Memories of Ethiopia

Noah has been thinking back on some of the adventures he has had on this trip and decided to dedicate some blog time to writing about these events. Here he recalls a great evening on the town in Addis Ababa with our dear friend from Seattle, Kidane Ayele. Unfortunately, there are no pictures from this evening, but Noah has done a good job of describing his memorable evening.

By Noah

During my time in Ethiopia one big adjustment I had to make was having limited access to meat as we were there during the fasting season. This was challenging and occasionally made me crabby and cranky. One day our friend from Seattle, Kidane, who happened to be in Addis the same time as us, was at our apartment and heard me talk about my frustration with the lack of good meaty meals. Not wanting me to have a bad memory of the food in Ethiopia he insisted that he take Caleb and me out on the town for a memorable night of feasting. That was when the adventure started.

That evening I was very tired and when Kidane told me where we were going it went in one ear and out the other. All I knew was I was  going to have a meal that included meat. Leaving Romi and my parents behind we hopped into Kidane’s jeep and drove off into the heart of busy and chaotic Addis.

Our first stop on the meat adventure was to pick up another passenger at a jewelry store who I later learned was Kidane’s niece. Next we headed down an alley to a restaurant to feast on chicken tibs. As we dug into the incredible, juicy tibs we were joined by a little boy who walked into the restaurant and sat down with us to eat. He and Kidane’s niece did not speak English so at the time Caleb and I were very confused as to what was happening. After a good half hour of eating we hopped back into the jeep and drove off to a little neighborhood where we dropped off this boy (who I still do not know who he is) and continued on our way.

At this point I was confused as to what would happen next, but I knew two things: Kidane was trustworthy, and we were having a great time. Our next stop was down a glitzy street in downtown Addis were we left the Jeep and hopped into another car belonging to Kidane’s friend. At this point Caleb and I gave up on trying to figure out what was happening and just decided to go with the flow.

By this time it was 7:30 and pitch dark outside. The car which now contained, myself, Caleb, Kidane, Kidane’s niece, and the car driver started to drive back towards our apartment building. When we began to get near our home we kept driving past leaving Caleb and I in complete bewilderment and wondering, “where are we going now”?

Next we went to a restaurant a few kilometers from our apartment where we ate the most delicious beef tibs I have ever had and our third Coca-Cola of the night. After another good 30 minutes of solid feasting we all got back into the van and Kidane drove us back to our house with a full tummy and an extra order of tibs to share with Romi and my parents!

I can easily say this was one of my favorite nights in Ethiopia. An adventure through the streets of Addis Ababa where we had no idea where we were going or who we were with – just the kind of adventure Caleb and I were craving. By the end of the night it became less about the meat and more about the journey to reach it. The adventure and unknown destinations are what really made that night memorable. Kidane – if you are reading this, thank you for a great night!