Yesterday I popped into the Ethiopian new year festival in Silver Spring for about 5 minutes. Last year I went and picked up a coupon from an Ethiopian airways booth that got me a significant discount (although I never used it). Surprisingly, I did not see a presence from the airline today. There were vendors selling many Ethiopian soccer jerseys, Ethiopian food, representatives of an Ethiopian publishing house, a cultural center, and various craftspeople. I’ve been to Ethiopia’s Bole International Airport several times, but I am not at all familiar with either the politics or culture of the country.
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