Lucy Exhibit

We were able to go up to Seattle on Monday to visit Stefan's sister and her family, and to see the "Lucy Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center. 

The exhibit was partially about Lucy (the 3 million year-old hominid fossil that was found in Ethiopia in the 70's), but also about the "Treasures of Ethiopia", detailing the history of the country and culture. It was so wonderful and completely worth the trip to see all these amazing artifacts from a country we feel very connected to. 

We were able to see some beautiful artwork, basketry, ancient weapons and tools, as well as see Lucy's skeleton and learn a ton about her and how she fits into our history. I have read a lot about Ethiopia, so I knew a lot of the history and had read about the culture extensively, but seeing everything was incredible and I learned a lot. 

I didn't know much about Lucy, so that part was also fascinating. In Ethiopia her name is Dinkenesh, which means "wonderful thing", and she really has been very important for the country. 

This exhibit was intended to educate people about Lucy, but also to make people more aware of Ethiopia's culture. I think that it does both very well, but unfortunately it hasn't been as popular as the museum had hoped. This is probably due in large part to the economy, but it has been discouraging for the museum and other museums have opted out of the exhibit because of that. All that to say . . . go see it! It's only in Seattle until March 8th so you don't have much time, but it's definitely worth the trip if you're within a few hours drive.