January 30, 2012

So T’imk’et is an amazing celebration that is unique to Ethiopia. It is the celebration of the baptism of Jesus Christ. My first question is why don’t more countries celebrate such an occasion? My day started off with a breakfast-free morning because such is tradition as you go to the celebration. We walked to the “lake” in my town that was created only a few weeks before by the damming of a small stream, or the water source for the town. There were only about 100 people there when we arrived at 9am. We took a seat up high on some rocks to watch the show. The priests were singing and chanting in the ancient language of Ge’ez. This is the language that both Amharic and Tigrina are derived from. People can understand it if they are regulars at church because it is the only language used. The African sun was shining down on us like we small plastic army-men at the mercy of a giant child with a magnifying glass. I proceeded to take a lot of pictures and attempt to document this occasion to the fullest. I got some great pictures! (Please see my Facebook, I am sorry, but putting pictures on wordpress is not the easiest thing to do- ask my mom for my FB name!) We sat there for a few hours until something started to happen. The people were all getting up and walking toward the “lake.” They walked to the bank of the “lake” and the priest began to speak. He was giving credit to all the locals who contributed money to the church in the name of T’imk’et. This was very interesting… at first. It was hot and this went on for about 30 minutes. Than a giant piece of Hambasha (local bread) was brought forth. An auction broke out for this delicious, round piece of bread. The entertaining thing and the thing that MOST defines Ethiopian culture was the cycle that this auction created. One person or a group of people would buy the bread for about 1000 Birr, or about 58USD$. Then whoever won the bread would immediately donate the bread back to the church in order for them to start the auction all over again. This same piece of bread got auctioned off for about 30 minutes. There were about 20 different winners. It was great! The next part of the ceremony was the best part!! : The priest started to speak and pray. There were three priests next to the “lake.” They were talking and then all at the same time they dipped their amazingly decorated crosses into the water. This was the symbolic reference to the baptism of Jesus Christ. At this moment there was an amazing eruption of yelling, dancing, crying, smiling, laughing and a rush of raw emotion that took over the area. About 50 little boys jumped into the water, butt-naked, in order to splash the anticipating crowd with the recently blessed water. People would receive the water and make a cross from forehead to abdomen, shoulder to shoulder. (Father, Son, and Holy Spirt) This all happened so fast! It almost took my breath away! I was amazed by the passion and emotion that was alive upon the faces of hundreds of Ethiopians! I was lucky enough to capture this on video. I will share at some point. It is truly an incredible day!!! After the ceremony, which lasted about 3 1/2 hours, we headed back to the house for my favorite meal in Ethiopia: S’ibahi Durho. Chicken Wot. It is soooo amazing!! I ate it for three meals that day. We also drank Suwa, or local beer. It was a party and it was authentic. I was very happy to have experienced such a unique celebration. It differs all over Ethiopia in how it is celebrated. I am glad I experienced it here.

Other than that, I have been very busy working on my CNA (Community Needs Assessment) I went to a meeting yesterday where the NGO in my area: Millenium Village Projects) gave their annual report to their board members and they discussed the next 5 years until 2015, when their contract will end. I was lucky enough to meet one of the board members that was kinda a big deal: the Tigray President. I was also in the company of a lot of heads of certain political sectors for the whole state of Tigray. The UN was present. It was an amazing networking experience and a good step forward with establishing relationships. I am going to help MVP develop and implement a community-based eco-tourism business plan. I can’t wait to get into it!!

Well I am going to check on the large-scale compost project that my counterpart and I started at the local tree-nursery. Thanks for reading. I hope all is well for all of you!! Uh, Go Patriots? ha.

-Ben