Ethiopia 10, Addis Ababa (The New Flower)

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ETHIOPIA
Addis Ababa
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ADDIS ABABA
Addis Ababa (the name means 'new flower') is of
fairly recent origin - Menelik II founded the
city in 1887 but is an important administrative
centre not only for Ethiopia but also for the
whole of Africa. Situated in the foothills of the
Entoto Mountains and standing 2,400 metres above
sea level it is the third highest capital in the
world. The city has a population of about four
million. Addis Abeba is a noisy and chaotic town
because of its traffic but Addis Abeba is a city
with hubris, faith, hope, chaos and vibrancy
having one of the fastest rates of urban growth
in the world
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Ethiopian coffee is probably the best in the
world and the story of the discovery of coffee by
the Ethiopian shepherd Kaldi and his hyperactive
goats should not be left untold More than 1,000
years ago, a goat herd in Ethiopia's
south-western highlands plucked a few red berries
from some young green trees growing there in the
forest and tasted them. He liked the flavour and
the feel-good effect that followed. Today those
self-same berries, dried, roasted and ground,
have become the world's second most popular
non-alcoholic beverage after tea..
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The coffee ceremony is the ritualized form of
making and drinking coffee. The coffee ceremony
is one of the most recognizable parts of Arab,
Eritrean and Ethiopian culture. Visitors are
always impressed by the tukke or bunna, a
coffee ritual. It takes place three times a day,
marking the time for a get-together and
small-talk. In this respect it is no different
from the coffee culture of rural (and urban!)
areas in other parts of the world
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A distinct feature of the ritual, however, is the
fact that the coffee beans are first roasted in a
frying pan over an open fire, to be ground in a
mortar afterwards. The quality of such fresh,
usually blackened coffee must not be
overestimated. But being immersed in the
fragrance of fresh coffee, poured out high from a
beautiful jebena coffeepot, will dull the sharp
journalistic eye of any Tintin in Africa.
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Ethiopia is considered to be the cradle of
coffee. From here pilgrims and coffee traders
started the spread of coffee over the world. Our
word coffee might well originate from the
coffee region Kaffa.
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Coffee is offered when visiting friends, during
festivities, or as a daily staple of life. If
coffee is politely declined then most likely tea
(shai) will be served. Ethiopians will say the
only good thing the Italians brought to the
country was the coffee machinery and the
resulting macchiato. Order yours at the front of
Tomoca Coffee shop and then pick it up at the
back, in front of two whirring espresso machines.
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Tomoca Coffee shop.
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Meskal Square
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Meskal is the Geez word for cross, and Meskal
square is the site for one of the larger
celebrations in the city every year. Meskal Day
commemorates the discovery of the true cross by
St. Helena. It takes place on the 27th of
September and also marks the end of the rainy
season. During the celebration, mobs of people
flock to Meskal Square where they light an
immense bonfire or Demera, (the smoke the first
fire led Helena to the true cross some 1600 years
ago), and people mark themselves with a cross on
their forehead with the ashes of the blaze once
it has burned out.
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According to tradition, Empress Helena lit
incense and prayed for assistance to guide her.
The smoke drifted towards the direction of the
buried cross. She dug and found three crosses
one of them was the True Cross used to crucify
Jesus Christ. Empress Helena then gave a piece of
the True Cross to all churches, including the
Ethiopian Church. This piece was then brought to
Ethiopia. According to the Ethiopian legend, when
people get close to the piece of the True Cross
it made them naked by its powerful light. Because
of this, a decision was made to bury it at the
mountain of Gishen Mariam monastery in Wollo
region. The monastery of Gishen Mariam holds a
volume of a book which records the story of the
True Cross of Christ and how it was acquired.
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On the day of the festival, as it is coincides
with the mass blooming of the  bright yellow
Maskal daisies, called Adey Ababa (Bidens
macroptera), are tied to fronds, and piled high
in town squares. Colourful processions carrying
burning torches converge on to the square, where
a pyre is lit and the celebrations continue until
dawn, symbolically heralding the advent of a new
year after the rainy season is over
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Meskal Square
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Meskal Square, the entrance to Exhibition Center
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Now another reason one may have heard of Meskal
Square is for its running.  Apparently a large
number of folks use the square as a training
center before 6am, including such phenomenal
runners such as Haile Gebrselassie who is like a
local deity in Ethiopia.
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Entrance to Exhibition Center from Meskal
Square Ethiopians don't know the name of Hagi or
Nadia Comaneci but Romania means Gabriela Szabo
(pronounced Zabo)
Meskal Square
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Ethiopian music
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Afewerk Tekle (1932 2012) was a very well known
Ethiopian Painter and this stamps bear his stamp!
Villa Alpha is the home and personal museum
designed and constructed by Afewerk Tekle between
1959 and 1973
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Jacaranda tree is very popular all over Africa
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Shopping time
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Quickly drive through the Mercato (the largest
open market on the continent),
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Ethiopia's capital and Africa's diplomatic
capital has been ranked as the World's 6th
dirtiest city by Forbes magazine. The magazine
said the city faces one of the worst sanitation
problems in Africa and the world. Forbes also
added that the lack of adequate sanitation
programs results in infant mortality and low life
expectancy.
Addis Ababa Chaotic Merkato
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Chaotic, crowded, and stifling but one of the
largest markets in Africa and a must-see if you
are in Addis. Expect interesting but not
necessarily enjoyable or attractive
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Dessalech Kittfo Cultural Music Hall
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Addis Ababa Domestic Airport
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Text Internet Pictures Sanda Foisoreanu
Sanda Negrutiu Jean
Moldovan Alin Samochis
Internet All  copyrights  belong to their
 respective owners Presentation Sanda
Foisoreanu
2014
Sound Alemayehu Eshete - Ende Amora