Shybunna Break!

First, I would like to begin with a quick Amharic lesson.  Shy in Amharic is tea and bunna is coffee.  I remember my first introduction to shybunna during my first three months (Pre-service training) in Ethiopia.  Each day of training, we generally would have one shybunna break in the morning and one in the afternoon.  I became very accustomed to having shybunna breaks every day for three months.  I missed having that scheduled time for shybunna during the day when first moving to site.  But I have found that I will work shybunna into my schedule when I miss and/or need it the most.

Shybunna is actually a very important part of Ethiopian culture.  Bunna in itself is an important part of Ethiopian culture and is in part a huge part in what makes Ethiopia unique.  Not only was it a common and normal part of the very structured schedule that was the first three months of my life in this new country but it is also a very normal part of every Ethiopians life.  It is very normal for people to take multiple breaks though out their works days to go to their favorite shybunna bet (tea/coffee house) and to take a break from work.  It is very common to take these shybunna breaks through out the day, even outside of working hours.

I wanted to use this post as an introduction to my idea for a Shybunna Break post series.  What I would like to do is take Shybunna breaks from my normal posts every once in a while and take the opportunity to do a Q&A.  But this will require some work put in by all of you regular readers!  In order to make this series of posts possible, I really do need your input.  Please take the time when possible to send me any questions you have for me via comments on the bottom of my posts, sending me an email, or leaving me a comment and/or sending me a message via Facebook.  You can ask me questions about virtually anything.  You can ask me about anything about what life for me like in Ethiopia is, how it is affecting or will potentially effect my life when I go back to the states, about Ethiopian culture, or anything else that strikes your fancy that you would like to ask me.  I am open to any questions that you shoot my way.

PLEASE send questions!  They don’t necessarily have to be questions.  If you have any general thoughts, comments, or topics that you want me to discuss, send my way too.  I need your help in order for these posts to work.  Thanks in advance for your input!

This is a jebina.  Traditional Ethiopian coffee is made in one of these.