Ethiopian Cultural Center

So to cap off my first work-week here, last Friday one of my roommates (Bridget) and a co-worker from here (Hiwot) accompanied me to my first Ethiopian Cultural Center experience...and it was quite the experience!  There are numerous such cultural centers throughout the city here, although we went to the one closet to us - Yod Abyssinia - only several blocks away from our temporary home.  There were more "feringis" (foreigners) there than I had seen the entire week.  It was adorned with many lights outside and very extensively decorated on the inside - it kind of reminded me a little bit of a "Disneyworld"-type feel.

Me outside of the cultural center

A view of the ceiling inside

Bridget and Hiwot enjoying themselves inside

As far as food goes, we opted for the buffet that night so that we could try a multitude of foods and since we had the luxury of having a native with us to help explain what it was we were choosing and eating (many thanks Hiwot!). I tried a few new things that I liked there, including some meat dishes (chicken and lamb) that are not as always commonly available here, as there are many fasting days where those of Ethiopian Orthodox faith (the majority of people here) eat a vegan diet.  Ironically, later last weekend, when trying to explore a bit more about the city, I was looking on TripAdvisor.com and the Yod Abyssinia was the #1 rated restaurant in all of Addis!  In addition to the food, we tried a couple of Ethopian beers, including St. George (by and far the most popular here, like the Bud or Miller of Ethiopia) and also a Dashen beer, which I preferred!

Dashen Beer

Finishing off the meal, we also had some coffee, which was served with popcorn and some burning incense (both of which are involved in the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony)

The coffee spread

They left the incense to burn, while we drank the coffee.  The smell reminds me of church!

In addition to the food and drink, the evening went on with a lot of entertainment: a band, singers, and dancers performing musical and dance numbers representative of many of the different cultural regions throughout the country of Ethiopia.  There is no easy way to describe them, and since the pictures don't do them justice, I'm attaching several short video clips of different dances from various regions:

The band

 

Fortunately for the entertainment of my roommate and co-worker, there was an audience participation portion  towards the end of the evening which I got pulled into.  They sure do know how to move their shoulders and necks and jaws in some amazing ways.  As you can see, my performance is quite amateur and luckily near the end Hiwot jumped in with some of her dance expertise...I obviously need a lot more practice! :-)

Well....all I can say is that at least my audience participation was down by my seat on not on stage like these guys, with their very interesting dance moves:

All-in-all, it was a fun night out to start off my first full weekend here!  The rest of the weekend was quite a bit more low-key, checking out some of the local neighborhood restaurants and shops, continuing to get settled in and relaxing.  However, I do know that I will have to work on my shoulder movements before we return to another cultural center here soon...