At the end of November Salt Investment closed down our facility and gave all of our employees 4 days off to celebrate Eid, the Muslim holiday. John and I decided to go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, only a 50 minute air flight from Djibouti. The highlight of our trip to Addis was getting to know the family of one of our Salt Investment colleagues - Samuel. Because of problems getting him a visa to get back into Djibouti, Samuel was unable to make the trip home. Illegal immigration from Ethiopia into Djibouti is a huge problem. Even a highly skilled mechanic, like Samuel, needs to have all of the proper documents, or they will not let him return to work in Djibouti.
But, to our suprise, he sent his brother, Amy a University of Addis student, to meet us at our hotel. Then we met Samuel's, wife and two darling daughters, who showered us with gifts, invited us to their home for a full-blown Ethiopian meal complete with injera, and took us shopping the next day in Addis.
Samuel's Aunt performed the traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony for us. Sitting on a low bench in the living room of Samuel's home, she began with green Ethiopian coffee beans and roasted them over a charcoal fire until they were almost black. Then the teenage sister of Samuel's wife Marguesh, pounded the coffee to a fine grind. Samuel's Aunt poured the coffee grounds into an elegant slender black coffee pot and placed hot water inside. She placed the pot back on the smoldering coals and boiled the coffee until you could smell the wonderful aroma. She then gracefully poured the thick, rich coffee into small cups and offered that to us with sugar. Traditionally, the pot is refilled with water (same grounds) three times. Each time the pot is put back onto the hot coals to boil before another round is served. It was absolutely delicious! Without a doubt, the best coffee I have ever had.
The first picture is of Samuel's family. His wife is pregnant, with a baby boy expected in mid-January. The second picture is of Samuel's Aunt roasting the coffee beans and the third picture is John smelling the newly roasted beans. The tradition is for all recipients of the coffee to smell the beans after roasting, before they are ground.
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