Melkam Genna, Yemarina Yewotet Dabo & a random smile:)

So, today in Ethiopia, is Christmas..yes, January 7th...to be exact!! Here is a bit about Christmas in Ethiopia....

Ethiopian Christmas is a major holiday in Ethiopia and falls on January 7, instead of December 25. Unlike the rest of the world Genna is devoid of Santa Claus and Christmas trees. But more recently the trend has been changing where Christmas trees have slowly started creeping into Ethiopian households where many people started using decorating trees even if there is still no Santa Claus stories told, giving and receiving gifts is also not a big deal among the people rather new clothes are bought for children as a present on the holiday.

Genna is followed by one month long fast. It is said that Legend has it that among the Magi the king bearing frankincense as gift to baby Jesus was King Balthazar of Ethiopia. The day before Genna, people fast all day. The next morning at dawn, everyone dresses in white. Most Ethiopians do a traditional shamma, a thin, white cotton wrap with brightly coloured stripes across the ends. After the mass in church families get together to take part in the holiday feast which include doro wot, tela (homemade traditional beer) and Defo Dabo (bread made for holidays). As done in many holidays’ people visit relatives and spend the holiday feasting together.

Christmas is a holiday where many people come together especially in recent times Ethiopian Diaspora come for the holiday in an attempt to not only enjoy Genna, but also celebrate Timket (Epiphany), considered one of the biggest holidays of the year which is just two weeks away from Genna.

In rural areas people play yegena chewata; Ethiopia’s version of hockey which is played using carved stick and kind of rounded ball where men and young boys participate in the game – at times the rivalry can be fierce. There are also songs which are sung to show how people appreciate the game ‘begenna chewata aykotum geta’ at times the rivalry can be fierce. According to tradition, shepherds celebrated when they heard of Jesus birth by playing such a game.

So, there you have a bit of info on their celebrations....tonight we are celebrating with a few families here in town whom have adopted, eager to adopt or in the process of adopting from Ethiopia!! My kids are thrilled to wear their Ethiopian clothing tonight, and Ageze, Tesfa & I made something similar to "Himbasha" today...Tesfa talks of Himbasha quite regularly, so we thought we'd give it a try...our local grocery stores didn't carry a few of the ingredients for Himbasha, so we tried something called..."Yemarina Yewotet Dabo"( Ethiopian Spiced Honey Bread!!) So, we are excited to try out our creation!! The whole time I was making it, Ageze was watching me like a hawk!! He'd say.."mama, look like Himbasha...Alto(his Ethiopian Mama) do it like that...yummy!!" He definitely knew it looked similar, so it seemed!! We'll see his final reaction this evening!!

             

    Okay, so I'm totally gonna change subjects here....this morning the kiddos were goin about their normal morning routine...you know, bath, brush teeth & so on...well, Ageze makes quite a mess while brushing his...so, as usual I went in and rinsed the sink out with water...and this is what was left behind!! The kids were freaking out..."Mom...theirs a smiley face!!" Who ever thought some leftover toothpaste could brighten your morning??? Well, it did mine...:)

                                                                    crazy, huh??? ( i know, you are probably thinking yea right!! you should've seen it...have to admit...cheered me up a bit:)

                                                                      xo kristen