Easter Eggs

There is one telltale sign of an approaching Ethiopian holiday: the loud cry of sheep being led down the road by their new owner. This week the sheep are in full force.  You cannot walk down a single street these days without seeing at least two.  My landlord has already purchased two and is keeping them in a small room in the back of the compound, which has been piquing my dog’s interest for the past week as she smells their scent from under the door and cries like a child being kept from her best friend.  Well, Arbay just likes to make things run, doubtful that the sheep would consider that a friendship, but either way it is better she doesn’t get too attached (if you know what I mean).  

Another sign of the beginning of a holiday here is a clothesline filled with neon-colored crocheted doilies.  “What?” you ask. Well, amongst other house-cleaning routines Ethiopians wash these brightly colored doilies used to decorate the backs of the sofas.  I doubt we’ll ever get to the bottom of how they became popular in Ethiopia! Note the decorations in this photo of Yenebeb taken by his sister in their house.

In my own preparation for Easter I have preemptively purchased half a dozen eggs and decided to store them in my landlord’s refrigerator for freshness.  Knowing that eggs sell out around holidays (they are used in the fabulous holiday dish duro wat), and knowing that Easter is the end the fast, I wanted to make sure I could make myself a fabulous Easter breakfast.  A whole new meaning of Easter eggs!

Easter here is the biggest holiday of the year, and I briefly forgot just how big it is until I was asked by several people in one day, “Are you going to your home for the holiday?” At first I thought it was a funny question—traveling halfway around the world for what I think of as a one-day celebration.  But then I equated it to asking someone in America if they were going home for Christmas, and well, I would travel the globe to be home for that holiday season.  And that is exactly what Easter becomes here, a season which lasts a lot longer than one Sunday.  I would say the season begins with the purchasing of livestock for the Easter meal (and don’t forget washing those doilies!), and lasts for some time after Sunday also.  I asked if Monday was a national holiday, like Good Friday is, and my co-workers shake their heads, “No, Jennifer, Monday is a work day, but we will not be here,” they replied.  School technically is in session, and offices are supposed to be open, but everyone knows that work won’t get done.  Most people travel to be with their family (sometimes hours off the beaten path into the rural areas) and they like to make a week out of being home.

I was told by a friend that the Easter holiday lasts until the meat is gone.  So depending on how many sheep you buy, or how fast you eat the supply of meat your family has, the holiday just keeps going and going! 

I also must add that the day after I wrote my last blog about “dirty season,” as if only to make me grateful for what I have, it started raining.  Just a couple-day reminder of what summer season brings, namely, mud. Let’s just say I’ll be careful about cursing the dirt and dust again.  Below you’ll find a picture of my neighbor preparing the Good Friday bread in the rain!