Today is Christmas Day in old Julian Calendar, which the Ethiopian Orthodox Church follows. The praying songs lasted the entire night last night. People went from church to church and paraded the streets. On Christmas Day, the tradition is to stay at home and eat with family. Most of the roads is empty, stores are closed, but surprisingly there are still a good number of business opened. Maybe they are not Christian.

I went to St George’s Cathedral in the morning, which is a good one hour climb to the hilly Piazza neighborhood. The cathedral is an elegant, octagonal shaped building, with shades and benches stretching out on every side. So many people sat beneath the trees, I was not sure if they are pilgrims or just hanging out.