New Years Day

We spent most of New Years Day at B's mother's house with various aunts, uncles and cousins. B's mother is a fantastic cook and the lunch table was full of traditional Ethiopian food, including (obviously) injera, dorro watt (chicken curry), shiro, spinach etc. There was also a dish called 'doulet', which is cut up sheep's stomach mixed with … er … something else! I've tried it once before, in London, and thought it was revolting, but B persuaded me to try it again – and it wasn't too bad. Not something I'd chose for my last meal, but not too bad. The trick is to clean it well (!), apparently, but I didn't take the recipe …

Much tastier were the cakes everyone had brought with them … mmmm! Lots of people laugh when I say Ethiopia cake is fabulous, but it really is! There is nothing I like more than to sit in a café on Bole Road, drinking shai and eating cake; chocolate, lemon, black forest gateau, it doesn't matter! So, with the cakes and the dorro watt, I ate so much I could barely move, and my belly was nearly as big as E's!

Later in the afternoon I went with E and M to go to visit other relatives, and at each house we were offered food and drink again – dorro watt, injera, shiro etc etc. At one house, I had a glass of 'talla' which is a kind of home brewed beer, but I managed to avoid the alcohol at the other houses – otherwise, everyone would have been carrying me home! It's hard to refuse food and drink without being rude – and I am no stranger to packing in a lot of food! – but I felt like I was going to burst if one more piece of injera passed my lips!

Food is a very social thing in Ethiopia – often, you all eat from the same plate, and whenever you go to someone's house, or even their office, you are always offered food and drink. Ethiopian New Year, although not as religious like many other holidays and celebrations here, is mostly about eating and food – and sharing it with relatives. For a few days before New Year, progress along the roads was slow due to all the goats and sheep being herded along, and on New Year's Eve itself, I could see all the animals tied up outside houses, ready for eating for New Years Day lunch! In the same places on the road, I can now see the left over bits of those animals, the bits that didn't make the pot – intestines and skin, mostly. Lovely!

It took me quite a while to be able to face food again after our New Year Celebration, and any weight I've lost while I've been over here has been grudgingly welcomed back! There is another celebration at the end of September, which happens in Meskel Square, and I have a feeling it will be another eating holiday …