New Year News

HI everyone,
Well I thought I should let you know how the New Year went, and how we spent our New Years Day.
Firstly I must apologize for false information about the Pentecostal church next door. Contrary to popular opinion, they did not hold an all night singing service New Years Eve. In fact they didn't meet at all, so we were able to meet here at school in the staff lounge for a BYO dinner with other families, play a few games, then come quietly home to sleep all night long. Bliss!!
Secondly, although I said I would take pictures of the cow slaughter at school, I unfortunately missed the event so couldn't show you the process. IT took place much earlier in the day than expected, to miss the rain in the arvo, so it was done and dusted before anyone knew about it!
However I can tell you about our new years day feast. My teaching assistant Lydia invited us to her family home to celebrate the day. They had bought 2 chickens to celebrate and half a sheep.

Meskel - an Orthodox holiday is next week. This is next weeks Doro wat!!!

 They were cooking all Mon night and then all Tuesday morning in a  tiny tin shed with a fire pit......all to offer us hospitality. True to Ethiopian custom we were served the best of everthing they had, and we ate doro wat,(chicken and egg spicy stew), shiro wat (lentils), and a specialty kitfo (finely minced lamb and spice). We ate at about 1.30 and Lydia and her family didn't eat til about 3.30 when they were convinced we couldn't eat anymore, and we were all done. It is a custom that puts Westerners on the uncomfortable side - hosts not eating with guests, but they see it as a way of honouring us.

Lydia laid fresh grass and flowers for our coffee ceremony!

 The meal itself was delicious, but would have cost them at least a months wages. In a small way we could help out by taking a box of groceries for them, (eg. coffee, sugar, fruit) but it seemed so small in comparison to the love and honour they showed us.
What hit  me most, was the challenge a feast day like that is,when you have no running water, gas and only enough electricity to power a light bulb! They cook over fire in the small shed, carry jerry cans of water from a nearby tap, and wash in buckets. They grind the coffee for our ceremony with a wooden mortar/pestle and pound it.

Lydia's mum cooking in the 'kitchen' for our meal

We were just finished eating and it started to pour (arvo rains are common) and Joel (Lydias husband) was worried our car might get bogged. So he and his brother insisted on pushing it out of the mud while Shane steered in the dry car. They came back soaked to the skin and muddy, but laughed about it, and thought nothing of the kind deed. This act of serving and loving is so common here. The Ethiopian people think nothing of putting themselves out for others. They are such an unselfish people, and we are certainly learning lots from them, and also growing to love them more and more as we spend time with them!
We left their home at about 6pm at night, with lots of kisses, and them telling us we were now part of their family. What a warm way to begin the New Year here in Ethiopia! We thank God for bringing us here, and placing lovely people in our lives.

Lydias family...........Our new family