As you well may know, I love food. Ethiopian food has been no exception. This is fortunate for me since I will be living here for 9.5 more months. Can you believe it? I have been here almost two weeks already! I don’t have too much to say about food, but Ethiopian food (from what I have seen) is basically enjara (forgive my spelling) with whatever the different sauces are that you eat with it. Enjara is a type of bread unlike anything you’d find in the U.S. (unless it’s Ethiopian). It’s very thin, flat, and spongy, and you put different types of sauce (I have no clue what is in them…there are many different kinds and I can’t even tell you the name of my favorite one) on the enjara and then you eat it with your hands. I’m not very classy when it comes to eating enjara, but I’m trying!
You can also find Pepsi, Coke, and Mirinda (basically Fanta/orange soda) pretty much anywhere. I like the Pepsi here, although Kyle and I have determined that each bottle we have is different from the previous tries. The bottles are all glass and they reuse them! I think this is great (especially for the environment), except glass bottles are more dangerous than plastic bottles. Earlier this week I came back to my desk after class, parched with a sore throat, and the only thing I had was my Pepsi. However, the Pepsi had disappeared. It turns out Mr. Kyle had accidentally bumped my desk when he was trying to get out from behind his (they are all very close together). The Pepsi rocked back and forth before falling to the ground and shattering. Luckily, there was not very much Pepsi left in the bottle, but I was still mildly disappointed that I had no beverage to quench my thirst. The Pepsi is also sweeter here; they use real sugar!!! Me gusta.
I have been eating raw vegetables, but only the ones at the Amare’s house because they are soaked and washed in a chemical that kills whatever could be living on them. We shall see if I end up buying tomatoes and cucumbers once we move into our own apartments. I can’t wait until mangoes are in season. Imagine getting 6 mangoes for the price of 1 in the U.S. Amazing. Cooking on our own should be fine; we have found which import stores on the strip sell the cheapest pasta and yesterday we even found Basmati rice! Hurrah!
I’m not so sure if I will be eating much meat in the next year. I probably will not be purchasing any. I do not like seeing what I eat. Well, that is not true. I like having my eyes open while I eat my food, but I do not like when my food looks like an animal. I love chicken, but I really do not care to buy a whole chicken from the store. I also do not want to tell a butcher which cut I want. Yuck. Emmy, I may be joining you in your vegetarian endeavors. Kyle had to eat some interesting foods for New Years (I missed it by 2 days), and I do not care to “try” some of them. I need to figure out another way to get my protein.
I tried ginger tea and ginger candies for the first time. I definitely did not like them. The ginger tea was super strong, but I had a sore throat and Zelalem recommended it so I tried it. It made me feel better, but I did not appreciate the burning in my throat. Speaking of burning, Ethiopian food can be spicy! I have adjusted fairly well, and I actually enjoy some of the spicy stuff. This is impressive since I have always been the girl who can barely stand the mild salsa at Qdoba (sorry, I like Qdoba better than Chipotle – it is less spicy and it has better options; try the chicken gumbo!).
The local cheese is called gouda although it doesn’t look like the gouda you can buy in the States. They also had some cheddar, but I think that was actually imported. They have a flavorless mozzarella; I probably won’t be trying that. Gail told us a way to make cheese by heating milk to just before a boil and then adding vinegar. I might be trying that when I move into my apartment. Also, I remember my dad made cheese once, but I can’t remember how. [Mom, can you get that recipe from dad, please, and email me; love you!]
All in all, Ethiopian food is delicious! I have not gotten bored of enjara yet, although when I got here Kyle had said he was already a little bored with it. At the Amare’s there is also usually some type of Western food at the dinner table (macaroni and cheese the other night). I’m sure I will be experimenting more with restaurants in the future, and I am excited for grocery shopping on Sunday. Food, glorious food!
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