Jen is white and grew up in Philadelphia, while Ermias is black and Eritrean. They met in Eritrea in 1995 when Jen was there as a Peace Corps volunteer. They had a long distance relationship for a while and just when Ermias was on the verge of leaving to come to the US, war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
They eventually got married shortly after the war ended in 2000, although it took another 5 years before they were able to move to the US together. They now live in Philadelphia with their two sons.
In this episode of the Loving Project podcast, Jen and Ermias discuss the experience of coming together during a turbulent time, learning to deal with racism in America, and why they recently moved their family to Ethiopia for a year.