Have you ever heard of donkey mobile library? If not, have a look at this inspiring clip from Awassa, Ethiopia, featuring Yohannes Gebregeorgis’ fantastic initiatives that help children in Ethiopia to have access to books also outside school. Gebregeorgis first opened  a children’s library at his own home and has now gone mobile in rural areas. This idea is worth disseminating widely! 

donkeys bearing gifts clip

I heard about Eyeluta & Kirkos first time in Axum, where I saw these personages depicted in a pocket-size icon. I was told that they belong to the famous gallery of historical characters often present in Ethiopian orthodox iconography, because according to their story they were once saved from furnace by the archangel Gabriel. Their story rings a familiar bell from the Old Testament, in which the King Nebuchadnezzar throws Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a burning furnace because they refuse to worship a golden statue made by the king. They too are miraculously saved from the fire by an angel. These convergences are simply fascinating! I am only wondering whether the Ethiopian version of Eyeluta & Kirkos can actually be found in Kebra Nagast, The Book of the Glory of Kings, which tells the history of the Solomonic dynasties. For a long time this book has been on my reading list… In Kebra Nagast you can update your knowledge on the famous encounter between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, which eventually leads to their son Menyelek’s smuggling the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. It appears that Solomon was quite a charmer:

“And she marvelled in her heart, and was utterly astonished in her mind, and she recognized in her understanding, and perceived very clearly with her eyes how admirable he was; and she wondered exceedingly because of what she saw and heard with him—how perfect he was in composure, and wise in understanding, and pleasant in graciousness, and commanding in stature. And she observed the subtlety of his voice, and the discreet utterances of his lips, and that he gave his commands with dignity, and that his replies were made quietly and with the fear of God. All these things she saw, and she was astonished at the abundance of his wisdom, and there was nothing whatsoever wanting in his word and speech, but everything that he spoke was perfect.”

Chapter 25: How the Queen came to Solomon the King. The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (I) or, The KEBRA NAGAST (translated by E. A. Wallis Budge), London, 1932

Quite recently I had the opportunity to attend the Ethiopian Good Friday service in one of the churches of Addis second year in a row. Again I was simply amazed by the tranquil atmosphere created by the praying ceremonies that were being exercised on the church yard throughout the day, accompanied by the fairly monotonous reading and singing of the priests who were in charge of the service. Spending time in Ethiopia during their Easter period is a little like entering the times described in the Bible. And it translates into more modern phenomena as well, such as fasting pizzas for instance!

I remember from my childhood that I always woke up in my bed staring straight into an icon hanging on the wall. The icon was brought into our house by an uncle who had been to Russia, and it depicted Saint George killing the dragon. In Ethiopian orthodox tradition, however, there is sometimes a third person watching over this dragon killing procedure: Saint Bula (my spelling may be incorrect). He is sitting up in a tree and looks down at the heroic action of his co-saint with jealousy, I was told. I suppose I should have a look at the Bible written in Geez to find out more about him and the reasons for jealousy. As it happens, he is not the only saint I am not so familiar with: Did you ever hear about Saint Tekle Haimanot, who spent seven years praying, standing on one leg? 

Much to my surprise, Sana’a is not impregnated by a strong coffee culture, despite the famous Yemeni coffee. Most of the time I sipped, like all Yemenis, the deliciously spicy shay ahmar, and I will miss those nightly culinary feasts of the Ramadan… and now that I am back, my home roasting career is about to get an extra boost with what I bought: Jimma, Harar, Sidamo, Limu, Yergacheffe and Lekemte. Time to indulge!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to bump into a big group of Ethiopian priests in their full gear while they were getting off their coach. I wanted to wish them all a very happy new year but at that very moment my brain’s long term memory of the Amharic department was closed, so I greeted them in English instead. So here goes to all of you once more: melkam addis amet!

“Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year) falls on September 1 Ethiopian calendar (September 11 Gregorian Calendar) at the end of the Ethiopian rain season and is called Enkutatash. September 1 is also celebrated to mark the commemoration of Saint John the Baptist. Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year) is not only a religious holiday but it also a day for young boys and girls to sing and dance and for exchanging New Year greetings among urban and rural inhabitants.”

Source: Ethiopian Treasures

If I have fresh coffee – and dark chocolate – in front of me, nothing can upset me, not even the fact that my blog template had once again messed up my widgets and I had to switch back to my softer looking template. When I say fresh coffee I mean really fresh. I love the home roasting thing because of the aroma that it spreads around the apartment. The whole process from washing the green beans to listening to their cracking in the pan and finally sipping a cup or two (or three if you are in Ethiopia) is about switching yourself into “coffee mood”. So here I am having a little break from squeezing all our belongings into cardborad boxes.. The landlord is here any minute now to show the apartment, maybe the coffee aroma will do the trick and the potential tenants will be charmed to make a decision on the spot!

I plan to go to Yemen later in the summer and of course I will bring back coffee as much as I can carry and afford. I Just noticed while surfing that there is a Syrian coffee seller whose products include bottled coffee called Bunna Al-Hamwi. This somewhat obcene idea is against all my principles, though I admit a bottle of coffee may indeed come handy in exceptional circumstances. I only wonder what the taste is like.. 

Do you know what this little wooden object is? One tiny tip: if you are Ethiopian you are disqualified to reply!

theanswerishere.jpg 

With the kind and patient help of my friend *T* I finally have my Amharic keyboard up and running. I had actually installed the software (Tavultesoft Keyman 6.0) a long time ago  and it worked very well from day one - it was the letter stickers that were the the real challenge. The stickers that I had ordered from the US did not match with the Keyman mapping and I had to cut all those tiny letters out and relocate them on my keyboard. In the end we had around 15 letters in the sticker mat that were not needed at all because the Keyman software functions with a relatively uncomplicated input method of key combinations, i.e. there is no need to have such a large number of letters glued to the shift location on the keys.

Now my laptop keyboard really looks like a script salad with green Arabic and golden Amharic letters. If I ever decide to learn yet another non-Roman script I’ll need a keyboard with extra large keys! It’s time to put this keyboard facility now into practise and send surprise e-mails to my Amharic-speaking friends… they still have to cope with my very elementary written material though. For reference, read Eugene Ionesco’s Lesson and you know what I mean!

The journey of hope towards freedom for Alex Rod B. from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The link to Alex’s blog is here

One more note on cows and other four-legged creatures… Miina Akkijyrkka, a Finnish artist, has painted and sculpted cows since long and her big cow paintings are quite spectacular. Mental note of the day: as a heavy consumer of milk and other fairy products I should follow her example and maybe write an ode to cow or something.

Some animals fascinate me more than others. In the African context this means that I would much rather have a walk in the bush and meet with a meerkat family or watch how a vulture finishes a carcass, than to have a four-wheel ride after lions and elephants. Besides, animals are somewhat difficult and often quite dull objects to photograph. Here is one pic though that I like quite a bit, we surprised this fellow having a nightly walk in the back yard of our hotel. Makes a nice wall paper doesn’t it?