Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ethiopia was not on my radar when I thought of traveling to East Africa. When I was asked to facilitate two offsites in Addis Ababa, I thought, "Great, a whole new country I had never expected to see." What's funny is when you never thought of going to a country before, you have very few expectations. It's all surprises.

The first surprise is getting somewhere. Taxis in Addis are these little blue Fiat's which have been driven too long and suffered too many accidents. Traffic moves about in some alternate order where passing on the left, right or middle is perfectly allowable. As is backing into traffic or stopping in mid-stream. The concept of right-of-way does not translate. Essentially, right-of-way is about claiming any unoccupied patch of pavement rather than looking for a gap in traffic. Horns indicate I am heading in your direction and will not be stopping.

The street sides are lined with stalls, many with produce but also assortments of household products, bottled water and car parts. It's through gaps in these stalls that you find these intriguing restaurants tucked down alleyways and built around courtyards.

Living in the Ethiopian neighborhood of Seattle, I had sampled the foods and heard snippets of the culture. Our neighborhood Mr Tana's market had taught me of their calendar and the shifted timing of Easter. I had seen the bags of green coffee. He had shared the bags of toasted barley snacks, qolo. And here in the market sat small bags of qolo and green coffee beans, just like back home in Seattle. Suddenly, this ancient culture I could see all around me.

As part of our trip, we would be taking our regional team on a field trip to visit a coffee mill. The coffee harvest in Ethiopia had just finished. In the warehouse you could see the final bags stacked and ready for loading. Bags of coffee weighing 60 kg. (130+ lbs.) are heaved up on the shoulders of workers loading trucks to be carted off to port. The bags stamped with the image of the coffee exporter distinguishes its coffee.

Inside the offices, our host has arranged a cupping of their coffees for us to sample. Trays of green and roasted coffee lie adjacent sampling cups. Hot water is poured over hand-roasted samples and brewed. We each grab a spoon to slurp our way through three samples of three types of coffee. We taste the difference between a washed Sidamo, a washed Yergecheff and a locally-preferred, naturally processed bean. The washed varieties are bright and crisp with fruity, floral notes. Our project being to promote washed processing by constructing farmer-owned wet mills, we natrually prefer these varieties.

Locals prefer the natrually-processed coffees brewed in the traditional method, a clay vessel. It's a thick black brew, strong and requiring lots of milk and sugar to tame. Brewed here by the cupping method it's not quite so extracted, or tasting of clay. Still, you taste the papery seed parchment.

I nose around the office while the others slurp. I spot this wall-hanging. It recounts the discovery of coffee as legend tells by goats. The goat-herder spotted his goats reacting to eating coffee cherry. It goes on to depict preparation by Ethiopian tradition which is then served in a formal ceremony. Coffee plays an important role in daily life for Ethiopians. You see it here on the street just like I see it back home in my neighborhood coffee shops filled with Ethiopian men or on Friday nights and Mr. Tana's market.