Africa-Press-Ethiopia<\/p>\n
Besides stunning landscapes, remains of ancient civilisations and a maze of rock-hewn churches, a major drawcard of Ethiopia is its age-old culture and traditions. It\u2019s best experienced when travelling there during festival time.<\/p>\n
I sense this when exploring its capital city Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is one of the planet\u2019s oldest countries, Addis Ababa meaning \u2018New Flower\u2019 in local dialect is relatively new. It was established in the late 19th century by Emperor Menelik II as the nation\u2019s new capital. Today, this thriving settlement is the continent\u2019s fourth-largest and the gateway to an ancient and mystical world.<\/p>\n
Love at first sight is a misfit for this city; a creepy mix of old and new shrouded by a dusty environment welcomes when I step out to share street-space with seven million people. The surrounding crowd, chaos and cacophony initially makes me feel uncanny but once I set my bearings right with the city\u2019s character and style, charm oozes from the locals and their traditions. Despite lots of surrounding impoverishes, I discover a kind of joyous life in full bloom hiding underneath the city\u2019s skin.<\/p>\n
Traditions are an integral part of Ethiopian life, so celebrating New Year\u2019s Day on September 12 means following longstanding rituals with friends and family, like wearing white costumes woven with borders, sipping specially brewed coffee while sitting on a makeshift mattress made with dried grass and yellow bush flowers that blossom only in September and eating stewed chicken or lamb, the animals slaughtered earlier in the morning by the eldest of the family.<\/p>\n
The preparations for the most coveted occasion of the year becomes absolute madness on the New Year\u2019s Eve when almost everyone seems to be out in the streets for last-minute shopping and some socialising as well.<\/p>\n
While cafes, restaurants and bars are overcrowded, live chooks and sheep are being sold in every nook and corner of the city. At a crowded stall, I interestingly watch how a guy, after buying a sheep, ties the poor animal to the roof of his dilapidated Lada, some of these old Russian cars still on road as memoirs of Ethiopia\u2019s brief empathy with the Red-Flag culture. While footpaths are spilling over with temporary stalls selling fruits, vegetables, food items and stacks of that long grass and yellow flowers, long queues are noticeable outside shops selling clothes, shoes, toys and other household items. Music, laughter, cries and loud calls from the vendors make the atmosphere lively.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in the 21st century, we still have a strong attachment to most of our old cultures and traditions,\u201d says my chauffeur and guide, while taking a break from our exploration at a caf\u00e9 near the heavily crowded Addis Merkato \u2014 Africa\u2019s biggest marketplace where it\u2019s possible to find everything \u2014 from electronics, furniture clothing, spices, food items and groceries to an array of second-hand goods. Plaiting in multi directions for kilometres, it\u2019s surely a site to explore but require nerves of steel to wade through the sea of human bodies, particularly during a major festival time. So, I choose to watch the high energy activities from the sidelines and gather knowledge from Bele about their culture, calendar and history \u2014 with Ethiopia being the only country in Africa to escape European colonialism.<\/p>\n
Bele and I move around to see some churches, royal enclaves and museums, which classify as \u2018must-see\u2019 tourist attractions of Addis. First come the churches and there are several of them, pronouncing Ethiopia\u2019s strong affinity towards Christianity. Two most important ones are the colourful St Mary\u2019s Church, said to be the city\u2019s founding parish located at the top of Mount Entoto at 3200m above sea level, and the Holy Trinity Cathedral, considered the city\u2019s landmark. Next to the St Mary\u2019s Church, a former royal palace built in typical Ethiopian style with mud is worth a visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many ceremonies that haven\u2019t changed since Christianity came to our country 1000 years ago,\u201d tells me a priest at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, drawing my attention to a group of white-robed worshippers chanting religious verses in a very melodious node exactly the same way it was practised centuries ago.<\/p>\n
Not to be ignored from the sightseeing schedule are the two city museums \u2014 the National Museum and the Ethnological Museum.<\/p>\n
The National Museum is proof of the fact of Africa being considered as the cradle of mankind. It houses the partial skeleton of a female body, estimated by archaeologists to be 3.2 million years old. Following its discovery in 1974, they named her Lucy and she became famous as the world\u2019s earliest human. The Ethnological Museum, which is set within the former palace complex of Emperor Haile Selassie \u2014 regarded as father of modern Ethiopia \u2014 is the best venue to know more about the nation\u2019s history, including the episodes when Italian fascist Mussolini held power in the country for few years in the 1930s.<\/p>\n
I conclude my Addis odyssey with more culture dips. At the hotel on the New Year\u2019s Eve, I join some of the staff and local guests dancing and singing around a nicely lit pyramid of fire. \u201cIt\u2019s our custom to burn the past and move forward,\u201d tells the receptionist girl.<\/p>\n
When the fire dies, everyone jumps three times over the pit to leave the old year behind and welcome the new one. I do the same not minding at all to greet another \u2018mid-term\u2019 new year. I am then invited to take part in a coffee-making ceremony, an integral part of Ethiopian social and cultural life \u2013 the nation being the birthplace of coffee. While sipping the beverage freshly prepared in front of us from roasted beans, I thank myself to be in Ethiopia during this carnival period and get soaked by its many cultural traits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa-Press-Ethiopia Besides stunning landscapes, remains of ancient civilisations and a maze of rock-hewn churches, a major drawcard of Ethiopia is its age-old culture and traditions. It\u2019s best experienced when travelling there during festival time. I sense this when exploring its capital city Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is one of the planet\u2019s oldest countries, Addis Ababa meaning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[317,241],"class_list":["post-4326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-addis-ababa","tag-africa-press-ethiopia"],"yoast_head":"\n