Food & Water in Addis

The food here is fantastic. Take anything you’ve heard and its actually probably right. I would say though I have been surprised with how much Ethiopia’s food fits with Western diets or even just restricted diets. Their main food, Njera, is made from Tef which is not gluten containing and is really high in protein and iron. Also there is a high population of very devout Christians who practice fasting during Lent and every Wednesday and Friday. Fasting means that the diet can contain no dairy, eggs, or meat. Basically its vegan except fish can be eaten. I would say the water in Addis is one of the main things I’m still not sure about. We’ve been drinking mostly bottled water and still have had a few run ins with traveler’s sickness. The people in our dorm here boil all of their water before drinking it and this is seeming like a better/ cheaper solution for long term. In Malawi, we drank all the water straight from the tap and almost never had issues with it. I’m not sure how much of the water problem is hype and how much is real. I did bring Chlorine tabs and a .2 micron water filter but when I went to use them I did have a bit of stomach unrest and wimped out. Next step is to try boiling and drink lots of water/ coke. We’ll see how it goes.