Ethiopia: My Hardest Goodbye Yet

I was not expecting to love Ethiopia so much, but it has captured my heart forever. We made such good friends and experienced amazing things as a team. It wasn’t all a breeze – our squad went through some challenges, there was civil unrest that one of our teams was caught up in, housing was difficult to procure, etc. – and as a squad leader team, we had to make some hard decisions and really bind together to work for the good of our squad.

Despite these challenges, we were blessed to experience some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. We visited Wenchi Crater Lake, which is about 3 hours outside of Addis Ababa. The whole time we were there, I felt like we were in a movie or on a different planet. We were accompanied on our adventure day by our best friend in Ethiopia, Habtie (the Assistant Director of Selamta). It was such a great day of fellowship and fun. I even got to ride a horse for the first time! It was terrifying, but I survived. Pictures don’t come close to doing it justice, but here are some of my favorites:

This waterfall originates from a natural hot springs! It felt like a hot tub!

It is hard to see my face in this picture, but I was terrified!

Coming from Eastern Europe, we definitely experienced some culture shock touching down in Ethiopia.

Here are 10 unique things we observed during our stay:

1. Even in the nicest areas of town, there is a multitude of animals in the street. We saw horses, cows, goats, chickens, you name it just strolling around in the middle of the busy street. One day, a bull got loose and charged our taxi, his horn narrowly missing RJ’s window!

2. Since we were so close to the equator, the sun is much hotter than the US. People carry around umbrellas, not only for the rainy season, but also for the hot sun!

3. The local public transportation is called a bajaj. It is a small motorcycle with a seat and cover on the back – similar to a tuk tuk.

4. Electricity and water are not reliable. The electricity went off every day we were there, anywhere from 10 minutes to 36 hours! Places like hospitals and schools have generators for back-up, but most people just live with it!

5. Ethiopians eat with their hands. I LOVE Ethiopian food! Every meal comes with injera, a type of spongy bread. We ate shiro, misr, kitfo, gomen, and it was so delicious!

6. Ethiopia is known for their coffee. As we learned from our friend Fili (read more about him in a previous blog), the best beans are exported to Japan and the US, and Ethiopians have to use what is leftover. This was so surprising to me. Even so, the coffee we were served was delicious! Every household has a coffee ceremony set, where they roast and grind the beans and serve coffee in several rounds. It is a way of connecting with family and neighbors. We were invited to participate in several ceremonies!

7. They have many traditional dances. One of the first nights we were in Addis, we went to a traditional restaurant, and RJ was invited onstage to dance with the locals! 

8. Rastafarianism started after some Christian leaders (mostly in Jamaica) proclaimed that the crowning of Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 fulfilled a Biblical prophecy. Rastas from all around the world will take pilgrimages to Ethiopia. However, every Ethiopian we talked to thinks Rastafarianism is a crock!

9. When Ethiopians are talking, they will take a sharp breath in. At first I thought it was just a person I was talking to, then I started to notice that almost everyone we met did the same thing. It was almost synonymous with nodding.

10. The language in Ethiopia is Amharic. “Salam” means hello and “amaseganalo” means thank you. That’s about all we learned!