I first posted this blog about Lalibela on July 13, 2018, when I went to Ethiopia with my dear friend Phillip. I am reposting it because 60 Minutes aired a segment on the city today, on Christmas. 60 Minutes named their segment “Built by Angels.” According to Elias Alemayehu, our guide in Ethiopia, 95% of […]
In advance of Thanksgiving, CBS ran a feature on food. The segment “Celebrating Black Influence on American Cuisine” introduced Marcus Samuelsson. Over two years ago I included him in my blog Ten Famous Ethiopians. (He’s also now the title image.) During the pandemic I am reposting blogs that once again become relevant. Here’s what I […]
This blog on Haile Selassie was first posted on June 29, 2018. During the pandemic I am reposting blogs that have more relevance now than when they were first posted. If you read to the end, you will see that the blog now serves as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman. Back to 2018 We landed […]
Eswatini. You may know it as Swaziland. Or you may not know it at all. It got on my radar yesterday when a reader wrote me: “Thank you soo much Julie. Was able to download 5 books, currently reading The Temporary Bride and am loving it. Thank you soo much for your generosity, very much […]
The question can now be asked: What the heck were we doing in Angola? And why was our next stop Portugal? The answer is: a curiosity to experience a part of Lusophonia, namely Lusophone (= Portuguese-speaking) Africa. The title image map tells the story. How did we come up with this idea? Well …. we […]
We arrived in Luanda to have our passports confiscated and our luggage stolen. This misfortune affected our visit. As a result, my Top Ten Famous Angolans List is a post-script to the country rather than a preview. Famous Angolans in Politics Queen Nzinga Bandi Ngola Mbandi Nzinga Bandi Kia Ngola means ‘the Queen whose arrow […]
The title image is a blue tile depiction of the coastline of Angola with a Portuguese ship approaching. The legend says: Ethyopia Occidental. This was our travel through-line (so we have now told ourselves). We went from Ethiopia Oriental in East Africa to what was called Ethiopia Occidental in West Africa. Angola is from the […]
“This is Angola.” We heard this phrase a lot after we took a direct flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to arrive in Luanda, Angola. While you travel in Angola, this phrase is uttered at the moments when the situation facing you is utterly inexplicable. By the way, in the title image, Seja Bem-Vindo in Luanda […]
Title image: Sunset over Lalibela and a beautiful Ethiopian culture. Our visit to Ethiopia was wonderful from all points of view: well organized by our excellent guide, Elias Alemayehu, visually stunning and vastly informative. Three aspects of Ethiopian culture are striking: Ethiopian Culture: The Food I like Ethiopian food because it is rich in diverse […]
Ge’ez is the Ethiopian script in use all around the country. Ethiopia is the only sub-Saharan country to have its own script and it is hundreds of years old. You might be tempted to call it an alphabet, but it is really a syllabary, where each symbol represents the combination of a Consonant + Vowel. […]