Whatever You Are Be A Good One: I'm a real Habesha now :)

First of all, Habesha is the word for Ethiopian, and after this week, I'm the real deal.

I had a whole lot of Ethiopian culture and food this week, and it was fantastic. Here are some of the things I did this week...

1. Made injera for the first time- Ethiopian traditional food that is comparable to a spongey, giant tortilla and the staple of every traditional meal. It is made with teft (a grain) mixed with water, and then left to ferment for 3-8 days. Then, the batter is poured onto a giant metal pan, on top of a wooden fire and cooks on 1 side until it is taken off. It's quite the process, and my first injera experience was less than perfect but by the time I leave, I'll be a pro!

2. I was gersha-d. To "gersha" someone is to take a pocket of injera with wot (a stew) inside and feed it to another person. It's a loving thing, a way to show affection and also force feeding :) Typically as the parent's eat they will gersha their own children, and when you gersha adults it's a way to show affection. It's quite funny when it happens, because a woman literally just took a giant serving of injera and pushed it into my mouth!

3. I helped make wot! Cooking with Ethiopian ladies is a quality time. Wot is like a stew and there are all different types of wot that are traditional in Ethiopia. Misir Wot is lentils with burberry, oil, onions, salt, tomato. Shiro wot is oil, onions and shiro mixture of powdered chickpeas and spices. And there are so many more types of wot, but we only made those 2. It was entertaining for sure.

4. Took part in multiple buna ceremonies. Buna is coffee, and here in Ethiopia coffee is a giant part of their culture. They begin by washing the dry coffee beans, roasting them over a fire, then they grind them using a mortar and pestle (typically). Then, they boil the coffee grounds with water in a special clay container, and pour it into tea sized glasses. It's delicious. It's the smoothest coffee I've ever tasted, and has quite the kick of caffeine. A buna ceremony typically takes place in an Ethiopians home, and the process I described above is done in full. There is usually popcorn served with the coffee (strange mixture, I know) The process takes about an hour or so, and anywhere from 3-5 cups of coffee later it is an okay time to say farewell! The pace of life is so much more slow here, and the buna ceremony is one example of the importance of community and relaxing with one another.

5. I officially have an Ethiopian family :) My friend Heather lives on a compound with 13 other women and that is where many of these events took place this week. After the 2nd time of visiting the compound, one of the women said "Liz, you are now our family.." Pretty amazing how open, accepting and loving these people are. Good to know that I now have a place to call home to celebrate holidays, traditional events and just go to be with wonderful people.

Needless to say, it was a good week. Another IFESH volunteer came and it was exciting to meet her and help get her accustomed to Gondar. We went to Arada, the market to get all sort of supplies for her and showed her some of the favorite restaurants around. Tomorrow, I start my Amharic tutoring and a week from tomorrow the classes I'll be teaching will finally begin. I left for Ethiopia a month from today, and it's starting to feel like my own which is an amazing feeling. Good things to come :)

Here are some pictures of the adventure of injera and wot making with Heather at her compound.