I left my heart in San Francisco, but I left my hair in Ethiopia. The danger sign was there, quite literally. The two hairstyle options apparently available to me at my Ethiopian barber shop of choice: Ricky Martin and Ludacris. … [Read more...]
Ethiopian Food (An Overview of Ethiopian Cuisine)
When we headed to Ethiopia recently, I went packing with high expectations of the food. Years ago, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Ethiopian food fresh out of university. In Washington, D.C., just new to world cuisine, I clearly recall my first pull of a round stretchy pancake-like injera bread, beautifully colored mounds of what looked to me like … [Read more...]
Travel to Ethiopia: First Impressions
When I was growing up, I remember Ethiopia having a long run on the nightly news. Unfortunately newscasts all pointed to the grim. Newsreel images featured fly-ridden babies with distended bellies, drought-ruined landscapes and a ravaging famine made only worse by civil war. Sounding familiar? Prior to our visit, we figured some distance between the Ethiopia … [Read more...]
The Ancient Rock-Carved Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia
The story of the rock-carved churches of Lalibela goes: almost 900 years ago in Ethiopia there lived a visionary king named Lalibela. Lalibela traveled far and wide, including an extended pilgrimage he took to Jerusalem, after which he brought back home to Ethiopia all he'd seen and learned. When Muslims conquered Jerusalem in the late 12th century and it became … [Read more...]
Up Next: A Journey to East Africa
Our journey to East Africa, just about underway. What follows includes not only our itinerary and a call for your recommendations, but a personal note and a couple of back-stories including $100 given to us with a purpose on a ship in Antarctica. As you read this, we're on our way to Ethiopia to begin a six week journey through Eastern Africa. We expect the … [Read more...]