Reasons I love Ethiopia

When I first told people I was going to live in Ethiopia for a while, responses ranged from 'wow' to looking as if I had just announced that I was going to curl up under a table and die. People always ask me why Ethiopia, and although I originally came here to see the place where my boyfriend at the time was born, I fell in love with Ethiopia for a lot of other reasons.

Here are the main ones – and apologies if any of these seem patronising or offensive in any way. That's not my intention; these are genuinely reasons I love this country:

- Manners

It's something I've only noticed this time I'm come here, but manners are a big part of Ethiopian life. When serving meals, the eldest people at the table are served first, and they eat first; if guests come into the room, you stand up to greet them; when you greet someone, even if it's the first time you've met them, you shake hands and kiss on the cheek twice – three times, if you particularly like them! At the orphanage, children are always coming in to shake my hand and wish me good morning. These kind of manners aren't really part of my life in London – and I'm always getting it wrong here! – but I'm growing to like the structure of it all.

- Animals

Goats walking around for no apparent reason, donkeys that accompany you down the road and chickens that wander into your bedroom … I remember the first time I was in Ethiopia, I actually made E stop the car so I could get out and take a picture of the herd of goats wandering up the steps of Meskel Square (the Ethiopian equivalent of Trafalgar Square). Then a few days ago, I was walking from my house to Friendship Mall when I realised a donkey was walking almost next to me, no owner in sight. I don't know why the animals drifting along the roads please me so much, but they really do!

- The dancing

I love traditional Ethiopian dancing, and I love the fact that the minute the music starts, everyone's up and going for it! I especially love how Ethiopian men can make what is essentially quite a silly dance look so incredibly attractive!

- Gabis

A gabi is a simply a blanket made of several layers of cotton sewn together; but that description doesn't even nearly do it justice. It really is the warmest, cosiest, softest and most comfortable blanket in the world. They come in all sizes – big ones you can spread across the bed and smaller ones you can wrap over your head and wind round yourself while on the sofa watching TV.

There are thinner, lighter versions called 'nutellas', which both women and men wear both out on the street and to cover their head when they go to church. As you walk down the street, there's a good mix of people in national dress, with nutellas and cotton dresses, and then others in Western dress like jeans and tee shirts.

- Café culture

In England, you go to the pub - in Ethiopia, people go to cafés. There's a real café culture here, with several cafés on nearly every street, ranging from tiny, family run ones to larger ones like Kaldis (which looks suspiciously like Starbucks at first glance!) You can easily while away a few hours drinking coffee and eating fabulous cake (the cake in Ethiopia really is great!), watching the world go by.

- Amharic

I would like to point out that I am rubbish at speaking Amharic, especially considering I have spent so much time in Ethiopia AND have a lot of Ethiopian friends in London. There's no excuse.

I still love the language though. Its nice to listen to, and it has one fail-safe, catch-all word – eshee. It means okay, but it can also mean yes, no, maybe, oh, really? and a million other things! I have found that if I say eshee in the right places, it makes up for all the other Amharic words I don't know!

- Religion and sincerity

The official religion of Ethiopia is Ethiopian Orthodox, although there is a sizable Muslim population and those who follow the Protestant religion or consider them Evangelical Christians. Ethiopian Orthodox is a similar enough to the Catholic religion for me to be able to understand what is happening during a Church service, but it's definitely worth reading up on it, as it's a fascinating and ancient religion.

Religion is everywhere in Ethiopia, but in the most sincere and genuine way I've ever experienced. It's as if religion is so fundamental to the people, and so deep, that it's in their bones. There are churches all over the country, from the big Cathedral sized ones in Addis, to the tiny rock hewn churches in Lalibella, and all are stunningly beautiful. On a Sunday morning or on a Saints Day the churches are full of people, usually so many that the congregation spills out onto the road and the Mass has to be played via a loud speaker.

But during the week – in fact, every minute of every day, there are a crowd of people around the church gates. Some are homeless or ill, and are looking for blessings from God and money from visitors, but others have just stopped off of the way home from work or on the way to see friends just to offer up a prayer or to say thanks for God's help.

So there are a few of the many reasons I love Ethiopia. I have a friend in England who has been to Ethiopia before, and when people tell her how brave I am, or how amazing what I've done is, she tries to explain that living in Addis is not really a hardship. I totally agree. It's a great city in a wonderful, beautiful country, and I'm very lucky to be here! Book your trip now!!