Visiting Amarech

Yesterday we planned to visit Nebeyou's birth mother, Amarech, in the afternoon, after spending a few hours at the weekly market. But, we ran into her at the market before hand, walked around a corner and saw each other . . .

Turns out she was planning to cook for us, and was buying food. Later, we went up to her house. My friend Sophie, a nurse who lives in the village, was already there and it was terrific because she was able to translate for us. I can't get the video to upload, but it was just nuts when we arrived. Everyone in the neighborhood was hugging and kissing Nebeyou and remarking on how big he'd gotten and yelling his nickname, "Ampey! Ampey!" They all congratulated Amarech on his homecoming, and she was beaming. She whisked us through the crowd and into her house, the house Nebeyou and Zion were born in.

Nebeyou's home, the door to the left in the photo

Inside, women were cooking a feast for us, and roasting coffee and burning frankincense. We ate popcorn and nuts and roasted chick peas while they prepared the food, using a wooden board on the floor for prep, and two braziers for cooking the various ingredients. Next door, a girl made Ethiopian bread (like a large, sourdough pancake), called injera, on a clay stone over a hot fire. A steady stream of people came in to greet Nebeyou and I, and kids stood at the window, peering in.

brazier for cooking food and coffee

serving dinner with Marinda soda to drink.

My delicious plate of food, veggie and egg wot on injera

Amarech makes sure we eat enough

Nebeyou managed to slip away from the greetings to play soccer with his friends.

Then, we had a brief thunderstorm, some fantastic coffee, and headed back. A customary greeting and goodbye is to touch shoulders. All in all, a perfect and lovely visit.