Yesterday, I came across an article written by a former Peace Corps volunteer who was stationed in Ethiopia. The piece, written 14 years ago, unexpectedly included a photo of my younger self along with my name, which completely surprised me. Back when I was pursuing my PhD in the UK, I conducted fieldwork in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia, and during that time, I traveled with the author to visit one of Ethiopia’s oldest coffee trees. While the article refers to the region as “Kafa,” the spelling “Kaffa” is more commonly used.
This is the birthplace of Arabica coffee, a place many of us coffee lovers cherish. The word “coffee” is said to have originated here. It seems the author maintained a blog back then and documented our journey in such vivid detail that reading the article felt like being magically transported back 14 years.
Reading it made me realize the importance of recording our experiences, and it inspired me to write something, even if just a little. I’d like to share the article written by the Peace Corps volunteer here.
Article Link
The photos were taken by the author, not me, and are from the article. If there are any copyright issues, I’ll remove them. I’m the person wearing the hat in the photo toward the end. It’s a picture that only the author and I would recognize.
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