As I enjoyed my cup of Ethiopian coffee this morning I realized that it has been a month since my last blog post. I spent a week recovering from travel illness, worked for a couple of weeks and then was working out of town again for several days. It’s hard to believe a month has passed since my visit to the African continent.

Ethiopian java is among the best coffee in the world. It also originated in Ethiopia in the Kaffa region. I can buy Ethiopian coffee locally at a coffee-roasting house I frequent, but to experience it in Ethiopia is something special.

Coffee in Ethiopia is equivalent to Italy’s espresso. The Italian influence still remains in Ethiopia where their terms for coffee are used for Ethiopian java.

Ethiopian coffee is rich and robust and is to be enjoyed after every meal. It is often drunk straight like espresso or with steamed milk like macchiato. It can be cut with chai tea, or can be served with either cardamom, butter, salt, and local bitter herbs. It can also be served with freshly popped popcorn.

What is interesting with Ethiopian coffee is that there is often a ceremony that accompanies it. Green beans are roasted in front of guests until they are dark brown. They are then manually ground. The coffee is brewed by hand, poured into demitasse cups, and served with sugar.

As guests of Ethiopian partners, we were educated on the best flavours of coffee to buy from this homeland where exporting of coffee is an important contributor to the local economy. Our hosts told us that the best coffee is Yirga Cheffe, followed by Sidama, Harar (most expensive), Keffa, Wolega, Limu and Bale.

Sharing a cup of coffee with Ethiopian people is not just drinking a beverage. It is an invitation to share in their lives and in their warm hospitality. Food and drink were extended to guests wherever we visited with local people--even in the poorest of the poor families we met with.

In one village they freshly roasted coffee for us, made bread that morning, roasted chickpeas, shared bananas from their farm, and bought apple pop to share with their Canadian guests. In another family’s home we were treated to Injera bread, recently harvested honey, and Ethiopian coffee. Even though language can be a barrier in communicating in other countries, food and drink were universal in being able to bond with others.

Life in Ethiopia is very hard and much different than it is in Canada. The people I spent time with over many cups of coffee taught me much about how to be fully present with others in my life. They live simple and humble lives, but their lives are rich because of how they value people in them.

The people we spent time with in Ethiopia were poor, but they live their lives with much love and hope. They showed me new ways of living my life with renewed Strength, Courage, and Determination.