Good Bye, Aklilu ...

This evening, we ("the team at Arrow") said farewell to Aklilu ... He was our VP- Finance/HR guy when I started. In fact, he was the one who hired me all those many years ago.
He's moving on. Following his dream.
We said goodbye and goodluck (Arrow style, meaning lots of affirming words and meaningful gifts) and celebrated all that he's brought to Arrow.
We did this at his favorite restaraunt - Harambe's on the Drive.

Have you ever eaten authentic Ethiopian cuisine before? Neither had I.

This is the first platter that arrived. It's full of seasoned, spicy vegies. Four of us shared one dish...

Then the meats arrived in hotpots: chicken, lamb and beef.

We spooned the meats onto the platter in between the vegies.

Then the sponge bread arrived on a dish and we added the rolled up bread to the edges of the platter as well:

Uh, yeah.

That bread?

Not my favorite part of the meal.

It was virtually flavor-less. However. That texture?

(Shudder.)

It was moist and pliable. Felt like rubber.


So what you do, is rip a piece of bread and holding it inbetween your fingertips, you scoop some filling from the vegie and meat platter like this:

The meats and vegies were awesome.

I would've liked to have been able to scoop them up with a tortilla chip.

Mixing ethnicities? Is that do-able?

African and Mexican?

Or would that cause the next world war.

Meet Aklilu:

(Pronounced Ah.Klee.Loo.)

I am SO going to miss his happy face and booming laugh around the office.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. Super short work week.

2. Spectacular lightning show this evening.

3. Friends who still walk around holding hands:

Shalom,