Selam

One of my favorite things in Ethiopia was how when passing people in any city, town, or village outside of Addis Ababa people would look us in the eye and say "Selam!" It literally means peace in Arabic and it's the way all Ethiopians greet each other. These pictures show some of the many people that I exchanged selams with.
It's a beautiful thing to be acknowledged when passing someone on the street or trail. It warms all hearts and coming back to the stone-cold faces in the U.S. made me sad. I know people here feel they're too busy to
acknowledge others or fear they'll expose themselves to
potential danger, but I've been making much more eye contact with people since being back and it feels good.