Melkem Addis Amet! Today is the beginning of 1999 in Ethiopia. In celebration, I give you one of my favourite photos of Ethiopia--it's picture of Christmas celebrations in Lalibela.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Ethiopian calendar, it's based on the Julian calendar, unlike our western Gregorian calendar. There are twelve months, each with 30 days, and a thirteenth month with between five and six days--depending on whether or not it's a leap year. Today marks the celebration of Ekutatash, and the first day of Meskarem. It also, however, marks the beginning of the big countdown to Y2K for Ethiopians.
Multi-billionaire Al-Amoudi, who, many would argue, might be better off spending his money on more significant projects, is installing giant countdown clocks in Ethiopia, readying the country for its entry into the next millenium. Rastafari have told me that we should pay attention to this, the "real" year 2000. Hmmm...
Hopefully next year I'll be there to see just what might happen.
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