A house in the rural village of Gälawdios, in the Amhara region.
Tag: Amhara
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).
Liqa Kahunat Ajugu, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
Lika Kahunat (Archpriest) Ajugu, a scribe in the village of Gälawdios, in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. He works at his scribing every non-holiday, and had just finished a large copy of the 4 Gospels when we arrived, which he was going to send to Bahir Dar in search of a buyer.
Kes Mogas, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
Kes (Priest) Mogas, one of the many scribes active in the village of Gälawdios, adds his name to a sample of his writing. He is training his children in scribe-craft, and while I was there, one was scraping the hair off of parchment on freames behind the house.
Boy, Gälawdios, Amhara, Ethiopia, July 2009
A local boy, wearing an herbal charm around his neck, most probably to ward off the evil eye. A large portion of the däbtära’s work is herb-craft, supplemented by the reading of prayers and invocations and the making of kitab and other written amulets.
Netting, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, June 2009
A man repairs his nets on Sunday after church, readying himself for another week of fishing. I believe most of the fisshing in Lake Tana is for perch, and the ‘asa dulet’ (fish goulash) here is the best I have had in the country.
Little Bee-Eater (Merops pusillus), Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, June 2009
A flycatcher sits on a branch by lake Tana, patiently waiting for me to take its picture.
This was identified for me as a Little Green Bee-Eater (Merops orientalis), but I have had a chance to look at Birds of the Horn of Africa, and the distribution for the Little Green Bee Eater is wrong, and the Green one has green, not yellow, at the throat. I think it is a Little Bee-Eater, Merops pusillus.