The first question for my Shybunna break series: Can you tell us a story about one of
your shybunna breaks? My shybunna
breaks began first day of pre-service training (which also was my first day in
Ethiopia). My first shybunna break
experiences took place twice a day every day during pre-service training; once
in the morning and once in the afternoon.
These would often be half hour breaks in between sessions. Depending on the sessions and where we
were, sometimes Peace Corps would have shybunna provided for us and sometimes
we were on our own to decide how to use that break time.
Since moving to site, my shybunna breaks look a little
different. My schedule is much
more flexible then it was during pre-service training and so shybunna breaks
fall into my day usually when I feel like I need it the most. When I attend a program or training,
shybunna break is usually built into the schedule of said program/training.
One of my favorite shybunna breaks was when my parents came
to visit me last January. I have
been teaching an English class for field workers at a local non-governmental
organization twice a week. My
parents came with me to class on Tuesday and the women in the class decided
that they wanted to do a full coffee ceremony for us during class the following
Thursday.
It was nice for me to experience the full coffee ceremony
because I rarely get to see the full process. It was also a very cool experience witnessing my parents
experiencing an Ethiopian coffee ceremony for the first time. The ceremony began with washing the
coffee beans. We watched as the
girls roasted the beans, crushed them, and eventually made the coffee itself. My mom and I even took turns roasting
and crushing the coffee beans as well.
The women in my class were also nice enough to buy fandisha
(popcorn) and pop it. They also
brought homemade bread. Having
both at coffee ceremonies are very common. They even brought Gouder wine and soda to share.
Up to this point in my service, I think this is my favorite
and most memorable shybunna break because not only was I able to experience and
help with the full bunna ceremony, I was able to share the experience with my
parents. I got so much out of
being able to share yet another part of my experience and culture with my
parents during their visit.
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| Cleaning the bunna beans |
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| Roasting (more commonly done on a charcoal stove) |
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| Making fandisha |
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| Cutting bread |
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