|
|
Ethiopia: Xmas in January
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
New Vision (Kampala)
COLUMN
10 January 2008
Posted to the web 11 January 2008
Angela Hill
Kampala
ARRIVING at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I was greeted by Christmas decorations, which would not be so strange, except it was January 4.
Preparations for the holidays were just getting underway. Ethiopians' celebrate Christmas, called Gena, on January 7 because the majority of Christians in the country belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The delayed Christmas celebrations occur because Ethiopia still follows the Julian calendar, one the rest of the world stopped using in favour of the common Gregorian calendar. It also means Ethiopia entered the Millennium on September 11, 2007, instead of bringing in 2008 on January 1.
The celebrations in the two countries are very similar. Ethiopians' use Christmas as a time to visit with family and friends. They give each other bright cards and decorate small artificial tress with coloured lights and garlands.
They gather and splurge on foods they do not normally eat throughout the year. For many people, this is doro wat, one of the countries favourite national dishes, made of chicken, eggs and the trademark Ethiopian chilli spice, beurbeure.
As a visitor to the country. doro wat was one of the first meals I had and I can understand why the delicious dish is so prized.
At the Christmas party I attended, kitfo, (raw-spiced minced beef) was served with teuj, a type of wine made of honey and the local gosho plant. As is common for most Ethiopian meals, we ate using our fingers; scooping up the kitfo using injera, a sourdough pancake.
I asked to have the meat cooked a little bit, as I was afraid of getting sick. The Ethiopians' that like kitfo do not have the same fear and love it as it is supposed to be eaten cold. But, even hot, the food was good.
As the meal was ending, the most important part of the party started, the coffee ceremony. In Ethiopia, coffee plays a big role in community gatherings because of its importance to the national economy.
The ceremony starts with the step-by-step preparation of the beans. First, they are roasted over a charcoal stove until the whole house is filled with a delicious bitter/burnt aroma. Then the person performing the ceremony crushes the beans before brewing the coffee in a specially created clay coffee pot.
The strong brew is served, usually with sugar, in tiny cups called sini over three rounds. Between each round, the clay pot is returned to the charcoal, keeping the bitter drink piping hot.
|
The first round is called abol, the second is huleutteunya, and the third is beureuka. The final cup is the most important and to leave before it is served is a great insult, so we stayed firmly planted in our seats for hours. Popcorn and little shortbread cookies were served at each round.
While a few people were still sipping their teuj, we started dancing. I was quickly taught to participate in the dances. The people I was with were originally from the North, near the historic site of Gonder, and I learned their shoulder-shimmying signature moves.
With my hospitable Ethiopian host refilling my glass with teuj every time she saw, I managed to drink a few more sips, I could hardly keep my eyes open. By 10:00pm I had to call it a night, despite protests for more dancing.
Some pictures please!
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
