Happy New Year!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012
 
Today in Ethiopia they welcomed the year 2005!! I honestly still don't fully understand how they are 7 years behind us, but they are. Below is a little bit of information about the Ethiopian New Year:
 
In Ethiopia the New Year comes at the end of the big rains; the sun comes out to shine all day long creating an atmosphere of dazzling clarity and fresh clean air, and the highlands turn to gold as daisies emerge to carpet the hills. Everyone dresses in new clothes, and children dance through the villages; in the evening households light bonfires and there is more singing and dancing.

The day is called Enkutatash, ‘gift of jewels.’ It is claimed that the Queen of Sheba was in fact an Ethiopian, and that when she returned from her visit to King Solomon—by all accounts an expensive venture—her chiefs welcomed her back by replenishing her treasury with enku, ‘jewels’. This spring* festival has been celebrated since very early times, the cessation of the rains marking a month of transition from the old year to the new.

Early in the morning everybody goes to Church wearing traditional Ethiopian clothing. Afterwards there is a family meal of injera (flat bread) and wat (stew). Girls go from house to house handing out bouquets and singing songs and boys sell pictures that they have drawn, and families and friends gather together to discuss their hopes for the New Year.
*There are basically two seasons in Ethiopia, a wet season between June and September and a dry season for the rest of the year. Following the wet season, the country is lush and green, full of the flowers and growing crops associated with spring. (source)
 
Just reading that makes me miss Ethiopia more then usual. Had anyone ever told me I would miss a country so much as I do Ethiopia I would have said they were nuts, lol
 
I got out Isaiah's traditional outfits that I brought home with me and took some pictures of him. I know I am partial, but seriously how cute does he look?!?! I can't wait until he is older and can really understand what we are celebrating, instead of thinking we are just having a fashion show were Mommy takes lots of pictures :-)
 
 
 
 
 
I love these matching outfits I brought home for the boys!! They both can wear them for a couple of years, lol
 
Happy New Year or Melkam Addis Amet!!

1 comment

  1. Boys are looking so cute in their Ethiopian attire. Love it!

    Also thought I'd share a couple of tidbits I have learned about why they are 7 years behind. One is due to the fact that they use a Gregorian calendar which consists of 13 months. The other and the one I find most interesting is that it took seven years for them to get word of Jesus' birth and, therefore, switch over from BC to AD.

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