Entoto Mountain

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY HEATHER ON TEN MORE TOES

On our first trip to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, we plan on staying there about a week. It sounds like we'll be able to see our darling a few hours each day before we pass court. This will leave a big chunk of time to go sightseeing and learning as much as we can about our her country. While we wait (and wait), I thought I could start researching some of the places tourists end up in Addis. If you have been to any of these places, please feel free to add any comments. I'd love to hear your input!














At 10,827 feet above sea level, Entoto Mountain is the highest peak overlooking Addis Ababa. On top of the mountain is a village, an art gallery, and several beautiful churches. It was the location that Menelik II built his small palace when he founded Addis Ababa and is considered very sacred. Many come to the mountain for the healing waters and others to wait outside the church to pray when the bells chime.









In the small museum, there are many articles of great importance to Ethiopia. This would include the ceremonial dress of the king and queen, crowns, weapons, and the drum that announced the march of Adwa against Italian invasion.














The mountain is covered in eucalyptus trees and is sometimes referred to as the "lungs of Addis Ababa." It is a very important source of firewood and you can often see women carrying bundles of wood down to the city. While you are in Addis, you may want to ask to be taken to the Women Fuel Carriers Project and Sherameeda,which is a large market of weavers near the American Embassy. Purchases you make there will benefit the women trying to get out from under the burden of wood carrying.

Yataklete Kilkil

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY CHARISA ON FOR SUCH AS THESE



A vegetarian dish from Ethiopia—There are various versions. Here is one we made the other night.
4-6 servings

• Potatoes-peeled and cut into chunks 6
• Carrots-peeled and cut--4
• Green beans, cut in half—1/2 pound
• Onion, chopped—2
• Garlic minced—2 cloves
• Gingerroot, peeled & minced—1 Tablespoon
• Chili pepper, minced—2-3 (I omitted this)
• Oil, butter, or niter kibbeh –3 tablespoons (I used niter kibbeh)
• cardamom—1/2 tsp
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place potatoes, carrots, and green beans in a large saucepan, cover them with water and add 2 tsp salt. Bring to boil over medium heat, then simmer until veggies are done. Drain, reserve water, and set aside.
2. Place the onion, garlic, ginger, and chile pepper in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
3. Heat oil, butter or niter kibbeh in a large saucepan over med. heat. Add the onion puree and saute until the moisture evaporates and onions lose their rawness (6-8 minutes). Don’t let onions brown.


Our niter kibbeh

4. Add cooked veggies, cardamom, salt, pepper, and about 1/2 cup of reserved water. Stir well and simmer on low heat for 15-30 minutes. (mine didn’t take that long) I also added more of the niter kibbeh.

Serve hot or at room temp.

Foto Friday

Some seriously cute IAN kids!

Amharic Online

More online resources for Amharic:

Amharic online flashcards

Amharic lessons on youtube

LanguageLine Services (Amharic over-the-phone interpretation and document translation)

Amharic/Sidama phrases (must be a member of EthiopiaAdopt yahoo group)

Click HERE for posts about language. And as always, please add a comment if you know of any other good resources to share. Thanks!

Keeping Ethiopian Culture Alive for Our Children

Below are a couple of ideas to help families keep Ethiopian culture alive for their kids. Some of the ideas are pretty superficial but hopefully when looked at as a whole they will help our children feel connected to their Ethiopian culture.

- Visit Ethiopian restaurants and stores and meet the proprieters and have conversations about history, current events, culture, etc. (Visit this SITE to find an Ethiopian restaurant near you.)

- Attend culture camps created for kids adopted from Ethiopia and their families

- Listen to Ethiopian music at home and in the car

- Learn how to cook Ethiopian food as a family (Click HERE for recipes.)

- Read Ethiopian folktales and other children's books (Click HERE for some suggestions.)

- Attend sports/culture events

- Hire a babysitter that speaks Amharic

- Take notice of and/or celebrate Ethiopian holidays

- Set your digital TV recorder (tivo, dish, direct, etc.) to record any program with "Ethiopia" in the title or description (I've gotten some great documentaries this way.)

- Have Ethiopian art, items, books, etc., displayed throughout the home

- Have birth family contact (if they are also interested) through letters and photos exchanged through your agency

- Join local playgroups for children adopted from Ethiopia so other ideas can be exchanged between families

I would love to hear what others are doing to keep culture alive in their families. Please share more ideas in the comments section. Thank you!

Foto Friday

Friday wouldn't be complete without some IAN beautiful babes!

Doro Wat Recipe

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY CHARISA ON FOR SUCH AS THESE

Doro Wat is probably the best known food from Ethiopia. It is traditionally very spicy but you can tailor it to your taste.

You can see it in the above photo. It's inthe middle of the plate. Next time I fix it, I'll get a better photo but I like this one. Ab looks so little here! It is just several weeks after bringing Ab home. We had gone to the Blue Nile to get some food he would recognize!

4-6 Servings

• chicken legs & thighs –2 pounds
• lemon, juice only—1
• salt—2 tsps
• onions, chopped—2
• garlic, crushes—3 cloves
• gingerroot, peeled & chopped, 2 tbs.
• oil, butter, or niter kibbeh—1/4 cup
• paprika—2 tbsp
• Berbere –1/4-1/2 cup
• water or stock—3/4 cup
• red wine—1/4 cup (optional)
• cayenne pepper—1/2 to 2 tsp
• salt and pepper—to taste
• hard boiled eggs—4

Mix together chicken pieces, lemon juice, and salt in large bowl (non reactive) and marinate for 30 minutes. While chicken is marinating---puree the onions, garlic, and ginger in a food processor or blender. Add a little water if needed.
Heal the oil, butter, or niter kibbeh in a large pot over medium heat. Add paprika and stir. Cook for 1 minute. Do not burn! Stir in berbere and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the pureed mixture and sauté until most of the moisture evaporates and the onion cooks down. About 5-10 minutes. Careful not to burn!
Pour water or stock and wine in and stir in the chicken pieces, cayenne, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add water as necessary to maintain a sauce like consistency.
Add whole hard boiled eggs and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and very tender.
Adjust seasoning if you need to and serve hot with injera or rice!
I have also cooked this by adding it in the crockpot after sautéing the mixture and that does well also!

IAN's New Care Center

In early May, IAN kids (and their playground equipment!) were moved to a new spacious care center in Addis Ababa. The previous care center could accommodate about 25 children and the new place has space for about 35-40 kids.

Below are some shots of the exterior:

The infant room is behind the balcony (in the center of this photo).

Here is a shot of the balcony where the kids eat lunch on the tables and chairs.

The classroom is the door you see on the balcony, to the right of the slide. Underneath is a garage area that the kids like to play in because it is cool.

The toddlers/preschoolers sleep in the green building (located to the left of the building shown above).

Laundry, laundry and more...laundry!

Large cheery play yard in the front.

Additional play equipment for the kids.

Thanks to the recently traveled family for providing these photos!

Foto Friday

Gorgeous vivacious IAN kiddos!