Habesha Easter

Yesterday was Ethiopian Easter. Easter is the biggest celebration in the Orthodox Christian calendar. It follows two months of fasting, which means no animal products – meat or dairy. Easter is celebrated with family and friends and with a lot of meat – chicken, sheep and oxen.

Although all my friends know I’m not a Christian and that I don’t eat meat here (because it’s not halal) they invited me to their celebrations anyway.

Easter celebrations start here with a meal at about 3am on Easter Sunday. All households wake at this time and eat their first meal of meat together. They then go back to sleep and wake up at a more reasonable hour.

For most people though, preparations start a few days earlier with buying sheep, chickens and so on. Families normally get together and buy an ox. The night before is when they start their cooking. First it’s the chicken for ‘doro watt’ which is prepared. All animals here can only be slaughtered by a male – normally the head of the house. When I went to my neighbour’s house on Saturday night I saw the dean kill the chicken. The women then take over and pluck the feathers and so on. I asked the dean if he would also slaughter the sheep that was in his garden, but he said that although he should traditionally as the head of the house, he couldn’t – someone else was going to come and do it for him. He said it’s a difficult task that requires a lot of skill.

On Easter when I went over for lunch we watched (or rather I watched and the others helped) the sheep get slaughtered and prepared for cooking – i.e. the skinning and the dividing of the different parts and so on. The man has to do all of this to the sheep, the women do the cooking. All the women I know prefer cooking sheep rather than chicken as it is easier for them. It was strangely interesting for me to see as I’ve never seen it before. I didn’t know how I would react to seeing it but I was okay. (I don’t know if that makes me a bit heartless or what…)

Anyway at the dean’s house I ate an especially prepared vegetarian meal for me, while everyone else ate their meat with great relish. We talked, played with the children and watched special Easter celebration entertainment on the Ethiopian TV channel. After that I went to a friend’s house who was so sweet she made me have another lunch even though I told her I’d eaten. In the evening I went to my other neighbour’s house.

It was a lovely day spent with my friends who are all so incredibly generous and welcoming.