September Pictures

I've gone ahead and posted additional pictures that I've taken throughout the month here to a Picasa album if you are interested in seeing a bit more of my experience:

September Randoms

Meskel Holiday Celebration

As the rainy season is coming to an end this month, the Ethiopian highlands are starting to fill with a yellow daisy known as the Meskel flower.

Meskel flowers for our dining room table at the house

Meskel flowers and grass for sale along the city streets Tuesday morning

The Meskel holiday itself is an annual Ethiopian Orthodox religious holiday commemorating the discovery of the True Cross, which occurs on the 17th of Meskerem (the first month in the Ethiopian calendar). The Meskel celebration involved burning of a very large bonfire, which is connected to the belief that it was the smoke from a large fire that led to the discovery of the True Cross. The bonfire celebration took place the evening before the Meskel holiday day (Tuesday, September 27 this year), and we attended the large gathering in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa.

View upon arriving at Meskel Square.  The giant cone shaped item was what was lit on fire for the bonfire to occur as at the end of the celebration.

Unfortunately it had rained a lot on Tuesday already, by the time we arrived, and everything was mud and puddles except for the pieces of cement on the "steps" that everyone was trying to stand on for the duration of the celebration.

Things only got worse as the rain started pouring down again!

There were performances by many groups.  This group had a nice looking angel that arose among them at one point in their performance.

One of the many groups parading.

As the sun was starting to set, the crowd began to light up as people passed the flame on to each other to light sticks that many individuals had.

Once it was dark enough, it was about time for the bonfire to begin.

The bonfire began with a lot of smoke...

...and eventually it picked up into a full blaze.

For additional pictures click here.

Happy 2004!

Last weekend we celebrated New Year here in Ethiopia.  It felt very different being that it was not the typical holiday season that I’m used to being in when New Year’s is celebrated.  The Ethiopian Calendar is quite a bit different from ours.  There are twelve equal months of 30 days each and then a thirteenth month with five or six days (depending if it is a leap year or not).  On our September 12, 2011 - the Ethiopian calendar year of 2004 began.

In addition to the New Year’s festivities on that long weekend, I also spent some time over the weekend visiting some local churches.  On Saturday, Bridget and I visited Medhane Alem. This Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church is the largest church in Africa and is only a couple of blocks from the house where I'm staying - although this was the first time I'd gone inside the gates of the complex.

For additional pictures click here.

On Sunday we went on a group excursion to Mount Entoto.  The other two PULSE volunteers in Ethiopia (Richard and Delphine), who are located in the village, joined us in Addis for the holiday weekend.  Mount Entoto is the highest peak overlooking the city of Addis Ababa - at about 10,500 feet – and there we visited several churches and the previous Emperor’s palace.

A group shot of the Ethiopia PULSE volunteers, along with our favorite Addis taxi driver, outside one of the churches

For additional pictures click here.

Sign at the office

I really enjoyed the New Year’s decorations out and about in our neighborhood that were visible by both day and night!

We spent New Year’s Eve out at a couple of traditional cultural centers and one “international” club.  There was, similar to home, lots of food and drink, and music and dancing. 

One of the special dances at the cultural center that evening with fire and even sparklers at one point too

We were able to spend New Year’s Day with a couple of co-workers at their homes and enjoy some traditional foods and, of course!, coffee ceremonies. 

Trying my hand at the coffee ceremony

Letting the pro (Birkti, a coworker here) take over

A spread of traditional foods for lunch

Another co-worker, Hiwot, and a lovely spread of sweets and snacks for the afternoon

For additional pictures click here.

It was a nice long weekend and definitely a new experience here.  Also, it was quite exciting as this may be the only year that I will get to celebrate two New Years in less than a year’s time!

A Weekend Around, About, and In Addis Ababa

We had a very nice weekend “at home” this past weekend.  We started it off Friday night visiting a nice restaurant called The Diplomat, which serves food featured from different counties.  The meal started out with a great variety of breads, with some wrapped in banana leaves:

They did have USA as a featured country, but all of us passed on its featured appetizer (chicken wings) and entrée (fried chicken).  We did try to get the dessert – chocolate brownie – and sadly, they did not have any available.  The desserts here are very hit-and-miss…actually usually a “miss”, even though so many cakes look so good, they often do not taste sweet or are very wet/soggy.  I ended up ordering the chocolate mousse for dessert there, which although it didn't taste like the consistency of any other mousse I’ve ever had, was still delicious!

On Saturday, we ventured about 20km out of the city to visit two women’s centers.  We first visited Desta Mender.  Desta Mender translates to “Village of Joy” and houses long-term patients in connection with the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.  The women who are residents also receive schooling and training in various life-skills.  Unfortunately, when we arrived on Saturday, it was quite deserted.  Apparently most everyone was out, as Saturday is market day in that area.  Also the café that was there was currently closed, for what appeared to be construction.  Luckily there were security guards on duty that let us in and walked us around the pretty grounds.

Security guard, wearing some great boots, showing us around. 

Following that stop, we headed on to the nearby Bethel Women’s Center.  Here local women are being trained in claymaking and textiles.  Again, no one was actively working/crafting while we were there, but again the grounds were very nice and we were served some traditional Ethiopian coffee (with popcorn, of course) and were able to browse the shop rooms.

To see more pictures from the day, click here.

On Sunday, we were invited by a co-worker (Hiwot) to her home for her son’s 4-year old Birthday party.  We took on the task of bringing supplies and ideas for a couple of games for the kids – including Pin the Tail on the Donkey, which we thought was very appropriate here with all of the donkeys!  No one had heard of the game before, but it was a big hit with everyone.  Similar to Birthday parties back home, there was cake, candles, singing, music, and lots of sweets…and in addition there were a couple of Ethiopian-specific aspects, including the grass on the floor and traditional coffee ceremony.  It was a great Sunday, and nice to experience a bit more personal aspect of their culture.

Hiwot and her son, Nathan, with me and the two other Addis-based GSK PULSE volunteer

The party started off with a bang!  There was singing, candles, sparkling candles, and fake-snow/confetti! 

Birthday Boy's turn...

His tail placement was a bit off, but he sure did enjoy himself

The final result, although the "winner" had a bit of assistance

Me with Hiwot, in her very nice traditional dress

More party pictures are posted here .