Rebecca Fisseha, Writer.

When the radio said that it’s 4 degrees Celsius (39 F) outside today, my immediate thought was Oh it’s nice out ! 

That’s when I knew. I have adapted, perhaps irrevocably.

But I still have those moments when I realize you can take the girl out of [insert name of home country] but you can’t take the [inhc] out of the girl.  

So, I don’t know about all my fellow habeshas out there, but the FOB still kicks in for me when ferenjoch…

• put their feet up on/climb over public furniture
• plop down on the ground any-old-where
• let their toddlers crawl around on the ground in public places
• tell you how much something they’re wearing cost immediately after you compliment them on it
• eat a piece of food that fell off their plate onto a table (or use a table as a plate)
• rinse used dishes with just water and put them on the drainer
• pick cutlery out of the sink at random and eat with it
• invite their ex-spouse to their wedding
• apologize to their kid
• refuse to be introduced as the boy/girl friend unless your dad comes out of his car
• give a real answer their kid’s every question
• engage in baby-makin’ levels of PDA
• ask their friends to fork over gas money if they want a ride home
• tell you to wait in the living room while the family eats dinner since you weren’t expected
• ask you to let them know if you’re coming over so they know how many pieces of meat to prepare
• pet the sheep and chickens at the local zoo
• tell you how much to eat so that everyone can eat
• make doro wet with all drumsticks and kitfo with tofu
• stop on the street to have long chats with homeless people, every day
• split the bill when out with their significant other
• go on 30 hour fasts, to end hunger

That’s all I can think of. Maybe that’s a good thing, since I’m guilty of at least one of these myself! Not saying which.

Feel free to add, dear closet-FOB-reader.