Monday, April 25, 2011

Four

Immediately after this post I will start using my blog to document my training! Yes, it's crazy to think I only have four full months to train for my upcoming half-marathon in September. Ah I am so excited. The sun is out, the weather is great, and I'm ready to rock and roll.

But first, my experience with traditional Ethiopian cuisine.



Last week I had goban with a steamy cup of chai tea. Boiled barley mixed with corn, goban has a consistency similar to oatmeal. My host explained that it is a typical dish eaten before Easter, symbolic of the Last Supper when Jesus and his disciples shared a simple dinner of bread and wine. It was rather plain so we added some berbere, an Ethiopian spice mixture, to kick things up a notch. I can't say I was a fan, but the chai tea was delicious.

And of course a pre-Easter snack merits a post-Easter feast. Today during tutoring I was welcomed to an overwhelming array of food that included injera, lamb, lamb stomach, chicken, and curry, all prepared with a traditional Ethiopian flair. It reminded me of Indian cuisine and similarly, I was encouraged to eat everything with my hands. MY HANDS! I know this is usual in many cultures, but I hadn't eaten a complete meal using only my hands until tonight. Hence, I wasn't able to take a picture because of my messy fingers! It's a shame because all the food was delicious and looked amazing, especially the lamb stomach. It had an interesting gamy texture and a slight crunch. Overall, it was quite a splendid dinner with my part-time adopted Ethiopian family. I definitely did more learning than teaching tonight :)