Tracy with some students from the Comboni high school.
I know that most of the world celebrated Easter in early April, but here in Ethiopia we just celebrated Fasika, or Easter, on May 5. Holy week was very busy here – everyone in the Orthodox and Catholic churches attends all of the services from Thursday through the Easter Vigil. For the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians their Easter Vigil lasted until about 3 a.m. and then people were allowed to break the strict fast they had been on for 50 days. For the previous 7 weeks all goats, chickens and cows had been safe, but there was a huge slaughter for Easter Sunday and massive amounts of meat were served and consumed. [Read more…]
My first Christmas in Ethiopia has been filled with small graces. In truth, I had been feeling melancholy for most of the month of December. Christmas in Ethiopia is celebrated on January 7 not December 25. But more significant to me is that Christmas is considered a minor feast in Ethiopia. There are no special traditions, decorations or even special hymns for Christmas. So I had really been praying to just get through December.