Happy 2008 From the Land of 13 Months of Sunshine!

Ethiopia is unique in many ways, one of which is that Ethiopia uses a different calendar than the rest of the world.  New Years is celebrated on September 11^th, with the exception of every fourth year, when it is celebrated on September 12^th, for leap year (as it was this year).   In addition, the Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the rest of the world.  This year the Ethiopian people celebrated 2008; Happy New Year!

I enjoyed making Happy New Year cards to share with my friends and the Mezezo community!

Now for some brief background information about the Ethiopian Calendar: there are 13 months and each month has 30 days, except for the 13^th month.  The 13^th month, pagume, has 5 days most years, but 6 days when it is a leap year.  In Ethiopia, New Years is one of the greatest celebrations during the year.  In every household you can find people celebrating wearing traditional white cultural clothes, and enjoying together with:

·      Difo dabo (large bread made for holidays)

·      Tela (homemade beer, made from barley

·      Buna (coffee, freshly roasted and ground by hand)

·      Injera (the national food)

·      Doro wot (chicken stew with eggs) and/or other siga wot (meat stews)

·       

All families celebrate with the same foods and drinks, which I find to be a very neat part of the culture!!

The New Years Celebration in Mezezo was wonderful.  There was a great deal of preparation all week, as women washed clothes, prepared bread and injera, and cleaned their homes.  On New Years Eve (Pagume 6, the 6^th day of the 13 month), which fell on a Friday, I enjoyed a coffee ceremony and dinner with my compound family, and watched the New Years program on TV.  There was no “ball drop” but there was plenty of music, dancing and also speeches by well-respected people and leaders such as the President and Prime Minister.

As in Ethiopian culture, the dirt floor in my compound home was covered in grass for the holiday!

 On Saturday, the games began.  The day started with heavy rains and it was very cold even by my standards.  As a thick fog spread over the town, we stayed inside and visited, waiting for my compound Dad to return from the town (a 5 minute walk from home), where he went to collect the 20 USD (400 birr) worth of meat that he purchased.  The meat was prepared fresh (to put it in non-graphic terms) that morning, and soon my compound Dad returned with a large grocery bag full to the brim of fresh meat.  Fresh is taken to a whole new level when as you’re eating meat with injera you realize that the animal was walking around 2 hours before. It also takes the term local and sustainable to a whole new level!  It really makes me ponder and think about food systems elsewhere in the world, but that is a topic for another day and another blog J

Celebrating with Addis, a friend from Mezezo!

Back to New Years Day; breakfast consisted first of a coffee ceremony and bread, while the meat was cut and Tibs were prepared.  Tibs consists of small pieces of meat cooked in oil, along with onion and green pepper, served with injera and a local spice called “meatmetah”.  We ate together (my compound parents and two of my compound father’s children ages 28 and 35), and then visited together while my compound Dad cut the raw meat; it took him a good 2.5 hours.  I wanted to help, but it involves a special technique with no cutting board and using your hands to cut it into a long string-like shape, and I am not quite that advanced in Ethiopian culture.. yet.  Stay tuned for next year…

Just part of the pile of meat that my compound dad cut!

 At noon, I dressed in my cultural dress and headed into town where I had many invitations waiting.  At each home they had prepared exquisite food and also coffee and bread, and so the continuous feast began.  Spending this special day with so many of my Ethiopian friends and family in Mezezo was truly delightful!

A quick photo at my compound with Hibist, my friend and running partner, before venturing into town!

Upon returning home for lunch (which now was essentially my 4^th lunch), a group of 7 kids followed me and as I arrived they began singing to me and clapping.  Luckily I was prepared because other children came earlier during breakfast and did the same thing, and I learned it is a New Years tradition.  Children go from home to home and sing, and then the family gives the children 1-2 birr (20 birr=1 USD).  The kids are very creative and they sing the same general song but change the words depending on the audience.  For my song they included my name and other details that I couldn’t quite make out amidst the clapping and laughing!

 

The group of 7 kids singing and clapping for me!

Sunday, the 2^nd day of 2008 was equally as full of celebration as the day before.  Many people invited me to their homes and I celebrated at 5 different homes and unfortunately had to turn down a few others because I was stuffed to the brim!  Talking with the community of Mezezo on this special day, it was clear how proud the community is of the uniqueness of Ethiopia and how eager they are to share their culture and this special celebration with me.  Everyone had questions about how Americans celebrate New Years, and they asked my impression of the holiday.  It was hard to express my gratitude joy, and awe of the great holiday to my friends and family in Amharic, but I hope my smiling face, very full stomach, and cultural dress helped to get the point across!

Celebrating with Itagenyish, who is like my Ethiopian mom!

Ethiopia truly is a land of “13 months of sunshine.”  It is a special and unique place, with such rich and diverse culture; truly amazing.  What an incredible experience, and cheers to 2008; in Amharic, latenachin!!!

Celebrating with Sosina and Addis, two beautiful sisters!