Experiencing Ethiopia

The last week was CRAZY.  Will was traveling in DC for work, the little and I were here...then the holiday weekend and back to the routine this week. Where has the time gone?

Will had an incredible experience in Washington DC.  He got to experience Ethiopia state-side.  The whole thing came about when he sent me a photo of an Ethiopian restaurant across the street from the hotel that he stays at when he's in DC.  I asked him if he was going to go and eat there. {He travels to DC frequently and always sends me this same photo...but he has yet to bravely try it - he knows Ethiopian food is spicy and he's not 100% he's ready to try it on his own}.  So as we talk, I BEG him to try the food for me. {I have had a wicked craving for spicy Indian food} He says, yes, one night he will try it.

A few nights later, I put the little to bed and then started searching for Ethiopian recipes.  I want to make a few different dishes and try them and also hope to help the spicy food cravings I have.  I started reading on the forum, and I read something there that took me to Cooking Light, which then I found an article about Ethiopian restaurants in DC which then led me to an article on CNN that talks about a neighborhood block in DC called "Little Ethiopia".  I read on, I got super excited. There is a community...of Ethiopians right where my husband is!

I told Will about it and he said send him the address of the restaurant.  Later that evening, he calls from the car - he's stuck in traffic at DuPont Circle...but he's close and on his way to Little Ethiopia! I was so excited I started to cry. I know, me, cry?  Again? Yeah...it's something I am really good at these days. :)  Next thing I know... I get a text from Will and it's this.... and it says, I have arrived! {Etete means Momma in Amharic)

 

The next photo I get is this...with the message, "My first Ethiopian Beer!"

And he ordered the Doro Wat:

Did he eat it all?

 

He did a really good job!!! He did say he wasn't too fond of the bread with which he ate his dinner...the bread...the injera, wasn't something he wanted to eat too much of, but he appreciated it and that it is a staple in the Ethiopian diet.

And to finish the meal...what better than a cup of Ethiopian coffee

He said this was absolutely incredible. Full of caffeine too....I could tell by his call and how wide awake he was at 9pm! {I need this on a daily basis!!!}

After he had dinner, he asked the staff if there was a gift shop of sorts.  And there was.  To which, Will went, and the owners...well, they are 'famous' in Ethiopia!! A famous singer who kept telling Will 'ask about me when you are in ET! I am famous!' Will bought his CD...along with a scarf for me, a drum for E-man, and a wood carving of a family.

What's more? They give him a PHONE BOOK of Ethiopian run businesses.  How crazy is this? This book is close to two inches thick...

Will told me several times - 'this was God ordained. I was meant to be there...meet the people that I met...experience what I did.' I will say this, this opened some doors too for our family. It was like that little 'extra' to a bigger picture. Something that has been in the talks for a super long time.  But, more on that later.

Will did get to share our story at dinner with a man from Colorado who has done a lot of work in Ethiopia with water purification.  During their conversation the man stopped and asked Will, "are you a Christian?"  And then the flood gates opened.

This was an awesome experience for Will.  I have been the one doing all the reading of books, watching the documentaries, etc... and giving him the cliff notes of all that I have read. but this was something that Will needed to experience. Solo. 

God had a plan...and it came through.  We will be traveling back to DC on an upcoming trip as a family...and I hope we can visit Little Ethiopia.