I miss my Culture

Heben Hailu
ESL 100
01/31/08
I Miss My Culture
The Ethiopian culture has particular customs for communicating, respecting, and acting well. When I think about Ethiopian culture, I feel full of happiness. I appreciate my mother a lot because she taught me to respect everyone, especially God. When I attended Sunday school in my country, I learned God created us in a special way. That made me believe and respect him the rest of my life. However, living in America made me nonchalant about my Sunday school and I wasn’t eager to attend it like I was in Ethiopia. The situation makes me feel like something is missing in my life. Even though I live in America and I have different cultural backgrounds from others, I believe I have to keep my culture throughout my whole life. Ethiopian culture has many religious practices that teach people more about their identity and belief.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest established churches. The church ceremonies are major features of Ethiopian life. Especially, the holiday of Epiphany which is called Timkat. Epiphany or Timkat means the baptism of Jesus Christ. At the ceremony, only priests are allowed to see and handle the Ark. This is called tabot. The tabot is taken out in the afternoon on the eve of Epiphany and stays overnight with the priests and faithful worshippers. The following morning, the water is blessed and splashed on everyone in a ceremony where the faithful renew their vows to the church. When I was in Ethiopia, my mother took me to the church to celebrate Timkat or Epiphany. I was fascinated to know about splashing the water. I thought it would give me a long and successful life. Even though I meet Ethiopian people in Chicago, they have no idea which day Timkit is going to be celebrated. Also, I haven’t seen tabot pass by anywhere or the ceremony of splashing the water. I believe the events are impressive and unique, so at those moments, I desire to be back home.
The people of Ethiopia wear many different types of costumes. The traditional dress of the Christian highland has white color, and it is made of cotton and different materials. The designs are based on natural wool colors. These are called yabesha kemis. People put on these costumes for any special occasion, especially Epiphany or Timkat. And then, they celebrate the holiday by singing and dancing to spiritual music in the church. Even though I put on my yabesh kemis here in Church to celebrate Timkat, the ceremonies don’t seem like I celebrated in Ethiopia. For example, people feel a shamed to sing spiritual music in church; they don’t even clap their hands. These situations really make me miss a lot of things about my culture. Sometimes I feel I have to tell them our culture or customs explain who we are. These give for everyone fulfillment, respect, and happiness.
The national dish of Ethiopia is doro wot, a type of spicy stew that comes in many varieties. Doro wot consists of chicken, red pepper, herbs, spices, and other flavoring. Before the chicken is cut into a lot pieces, an elder man of the family cut the neck of the chicken. And then rests of the parts are cut by a woman of the family. And then it depends on the useful parts and elder woman of the family washes until it is cleans. Therefore, it takes almost the whole day to prepare doro wot. The meal does not begin until the head of the household is blessed. The ceremony begins with the washing of hands. This small ceremony is sometimes followed by a short prayer of grace. After we start the eating ceremony, we will have only one piece of wing or leg for each of us. However, the head of the house or the older guy eats the big part of meat. That explains how much we feel happy and respect about the person who blessed our food. Since I have been in Chicago, I have never seen the ceremony of doro wot and how Ethiopian people prepare it. I don’t see the chicken alive; it is just packed in food store. Once in a while, my mother sends me doro wot from Ethiopia. The lack of this meal makes me feel like I am neglecting my culture a lot.
Even though I live in America and have memories about celebrating the holiday with my families and friends, I always feel full of nostalgia for the time when I was in Ethiopia. However, I accept my culture as basic as shelter the one people need the rest of their lives. I really understand how much my culture is very important to know who I am.