Harari houses exist around enclosed courtyards, hidden behind walls. Here, a cat looks out of the door of his compound to survey the goings-on in the street.
All this week, I’ll be putting up photos from my series on the cats of Harar–stay tuned!
Category: Photography
Photographic postings.
Cat #2, Harar, Ethiopia, July 2009
A cat sits under a Coca-Cola sign, at the bottle distributor in Harar, Ethiopia.
All this week, I’ll be putting up photos from my series on the cats of Harar–stay tuned!
Cats of Harar Week: Cat #1, Harar, Ethiopia, July 2009
A cat sits outside of the door of the former Egyptian bank, the first bank in Harar.
All this week, I’ll be putting up photos from my series on the cats of Harar–stay tuned!
Old Man, Harar, Ethiopia, July 2009
An old man sits in front of a door with Egyptian-style ornaments in Harar. Harar was an independent Moslem Emirate until it was conquered, first by the Egyptians, in 1875, and then the Abyssinian monarchs, shortly after. There are still many remnants of both occupations in the city, and the latter conquest resulted in its decline, as it went from being a prosperous trading city to a remote outpost of a highland Christian empire.
Coffee Leaves and Beans, Harar, Ethiopia, July 2009
Q’utti (coffee leaves) for tea, and Harar coffee beans (considered the finest in the world) sit in a display, tempting diners at a restaurant in Harar.
Q’utti is herbal tea-like, with just a touch of coffee and bitterness buried in the back-end of the flavour. In the South of Ethiopiia, it is prepared with salt, but I much prefer it without, and also without sugar.
Tree, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
Gälawdious, the village where I have recently been working, is in beautiful agricultural country (though suffering rather from erosion–I better understand now why Lake Tana is such a muddy brown). Here, a view from my walk out to the däbtära (magician’s) cottage.
Shackles, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
While Kes Felege he was unpacking his scribal and carving tools from a box for our interview, he pulled out a pair of shackles. A bit dumbstruck, I asked him what their relationship to scribing was. As part of the training for his Zema students (and Qene students as well), the students take a psycho-tropic drug, which, when properly combined with fasting and prayer, is supposed to allow them mystical insight and inspire them to poetry. I knew as much before I asked the question. Apparently, the students sometimes take this drug on their own, without the proper training and supervision. To control them while they are in the hallucinogenic state, and as a punishment, the shackles are affixed to the student. Here, the shackles are modeled by one of his woodcarving students, who happened to be at hand.
Village Hut, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
A house in the rural village of Gälawdios, in the Amhara region.
Kes Fente, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
Kes (Priest) Fente is one of numerous scribes in the village of Gälawdios, famous for its scribal tradition. Here he is adding his name to a spare bifolium which I am taking as a sample of his work.
Coffee Ceremony, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
The tradional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, always performed by women, starts with the roasting of green beans in a pan, somewhat like a wok. When they darken, they are brought around to the guests, the share the fragrant smoke.
The roasted beans are then pounded by hand in a pestle, often using rebar or a piece of an axle, which people have found to be convenient and effective replacements to traditional materials.
The ground coffee is poured into a tall-necked pot and boiled for ten minutes. The resulting thick, dark coffee is traditionally sweetened with three small spoonfuls of sugar, and guests are expected to drink three cups, the third being considered lucky (you can usually get away with fewer cups, if time is short).