Random Memories From Ethiopia

I remember...

Going out to dinner with the other family that was there to adopt 3 children, and several of the people from the orphanage/foster home in Addis Ababa. We went to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. The "tables" are actually tall baskets, with a small top that holds a large, round, metal or pottery platter. The food in set in little plops situated around the platter. There are selections of different types of wat. Very thick stew like substances. There are types with meat , vegetable, bean or mixtures thereof.

There are no eating utensils used, so the first thing you do when you go in is to wash your hands. One tears off a piece of enjera (very flat, moist bread) and scoop up some wat and eat it. About 5-6 people sit around each of the tables that are about 30 inches wide. (very close and snugly). It was tons and tons of fun. A very neat cultural tradition is that to show closeness even more, a person will feed the person near him - hand to mouth. The kids did that with us and it brought tears to my eyes. I loved it. A lot of the food was very spicy, so Pam couldn't enjoy it as much as I, but we had a blast none-the-less.