No, I did not watch half the movie called "Four Christmases" starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. This year, I celebrated two Christmases.
According to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity (which is the most-practiced religion in Ethiopia), Christmas falls on January 7. As such, January 7 is a national holiday and indeed all offices, shops, and businesses close at midday on January 6, so that people can prepare their Christmas feasts for January 7 which include chicken stew (doro wat) eaten with injera (Ethiopian fermented bread) and other meat preparations.
You see, in Ethiopia, people have been fasting since November 24 in anticipation of Christmas. This fast means that they can eat no animal products whatsoever – they cannot eat meat, milk, eggs, cheeses etc. January 6 is the final day of the fast. On the evening of January 6, we went to spend Christmas Eve with our landlord Terefe, his wife Yeshi and his children Melat, Nati, Abel and Baumlik. We had a meal of fasting foods including injera, shiro (chic peas stew), vegetables including collard greens and carrots, and lentil stew. We sat around the Christmas tree and enjoyed fresh popcorn and there was traditional Ethiopian coffee/bunna. The Christmas tree is very prominent here also and there have been trees set up in malls, restaurants, offices, the UN etc. for at least the last 6 weeks.
On January 6, our landlord bought a sheep home in his car which was running around the lawn. When I first saw it on the grass, I thought it was the dog Kujo and ran in to the house and locked the door. However, Mary and Eric assured me that it was the sheep that Terefe bought for Christmas dinner. How embarrassing! The sheep was happily chomping on grass, oblivious to its impending fate and its role as the centerpiece of the Christmas feast the next day! Later that day, our landlord invited us to observe the sheep slaughter and the preparation of the meal. I kindly declined and instead went with Melat to Bole Medanayalam Church (the largest church in all of Ethiopia and some say Africa) for Christmas Eve service. Similar to Hindu temples, women and men must enter the church from separate entrances and sit on different sides of the sanctuary. The church was beautiful – there were huge vaulted ceilings, polished marble floors with carpets, wooden pews, decadent crystal chandeliers and wall fixtures, and gorgeous stained glass windows. The church was silent with a few people praying, as the scent of traditional incense filled the room with a sense of tranquility. The Christmas Eve service was not set to start until midnight, so Melat and I stayed for about 20 minutes before walking back home.
On Christmas day (January 7), I slept in until 11 AM, watched some movies that I rented with Mary and Eric including half of La Vie on Rose (which froze mid-way through and refused to play) and Burn After Reading (the new Joel and Ethan Coen comedy). As it so happens, January 7 also happens to be my birthday and our landlord’s family surprised me with a chocolate cake and magic candles that would not blow out no matter how hard I tried! They kept re-igniting! We then joined our landlord’s family for the Christmas Day feast which included doro wat (chicken stew), injera, sheep stew and all types of meat preparations. Knowing that I am a vegetarian, they prepared my favourites: shiro (chic peas stew), potatoes and carrots and greens with injera. Of course, Christmas would not be complete without popcorn and there was a big bowl of popcorn for us to enjoy after dinner! Thanks so much Terefe, Yeshi and family for including us in your Christmas celebrations and for the birthday celebrations!
Two Christmases in two countries in the course of two weeks. Two times the food. Two times the fun. Two time the memories. Double the blessings! That’s a system that I could get used to. Merry Christmas indeed!
