Travel

I was in Addis Ababa for work last week, and in addition to drinking coffee, eating shiro, and hacking on DSpace, I managed to get out and see a pretty amazing sight outside of Addis: the Koremash Gorge.

Other than being a bit hazy, it was a beautiful day for a panorama…

I don’t know why this thing isn’t more popular… maybe it’s because of all the old things in north of Ethiopia? There’s more to Ethiopia than obelisks and crazy monks living in caves*!

Continue Reading

Travel

I snapped this picture of a Coca Cola bottle last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:

"Coca Cola" in Amharic
“Coca Cola” in Amharic

I thought it was cool to see the famous brand name printed in something other than English. In the Amharic language the four characters spell “Coca Cola” phonetically: Co-ca Co-la. The bottom part apparently says “Trademark.”

Food, Travel

If you don’t like the sour Ethiopian bread injera, steer clear of “Tibs Firfir”! It’s number 50 on the menu at the National Cafe in downtown Addis, next to the National Theater and the big lion statue. In Amharic it looks like this: ጥብስ ፍርፍር. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I made a bit of a mistake ordering dinner tonight with a friend in Addis Ababa. We decided we both liked tibs, an Ethiopian dish with roasted meat and, sometimes, tasty sauteed vegetables. What we didn’t know is that the “firfir” changes the game completely! Your itty bitty pieces of meat come mixed with shredded injera wrapped in a huge, pancake-like injera!

Continue Reading