Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony involves an elaborate method of preparing coffee. It is done to honor guests, but also, in many homes, in the daily preparation of coffee for the family and for friends. A young man in Addis Ababa told us that his mother completes the coffee ceremony three times a day. First in the morning, his mother prepares coffee in the traditional "coffee ceremony" manner for the family breakfast. Then she prepares it in the same manner for her friends and neighbors who gather together in the afternoon to socialize. The women may work on a project such as beadwork while they enjoy the company of their friends and drink their coffee. The third time the coffee ceremony is conducted is in the evening while the family shares stories of their day.

Steps of the coffee ceremony:

     *Remove the shells from the coffee beans, then wash the beans.

     *Roast the beans on a clay dish over an open fire.

     

      *Pound the beans until finely ground by hand in a wooden mortar and pestle. 

     

    *Pour the ground beans into a special Ethiopian style pot of boiling water.

     

We observed a demonstration of the coffee ceremony in an Ari village during our trip in the Omo Valley, but our schedule did not allow us time to stay for the coffee to be fully brewed so we could drink some. However, here in Addis Ababa, we had a delightful lunch at the home of Hannan, an Ethiopian woman whom we met, because she once attended a conference in Eugene, Oregon and became friends with David's sister and her family. Hannan served us a complete, typical Ethiopian meal with vegetables, rice, shiro (an Ethiopian dish made from chick peas), and injera. We're learning how to eat with our fingers using injera, but have to confess that our hands get pretty messy - and we've learned that it's culturally inappropriate to lick your fingers. (Also inappropriate to pick up the food with your left hand.)

Hannan's sister joined us at the apartment and conducted the coffee ceremony for us after our meal, right in the living room of the 6th floor apartment! They even spread a traditional grass on the floor where the ceremony was performed.

This time we thoroughly enjoyed the ceremoniously prepared coffee. And alongside it we had some delicious cakes and popcorn. Popcorn, we've learned, is a popular snack in Ethiopia. 

Of course, we've sampled Ethiopian coffee elsewhere as well, including a small coffee shop in Addis Ababa (Tomoco), which is reputed to have the best coffee in the country! 

Omo Valley: The Hamer People

Another fascinating ethnic group that we met in the Omo Valley was the Hamer people.  We saw them at two large outdoor markets and we also visited a Hamer village.

The Hamer are known for several distinctive characteristics and traditions. Among them are the remarkable hairstyles of the women. The women mix together ochre, water and a binding resin which they rub into their hair. They then twist strands of hair again and again to create coppery colored tresses. 

The Hamer are also masters of body decoration. The women wear iron coils around their arms and bead necklaces. The iron torques worn around the necks of married women indicate the wealth and prestige of their husband. 

 

The Hamer also have a unique ritual known  as "bull jumping" which doesn't occur regularly and most tourists don't get an opportunity to observe. Our guide, however, learned that a bull jumping ceremony was to take place at a nearby village the next day so we raced over to watch it. We were very lucky!

After driving through Hamer territory for over 45 minutes searching for where the ceremony was to be held (driving across dusty, bumpy open plains with no real roads or landmarks), then walking for 30 minutes through the brush because our 4-wheel drive car could go no further, we finally reached the location of the ceremony.

 

The bull jumping ceremony is one which young Hamer men, 16 to 18 years of age, must go through in order to reach adulthood. It's a rite of passage. The ceremony actually has a few different phases. (We were there watching it all and taking photographs for over three hours.)

First, there is a lot of jubilant jumping, dancing and chanting by women, mainly girls and young women, before the bull jumping takes place. The women are relatives of the boy who is about to do the bull jumping.  Through their jumping, dancing and chanting, the women are extolling the great characteristics of the young man who is about to jump the bulls, so unmarried girls would be interested in marrying him.

The next part of the ceremony was difficult to watch as it so conflicted with our own values and cultural norms, but it has been part of the Hamer culture for countless years. It consisted of the young girls being whipped. The young women get whipped, we were told, to prove their love for their relative who is about to jump the bulls.

The handsome young men who do the whipping have already achieved adulthood by successfully jumping the bulls in the past. Before doing the whipping the young men have their faces painted (it seemed like the designs were simply whimsical and for decoration) and they are bedecked in their traditional jewelry. 

 

The young women who are about to be whipped carry the reeds with which the whipping is done and rush to the men pleading to be whipped first, singing and dancing to get attention. They want to be whipped. They don't cry or complain about the pain, because they are showing their strength. They want to pass along that confidence to the jumper so he will be successful.

When the whipping is performed the reed slashes the young woman's lower back. Some of the gashes we saw were over 2 inches long and all of the women who had been whipped were bleeding.  The wounds eventually heal, then join the other scars on the women's backs from prior whipping ceremonies. Amazingly, the women did not cry or complain. It seemed, however, that their singing and dancing afterwards was less energetic.

Prior to the bull jumping itself, a number of Hamer men struggled for several minutes to get enough bulls standing in a row, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, so that the jumping could proceed. While this was going on, everyone else watched the entertainment of getting the bulls lined up with great amusement, while the young man who was about to jump the bulls stood by completely naked with a very serious look on his face. (Yes, he ran across the bulls completely naked.) When about 8 or 10 bulls were finally in line, the young man, in front of the cheering crowd, leaped onto the first bull then ran across the backs of the others. He did this successfully, without falling, about four times, running back and forth across the backs of the bulls, first in one direction then the other, as the crowd cheered his achievement. 

 

We were told that after this successful bull jumping the most exciting part for the community would be the huge celebration that was to follow with lots of eating, drinking and dancing through the night. We quickly left after the bull jumping was completed, however, as it was early evening and we wanted to find our way back to our jeep then drive across the open plains and find the road back to town before it was completely dark.

Omo Valley: Mursi ethnic group

We spent the last 8 days traveling through the beautiful Lower Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia, an area of diverse landscape ranging from dry, open savannah plains to large lakes (some filled with hippos and crocodiles) to gorgeous mountainous forests. It's an area inhabited by some of Africa's most fascinating ethnic groups whose ancient traditions, customs, lifestyle and manner of dress still constitute the fabric of their daily life. We had the fantastic opportunity to visit the villages and markets of many of the sixteen ethnic groups that reside in this region, to interact with them, witness their lifestyle, step inside their homes and learn about their way of life. 

Among the ethnic groups whose villages we visited were the Mursi, a tribe that now numbers only about 5,000 - 7,500 people. The Mursi men and women paint their bodies and face in white. Their most famous traditions include fierce stick fighting between the men and the lip plates worn by women.

Women of the Mursi tribe have their lips cut at the age of 15 or 16. A small clay plate is then inserted into the lip. Over the years, larger plates are inserted causing the lip to stretch. The larger the clay plate, the more the woman is worth before she gets married. Although a unique tradition, the clay plates are worn for only a short time because they're so heavy and uncomfortable.

 

 In order to marry, the young Mursi men must pass a test. They must be victorious at ceremonial duelling, which is a fight against an opponent with 6 foot long poles. The men battle it out, beating each other with the sticks. The first fighter to submit loses and the winner is taken by a group of women to determine whom he will marry.

Until about 30 years ago, the Mursi men were hunters, but now they raise cattle. Because they live in a lush and fertile region, the group has been very successful and are said to want for nothing. 

The Mursi seem to be only minimally affected by the outside, modern world. Because they can buy inexpensive textiles made in China that are sold in the local markets, they no longer weave the fabric for their clothing. Additionally, when tourists come to visit their village, they have begun to charge 5 Ethiopian birr per photo. About 25 cents. 

Included with this blog are two of the many photos that we took of the Mursi during our tour of the Lower Omo Valley. We'll have more stories and photos about the other ethnic groups in a future post.