Timkat

Mimi and me

Fountain of holy water

This weekend the Ethiopian Orthodox holiday called Timkat or Epiphany was celebrated.  This holiday is the celebration of Jesus’ baptism.  For the occasion, the normally dry water fountain in Ambo was filled with holy water, and priests from the local Orthodox churches were on hand to provide blessings.  People were crowded around the fountain to be splashed by the water.  Some people had even brought containers to fill with holy water and take home.  The day before Timkat, the church’s Tabot (a replica of the Ark of the Covenant) is brought to a new location where it will stay overnight with the priests and some congregants.  In Ambo, the location was a tent erected near the water fountain.  Around noontime on Timkat, there was a processional down the main road where a group of priests were transporting the Tabot back to the church.  This parade was very interesting to watch.  Several priests carried the Ark, which was covered by a cloth.  The priests were shaded by colorful umbrellas, and they walked on a carpet that was rolled up behind them and hurriedly unrolled in front of them.  The main road was so crowed by people joining the processional that I wasn’t able to take a good photo.  

Singing and playing drums

I found it really fascinating to observe this deeply religious celebration taking place right in the middle of town.  The main road was closed down so the processional could march along.  It struck me that I’ve never seen a large-scale public event that was so overtly religious take place in the United States.  Ethiopia is a hugely religious country.  Almost everyone associates with one religion or another.  It is almost unheard-of for someone to say that they are not religious or do not believe in God.  In fact, one of the first questions people ask me is usually, “What is your religion?”  They generally ask me my name first and sometimes where I am from, but the religion question is almost always included in the top 3 questions.  When I first moved into my house, before I had met my next-door neighbor, my landlord informed me that my neighbor was a doctor and he was Muslim.  Well, what else do you need to know about a person?  

On Sunday, the day after Timkat, some celebrations were still going on.  Thousands of people attended a service at one of the local Orthodox churches.  In the evening there was a horse racing/jousting competition held on the outskirts of town.  Of course no set time or location for this event was known in advance, but people seemed to figure it out anyway.  We just followed the crowds.  It’s unclear to me what the point of this event was, or how winners were determined, but it was fun to watch anyway.  The horses were elaborately decorated, and some of the riders were really decked out too.  In most cases, two riders set out from the starting point, and the rider in the back would try to get close enough to the first rider to throw his wooden spear and hopefully hit the first rider.  In other cases, multiple riders would set out at the same time, and it was difficult to see who was trying to get whom.  This event is quite dangerous for the participants.  The riders carry shields and spears, but I saw many people get hit by the spears and one rider fall from his horse.  I don’t think the spears were very sharp, but still getting hit by a long wooden stick is sure to leave a mark.

Jen receiving her blessing from the priest

It was definitely an interesting and fun weekend.  I think it may have been the fullest weekend I’ve had in Ambo yet.  I left my house before noon each day and didn’t return until after dark.  That is certainly not the norm in my very simple life here.  It was really nice to hang out with friends and take part in these cultural celebrations over the weekend.