EthiopianAmericanGirl

I was born with Coffee in my veins:

I love Real Coffee.  Not the watered down stuff that most Americans try to pass off as really good coffee.  Not the Coffee with 10 scoops of sugar and lots of heavy cream. I like my coffee strong like the Ethiopian farmers that grow the coffee beans that are traded around the world.

The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony is amazing to me.  Cooking the beans on the stove top, taking it around the room for everyone to smell the coffee, grinding the coffee beans fresh, and putting it into the Gebena (the special Ethiopian coffee maker).   Now that’s how you make some good coffee.
I unfortunately do not know exactly how to do that, nor do I have time to really sit and cook coffee beans, grind them, and then brew coffee in a gebena.  So I stick to Folgers or something of the sort and am a slave to my mr.coffee maker.  I make coffee the Ethiopian American way.

Coffee is cultural.  Coffee represents the community I grew up in. Coffee truly represents the way I view my Ethiopian American culture, the bold flavor, the sometimes bitter taste that mellows out as you take each sip; it is the perfect analogy of what it really means to be Ethiopian American.  Coffee has a bitter taste that makes non coffee drinkers wonder why anyone would want to drink such a bitter tasting beverage; much like the way outsiders may not understand my Ethiopian American culture or experiences.  Why carry on the dualism and try to fit into both communities; why not just shed away the Ethiopian side and be simply American, wouldn’t that make life easier?  I would never water down my coffee,which may make it easier to drink, losing that bold flavor that is sometimes bitter would take away the best part.  Coffee, just like being Ethiopian and being American, equally represents who I am as a person. Despite its sometimes bitter taste, I would never give up either one.

I was born with coffee in my veins, it’s a part of who I am, and will always be a part of my routine.