Ethiopia Day 9 part 4

The Fab Five headed to Lime Tree to meet Yusef for dinner. The downstairs of Lime Tree is a dark, hip club/bar. Being in such cool place surrounds is rare for me so I was thrilled. When Yusef found out that none of us would be ordering cocktails he lead us upstairs to a well lit restaurant. While it was nice, and still pretty trendy, it was decorated more like a juice bar and I longed to return to the mysterious depths below.

Yusef is a friend of Kate's family and a native of Ethiopia. He, like so many of the people we've met here, is a self made success. He grew up the son of a poor farmer with twelve brothers and sisters. His parents stressed the importance of getting an education. He attended University both in Ethiopia and in Santa Barbara. He now makes his life in Ethiopia.

Yusef and I have a lot in common and it's really fun to talk about kids, Disneyland and the central coast of California where I grew up. Yusef and his siblings have very interesting life stories. All 13 children are successful in their own right and live all over the world. His family has accomplished so much and hearing about it is amazing.

Yusef recommends I visit his sister's restaurant in Montecito next time we're in that area. I've actually seen his sister featured on Oprah. I will definitely be visiting her restaurant and dropping his name to try and meet her. She is an amazing woman who went from being married off and having her first baby at 13 years old to raising that son in the US and then attending college right along side him. She's incredibly successful and owns her restaurant and a seaside home in Montecito. It would be a pleasure to meet her.

Yusef leaves to catch his daughters before they fall asleep for the night and the Fab Five head to New York cafe for dessert. The cafe is decorated with murals and photos of the New York skyline. They play loud American music and serve American cuisine. We order a variety of ice cream sundaes with exotic flavors like mango and papaya. The fruit flavor ice cream tastes like Fruit Loop cereal and has more of a malted ice consistency. Not exactly the sweet treat from home we were looking for but good none the less.