A few things I love about my life in Ethiopia

I’ve written about a lot of the hard parts of being in the Peace Corps, so I thought for this post I would write about some of the things I’ve come to love about living in Ethiopia and Ethiopian culture in general.

1.      Shai bunna breaks. When I first got here I didn’t think I could sit through the minimum of 2 tea/coffee breaks a day, but now I love it and look forward to drinking my small cup of delicious shai and eating a biscuit.

2.      Shopkeepers that tell me I can pay next time I see them when I don’t have the money on me.

3.      Doing a shoulder bump when you greet people as a sign of friendship.

4.      My school director who gives me a hug every morning to greet me.

5.      Injera. Seriously, cannot get enough of it. I have to have at least one injera a day to make my stomach happy.

6.      One common Amharic greeting is “seulam naw” meaning “peace” or “do you have peace?” When someone says this you can reply by saying, “allan,” meaning I have [peace]. I absolutely love this greeting.

7.      Randomly seeing my host family in town. This is always a welcome surprise and always brightens my day. I love them.

8.      Sharing some kolo with the teachers at my school

9.      Kids that run up to me to greet me and I greet them back in Amharic without thinking twice about it. I really just love anytime I understand anything in Amharic.

10.  Going to the market with my landlord. We can hardly communicate because she speaks no English and my Amharic is not great, but somehow we find a way to make it work.

11.  Going to the bank and being greeted by the guards who ask me to join them for some bunna. And of course they’ve got their rifles laid out across their laps. No big deal.

12.  Walking across the street every morning to buy fresh bread for breakfast.

13.  Greeting women with 2, 3, or 4 kisses on the cheek. It reminds me of France.

14.  The little boy and girl on my street that run after me to fist pump when I walk past their home and get so much joy out of it every time.

15.  Looking up at the stars at night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the night sky so beautiful.

16.  Watching the sun rise on the mountains on my morning run.

17.  Getting invited to share a meal with people I just met and eating together off one big plate of injera and various wots.

18.  Buying my vegetables from Bereket’s shop off my street. He has wooden stools in front of the produce so it’s also a hang out spot.

This is just a short list that I’m sure will get much, much longer as time goes on.