Ethiopia in America
Back into my golden cage after a temporary escape to NYC. Hard to come back after two weeks of freedom. To my surprise, what I enjoyed the most there wasn’t … Continue reading
Women in Addis (V): Amakeletch and La Parisienne pastry shop
Amakeletch Teferi is another woman entrepreneur who runs a successful business in Addis. Initially trained as an agronomist, she set up the chain of café-bakeries La Parisienne a with her family 15 … Continue reading
Women of Addis (IV): Bethlehem and her soleRebels organic shoes
Everybody in Addis is wearing soleRebels shoes or sandals, the fair trade shoes developed a few years ago by young woman entrepreneur Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu. At just 32, she is … Continue reading
Women of Addis (III): Mitslal and her ECOPIA jam and soap
I met Mitslal Kifleyesus-Matschie for the first time last year in the café at the Hilton. At the time, she was moving back permanently to Ethiopia after many years living … Continue reading
Women of Addis (II): Hiruth Gougsa’s MELA label
Inspired by the Alene sisters, Hiruth Gougsa set up her own business making handbags made in Ethiopia, which she sells in her attractive ethnic store in the Bole area. For … Continue reading
Women of Addis (I): the Alene sisters at St George’s gallery
As I am getting to know Addis and its people better, I was struck by how dynamic and entrepreneurial Ethiopian women are. Some of the most successful medium size niche … Continue reading
The Italians of Addis
I recently had dinner at Castelli’s, one of the most famous Italian restaurants in Addis and an institution in the city. When searching online about it, I was surprised to … Continue reading
Ethiopian Oscars Ceremony
Through my involvement at the Alliance Ethio-Française in Addis, I got an invitation for the opening of the Colours of the Nile International Film Festival. I didn’t know about it … Continue reading
Saturday afternoon at LeLa’s gallery
Now that Meskel and the New Year are over, life is slowly returning to normal in Addis. As part of our “routine” life here, we try to find things to … Continue reading
The gem in the gemstones
I have to start talking about the people I meet in Addis. Like many foreigners, we tend to regroup together at the start, but slowly we “branch out” to get … Continue reading
Salambo in Addis 