Happy New Year

Saturday 11 September was new year’s day in Ethiopia. Ethiopia works on the Jacobean rather than the Georgian calendar, which we use. As such, Ethiopia is seven years “behind” us, making Saturday’s festival the start of 2003. The start of the new year was marked by artillery guns at midnight, and further shooting at 6am. Each time, the glass rattled in the frames in my house.

Alongside the start of the new year, Friday marked the end of Ramadan (Eid). This is one of the most important religious festivals for Ethiopia’s muslims, roughly 45% of the population (although some say only 25%).

You wouldn’t want to be a sheep in Ethiopia this weekend. To help celebrate these two huge festivals, sheep from across the Country were brought into the capital. One sheep should feed a large family. The going rate is around birr 600 (£30) for a whole sheep. For those feeling a bit flush, a tastier, tender sheep costs birr 1500 (£75). They are tied up, hooves and all, and stuck into car boots, onto shoulders, tied to the roofs of buses or simply dragged through the city. There was certainly a lot of damp, red stains on streets on Saturday. But there was also the odd sheep joyfully skipping through town, releasing that while their brothers and sisters were being boiled up in some stew somewhere, they were still alive.

The fact that Ethiopia’s new year is marked at a different time, kicking off a different year, really highlighted that things are different here, especially from the rest of Africa. The language is different (different script). The history is different (Ethiopia was the only country in Africa not to be colonised). The topography is different (Ethiopia has more mountains than any other African country). The food is different (where else in Africa - except Eritrea - is injera eaten?). The time is different (the clocks start at 6am here, so when it’s 9am it’s actually 3am). And the people are different: I’ve not travelled that much around Africa, but certainly Ethiopians seem to be taller, slighter and fairer than many other Africans.

I think this difference plays into a real sense of pride in Ethiopia: Muslim, Christian or non-believer, Ethiopians are proud of their identity. They feel that unlike some of other African countries, their recent history (and their long term history as a matter of fact) is a success: Corruption is low, conflict is rare, different ethnic groups get on well, the economy is growing - fast. This pride can at times make giving critical advice difficult. But having started to understand the country, and travel a bit (see the next blog), Ethiopia is right to feel proud. Lets just hope the new year 2003 brings continued success for Africa’s Exception.