Pretty Woman

 I am blogging from Ethiopia this morning. I am in Addis Ababa. I also have no voice. When I came home from Lithuania last week I came home with a cold. Over the weekend I overworked and the cold got worse. So now, here I am in Addis and I am supposed to lead a workshop on Thursday and Friday and I have no voice! I am resting all day today and sipping a disgusting concoction of garlic boiled with lemon and ginger and honey.

 

Anyway, I came here to tell you that I have developed a thing of staring unashamedly at the Ethiopian women. They are petite in stature and have exquisite features. Beautiful lips, gorgeous eyes, chiseled-looking noses,  all set in a symmetrical face. They carry features similar to Iman's, no? Many assume Iman is Ethiopian too, she is Somalian. But the women from East Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and even Kenya) carry similar facial features.

I think most of you know of Liya Kebede. She is Ethiopian. Anyway, here is Liya (above) in Ethiopia. She has founded a brand of clothing made from woven Ethiopian cotton. It's called LemLem NYC. Five per cent of the proceeds from all sales goes to Liya Kebede's Foundation. They do scarves, dresses, blouses/shirts...it's all flowy, light, beautiful and very reminiscent of Ethiopia. Speaking of pretty women: aren't the women in Lemlem's ads beauuuutiiiful?

On the agenda in Addis this week (if I ever get over my throat situation...) I'll do my workshops and bond with my colleagues in law. Also, I shall go to the market and explore and dine out with my Sistren who is Ugandan but lives here in Addis with her beautiful, young family.