that’s it, then.
all packed.
it might look like a little,
but it’s more than I planned on.
the fake croc’s ’cause I can’t stand wet socks.
the leather backpack in case I’m photographed.
the sleeping bag I might need,
[I secretly hope it's out of choice.]
and that blue vest I should give away,
although it’d feel like cutting off dreads.
somewhere in there’s a ticket,
I bought with money that’s gone missing.
a few cameras,
some clothes,
a computer and other things.
I probably won’t need many of them either,
but just don’t know what to expect.
this feeling I’ve had a few times before,
leaving first for Europe as a ‘baby’ – a mindful of boxes to check and a one-way ticket,
again when China called, albeit 10 hours before the flight.
‘it always works out’ again-and-again,
sometimes by you, sometimes by me.
so, goodbye to this wonderful little hostel,
I rarely link to things like this but you deserve it.
there’s a plane that’s gonna take me farther away from home than I’ve ever been,
in all senses of the word.
the sadist in me who barely made it out of India,
back for a little bit more.
Africa.
Africa.
I know nothing about you.
nor you me.
[although I could be wrong about that.]
but for some reason,
it’s been made possible to meet.
I’ll be cool, collected
but inside I’m a bit scared,
I’d say ‘go easy on me’,
but why should I be the exception?
instead,
I’ll just ask,
[nicely, of course]
that you let me hang around.
…at least for a while.
We’re flying along with you and looking forward to trying the mint tea with you in….Africa!! Buon viaggio, Aric!!
OK, I’ve been doing some homework on Ethiopia. This is what I learned:
1- Tej is honey wine.
2- Tella is homemade beer.
3- Looks like Doro Wat (spicy chicken stew with hard boiled eggs and Sega Wat (lamb version) are big there.
4- Kitfo is ground raw beef (like a tartar steak) and is considered a dessert.
5- “Lab” is a cottage cheese and yogurt mixture.
6- Injera is a common bread. It also serves as a tablecloth. You use it to pick up the food.
7) Dabo Kolo are fried cookies.
8- Vegetable Alecha is a vegetable stew.
9- Kategna is a spicy bread.
10- Berbere is a spice paste.
11- Niter Kebbeh is a spiced butter.
After that you’re on your own.
here´s some wikipedia wisdom:
The country is a land of natural contrasts, with spectacular waterfalls and volcanic hot springs. Ethiopia has some of Africa’s highest mountains as well as some of the world’s lowest points below sea level. The largest cave in Africa is located in Ethiopia at Sof Omar, and the country’s northernmost area at Dallol is one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth. There are altogether around 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia today, with the two largest being the Oromo and the Amhara, both of which speak Afro-Asiatic languages. The country is also famous for its Olympic gold medalists, rock-hewn churches and as the place where the coffee bean originated. Currently, Ethiopia is the top coffee and honey-producing country in Africa, and home to the largest livestock population in Africa.
Ethiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world’s major Abrahamic religions. It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. It still has a Christian majority, but a third of the population is Muslim. Ethiopia is the site of the first hijra in Islamic history and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. Until the 1980s, a substantial population of Ethiopian Jews resided in Ethiopia. The country is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari religious movement, which is influenced by Pan-Africanism.
Ethiopia devolved into one of the poorest countries on earth. Ethiopia is the source of over 85% of the total Nile waters flow but it underwent a series of tragic famines in the 1980s, exacerbated by adverse geopolitics and civil wars, resulting in perhaps a million deaths. Slowly, however, the country has begun to recover, and today the Ethiopian economy is one of the fastest growing in Africa and it is a regional powerhouse in east Africa.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/EthiopianWolf1.jpg/180px-EthiopianWolf1.jpg
Cuisine
Typical Ethiopian cuisine: Injera (pancake-like bread) and several kinds of wat (stew).
Main article: Ethiopian cuisine
The best known Ethiopian cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrées, usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses injera to scoop up the entrées and side dishes. Tihlo prepared from roasted barley flour is very popular in Amhara, Agame, and Awlaelo (Tigrai). Traditional Ethiopian cuisine employs no pork or shellfish of any kind, as they are forbidden in the Islamic, Jewish, and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faiths. It is also very common to eat from the same dish in the center of the table with a group of people.
Hello there, i have not been an active commenter of your Blog. i jumped on your bandwagon not too long ago back when you were leaving Hawaii- just in time to be greeted with (which is still one of my favorites) a picture of your parents backyard. I must say that i am as enticed by your photography as you life and your words. I’m a sophomore student, and my high school requires a graduation project that is, as it’s name would indicate, required to graduate. I came across an idea for my graduation project, possibly involving you. I Have global studies this semester and my teacher just adores pictures, as well as books, to help communicate to her students what it is like in other parts of the world. Basically- i thought that maybe i could create a book, to follow (loosely) her course syllabus, with pictures of places you have been. The four major sections are Middle east, Asia(China, India, and Japan), South America, and Africa. i know you are currently IN the middle east, that you spent some time in china, and you plan on going to Africa. (good luck with that, by the way.) I think that leaving out south america wont be terrible, but then again i have 2 years to finish this book- so if you plan on being there with in the next two years, i’ll be looking out. I Guess i just need your permission to use your pictures in this non-published “book”, that would definitely give you credit. I would possibly also ask to use a few quotes for each section of the book, your insight on the places you’ve been. so, i guess if you could get back to me that’d be great. My email is icexblackxrain@aol.com
thank you Aric (even for simply reading this long-winded favor.)