“Does anybody really know what time it is?”
Janice and Lucy
That’s me with my great great great etc. ancestor Lucy! See any resemblance? My oldest known relative (petite little thing!) was found in 1974 in Ethiopia - where I will spend the next three weeks of this adventure. Why “Lucy?” Seems the archeologists were playing the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” full blast in their camp. One night, around the fire, celebrating their “find” (probably with some beers, ya think?), they decided “Lucy” would be fitting for their little lady.
Of course, many ancient remains have been found across the continent. But Lucy is OLD - 3.5 million years ago. And a few years back an even OLDER “ancestor” was found in Ethiopia. So- “we” have been traipsing around this country for a pretty long time.
Speaking of time! Ethiopians count differently—years, months, hours. And while, of course, they adapt in hotels/airports for the international community, locally they truly have different measures and it can be confusing.
Hours. They believe the day begins with “dawn,” (6 AM), not at midnight. So what we call 8 AM, Ethiopians call 2 AM. Our dinner reservations tonight are at 1 PM or 7 PM to the rest of us. Really! That how they set their watches.
Weeks begin on Monday rather than Sunday.
Months. Ethiopians obviously know a trip around the sun is 365 days. But for a reason I never quite got, Ethiopians divide it into 13 months. Twelve are equal with 30 days each. And the 13th month has just 5 (or 6 in leap years) days. Further, they celebrate New Year on September 11.
Now, the years. To the best I can explain, Ethiopians (Orthodox Christians) also count time beginning with the birth of Jesus. But their 1 AD is 7 years later than our 1 AD because they take into account the seven years Adam and Eve spent in the garden of Eden. This is not simply a historical tradition. It has how the country operates today.
AND I scored a real 2020 Ethiopian calendar!!! So excited. Saw it on a desk in a hotel office and asked if I could buy it. Best momento ever! Here’s a picture of September. Note the start of the new year and the weeks beginning Monday. The calendar is written in both Amharic and a second language used in their churches.
Ethiopian calendar
Ethiopians takes great pride in their history of being the only African country to have never been colonized. You may know that Ethiopia’s current Prime Minister just received the Nobel Peace prize, which some, locally, agree with and some do not. But the country’s 20th century was quite complicated. Haile Selassie ruled as emperor for much of the first half—except for five years when the Italians tried to take over. (My ganja friends may also remember Selassie as the Redeemer/Second Coming for the Rastafarians! That is a whole other story.) Then the communists came, killed Selassie, ruled for a while, got kicked out, and now Ethiopia—while still quite poor—has the fastest growing economy in Africa.
I have hugely oversimplified, and glossed over some sad and cruel times in Ethiopia’s modern history. I found it notable that our guide, at this point, has yet to discuss the Red Terror of the ‘70s which killed nearly 100,000 people. Also, there has been no discussion of the famine of the ‘80s in which 1 million died, 2.5 million were internally displaced and 400,000 refugees fled the country. Often attributed to drought, international agencies attribute much to government policies and counter-insurgency strategies (aka ethnic cleansing?).
There is tremendous variation in culture and religion and topography across Ethiopia and its 100 million people. Bordering Sudan and Somalia, the eastern region is primarily Muslim. The south, where I will spend the last half of the trip, is quite tribal and practices animism. The next week or so will be in the north, the Amhara region, and with an ancient history (besides Lucy) that dates to the Queen of Sheba.
The north is a center of UNESCO heritage churches, a destination for Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrimages, as well as the beautiful Simien Mountains.
The Ethiopian Orthodox religion, similar to Catholicism, has the Bible, but also a book of saints. Every day is dedicated to a saint. They fast 250 days a year, including every Wednesday and Friday. Yes! But “fasting” only means no meat. Lent and prior to Christmas are for “no food before afternoon” fasts.
Similar to some other religions, shoes must be removed before entering a church. Women must cover their head, men cannot wear shorts, and men and women cannot sit together in church.
Shoes of tourists outside church in Lalibella.
Importantly, Ethiopians believe the Ark of the Covenant is held in a church in the northern town of Axum. As such, each church has a replica which is only seen by the priests and is kept in a place in the church for the “Holy of Holy.” This space is hidden behind doors or a large curtain. This is one of three sections to every Ethiopian church; the others being an area for chanting and an area for receiving communion.
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Chanting area
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Doors to the “Holy of Holy” replica of the Ark of the Covenant
Our guide stressed that every thing has a spiritual meaning. The cords wrapped around the drum used during services represent the lashes on Jesus’ back.
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Drum
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Drum
The prayer sticks can be used to “lean on during church when you are tired from fasting.” If the stick is carried across the shoulder, it represents Christ’s crucifixion. If held upright in front of the body and waved side to side, it represent the trials and tribulations of Christ.
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Prayer sticks
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Prayer sticks
One round monastery overlooking Lake Tana and set amidst a forest of coffee trees, dates from the 16th century and had stunning paintings. Done with local natural dyes on fabric, the fabric is the affixed to the wall with a sticky sap. The vibrancy of even the oldest paintings is impossible to explain, and the walls surrounding the “Holy of Holy” were covered with them, all different stories from the Bible.
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Paintings
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Paintings
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Paintings
Most of the paintings were easy to interpret. Part of one showed “nonbelievers” who were going to hell. They lay at the bottom of the painting with only half their faces visible, unlike the other images where the full face showed.
“Nonbeliever”. You can see texture of fabric where deterioration has begun.
This monastery is active, drawing people from the surrounding hillside, and is home to several dozen monks.
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Ethiopian Orthodox Priest at Door
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Ethiopian Orthodox Monk in Courtyard
A cave church near Lalibela (Toneakutolea) provides holy water to area residents who collect it from the monastery and hang it near their front door to protect from evil spirits. It is looked over by several priests and nuns, the latter who are responsible for baking the communion bread.
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Ethiopian nun walking up steps
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Stones collecting holy water
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Nuns praying
Homes in these villages are constructed of straw and mud and sticks.
Ethiopian woman cooking in front of home
Some homes, tukuls, are round, so evil spirits can’t hide in the corners. (Luckily, my hotel room is round!) Cooking is done over eucalyptus wood. Any farming (sorghum, teff, wheat, barley) is done with cattle drawn equipment on land owned by the government. And like so many places in Africa, people carry their yellow plastic jugs to nearby creeks for water.
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Donkeys carry water and supplies
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Woman carrying eucalyptus sticks
The day near Bahir Dah ended with a trek to the headwaters of the Nile, here called the Blue Nile for the color of the misty air when the waterfall is full. If not for the drought and the dry season, the plain in this picture would be flooded and the waterfall would cover the complete cliff side. Ethiopia has nearly completed a major dam on there segment of the Nile that will enable them to sell power to Djibouti. This has obviously created some disagreements with other countries who also rely on the Nile for water.
Headwaters of the Nile
After some fun with a group of young boys on the trail, we headed to Lalibella, one of the most sacred sites for Ethiopian Orthodox believers, with its 12th century monolithic excavated UNESCO heritage churches (recently featured on a 60 Minutes episode) and then to Timket, an important January festival and the reason for the timing of my trip.
