Country 0: Home away from home

Miki and I have spent the first leg of our trip in Ethiopia. Our flight landed in Addis Ababa early in the morning on September 8, and my mother-in-law, Aynie, picked us up from the airport. I haven’t seen her in three and a half years – it was so good to see her!

I consider Ethiopia a soft landing and transition into our gap year. We brought extra supplies to store at Aynie’s house in case we need to restock. Mekael lived in Ethiopia for 5 years as a boy, and I visited once in 2019. Mekael speaks Amharic, which is the most popular language in the country, so we are able to navigate well. I’m a toddler with the language; sounding out the letters one-by-one from street and shop signs.

We stayed in Addis for the entirety of our time in the country. Aynie welcomed us to her home and to one of her guest rooms with a new, large mattress, slippers for both of us, and two bottles of wine. She told us that it is our room now. Not only does she make us home-cooked meals and drive us around the city, she also includes us in thoughtful conversations regarding history, religion, and ideologies.

There were four main highlights of the trip:

1) My mother-in-law, Aynie, is a fascinating person who seems to have lived many lives. She witnessed many government transitions in Ethiopia, visited Buckingham palace regularly as a diplomat’s wife, taught at a university, is considered a guru of women’s activism, experienced the Gulf War while living in Israel, and the list goes on! Aynie comes from a long line of intellectual leaders. I was able to listen to many stories while sitting in Addis traffic or during meals eating injera. She invited us to celebrate the 25th anniversary of WISE, a non-profit supporting women, where we met the women impacted and learned from leaders in the field. Aynie was asked to moderate a panel discussion between multiple organizations in the country, but she asked Mekael to take her place.

2) The food is unique and delicious. What sets it apart are the spices – the levels of flavor make it unforgettable! The food can also get quite spicy as well – በርበሬ “berberay”, a hot, red spice, is added to most dishes, and ሚጥሚጣ “meet’meet’a”, a bright orange firey powder will clear your sinuses and double as a dangerous pepper spray (seriously, some women throw it at enemy soldiers in defense). Injera, a thin, crepe-like bread usually 30” in diameter is the staple of all Ethiopian meals. It is made of ጤፍ “t’eff” flour, an ancient grain. It acts as a plate and utensil; you pull a small piece of injera and scoop up one of the dishes. My favorite dishes are their vegan (lenten or fasting) dishes with veggies, lentils, and split peas. I could write more, but maybe this needs a separate post.

3) Ethiopia has this fabulous tradition of having large family celebrations after the wedding called a መልስ “mels”. My mother-in-law’s family numbered over a hundred people, and Aynie did not hold back on every detail!! I’m hoping to post more about this soon – it was amazing! We wore royal robes and crowns, received many blessings, and danced much “eskista” which is a unique Ethiopian dance that includes isolated, coordinated shoulder movements in rhythm with music.

4) On our last day in Addis, we drove north of the city to Entoto Park. We inched up the mountain, which was about 2 miles above sea level. We sipped on macchiatos and ate mille fieulle as we looked at the sweeping view of the city. We then took a hike for about 5 miles there and back through beautiful eucalyptus trees. The cold, crisp mountain air with the scent of eucalyptus refreshed us as we walked. The earth was bright red and sharply contrasted the lush green of the moss, plants, and trees. Halfway through our walk was an art museum. Seriously, a hike with an art museum…this was a hike made in heaven! Oh, and as if that weren’t enough, a young man appeared out of nowhere selling my favorite Ethiopian pastry called a ሳምቡሳ “samboosa”, which is a fried savory, crunchy pastry with spiced lentils inside. Seriously. Heaven.

I’m hoping to upload photos soon!

Now, it’s September 18. We hugged Aynie goodbye this morning as she dropped us off at the airport, and we’re in the plane about to be on our way to Nairobi, Kenya. Now the gap year has truly begun…