ethiopia is beautiful but in a way i didn't expect. its people had a sweet pride in their land and in themselves. they stood tall. and i remember something else - all the time i was there my mom kept calling me from jamaica asking if i was safe. ethiopia was at war with eritrea, according to cnn. i say that because i had no way of telling once i was actually in the country. i didn't get cnn (there was no cable) and the one local station was content to broadcast (and rebroadcast) the kinds of programmes that, on a public holiday, jamaican children cringed about having to watch. like cultural events and speeches from important local dignitaries that lasted all day. except in ethiopia it was all week and month and year. but i was safe because ethiopia was so big and the border with eritrea so far removed from addis that i found it hard to think of anything like that. and there wasn't much news of it or at least that's what my limited knowledge of amharic told me at the time.

anyway in saying all of that, let me tell you, i had the best experience of my life in ethiopia. culture music food sites 'peoples'. i've had to cry on countless occasions just to hear and see the beauty of the place. the sing song way they spoke english and amharic and added an extra syllable to every word. since the day i told this to my partner peter we have been having a field day with it. so whenever i call him i say 'peter-re' and for me he says 'sekhet -te'. and the way they said yes. the word is spelt 'awon' in amharic but sometimes when they say it it sounds like just a sigh. and whenever they met someone they knew in the street it would take them at least 15 minutes to get off all the greetings. imagine meeting up with 10 persons for the day!

more peace. more love.