Culture Day!

Yesterday was Culture Day, the last of our Spirit Days at camp.  This day, everyone dressed in traditional clothing from the different regions of Ethiopia.  Overall, it was the girls who dressed up, leaving Sintayehu of the Fantastic 12 House as the only boy who managed to wear traditional men’s clothing.  Tom wore one of his traditional Afghan outfits to give students an idea of what men wear in Afghanistan.

   At lunch, the kitchen staff surprised us with a traditional coffee ceremony.  The dining hall was covered with grass, as per tradition, and Eyerusalem from the Fantastic 12 House had the honor of roasting the beans and making the coffee, or buna, in the traditional Ethiopian way.  Other girls joined Eyerusalem to fan the small fire to boil the coffee and serve it to everyone as well.  In Ethiopia, coffee is served with popcorn so Beza and Gnajuok of the 11 Geniuses House passed a giant bowl of it around the dining hall.  Lastly, another part of Ethiopian tradition with coffee is served a special kind of bread.  Being the most senior person at the YSEL camp, Tom got the honors to cut the giant, round loaf before it was passed around.  Afterwards, someone put on some traditional music and we all got up and dance different dances from around Ethiopia.  We were a bit late for Club Time but everyone was having a great time and enjoying the moment.  Tom wasn’t sure how Culture Day was going to turn out, whether or not students had brought traditional clothes to wear, but they surprised him and it seems like Culture Day was one of the best Spirit Days we had at camp!