Meskel, Ramadan….So Many Holidays
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 | Uncategorized
This is Meskel Square--one of the main squares in Addis where the Meskel ceremony took place.
- This is what the street looked like after the final ceremony of Ramadan ended.
All of us at school have had a five day weekend. Saturday was Meskel–a Christian Orthodox holiday celebrating the cross of Christ. C. and I went to the major celebration on Friday at Meskel Square which is the largest central area in the city. It was a 3-4 hour long ceremony but at the end, they lit a huge bonfire and let off fireworks. It kind of felt like a combination between Christmas (the brush looked like a Christmas tree before it was lit) and the 4th of July (with the fireworks). It was neat to sit and observe the ceremony with Ethiopians and get a little taste of their culture!
Tuesday was the end of Ramadan and a major feast day since the Muslims have been fasting during the day for the last month. My friends and I made the unknown mistake of trying to get somewhere when the final Muslim ceremony let out. We were on public transportation and didn’t even make it to our final destination and were forced to walk. The city felt like Time Square on New Year’s Eve, you could hardly move. We did however, meet some nice people who invited us to celebrate with them in their home. We declined since we had other things to do.
All these holidays mean that we have had a 5 day weekend! This is great since we won’t have any more days off until December. I will miss Halloween and Thanksgiving! : (
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