Original Story Published by: Henok Tibebu for The Ethiopian Herald
These days, when I walk in the streets of Addis Ababa, all I see is traditional coffee shops on every porch of every business building. This is also the case in other major towns and even in the country side. Back in the days, all the foreigners that I have known used to order the strong coffee that are poured out of the noisy machines imported from abroad. Now, the foreigners do not drink their old strong coffee in Addis’ five-star hotels anymore. They only go for our traditional coffee which we call ‘Yejebena Buna’.
Once, my friend and his foreigner friend went to a hotel. My friend ordered ice-cream and the foreigner went for the spicy Ethiopian food called “Doro Wat”, which is made from chicken meat. Imagine, a young African man ordering an ice-cream! In fact, it’s not like my friend likes ice-cream nor was he trying to show the foreigner that he respected his culture. Rather, he thought he was being modern.
The foreigner wasn’t trying to show that he respected our culture too. Rather he knew the Doro Wat was delicious. There is no need for both to show respect to each other’s cultures. They wouldn’t have been together at the hotel, had that not been the case! I mean if they did not respect each other.
Anyways, the foreigner asked my friend why he needed ice-cream at that time (it seems there are specific times to order ice-cream and my friend seemed to miss that!). My friend had to lie. He told his friend that he wanted it to soothe the pain he felt around his teeth. Though it seemed the foreigner thought that was reasonable, on the other hand, my friend felt ashamed for imitating a foreign culture without a reason.
So, what was my very point? Yeah, it was coffee. I do not think there is any other country in the world whose coffee production and coffee making is inextricably linked to its culture than Ethiopia.
To read the full article, visit The Ethiopian Herald.
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