Thursday, July 2, 2009, 12:23 pm
Hi from Nairobi, Kenya. I’m living here for several weeks helping out with web and communications projects … which mostly involves sitting in an office staring at a laptop. Life at home is quiet too, but here’s a little bit of what it’s like.
This is the house where, up until today, I have been staying with Tom and Susan. We had to move a few doors down today, but it’s similar enough that you get the idea. (We are staying in the houses of people who are traveling, so we have to move around as people come and go.)
Here’s our (former) front door and the nice little garden inside the gate:
Living room:
My room:
View from my balcony. You can almost see the house into which we moved this morning — all the way down on the right.
We have lots of great fresh fruits available:
And lots of vegetables too. Nairobi’s cool highland climate is conducive to growing a wide range of produce. I made a stir fry with six or eight kinds of veggies:
Another meal — curried potatoes with leftover meats and vegetables. The soft drink in the background is a ginger beer produced by Coca-Cola in East Africa. It’s really good!
Susan saw a display case of camel milk in the grocery store, so of course we had to try it.
The package claimed some remarkable health benefits:
We decided that trying small portions first would be wise:
It turns out that camel milk tastes a lot like hay … or barnyards … or worse. “It’s like licking a camel!” said Tom, who was singularly unimpressed. We decided to share the experience with our friends Jeff and Heather (are we still friends, guys?), who gave it a mixed review. (Incidentally, Heather and Susan are in Togo and Benin now, having adventures. Follow along at Pubols Postscript.)
categories kenya
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 12:30 pm
I would venture to say that most of us have no idea how huge the African continent really is. Some commonly used map projections have tended to reinforce the idea that it’s really not all that big. But. It. Is.
categories africa
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Monday, June 15, 2009, 1:24 pm
Christianity has very ancient roots in Ethiopia. The New Testament and other sources indicate that Christianity reached Ethiopia during the Church’s earliest days, and in the fourth century, Emperor Ezana converted to Christianity. Oriental Orthodox Churches (which includes today’s Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) split from other churches in the fifth century (and after another five hundred years, the remaining Church would split again into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church (Egypt) until 1959.
Because of this long history, the expressions and practices of the church are distinctive. I didn’t have a chance to visit an Orthodox church service, but I did see a couple of churches from the outside.
As you would expect, given the long history of the Church in Ethiopia, Ethiopian religious art is also well developed and distinctive. Simple designs, bright colors, and large eyes are well known elements of the art (read more).
See more examples of Ethiopian religious art, including illuminated manuscripts and crosses.
categories ethiopia
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Friday, June 12, 2009, 9:39 pm
Injera is a traditional Ethiopian sourdough flatbread made from a cereal grain called teff. Teff flour is mixed with water and fermented; the resulting bread tastes sour and has a vaguely pancake-like texture.
Injera is served with wat (or wot — there is no standard way of transliterating Amharic into English), a term for various spicy stews. Pictured above (from today’s lunch) are doro wat, which is made with onions, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, and a spice mixture called berbere, and shiro wat, which is made from ground chickpeas (garbanzo beans).
To eat this meal, you tear off pieces of injera with your right hand and use it to grab small portions of the wat. I think your fingers are supposed to stay cleaner than mine usually do, but I haven’t had much practice. There are all sorts of traditions and etiquette rules associated with eating injera, most of which I’ve only just begun to grasp, but thankfully I’ve been eating with forgiving people.
Coffee, according to legend, was discovered first in Ethiopia. It plays a major role in the country today, both culturally and economically. This is macchiato, an Italian invention actually, a combination of espresso, milk, and sugar. The Italians occupied Ethiopia during World War II, leaving behind pizza, pasta, and new ways of treating the coffee bean. There are also traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, which sometimes involve serving coffee with burning incense.
categories ethiopia
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Thursday, June 11, 2009, 4:38 pm
Over the last couple few days, we’ve been talking with Ethiopian church and mission leaders about their vision for Bible translation and language-related ministry. Above, my colleague Heather Pubols conducts an interview.
The Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, one of Ethiopia’s largest evangelical denominations, is actively involved in Bible translation projects within Ethiopia. In the last few years, the church has started sending missionaries to Asia and to other parts of Africa. This banner demonstrates their desire to be a light not only within Ethiopia but also to the whole world.
The Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia represents over 12 million Christians in Ethiopia. “Community transformation will come by the power of the Word of God,” says an ECFE representative. “The hope of our country lies in the Gospel.” But he and everyone else we’ve spoken with agrees: The Bible has to be available in a language that people understand.
And to that end, the churches of Ethiopia are committing their resources and their personnel. They know they can’t do it alone, though, and they’re asking for your prayers and even for some of you to come and serve alongside them.
categories ethiopia
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