A 'D.I.V.A.' in...: Ethiopia...New Year's Eve (Part 2)

I LOVE holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday... they're all a big deal! New Year's Eve, for me, was no different so I decided to roll into the new year visiting a country I haven't spent time in yet - Ethiopia: an East African country with one of the most unique histories (and with exactly 1 person around that I knew).

I should preface my whirlwind trip by saying that two days before leaving, I learned two things:

That Ethiopia is on a completely different calendar, with 13 months in a year, Christmas Day the week after our New Year's, and - of course - there New Year's celebration was a few months ago.
That aside from the two people I know who live there (one of whom was out of the country during the time of my visit), I know very little about this country!

That said, my time in Ethiopia was a whirlwind but the best of its kind!

Following my tumultuous luggage-less start, the day picked up! My friend and host extraordinaire, Lidet, her friend, and I went to a trendy restaurant in Bole called Katenga, where we had an Ethiopian brunch and my first traditional Ethiopian coffee. .

My first taste of traditional Ethiopian coffee, served with the
"mystic" incense.

I even brushed shoulders with some local celebs including the star of Ethiopia's only soap opera. We, then attempted to do some clothing shopping, and although I left with some undergarments, I did see the most beautiful traditional dress that I'm still thinking about. It was a white strappless A-line, made of handwoven cotton with colorful hand-stitched embroidery including the traditional Ethiopian cross... (I describe it here because at its price of a cool $150, I didn't bother to actually enter into the store).

Trying to shop around town.

Next time I go back, I'll probably buy "my
dress" (on the right).

We spent the evening at Jazzamba, listening to famed Ethiopian jazz musicians including Michael Belayneh and then to a small bar (with draft beer!) for the NYE countdown, an experience that actually reminded me of daily trip to Harry's Bar while I was in Malawi. The night then took us to a beautifully decorated lounge that could rival any I've been to in Boston (minus the minute where the power went out!), before eating a late 5 AM sack at a local cafe.