Hey, from the gals in Ethiopia! Today we started early with a 7:45 wake-up call! But it was not as dreary as it sounds because we woke up with some jamming tunes featuring Rihanna and Chance the Rapper! Getting up early was completely worth it when we discovered that we were about to take on the streets of Addis so we could shop till we drop! But before shopping you must get that well-balanced breakfast of an assortment of breads and y’all know our favorite drink COFFEE!! After breakfast, we piled into Abi’s “swaggin wagon”! And proceeded to embark on our shopping experience!
With Abi weaving through the streets of Addis, we pulled up to Salem’s Designs where we began our “shop till we drop” experience! In Salem’s there were blankets, scarves, handbags, clothing, jewelry, and dolls which were all handmade. We were fortunate to first hand see some baskets, scarves, and blankets being made! Mary Ashburn even attempted and succeeded at helping make a scarf. (Let me know if you want to see some videos.) It took a few tries but she got the hang of it! We even met the ONE and ONLY Salem! (who by the way is a Tar Heel Fan, because her daughter graduated from UNC last year) Shout out to Turls for buying enough items for the Brady Bunch!
We went to Posta Bete, which means Post House, but we call it Post-a-Bagel. This was a series of small shops with various souvenirs. We were able to practice our serious haggling skills with the assistance of Dougie, Dani, and Bini as Abi kept watch over our already purchased items. We bought Ethiopian soccer jerseys, straw hats, magnets, mugs, scarves, wooden crosses, animal figurines, t-shirts, all types of jewelry, and traditional shirts and dresses. We shopped for so long that we were late for lunch, but before we left our MVH (Most Valuable Haggler), Anna, with Bini by her side, haggled a bundle of clothing worth 800 birr to 440 birr!
All this haggling sure did make us hungry, so we went to Natani where we had burgers, pasta, chicken pesto panini, and pizza (as Grace and Anna call them cheesy bites). As we ate our lunch Dougie poured a gallon of hot sauce on his pasta (the equivalent of drinking a bottle sriracha). Lunch gave us the opportunity to learn more about our friend, Dougie. Here are some little factoids: Dougie’s birthday is December 5, he has 4 siblings, one brother (27 yrs old) and 3 sisters (Me, Mackenzie, and Mary Ashburn). After lunch we ventured on over to Whiz Kids, which is like the Sesame Street of Ethiopia. Whiz Kids uses animation to teach children life skills such as safety, reading, learning the Amharic alphabet, and nutrition. We were invited to talk with one of the ladies that worked there and to watch an episode about vegetables. It was slightly difficult to understand since we only understand a few words of Amharic. The nice lady at Whiz Kids let us watch some of the new show that they were producing. This show was about Female Empowerment, with three young girl superheroes who embodied empathy, psychic abilities, and strength.
After our time at Whiz Kids, we took a short drive once again in Abi’s “swaggin wagon” back to the house. We all went upstairs single file to our rooms and began packing. Suz, Leann and I had a small “What I Bought” shopping haul. Many of us took naps before going to the Yod Abyssinia! We came downstairs in our casual “SMS” attire except for Grace and Anna who wore maxi skirts. Grace won the award for the most fashion forward because she decided to rock tennis shoes with her maxi skirt.
After a long 4 hour wait, it was finally time to venture on over to Yod Abyssinia! Fun fact: Abyssinia was the original name of Ethiopia, and Yod means ‘s. So Yod Abyssinia refers to “Ethiopia’s”. We all sat down for dinner and as we were eating many forms of entertainment came on stage and performed for us. One man came out and started singing and I immediately ran on stage and danced with him. More acts proceeded to come on stage and everyone, even Turls and Dean Rundles, danced on the stage. We found an older lady that is the future Mary Ashburn! We also saw a group of guys who all went on stage and danced like chickens (It was worse than it sounds). After the guys left the stage, the One Direction of Ethiopia came on stage! We saw another traditional dance called the “Shepard’s Proposal”. It was then time to leave Yod Abyssinia and head back to the house for one last Glums and Glows. On the ride home Dougie and I got in a fight, a brother/sister argument, but its ok… we figured it out. These moments were very tender and bittersweet<3 like the dark chocolate Langdon shared with us! We all packed with tears in our eyes and headed off to bed with thoughts of the coffee ceremony that we’ll have in the morning in our heads!
Deuces,
Lo Dur
-Lauryn Durham, ‘17
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