Happy New Years!! That’s right, in Ethiopia they just finished celebrating the new year. They are ringing in the year 2005! Ethiopia follows a Julian calendar which has 13 months; this means they celebrate New Years on September 11th. Who knew that Ethiopia celebrates the new year in September?! When we visited Ethiopia in 2010, we learned so much about Ethiopia and the rich culture there. We want to share just a few things that we learned.
Before our trip, we always thought of Africa as being dry and hot. This is not true for all of Africa. Ethiopia enjoys a moderate climate despite its proximity to the Equator and was surprisingly green in many areas. Ethiopia has two main seasons – a rainy season and a dry season. When we visited at the end of summer, Ethiopia was in its rainy season.
Before our trip, we had never tried any Ethiopian food. We quickly learned that most meals are served on injera. Injera reminds me of a spongy pancake that is very sour! They add sauces, meats, beans and vegetables on top of the injera and everyone shares the food eating with their hands. I was told recently that Whole Foods now carried and injera mix that you can make your own injera at home. We have not tried it yet, but it is on our to do list! And you can’t talk about Ethiopian food without including the coffee! It is said that Ethiopia is the birth place of coffee and it is still a very important part of their culture. We participated in many coffee ceremonies while visiting and drank too many cups of coffee to count. Since I (Jessica) am not a regular coffee drinker, I was happy to see that the cups where tiny little tea cups.
We enjoyed our trip to Ethiopia and can’t wait to return again one day! Maybe you would like to go with us...
