and groom display the certificate for the guests to see…and the beat box music is still playing…

· After church program is photo program (similar to American tradition – sit and wait for an hour or 2)

· At reception, difficult to keep out "crashers" who come for free food, so you're supposed to present your invitation card

· Another "sermonette" is delivered before they serve the food at the reception

· Couple feeds one another the cake, and then the bride and groom feed each member of their bridal party

· Cake disappears in 4.2 minutes as everyone rushes the cake server with their plates

· The crowd disperses after the food…no dancing or drinking at a protestant service.

Wildlife

We've seen a lot of African wildlife in recent weeks. Over a week ago, a large herd of camels passed through Yetebon. They were with a nomadic group of people from about 50 kilometers east of us, moving west in search of water. It was so surreal to be standing amongst a herd of the enormous creatures.

Then a week later, my good friends from ECHO days, Tom and Betsy, came to visit for a week before heading to Kenya to do graduate research. We took a road trip to Awassa, 300 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, where we saw lots of birds, a monitor lizard, and monkeys stole our breakfast!

On our way home, we stopped at a lake to scout out some hippos. Only saw one or 2 shy ones in the water, but still a uniquely African experience, being out in a row boat on a lake only about 40 feet from a hippo!

Only a month left in Ethiopia!! And then the dreaded farewells…Still lots of work to be done, though.

Fasika

Fasika is the Amharic word for Easter, and was just celebrated this past weekend. I had been told early in my stay that Easter was a bigger deal than Christmas here. That proved true…Christmas was recognized and celebrated, but not with the extravagance that we put into it in the west. Primarily for the Orthodox believers, Fasika is not only a huge deal because of the true meaning of the holiday – Christ's resurrection – but it also brings an end to their Lenten fast of no animal products. Therefore, the tradition is to buy an animal (the type depends on one's income level) and eat it on Easter. For the wealthier folks, several families may go together and buy a cow…average cost here is 4000 birr (app $400). The middle class will get a sheep, ranging from 600-800 birr; and the lower income bracket will at least get a chicken and make "doro wat." Chicken prices were inflated to 50 birr for the Fasika weekend…usually they're around 30 birr. Animals lined the streets of Addis Ababa…I am pretty sure the domestic animal population in the country drops by about 20% after Fasika! While I would certainly much rather have a chocolate Easter bunny, eating meat is a big deal here. For the majority of the population, it's reserved for only special occasions.

Our Easter consisted of church in the morning (about 3 hours long), lunch with the housekids (lamb stew, complete with pieces of tongue!), giving the kids candy that had been sent from friends in the US (thanks Mom and Kathy!), back to church for a drama performed by the youth (another 3 hours in church), and then to some teachers' house for doro wat and a coffee ceremony.

The last photo is of the "ferengis" currently living at Project Mercy: me, Dr. Roy and Nancy - couple from Indiana working on the dairy project; Dr. Roy is a retired veterinarian, and Scott - English teacher from Sanibel Island, FL.

Trip, Part 3

Our last leg of the journey went through Gonder and the Simien Mountains. We spent one night camping in the mountains. In Ethiopian national parks, you're required to have a "guide" and "scout" accompany you during your entire stay in the park. The guide arranges the campsite and takes you on hikes, explaining the flora and fauna along the way. The scout is a schmugly (a PC Amharic term for an old man) who follows us around with an gun that looks like it's from WW1 slung over his shoulder. He also stood guard while we slept in our tents, though we think a little local boy came to help keep our poor schmugly scout awake through the night.

The scenery in the Simien mountains was breathtaking. We were at about 3,200 meters; the tallest moutain in Ethiopia, Ras Dashen is found in the park and reaches 4,543 meters. We also got up close and personal with some baboons. The Gelada baboons are indigenous to Ethiopia and heavily populate the Simien Mountains. They're very docile creatures, allowing us to get within 4 feet before fleeing in fear. Four feet was a little too close to comfort for me, too!

The last stop was Gonder, the former capital of Ethiopia. The city is often referred as "Africa's Camelot" due to the Royal Enclosure housing 17th century castles. It was fun to explore these ancient castles at our leisure, without ropes or barricades like we're accustomed to in the States.

The next morning we began the long drive back to Addis…left at 6:30am and arrived in Addis Ababa at 9pm, thankful for safe travels and the great experiences and eager for a hot shower!!