A Few Interesting Facts About Ethiopia

Many people have written very wonderful things to us about our blog. We really appreciate the comments and we’re thrilled that people are enjoying reading it. Some have written asking whose narratives are whose. And most think that they are mine (Jeff’s) because of the content within. Indeed, the clinical medicine narratives belong to me while the outreach ones (such as Ufita) are Erin’s. But I’d be lying if I said that I’m a good enough writer for some of these stories (meaning – Erin is the creative one behind these passages). With that said, we will continue to try to keep the stories coming. And you can continue trying to guess whose voice is behind them. - Jeff

We thought we’d share some pictures and interesting facts about our life here in Ethiopia (one fact for each of Ethiopia’s 13 months). We hope you enjoy…

1. Homes are a traditionally a round hut called a Tukul. The floor is dirt, the walls are either sticks and/or mud, and the roof is made out of a long grass called Tef.

2. Families like to use magazines or newspapers as “wallpaper” in their homes. We save all of our magazines to give to staff at the clinic.

3. In most homes there is no chimney and cooking is done inside the home so the smoke slowly filters out through the grass roof… most likely this is a reason why we see so many respiratory disease at our clinic.

4. Families here place a lot of emphasis on maintaining a beautiful well landscaped home. You’ll see stunning archways of wild roses, well manicured gardens, and fences made out of flowering honeysuckle as you walk through the villages.

5. Many families sell food and drink out of their home to passersby. They advertize what is for sale by placing trinkets outside their house on a wooden post—flowers if they’re selling Tej (honey wine), a small cup if they’re selling coffee, a basket if they’re selling injera.

6. Ethiopians use a different calendar and clock than the rest of the world. The day starts at 6:00am. Therefore, 7:00am is 1 o’clock here. And 12 is 6 and 6 is 12. It gets a little confusing trying to keep track of the time.

7. Ethiopians also use a different calendar with 13 months. Each month has exactly 30 days followed by a short month of 5 days before new years. They just celebrated the new years here on September 11th… it is now 2002 in Ethiopia. Does that mean we’re 7 years younger here?

8. Many religions are practiced in Ethiopia (Catholicism, Orthodox, Islam, Judaism) and generally all religious faiths are accepted and well integrated into the community. One of the largest religions is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church… a branch of Christianity which developed in almost complete isolation from the rest of the world between the 4th and 15th centuries AD.

9. Ethiopian Orthodox people fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. They do not eat meat or any other animal product on those days.

10. Ethiopia is the only African country that was never colonized. This is a proud fact for many Ethiopians. However, they were occupied by Italy for a few years in the pre-WWII era. As a result, you can find a surprising amount of Italian food here (pasta, lasagna, pizza, etc). And people say “ciao” as goodbye.

11. Men here regularly hold hands and hug. Women also hold hands, but you will never see a man and woman holding hands in public.

12. Instead of nodding or saying “yeah”, Ethiopians acknowledge that they are following a conversation by breathing in with a quick loud gasp. It took us a while to realize that there wasn’t some frightening animal behind us every time an Ethiopia gasped while we were talking to them.

13. In Ethiopia white people are called Farenjis (foreigners) and children love to run after us yelling “Farenji! Farenji! You you you you you you you you you you you!” Apparently “you” is the only English word taught in school here.

Ciao!