Gena and Timkat

There were two major Ethiopian holidays that were celebrated during the month of January.  These two holidays are Gena and Timkat.  Both are major holidays that include celebrating, spending time with family and friends, and eating lots of food.  In this post I will talk a little about what each of these holidays celebrates and how I spent them.

Gena is the Amharic name for Christmas.  In Ethiopia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7^th.  The difference in date chosen to celebrate Christmas in this country is in part due to the Orthodox Christian religion as well as the Ethiopian calendar (which is 13 months, rather than 12).  Despite the difference in date, the meaning behind Christmas and the reason to celebrate is essentially the same.

In America, many people celebrate Christmas, even if they are not Christian per say.  In Ethiopia, almost all people are fairly if not very religious.  Most people in Ethiopia are Christian Orthodox, Protestant, or Muslim.   There are some who are also Catholic.  All listed above with the exception of Muslims celebrate Gena.  As per Ethiopian tradition when it comes to celebrating a holiday, the may be some sort of service to attend, family and friends will gather, and there will be a lot of food to eat.

I spent Gena in my town.  I was invited to the come to the house of one of the women who works for one of the NGOs I work with and who is also in the current English class that I teach.  My sitemate Ashley also came along.  We spent time with the woman who invited us over along with her mother, sister, and a couple family friends.  We ate some traditional food often eaten on holidays and drank buna (coffee) and tela (an Ethiopian version of beer).

Later in the day, my landlady invited me over for some food.  It turns out that it was her son Bobby’s birthday as well!  He turned six.  With that being said, there was also some cake involved.  Despite Ethiopian cake being drier and not quite as sweet as cake in the states, it was still good.

It was a very cool experience celebrating Christmas twice this year.  I was lucky enough to celebrate Christmas in December with some great people and then was able to experience Ethiopian Christmas.  It was a great way to celebrate my first Christmas in another country and away from my family.

Buna (coffee) ceremony

Traditional Ethiopian Christmas Tree :)

Christmas tree made of beer bottles.  I thought it was really creative!

Now it’s time to talk a little about Timkat!  Timkat celebrates two different things.  The first is celebrating the baptism of Jesus and the second is to celebrate the coming of the covenant of the ark.  It is a very unique holiday specific to Ethiopia and I was lucky enough to experience it with my parents because it happened to fall during the first week that they were here visiting.  Timkat actually spans over three days, January 18^th through the 20^th. 

The 18^th is the eve of Timkat.  On this day, there is a parade of people that converge and take the ark from the church to a designated place where it will spend the night.  On the 19^th, there is an early morning service celebrating the baptism of Jesus.  There is commonly a pool of water that is blessed by priests as holy water.  At the end of the service, many people rush to the pool of water.  In certain places, the pool is very large and people will actually jump in and swim for a while.  Each church has its own replica of the ark and in the afternoon, there are parades of people that will travel with many of these arks back to their designated churches.  On the third day of Timkat (the 20^th), there are more festivals as the few last arks travel back to the churches. 

I spent much of Timkat in a town called Lalibela.  Lalibela is a smaller town, but they did not fail in really celebrating the holiday.  It was a really amazing place to experience Timkat.  It is a very cool holiday to experience and if you are ever in Ethiopia during this time of the year, I would highly recommend experiencing the celebrations in Lalibela or Gondar.  That is a summary of what Gena and Timkat celebrate and how I celebrated.  If you have any questions about Gena, Timkat, or any other holidays, feel free to ask!

Parade of People with the Covenant of the Ark

Blessing of the Water

Peace Corps Service ~ Taking a Look at Goal 3

The beauty of Peace Corps Service is that it isn’t just about the projects you do in site (granted, it is a large part of your service).  Goal 1 focuses on the projects and activities that help to benefit the community you live in.  Goal 2 focuses on sharing American cultures and traditions with the community that I serve in.  The focus of goal 3 is to share the culture and traditions of the community that I serve and live in with friends and family back in the states.

In this particular post, I will share a bit more goal 3.  Since moving to Ethiopia, I have fulfilled goal 3 by sharing my experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer through this blog as well as through sharing pictures via blog and Facebook.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been lucky enough to meet goal 3 by having my parents come to Ethiopia.  I met them in Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) the day they arrived in country.  For this first week, we were with a tour guide who took us through Addis the first day and then traveled with us up to Lalibela, Bahir Dar, Gondar, Axum, and back down to Addis Ababa.  From the 18^th of January through the 20^st, an Ethiopian holiday called Timkat was being celebrated through various festivals (next post will be about Timkat and Ethiopian Christmas). 

Parade of People moving the Ark of the Covenant

Priests blessing the holy water

It was a very cool thing to experience and to have my parents experience as well.  Each of the towns we visited each are very unique and had many different things to offer.  In Lalibela, we were able to see many different churches that are carved into the natural stone in the area.  Fun fact:  The churches are actually built from the top down.  We also got to be immersed in the main Timkat festival in this town. 

In Bahir Dar, we took a boat ride onto Lake Tana.  The boat took us to an island on Lake Tana where we were able to walk through a monastery.  A cool fact (for anyone really, whether you are religious or not):  It is beginning to be thought that Jesus spent some time in his youth in this area.  My mom had read a book about Jesus in Ethiopia and shared a bit with me.  We also saw the Blue Nile falls and took a boat ride down the Blue Nile.  I can now say that I have been on the Blue Nile and the White Nile (I was on the While Nile when I visited Uganda)!  We saw a ton of wildlife, including birds you can only see in Ethiopia and even hippos!!!

In Gondar, we visited another church called Debra Brehan Selassie Church.  There were breathtaking paintings covering the walls and ceiling of this church.  We also visited the area in which the primary service during Timkat takes place in this town.  There is a large pool that is filled up with water.  In the center is a building in which the ark of the covenant is kept overnight.  The next morning, the service takes place and many people will jump into the pool of water as soon as the service finishes up (more information on Timkat to follow in my next post).

Ceiling of Debra Brehan Selassie Church in Gondar

During our brief time in Axum, we first visited the huge Steles.  There are three steles located in the area that we visited and there are tombs under each.   They are actually quite remarkable.  During the time of the Italian occupation in Ethiopia, one of the steles had fallen over and was taken back to Italy.  It was recovered and returned to Ethiopia a few years ago.  We then visited a church named after St. Mary.  It is said that this was the very first church in Ethiopia.  This church was destroyed at one point and was rebuilt.  We also were able to visit the Palace of Queen Sheba.  She was married to King Solomon (if you are interested in me writing a post that goes into more detail about Queen Sheba, King Solomon, and more of the history of Ethiopia, please let me know).

One of the Steles

A view of the Palace of Queen Sheba

In our first day in Addis Ababa as well as when we returned to Ethiopia, we were able to explore the big market located in the city as well as visit a few museums.  We were able to see the bones of “Lucy” and also got to see the first palace of Emperor Haile Selassie.  I was able to learn a bit more during this week about the country that I am serving in.

They even got to meet a few of my Peace Crops volunteer friends at the end of this week when we were back in Addis Ababa. One thing that I thought was actually kind of funny was when my dad said, “Your friends are a lot like you.”

This week (and as I am writing this blog post), it is the second week that my parents are spending in Ethiopia.  This week has been spent in the town that I have lived in for about 9 months now.  They were able to see where I work, live, eat, etc.  They were able to even sit in on the English class that I teach for the field workers at one of the non-governmental organizations that I work with.  We also went to the market so that they were able to see where I sometimes go to buy vegetables, fruits, and other things.

Next week (their third and final week), will be spent southeast of Addis Ababa near the SNNPR regional capital Hawassa (spelled Awassa on many maps).  We will actually be spending much of our time during this week in a small village called Sintaro.  The church that my parents attend sponsors this village.  They have been helping with various things such as medical mission trips.  We will be visiting families, doing medical assessments, etc.  I am very excited to see how this experience will play out and to see what it is like for my parents as well as for myself.

There are so many ways that we volunteers can share our experiences.  We can share through letters, emails, pictures, Facebook, and writing blogs.  This is all great, but nothing can beat having people actually visit us.  There is no way to have a full understanding, or at least a more full understanding, of what it is like for a Peace Corps volunteer unless you visit them.  No matter how much we can share with you through the various types of communication available to us, there is just something different about actually being in the countries in which we serve.  By visiting a volunteer in the country in which they are serving, you can have a much better understanding of the culture they live in as well as getting a taste for the food that they eat.  Maybe you will even be able to pick up a few words of the local language that they speak!

I absolutely love that one third of my service is really meant to share my experiences in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian culture, etc. with all of you in the states.  And when thinking about it, what’s the point of living in another country for two years if I can’t share my experiences with others?

*Side note:  If there are any particular questions or experiences you would like me to share from my parents trip that I did not share in this post, feel free to let me know and I will include in another post.

And of course I couldn't let my parents leave Ethiopia without experiencing at least one coffee ceremony.