Happy Ethiopian New Year Y'all

Sara invited us to her apartement to celebrate Ethiopian New Year.  We were very grateful and glady accepted the invitation. 

The day started early with Seth and I taking a trip down to good ol' Tahir Square (yea, that Tahir Square) to visit American soil.  We had to go to the US Embassy in Cairo to get some forms notarized for the sale of our house.  Closing on September 30th inshallah.  A friend of ours works there, so he met us outside our apartment and we walked there together.  By walk I mean we walked to the Metro, got on it, got off it and walked to the Embassy.  The Metro wasn't that bad, wasn't the whole adventure I was expecting.  It was pretty normal apart from being all kinds of hot and cramped.  They have women's only cars, but women are not expected to ride in them.  They're free to ride in all the cars, but men can't ride in the women only ones.  I didn't get in the women only car because I didn't know where we were going and didn't want to get seperated from Seth.

I didn't bring my camera on this trip because I knew I couldn't take any pictures of or in the Embassy, so you'll have to make due with the images I found on Google. 

Cairo Metro

Tahir Square was calm and quiet.  Nobody was protesting.  Well, some people were protesting in front of the Embassy.  By protesting I mean they were quietly sitting or sleeping in front of it. I don't know why- could be the whole Isreal vs Egypt thing, could be that they want one of the 9/11 terrorists released because he's old.  Whatever their reason they were not a threat.

Here is another image from Google.  I promise (just to clarify in case any government guys are reading this)...

The Embassy was kinda cool.  We had to wait in line outside for awhile, but it wasn't nearly as bad as non-US Citizens whose line was about 100 deep at 7am.  Once we went inside we were checked twice and sat in the most American waiting room I've seen since March.  It even had central air!  Central air!  Not to mention an actual water fountain!  Water fountain!....but yea, I wasn't going to drink that water even if someone told me it was tapped directly from The Rockies and had nothing to fear. 


We got home, rested and then went to Sara's for dinner.  And oh man was it good.

We took a Taxi so Seth didn't have to fool with driving there. 

Sara's apartment actually made me miss home.  She has a lot of stuff that you'll find at my parent's house or my dad's office.  Ethiopian baskets, paintings and crosses are all over her walls.  I really enjoyed being there and visiting with her and her family.  Sara and her sisters were dressed in traditional Ethiopian linen dresses and they looked beautiful.

Benjamin and Sara, or "Ser"

Sara knew that Seth loves Ethiopian coffee, so she had her sister Gannet prepare a traditional coffee ceremony.  What's a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony you say?  It's the most awesome thing ever, and if you're into coffee it's super awesome.

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality. Performing the ceremony is almost obligatory in the presence of a visitor, whatever the time of day. Don't be in a hurry though - this special ceremony can take a few hours. So sit back and enjoy because it is most definitely not instant.- link

Benjamin loved the smoke from the incense.  Everyone was careful to make sure he didn't get too close to the burning coals.

Just like we have our traditional dishes in America (turkey on Thanksgiving, Lamb for Easter) Ethiopians have their traditional dishes. Chicken Doro Wat is a stew that consists of onions, a ton of pepper and chicken. That's about it- oh, and boiled eggs go to the guest of honor. It's served over ingera which is a sour tasting spongy bread. It's delicious. Sara made us yogurt in case we found the Doro too spicy.

Table full of Ethiopian dishes for us to try

Getting ready to dig in

Benjamin rocked out to Ethiopian music while we ate

Sara also made Tella which Seth enjoyed

We got home, gave Benjamin a bath, and crashed in bed around 8:30pm.  It was a long, but very interesting day.  We had an amazing time at Sara's house, and were also so grateful she invited us to her home to celebrate her holiday with us.  Thank you Sara and Happy New Year!