Day 4: Coffee Ceremonies, International Schools, & Olympic Training Mountains...oh my!

Boy oh boy, day 4 was a good one. To begin the day, I was actually able to stand up straight and felt completely ready for whatever the day would hold. We went to the International Community School and the very first thing that happened was our first coffee ceremony since we’d gotten to Africa.

Coffee Ceremony: The coffee ceremony is not only a cultural aspect of Ethiopia, but also a social one. The entire process of making the coffee is done right in front of your eyes. It begins with the roasting of the coffee beans and whoever is roasting makes sure to waft the smell onto every person around the

circle to make sure the roast is to their liking. The beans are then ground, incense is lit, the coffee is brewed over coals, poured, and passed out to the guests. This is a sign of hospitality and welcoming arms that takes place all throughout Ethiopia.

Now we had heard all about coffee ceremonies, but not yet witnessed one and let me tell you…it was incredible. It would definitely not be your thing if you’re not a coffee person, but luckily enough, I am one. Unfortunately, even with this being the case, I was still trying to ease back into things with my stomach so I just watched everyone else drink coffee instead.

After the coffee ceremony was when we got to explore and observe the International School. Within 5 minutes of touring the school's campus, I could tell that this was going to be a very different experience than what we got with the Yeneta Academy. For starters, the chance to teach was nonexistent; rather we were simply observing and taking in our surroundings. Because the population was so diverse and students from all around the world attend, the school's main language was English and many of the

teachers were American. With this being said, to me, the feel of the International School felt more like a college campus than a k-12 school. From the amount of resources there to the beautiful openness and greenery found around the school, I was just amazed at how mush the students had access to here as opposed to the Yeneta Academy. Both schools had students rich in spirit and eager for more knowledge, however there were significant differences in the ways they went about their spreading of knowledge based on the beliefs of the directors and the amount of resources available to them.

The final part of this day had to have been, by far, my favorite. After leaving the International School, we got to go to Mount Entoto. To keep it short and sweet: Mount Entoto is where Ethiopian Olympiads go to train and it was AWESOME. Sure, we had to walk up some of it and I felt like I wanted to die, but how bad could it really been when you're trekking with a view like this?:

Okay still pretty difficult, but we made it up the mountain nonetheless.

The way back down held something that I found the most mesmerizing. We got to witness the weaving process of beautiful, handmade scarves. The scarves are created to

raise money for women whose livelihood is carrying bundles of sticks up and down the mountain selling them. I feel like I have never been so entranced as I was while watching the scarves being woven. The weavers each had their individual paces and rhythms and it honestly felt like they were making music through the looms.

It was a difficult thing to tear my eyes away from the process, but once we walked into a room with scarves in every vibrant color imaginable, I was once again awestruck. Not to mention more than willing to support the foundation by buying multiple of them to take home!