Ethiopia vs Nigeria tomorrow - World Cup qualifier game

Ethiopian 2013 National Team

I am looking forward to tomorrow. It is the Ethiopia vs. Nigeria game. It is a World Cup qualifying game. Apparently Ethiopia has never been in the World Cup, but speaking to people in Addis, they feel pretty confident about tomorrow's game. Either way, every person in Addis tomorrow will be glued to a television or a radio. I am looking forward to the atmosphere. It should be fun. 

My colleague's granddaughter is christened

My colleague's granddaughter was christened into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church this week. Apparently, the ceremony takes place quite early in the morning, about 6 am. You don't make prior arrangements, you must simply arrive at the church around 5:30, in the morning, and speak to the priests. They then have the ceremony will all the babies and the families that arrive. I wasn't invited to the ceremony, as it was only immediate family, but attended the family lunch in the afternoon.

We went to the family house. There was grass spread on the floor. This is done to exorcise evil spirits and is common practise during religious holidays and special times such as a christening. 

In the corner, was the set up for a coffee ceremony. A stool for sitting, stacks of coffee cups, and a small fire with hot coals for roasting the beans and cooking on the fire. After lunch, the ceremony was carried out.

The woman roasted the beans in a small copper pan over hot coals. Once they were browned, she crushed them slightly and then put them in a pot if water and slowly brought it to the boil. When the coffee was ready, she poured it out to small cups.

(Note: The photo on the right is not from my colleague's house. I didn't take an photos of the actual ceremony. I borrowed this from the website, howstuffworks.com. I wanted to illustrate the bean roasting.)

Here is the picture of the guest of honour, Ada. By the way, she has amazing temperament. Lots of people and activities and remained absolutely calm.

I have eaten Kitfo!

Kitfo is known informally as the Ethiopian Steak Tartar. It is delicious. Absolutely, and I recommend it.

The recipe is simple, and should you want to recreate it, here are the ingredients. 2 lbs top round beef (freshly cut), 6 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (Mitmita*), 4 tablespoons clarified butter (Nitir Kebe), 1 teaspoon cardamom powder (korerima), 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional), salt and black pepper.

Kitfo can be cooked so the beef is browned. This alternative is offered to people who may be skittish about eating raw meat, and in fact, both versions were offered to me. I tried both but there is no doubt that the raw version is much better. The raw version holds onto the luscious flavours, whereas the cooked version tastes a bit bland.

In this photo you can see kitfo is served on injera, the pancake-like bread, with a crumbly cheese and spinach.

My flat / residence hotel room

Here are some photos of my little flat / hotel residence. It's quite nice actually. 

The bed 

The kitchen 

The jacuzzi, by the way this in the corner if my room. Not tried it yet. 

And the view

The Rainy Season continues (sigh)

Ethiopia's rainy season is meant to finish at the end of September, officially on the 29 September.  Well, we're getting into October and this unusually cold and rainy weather is refusing to go. (Ironically, I spoke to friends in London, and it was sunny yesterday. Hrmph)

Photo of rain from my cab 

Photo of my cab driver trying to fix his taxi when it stalled in traffick (also in the rain.) 

No WiFi, of course

Well, it is Murphy's Law or Sod's Law or someone's law but if it can happen when you need it not to, it will. In this case, it was the wifi and electricity going out in Addis just when we were going to have three skype interviews.

As a reminder, the reason that I am here in Addis is to hire and then train a new member of staff. We scheduled the second round of interviews  for today. Three candidates  were to come in, complete an exercise using the internet, and then have a skype call with two staff in London.

I was in the office for thirty minutes when the electricity and wifi went down. Panic ensues. We try to use dongles, restaurants next door, and leeching off an ipad. Nothing worked! In walks the first candidate. So, we grab her and jump in the car,  and head to another office across town that we have been assured has electricity and wifi.

We manage to get through it but at a delay of three hours. I am about to start the third and final interview of the day. Fingers crossed that the internet gods will allow connection for one more hour. 

Oh, Canada!

Tonight will be my first Ex-pat party in Addis. I am attending a party at the Canadian Embassy.

I wonder if I will fool anyone with my accent now that it is American flavoured with the London twang?

Let's see!