Easter Traditions

Happy Easter! A little belated, I know, but I've been too busy eating meat to do anything other than eat and then lie horizontally, moaning quietly. Okay, maybe that's a little exaggeration, but I have had 4 Easter meals in two days and am currently skipping another one in favor of some nice quiet time at home.

Ethiopians have been preparing for Easter for months already. It is the biggest holiday of the year (Christmas is almost a non-event) and feasting abounds this weekend. Let me back up a little. The majority of the population are Ethiopian Orthodox. While I have barely scratched the surface of understanding the complexities of this belief system, one thing I have figured out is that it offers a rich culture of rhythms and community through out the year to Ethiopians. Driving past the churches, I'll see people kneeling, crossing themselves or bowing towards the church to show their respect. Bajages (the main form of transportation that is quite fun!) are decked out with crosses, religious symbols, etc. You can see the influences throughout every sector of life. It's nothing like western cultures where religion and talking about God or Jesus is a fairly tricky, sometime taboo, topic. Here, it is almost the opposite.

One of the parts of Ethiopian Orthodox belief/ tradition that has most effected me has been their practice of fasting. Weekly, they adhere to a vegan (do animal products) diet two days a week-- Wednesday and Friday. If Jeff and I want to go to a restaurant to get meat, we don't go on fast days since all we'd get is fish. Buying meat on a fast day is tricky since part of the fast involves not killing animals on that day. It still is possible, we'd just have to find a restaurant/shop that is run by someone of other beliefs, or find somewhere that caters to foreigners. There is a short fast of a couple weeks around Christmas time and then comes Easter, a couple months later. The Easter fast lasts for 55 days! Most people in the country have not had meat, milk, eggs, etc. for almost two months! Its no wonder there is feasting for days upon days with tonnes of meat. And its not just this weekend--for the next 40 days, this is the only time of the year when there are no weekly fast days.

So, last week, on Thursday night, we went sleep with sound of a bleating sheep and goat in our back 'yard.' Our landlady, who lives on the compound with us, is Orthodox and wealthy enough to have several animals so we laughed at our serenade. Apparently, most people will start butchering in the middle of the night on Sunday as soon as their tradition allows so that they can have the food prep done for their big meal.

Jeff and I enjoyed meals with our friend, Rekik, and her family on Sunday followed by a pizza supper with friends (non Ethiopian if you couldn't guess that from the menu). Jeff raved about the delicious sheep for hours after. He said it was the perfect meal- he is such an Ethiopian. :) On Monday, I enjoyed lunch with Jeff's parents guard and his family. That meal had me raving for a couple hours-- wow! That was some good food! I was about to try and describe it and then I realized that words wouldn't do it justice, but trust me, it was good. Monday evening, we were invited to a feast with our landlady and her family and then we rolled ourselves home and went to bed.

Well, this is a bit of a hodge podge post, but its kinda hard to encapsulate an event rich in traditions that I hardly understand. But, it was inspiring to be here and observe the dedication of the Orthodox in allowing their beliefs to shape their daily menu for 55 days and then to be part of the celebration of Jesus raising from the dead with them.