Tales of a White Girl in the Horn
Dorze.

Dorze was much more equipped for tourists than the nearby village of Konso (good and bad). We paid a fee to enter a traditional village where you are able to watch and learn about traditional Dorze life. I would liken this to an Ethiopian Williamsburg. The traditional Dorze huts were amazing and we were told that they generally last over 100 years,however slowly shrink in size due to the persistent knaw of termites. I attempted to spin cotton and failed miserably, I watched men weave intricate designs on wooden looms and watched women scrape the pulp out of false banana leaves which they ground into a dough which is rolled into the shape of a tortilla and cooked inside a banana leaf over an open fire. The bread is then served with a set your mouth on fire orange dip. The taste is amazing once your mouth regains feeling and regrows taste buds. A hipster Rastafarian with spectacular dreds named Mekonnen runs this village and guides us through with his charismatic and attention seeking smile and humor.  We try local Araki which is probably the strongest liquor I have ever tasted and are invited to a coffee ceremony where I am finally able to try coffee with the mysterious Ethiopian plant I have been hearing about. Before walking to the pottery and weaving cooperative, I am dressed in leopard skins and a crown of human hair, given a spear and instructed on local dance. I looked like an idiot but it was hilarious. I gave all of the locals quite a laugh.  Drumming and dancing ensued and I was invited by small children to join in on the hip rotation, booty shaking dancing.  Definitely the most fun that I have experienced thus far in Ethiopia..

  1. srawlinsethiopia posted this
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