The Three Niles

When writing my previous post on Egypt, I came to realize the significance of the Great River Nile, and how lucky I am for living in or near its watershed for the last few years. The Nile is the longest river in the world, and carries paramount importance both in history and presence for much […]

Debre Damo, Monastery in the Sky

I have always wanted to visit Debre Damo since I first saw it in the Pilot Guides Ethiopia episode about 10 years ago. It is an old, secluded church deep in the north of Ethiopia, in the Tigray region bordering Eritrea. Debre Damo sits atop a table mountain, and the only way to access is […]

Epiphany in Ethiopia, Year II

Yesterday was the eve before Orthodox Church’s Epiphany, or Timket Katera, as known here in Ethiopia. I went to the Timket celebration in Jan Meda in Addis Ababa last year, and it was amazing. This time, I went to the evening ceremony.

Epiphany in Ethiopia

On January 19 Ethiopia is lit up by Epiphany, or Timkat in Amharic, meaning “the baptism”. Timkat celebrates the baptism of Jesus, and is one of the holiest festivals of the year. Starting from around 4 PM on Sunday, the holiday goes on until Tuesday. Since I almost missed Christmas entirely about two weeks ago, […]

Christmas

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 […]

probabilities and prose

Xuan's story in some parts of the world

Ethiopia