Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Ethiopia, the warm heart of Africa

Sorry for the hiatus—I believe the Ethiopian government blocks blogspot.

Ethiopia is everything I have wanted from Africa. In fact, it feels like the warm heart of Africa, like Turkey was the warm heart of the Middle East, India, the warm heart of Asia, and to some extent, Macedonia was for Europe (though we had Jacob’s brother to thank for that, perhaps.)

It’s a mix of Africa and the Middle East. Everything about it is unique.

It has its own calendar, its own time system, and the people have their own look.

The weather is similar to Utah’s; dry, not too hot, and mountainous.

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The cuisine is actually unique—beyond the chicken/rice/plantain fare so common elsewhere. It’s easy to  be vegetarian here: it’s called fasting in their religion, so food is plentiful and delicious for me.

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It’s been easy to make friends here.

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The religion, they believe, is the earliest version of Christianity and that the Arc of the Covenant is found here. They dress all in white when they go to worship for unity’s sake, which I thought paralled my own religion. Pretty neat.

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The dancing is CRAZY

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The music is percussive, rhythmic, and overwhelming.

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There are more naked, blind, handicapped, and poor people than any place we’ve been to. Someone told us that this is because of the wars Ethiopia has had for the last 20 years.DSC02920

There is so much recorded history, of which Ethiopians are justly proud. This is Lucy, the oldest hominid ever found.

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The traditional clothes feel Biblical—which they probably are.

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1 comment:

LJBohman said...

I was just thinking about how I hadn't seen you two on my google reader lately. I figured it was an internet thing. So cool you were in Ethiopia. I am looking forward to seeing your other posts you mentioned. Your photos are beautiful by the way! Oh and I totally dig the traditional Ethiopian clothes you are wearing in the last picture! So pretty!

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