Merry Christmas from Ethiopia

Ethiopia's Christmas Eve falls on Epiphany in the Gregorian Calendar. Today was Christmas Day and the end to the 6 week fast of no meat, dairy or eggs. So Christmas dinner traditionally consists of meat, dairy and eggs. Zewdu and his family had me over to enjoy their Christmas feast. They have me over for lunch every week, so they know how I love duro wat (chicken and a hard boiled egg in a spicy red sauce with lots of dairy fat in it). Also beef tibs and of course coffee. Delicious. Then I went to Chez Meron for round two. I might eat tomorrow.

Ethiopia has a traditional Christmas Day game ye-gena chewata. We watched some of our aerobics friends play it today. It's like field hockey. It has been played for centuries. We are told only on Christmas Day though. The game is so old no one knows for sure how it originated. One story is the Shepards jumping for joy at the news of Jesus birth. The other story a non-believer was beheaded by the three kings (one from Ethiopia) on their way back from Bethlehem. See https://www.ethiosports.com/2011/01/08/ethiopia-cultural-sports-reviving-ye-gena-chewata/