Coffee Ceremony at the Care Center
Wednesday (9/23)*
Ethiopia is quite proud of its coffee heritage. According to legend, the benefits of the coffee bean was discovered by a goatherd who noticed his flock was jumping around, bleating loudly, and acting rather hyper after eating the berries of a particular plant.
So, if you can’t get through the morning without having your coffee fix, you have an observant goatherd from the Ethiopian highlands to thank.
Coffee is such an integral part of Ethiopian culture that they have a ceremony centered around the beverage, and it’s often used as a sign of hospitality. While we were in Ethiopia, we experienced three different ceremonies: one in Durame with the birth parents, one hosted by the staff at our hotel, and another hosted at the Care Center with our children.
When we arrived, they whisked our children upstairs and had them change into traditional Ethiopian dress. When they were ready, they had a small parade down the stairs as the ceremony began.
In addition to coffee, they also had two large cakes for us, the families, and the children still living at the Care Center. And everyone ate some. I felt sorry for the nannies who had to try to corral these children after they experienced such a sugar high.
We had the opportunity to express our gratitude to the staff of the Care Center. We also prayed with and for them as they continue to minister to the children under their care. Although somewhat chaotic at times, it was a powerful experience. We also got to love on some of the children a little bit more and tell some of them that we knew their Mommys and Daddys were coming to get them soon.
Here’s the aftermath of the coffee ceremony. It’s quite a mess!
We were surprised after the ceremony when we took the traditional clothing off Mihret and handed it to one of the nannies. “No,” she said. “It’s yours.” It was completely unexpected. And yes, this is the dress she’s wearing in this Christmas picture.
Yet another treasure from our visit to the Land of 13 Suns.
*I know. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted about our trip to Ethiopia. In case you’ve forgotten this series, here’s the link to the account of Tuesday (9/22/09).
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