happy new year... from luel

You may have heard about Luel. He is our Journey 28:19, Partnership Coordinator in Ethiopia. And tomorrow, he, along with the entire country will be celebrating the new year. Below you can read more about the traditions in Ethiopia.

Happy Ethiopian New Year - 2012!

New Year (Enkutatash) marks the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the spring sunshine. It is one of the biggest celebrated holidays in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia uses the Julian calendar which makes Ethiopia 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar. If you travel to Ethiopia at any point, you will travel back in time and you will be 7 years younger! Ethiopia has 13 months in a year, 12 of which have 30 days and the last month, called Pagume, has five or six days when it’s a leap year. The Ethiopian calendar celebrates the new year on September 11th according to the Western or Gregorian calendar, except for leap year when it occurs on September 12th. This year is a leap year!

From the beginning of September, you can see mountains and fields covered by a beautiful daisy kind of yellow flower called Adey Abeba (which is indigenous in Ethiopia), making most of the land attractive and beautiful. It is a symbol of good hope and a wish for a happy and prosperous year among Ethiopians.

In the eve of the new year, families gather together, share a feast, and have a bonfire of sorts in their compound. And that night, the elders at the house bless the children - wishing them fruitful new year.

At the day of New Year, you can find young girls wearing beautiful traditional white clothes and singing at the neighbor’s gate in a group. Boys go around from door to door and share hand painted pictures of flowers and angels to neighbors and relatives. If you go to one of the houses during the day, you can smell fresh baked traditional bread called DIFO Dabo (big traditional baked bread) when you reach their gate. When you enter, you will find family gathered together sharing traditional Ethiopian cuisines in one big plate with a coffee ceremony on the side. More than anything, you will see the love, hear the laughter, and learn about the memories they are sharing.

But most importantly, you will find people wishing and praying the new year brings more love, health, and blessing to their loved ones and their country.

Happy New Year!

መልካም አዲስ አመት (Amharic)

Ayyaana Haaraa Gaarii (Ormoffia)

Luel Anberber, Partnership Coordinator - Journey 28:19