Ethiopia: Bicycle Accessories

To continue my sporadic series of Ethiopia facts and stories, here is a little something about Ethiopians and their bicycles.  Pretty much the only bicycle you'll find in Ethiopia is a Phoenix. Why? Because they are cheap and parts are interchangeable.  A lot of Peace Corps countries supply volunteers with a decent mountain bicycle, but in Ethiopia they just give you a "bike allowance" to purchase one yourself.  The best explanation is because they realized also that parts for repairing bicycles other than a Phoenix were rare.

My friend Kyle managed to figure out the bicycle things though. Check out his AWESOME adventure here.  He journeyed from the lowest point to the highest point on the African continent. How many people can say that?

Back to the focus on my blog today: bicycle accessories.  Ethiopian tend to have an odd sense of decorating style, and I believe taking a look at their bicycles pretty much sums it up. Like the flowers? They also usually have incredible bike seat covers made out of some odd carpet material with fringe.  If you look closely in Kyle's Kilimanjaro summit picture you can see it!

A wonderfully decorated bike in Ethiopia.

And another one all dolled up!

Luxembourg: Cafe-Hopping

A while back I mentioned that I was going to be writing more about Luxembourg since I've spent so much time there this year (and since boyfriend lives there).  It's taken me a while to get back into writing lately, but I was motivated by a recent chocolatey spoon indulgence which I brought back from Luxembourg.

Let's start with a short story from this spring, when my parents came to visit Europe. Their visit allowed me to spend a lot more time in the city center of Luxembourg City. We had a whole day of cafe-hopping, and once caffeinated to the brim, we braved the cold weather and walked the city. We found ourselves walking a little bit around the pedestrian area, and then escaping after just 30 minutes into a cafe to warm up again.  It was such a pleasant day; I couldn't imagine a better way to explore Luxembourg in February!

Chocolate House in downtown Luxembourg.

My favorite stop that day wasn't a random cafe at all, but a must-see for every visitor (or local) in Luxembourg.  The "Chocolate House" is just as decadent as it sounds.  Known for their chocolate spoons, this cafe is just across the street from the Grand Duke's palace in the pedestrian area.  They also have delicious rich cakes arranged for you to drool over as you enter on the first floor.  Most of the seating is then up a small spiral staircase, but both floors can get awfully crowded during certain times of the year.

Mom, enjoying her chocolate spoon and choosing more to bring home!

The term "chocolate spoon" may be misleading though, since it's not merely a spoon coated in chocolate, but a chunk of chocolate attached to a wooden spoon.  Genius.  The cafe serves the chocolate spoons with a warm mug of milk, and you dip and swirl (and lick the gooey chocolate) until it's all melted in!

My "Brownie" chocolate spoon I had the other day.

 And, like you can see from the photo of my mom above, it's not just your normal average milk chocolate.  They have classics, of course, but they also have creations such as Bourbon Vanilla, Brownie, Almond Raspberry, and even Hot Chili!  The cafe is apparently dutch-owned; More information here: Chocolate Company.  Is your mouth watering yet?

Yum.

Photo-Finish

I'm finally finished with another of my photograph projects! This project was to frame a set of three elephant pictures I took in Tanzania, which I discussed a couple weeks back.  Since the holes were 7x7 I had three 8x10 pictures printed and then I cut them once I got them.  Take a look at the before and after:

Before...

After!

Since the frame was from Ikea, and not so much a frame as artwork, I had to use a screwdriver and pliers to open up the back.  I glued the new pictures down with picture glue on the white backing provided. It's a bit hard to tell in a photo, but the pictures sit about two inches back from the glass, giving them a sense of depth.  I wound up cropping my prints to 8x8 instead of the original 7x7 window since you can see more than a 7x7 from different angles as you peer into the two-inch-thick frame. Does that make sense?

Stapling the backing back on.

Even harder than prying off the original backing back putting it back on! I used a normal office stapler to replace the heavy-duty staples I took out, hoping they would suffice. It seems like I was able to get them close enough to the edge and it worked!

The new staple on the back of the frame.

Now I just have to find a place to hang it!  I've also been working on making a road-side find into something fun. I'll be writing about that as soon as I find a little more time!

Hips Don't Lie

I've been pretty nostalgic lately thinking about my time in Ethiopia and hence a lot of late nights sorting through old photo files on my computer.  I came across this video where I was out in my town with high school students promoting an HIV testing event.  I was sitting on the side of the road that leads to the market with a big stereo system -- music was blaring -- and the students helped by talking about the testing event into the microphone every now and then.  It soon turned into madness due to the large number of people heading to the Saturday market coupled with the white girl sitting by the road.  And before long it was one big children's dance contest. I have several videos of that day, but here are two short favorites! Enjoy!

Here is a video of one of the students helping a child dance. It's not common for Ethiopians to dance with their hips (usually it's mainly shoulder dancing) so I thought it was particularly cute to watch.

 

This second video is more traditional Ethiopian dancing from my area of the country (Amhara). These small children can do things with their shoulders that I never thought possible. Two years later I still was never able to master the skizta.

The story about the HIV testing event is here if you want to read all about it.  It was my first big project in Ethiopia and something I am still very proud of, plus, it came with the added bonus of watching these cute kids dance for a simple lolly pop prize!

Ethiopia Reads

While in Ethiopia I read more books than in any other two-year period. I suppose living in an environment where you are inside your house by dark every night without many electronic options supports the habit of reading.  Some of my favorite books though happen to be about Ethiopia.  I know, I know, what a surprise! But I don't think these books were particularly engaging because I was living in Ethiopia, but rather because Ethiopia is such a fascinating country.  Here are my top three that I think you should check out:


There Is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene
Greene writes about one special woman in Addis Ababa who starts an orphanage for children without anyone to turn to. The stories about the children living with HIV and women left on the streets in Ethiopia are gripping.  This book communicates what living in Ethiopia is really like for so many struggling people and tells stories about adoptions from abroad.


I Didn't Do It for You by Michela Wrong
This book is about Ethiopia's small neighbor, Eritrea, and their battle for freedom through colonization until their recent independence.  It's hard to write a book about Eritrea and their lack of independence without really writing a book about Ethiopia though.  This dual history of these two countries tells lively stories about why this part of Africa is the way it is.  It leaves you with a better understanding of these countries without feeling like you read a history book.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
A novel based in Addis Ababa during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie that really highlights life in Ethiopia and the history of the 1940s.  The descriptions of the streets of Addis Ababa haven't changed much since these times, so I could still picture exactly what Verghese writes about.  The story follows doctors and nurses from India who work in a hospital in the city and the patients who have walked days to the only hospital around.

Atlanta: Southern Eatery

Atlanta is filled with trendy cafes and restaurants that seem to pop up on random corners every week.  Asian fusion, tex-mex, pizzeria, you name it. But, one place you really shouldn't miss isn't a trendy hot-spot at all, it's just an all-time favorite traditional southern cooking establishment called Mary Mac's Tea Room.

Don't be confused with the name though; While their sweet tea will fill your sugar quota for the week, it's not what you think a "tea room" would be.  What used to be a small tea room in 1945 has grown and expanded into a bustling southern kitchen where traditional southern hospitality comes first.

I was going to lunch with a friend of mine who is relatively new to Atlanta, and remembering Mary Mac's from my childhood, I decided it was the perfect place to go.  Sunday at 1pm is anything but idle for most lunch places, but we decided to brave the crowd anyway.  We walked inside Mary Mac's to find a waiting room filled with church-goers dressed to the nines.  Luckily, with a party of two, we were seated after just a couple minutes.

The menu is filled with more southern goodness than you can imagine. After sorting through the variety of fried items you have to make your selection and write it down on an order card given to you by the waitress.  I really like the traditional parts of Mary Mac's that haven't changed in over 65 years!

Basket of goodies for our table.

A basket of goodies was placed on our table after we ordered: bread rolls, corn bread mini-muffins, and cinnamon rolls! Everything was so delicious, and we still had so much food coming.  I ordered fried chicken with my two sides of fried green tomatoes and cheese grits.  My friend had fried shrimp with fried okra and the sweet potato souffle. Everything happened to be in the same color family, orange-ish brown, but is was so delicious that we just didn't think about it!

My meal: fried green tomatoes, cheese grits and fried chicken.

Somehow the picture of my friend's food didn't turn out, but you can imagine it very similar in shade to mine, but in the shape of shrimp.

If you are in the Atlanta area I definitely recommend finding your way to Mary Mac's to experience this classic Atlanta establishment.  Just enjoy the calorie-fest and don't even try to count them; That's what southern cookin' is all about!

The Perfect Carry-On

Finding the perfect hiking backpack takes time and patience, but finding the perfect companion packable daypack is equally difficult. I looked for so long in June for a hiking pack, and finally found the L.L. Bean AT55 that I received for my birthday.  Coincidentally, while at the L.L. Bean store in Maine I happened upon a great day pack that was on sale early this summer.  I was at the check-out counter with my mom and there it was, a pretty pink packable backpack sitting behind the counter as someone else's reject.  With a sale price of around $20 I was convinced to get it.

It sat in my room for about a month before I finally used it as my carry-on luggage for my trip to Europe in July.  At first I just thought of it as a nice backpack, but by the end of the trip I was convinced how wonderful this pack really is!  Here are the things pointed out in the picture above that I love so much.

A. One large zippered pouch in the back.

B. One smaller zippered pouch down the front.

C. Two external pull-tie pouches on the sides.

It also has small chest and waist straps for hiking.

It doesn't hold a lot, but all the essentials for an airplane fit perfectly without leaving extra room (because, for me, extra room means I should pack even more -- not good!).  Look below at all the things I took with me on the airplane.

All the contents of my backpack on the airplane: purse, jacket, book, netbook.

It doesn't have an inside hydration bladder pouch for hiking, but you can slip water bottles easily in the outside pockets.  Unfortunately I've realized why it was on sale in June: they were discontinuing the backpack! I've scoured the website trying to find this backpack to recommend to friends, but I can't find it. There are a few that seem similar, so if you want something like this, try the following backpacks:

• Mountain Heather Daypack
• Pocket Daypack
• Stowaway Daypack

One of my favorite things about the pack is that it folds up into the small front pocket! I love stowaway bags like that which you can carry inside a bigger backpack and take out to expand.  I actually don't even know the name of the pack I have since my mom took it with her on their trip to the Baltic Sea this month.  But, I suggest any of the L.L. Bean packs, especially since they are guaranteed to last!

All folded up!

Zucchini vs. Tomatoes

It's been a while since I've mentioned my garden, so I figure it's time for an update.  In the battle between zucchini and tomatoes in my garden this year, there was no competition.  The season started out fairly even and at the end of June we had one delicious zucchini and four plants that seemed to be thriving.

First and only zucchini of the 2011 season.

Before I knew it though, I went out one day to find my zucchini plants rotting from the inside out.  I was so upset since I loved picking my lovely zucchini from my garden in Ethiopia.  I'm not sure what kind of critter got into the system, but whatever it was the zucchini plants didn't have a chance.  The good news is that the rest of my garden seemed to survive the invasion.

All of my zucchini plants looked like this. Any idea what happened?

I left for Europe in July just as the tomatoes were starting to ripen, and they haven't stopped since! Chances are, if you've come to my house in the past few weeks, you haven't been allowed to leave without a bag of tomatoes!  I have more than I could possibly eat by myself, so I'm glad my friends like them too.

My garden, July 2011

I'm also still hopeful for the green onions and I think a few carrots survived too.  The basil is flourishing in the garden, and doing well in the pots on our porch as well.  I've been cooking up a storm with all that I have, so check back to see what I've come up with!

Tomatoes galore!

Displaying Travel Photos

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to take pictures. And once I get home I just can't wait to look through all of them to pick out my favorites! But what do you do once you pick out your top 20 pictures of a trip? Good question!

You can only have so many pictures of vacations on your walls. So, I've had to start coming up with creative ways to express my photographs as artwork, and not just a collection of vacation pictures.  Here is one of my recent projects from pictures of elephants in Tanzania.

Photos of elephants I took in Tanzania.

I purchased a frame at Ikea a few years back (pre-peace corps) and arriving home I realized it wasn't a frame, but artwork. No offense to the person who took these fine pictures of New York, but I just wanted a cool frame for my own pictures. Off to the basement it went to await my return from Africa so I could finally  fill it with the photos I've selected above. Side note: I would have just returned it, but Ikea is in downtown Atlanta and not worth the drive to return something small!

The Ikea artwork I purchased a few years ago.

Then came the hard part.  Using a screw driver and pliers I have taken off the stapled backing and figured out a way to mount my pictures in the same place as the Ikea pictures.  The pictures are currently being printed at Costco, so I will update you with the final picture once I'm finished!

Taking the backing off of the Ikea frame.

Right now in my bathroom I have a simple picture frame filled with some of my favorite pictures from Australia and New Zealand.  This is the easiest thing to do with your favorite pictures, especially since you only have to print 4x6 pictures.

My frame with Australia and New Zealand pictures.

I also have a collection of frames in my bedroom from pictures taken in Asia and America in 2008. I like this collection, but the frames are just cheap black plastic and they easily tilt and wind  up all crooked, like in the picture.  For now I like having the pictures, but one day I will collect nicer frames for a grand collection!

Collection of pictures in my room.

For Father's Day this year we gave my dad canvas prints (from Costco it was a great deal) of three pictures taken during our safari.  We had a blank wall in our foyer that needed some artwork and these canvases proved a great addition!  The canvases are 18x24, which we thought would be plenty big, but the wall is so large we could have actually gone bigger.

The 18x24 canvas prints from Costco.

I have a couple more works-in-progress, so be sure to check back for more travel picture ideas!

Happy Anniversary!

This is a special blog post to say congratulations to my mom and dad on their 40th anniversary! How amazing is that? To celebrate, they are spending most of August cruising around the Baltic and road tripping through Norway.

My parents in the Czech Republic this spring.

My parents are the amongst the rare group of people who have traveled more than myself, so I owe all my wanderlust to them! Here is a cheers to them on this wonderful day, even though it's now past midnight in Europe, I hope they had a great day.  Since they are traveling this month, and I've taken over dog-sitting duties back home, I will be sure to post about their journey as they continue their trip.  Here is a preview picture from our Skype video call a couple days ago when they were in Allesund, Norway.

View from my parents hotel room in Allesund, Norway

Notes from their trip so far include $5 road-side coffee (considered "cheap") and a $76 dinner of pizza and beer! Be cautious of restaurant and alcohol tax in Norway! Well, just be cautious of how expensive things are in general!

I'll leave you all with a classic vacation photo of Mom and Dad on camels in Egypt in January 2010. I love you Mom and Dad!

Is That a Monkey?

Recently I've been having one of those "you know you're a returned Peace Corps volunteer when" moments.  The scenery appears to be "normal" as defined by western standards and I seem to be blending into the crowd when all of the sudden I say something like, "Is that a monkey?"

Normal trees in Germany where I thought I saw a monkey.

No. Not a monkey. Just a squirrel, birds nest, or sometimes, nothing at all. I look at a fairly normal tree and for some reason see a monkey hiding. In my defense, the town I lived in, Dangila, I had monkeys living in the forest just a hundred meters from my house. Sometimes they would even visit the large trees just two houses away, driving my dog crazy.

The forest in Dangila, Ethiopia, filled with monkeys.

Monkeys in Dangila are harmless and afraid of humans, so you hardly ever see them up-close. But monkeys in tourist areas of Ethiopia tend to be very bold and greedy. The monkeys in Sodere were capable of opening your unlocked hotel room door to steal food! Not my favorite kind of monkey. I prefer the sweet kind hidden in trees, and I suppose I like them so much that I still imagine that they are in the trees all around me.

Close-up of monkeys in the forest in Dangila, Ethiopia.

It's not just monkeys though. Imaginary hippos too seem to appear in lakes and rivers, too. Any large rock or movement in the water and my mind jumps right to the conclusion that it must be a hippo.  Strange, I know, but that is just the beginning. There are lots of other quirks that I picked up from two years in Ethiopia.  Keep reading to find out more (or just call the doctor for me).

Hippos in Tanzania hanging out in a small lake.

Luxembourg Date Night

I've spent around four month in Luxembourg now, spread throughout July, this past spring, last October, and a couple days from when I was 12.  I don't really remember much about Luxembourg from when I was 12, mostly because I was so excited about getting to Belgium and eating waffles (sadly, that is the truth). But since returning last fall, I've really started to like this small European country.

There is a lot to do and see in Luxembourg, so I've decided to tell some stories and list some "must see" places throughout the next few blog posts. But to start my Luxembourg series, I must start with my most-recent venture into the city. 

Boyfriend and me overlooking the gorge in Luxembourg City

The night before I left Luxembourg last week boyfriend and I had a special date night in Luxembourg City and I was reminded of how much I like the city center.  The city was built in and around a small gorge, carved out by the Alzette river which snakes throughout the city.  The gorge allows for dramatic views and nice walks down to the bottom, called the Grund.  Once at the bottom there is a section that is a park, and another where you'll find quaint townhouses, cafes and a pub district. The best part is, once you are in the Grund and tired of walking around, there is an elevator back to the top!

The Grund in Luxembourg City.

The gorge formed by the Alzette river leaves the city divided into several sections, accessible by several tall bridges above the Grund. For date night boyfriend and I walked around the edge of the gorge and finally decided to stroll along the walkways leading down into the pub and restaurant district below to scout out menus.  We settled on Restaurant Brasserie Bosso, a cozy cafe/restaurant/bar in the Grund which features quite a variety of local Luxembourgish and German dishes. The food was delicious and the outdoor patio offered a wonderful atmosphere.

We started our meal off with a Baked Feta Cheese appetizer with spices and vegetables. In other words, a block of feta baked with olive oil and peppers; rich and incredible.  Boyfriend ate Coconut Schnitzel, which was an Asian spin-off of the famous Schnitzel we all know and love with stir fry vegetables and mee noodles. I ordered Chicken Gratin which was basically a hot pot filled with chicken, potatoes, and a mushroom gravy sauce topped with a layer of cheese. We thought everything was superb, and we will definitely have more date nights at Brasserie Bosso in the future. What a treat!